Merri Cohousing and Ecovillage Inc.
Discussion Paper

Financial Contribution and Decision Making Rights Proposal

Process Working Group

Revision History:
1.0: 04/02/2002 Paula Jorgenson (based on Working Group discussion)
1.1: 13/02/2002 Paula Jorgenson and Working Group members
1.2: 17/03/2002 Paula Jorgenson (adopted by Committee 28/03/2002)

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Objective

To propose a framework for decision making that is as inclusive as possible without compromising the financial contributions of co-developers.

Definitions

Co-resident: a participating member of Merri Cohousing who intends to live in cohousing.
Co-developer: a participating member of Merri Cohousing who contributes financially toward the purchase of property. Includes those who will live in as well as those who are purely investors.

Introduction

Merri Cohousing values the concept of including renters in the development process and as part of the residential community.
Merri Cohousing values our rental members as individuals as well as their contributions of ideas, research and planning.
A strata title ownership structure means that non-resident co-developers (NRCD) cannot be told who they must rent to. However, NRCDs will know from the beginning of our working relationship that Merri Cohousing will provide them with a list of Merri Cohousing member co-residents who are prospective tenants and strongly encourage NRCDs to secure tenants from this list.
To guarantee residence in Merri Cohousing, a co-resident who is not also a co-developer will need to, in some way, participate in identifying and working with an NRCD who agrees to rent to the co-resident, perhaps even agreeing to the co-resident becoming a decision making entity for the NRCD. One way of doing this is to work in one of the following working groups
- Low Cost Housing/Public Housing (Adam, Alice or Jill convenors)
- Renters Syndicate (needs convenor)
The Process Working Group considered classifying decisions according to whether or not there was a financial stake involved, but abandoned this as too complex and variable.
This proposal is intended to serve through the planning and building stage, however once Merri Cohousing is a residential community, another decision making structure should be in place.
As part of the induction process, it is imperative that all potential co-residents and co-developers fully understand the consensus decision making process, sharing and supporting our philosophy about the inclusion of renters.
In terms of decision making, co-developers, whether intending to live in or not, are treated equally because at this point there is no way of ascertaining who will actually live in Merri Cohousing. It is extremely unlikely anyone would invest in the project without the right to equal input.

Proposal

Co-residents who are not also co-developers are encouraged to, and have, full rights of participation in all discussions. They are welcome and encouraged to contribute information, opinions and ideas in meetings and workshops. However they may not block concensus decisions or vote, if a vote is called for.