Submitted by Dorrie Derbowka
Dear Members of the Board and Sunnyhill members:
I am writing to express my feelings regarding the last general meeting, and to acknowledge the community concerns this meeting raised. The meeting was difficult to witness, in that the voices of a minority of members dominated the conversation, and that these voices were at times adversarial, inappropriate and disrespectful. This behaviour is concerning as it not only directly impacted the meeting in a negative way, it has also had a ripple effect whereby the negative behaviour of any member in a general forum inadvertently permeates our entire community.
Acting from an individual mindset and agenda, and forgetting the big picture of community and cooperative behaviour results in an outcome like what we saw at the March 2nd meeting. Although the acrimonious tone of the meeting was disheartening, the beauty of membership at Sunnyhill is that members have a voice. A voice to say that we will not allow this behaviour to dominate our co-op. A voice to say that these actions do not define Sunnyhill, and that we do not want them to be allowed to continue to impact our community. It is not the board’s responsibility to create the community for us. It is up to us as members to take responsibility for creating the kind of community we want to live in.
The creation of a diverse, fair and welcoming community involves holding ourselves and each other accountable to the standards and values we agree to abide by when we sign the membership agreement. Cooperative living involves valuing the opinions of other members as much as we value our own, and doing our utmost to ensure that our individual wants do not usurp the wants and needs of other members, or of our community as a whole. It also involves listening to each other, and ensuring that all voices have the opportunity to be heard equitably. I hope the membership can hold on to these values as we attempt to move forward in a positive way.
I would like to thank the Board for all they are doing to make Sunnyhill a vibrant, cooperative community for all of us. Your efforts are noticed and are deeply appreciated.
Sincerely,
Dorrie Derbowka
Unit #24