Roadways

The surface of our roads seems to have been scraped away in many places - at least in Phase I. The underlayer of small pebbles is now exposed and those are breaking away too, leaving small potholes of dirt. The roads had a normal appearance before our roads were swept by the snow removal contractor. This will be costly for the co-op to repair.

Sunshine

Congratulations
to the two Board Members
elected at last night's meeting

WHO?

WHO ARE THE EXPERTS?

Undercurrents

There are issues which can be seen and talked about above board and then there are issues which are known about, but which don't rise to the surface. Exterior and interior unit renovations are one of them. We all know that money was spent upgrading units, but whose units? How are the dots connected between who is in charge of contracting and who gets the perks? Member pay outs is another example. How does this happen without coming to the membership? It all depends on who you know in high places. If you have any potential chargebacks when moving internally, don't worry. It's called Taking Care of Business and it would never show up in an audit.

A pre-meeting was held before our last All Members Meeting. In attendance were the co-op's lawyer, representatives from the co-op sector, our Office Co-ordinator, Board members and ex-Board members. Was collusion at play to ward off any attempt to dissolve the Board of Directors?

While it seems like a positive move to adopt The Financial Solvency By-law and create a Board of Directors with three (3) outside experts and two (2) members from the co-op, is there collusion to hopefully have two preferred members of the co-op chosen for the Board? Are those members presently being primed for these positions? If this is the case, the last Board's personal agenda will come to fruition - complete power with no intervention from the members whatsoever. The co-op will continue to be in lock down and members will struggle beneath the surface.

It would be great if members were to feel safe, valued and equal, but this is not the case. If members have grave concerns about their Board of Directors, how do they get their voices heard? Certainly not at All Members Meetings - they are too tightly controlled. To what extent are Boards propped up by the co-op sector, and/or the co-op's lawyers?

We continue to tread water . . .

Ain't No Perfect Storm

Sporadically, over the past few days, members received an All Members Meeting information package. The meeting to be held on April 15th has one purpose in mind: To pass By-Law No. 31 - The Financial Solvency By-law. The reason for this by-law is because the co-op is in a financial crisis, i.e. huge vacancy rate losses, member arrears creating a cash flow problem, depleted Capital Reserves, overdrawn subsidy funds, lack of trust in successive Boards and a somewhat tainted social environment.

There are two options, paraphrased below:

Option 1:

1. Suspend the By-laws for three (3) years;

2. Elect/appoint a new Board with three (3) non-resident members and two (2) resident members. Non-resident members will not receive compensation for their time or expertise, other than expenses.

3. The co-op, with the help of expert intervention, will financially restructure itself and hopefully improve upon the social environment.

4. Additional funding will be provided to the co-op for repairs and improvements.


Option 2:

1. Elect a seven (7) member internal Board.

2. The Agency will not approve additional funding.

3. Without funding, the Co-op will go into Receivership.


The Agency and CHASEO do not support the election of an internal Board.


If the co-op does not approve the resolution, subsidy funding will be suspended by CMHC.

A blind process will be utilized under the new by-law, so that Board members will not know the identity of the member(s) being discussed. Co-op Board members will not have access to the Co-op office, member files, etc. Members will still be able to participate in social activities like Spring and Fall clean-ups.

The non-resident members will be reduced over the three (3) year period to be replaced by resident members as the co-op stabilizes itself. This type of resolution has been used in other co-ops in financial distress and has proven to be successful.

*****

It was not by mere accident that the co-op ended up in this situation. Capital Reserves were spent without The Agency or CMHC's approval; there was absolutely no tracking of expenditures, minutes, documents and files have gone missing, some units were completely renovated, while others members were forced to live in substandard conditions. Ottawa has a 1.4% vacancy rate and our units are below market rent, so why did units in acceptable condition sit empty for years? The only All Members Meeting held ten (10) months after the election was a mandatory one to approve the 2007 Audited Statements. Committees became extinct over the past few years; information updates were sporadic and incomplete.

Needless-to-say, I was quite astounded today to see a memo in my mailbox from the ex-Treasurer asking members if they'd be interested in joining a Finance Committee. Isn't this a bit late? Isn't it a tad ironic that ex-Board members are not assuming any responsibility for their actions, but are rising up out of the ashes to become the saviours of the co-op? What opportunistic timing! Are we going to vote for this resolution, or are we going to run the co-op completely into the ground? Should we vote for this resolution, members who have served on the Board of Directors over the last three (3) years should definitely not be allowed to serve on the new Interim Board.

William's Coming For a Visit

In 1995 we had a very special guest stay with us. It was a beautiful experience. I wrote the following article for our co-op newsletter at that time.

*****

William came to stay with us on rather short notice, or at least it seemed that way. We had all heard about the Rooftops' project of inviting members of a co-operative society in Africa to come to Ottawa to exchange information about our respective co-ops, but little did I realize that our family would actually be hosting a visitor from Kenya! Our family had been plodding along doing our usual stuff - in fact life was a bit mundane. Then when we knew that something special was going to happen there was a whiff of excitement in the air.

My children began to ask questions about what the visitor would be like and where he was coming from. We decided to make our seven year old son's room into a guest room. I tried to create interesting dinners for William (not knowing that he was diabetic). I hoped that my children would be on their best behaviour all the while reminiscing about my trip to Kenya and William's hometown, Mombasa, which I had visited some 25 years earlier.

William arrived at our house a little weary from his long flight, but one could hardly detect any sense of jet lag or culture shock. William dined with us and patiently answered all our questions, especially those questions asked by my daughter's nineteen year old friend. He smiled and showed the wisdom of the grandfather which he was. We conversed back and forth with such startling calm that I could not believe we had just met. We seemed quite well matched, and even though we lived many thousands of miles apart, we came together on a human plane where borders or cultures no longer matter.

And that is the way it went. We respected William and he respected us - there were no tensions between us. I felt that we 'shared' William with the other people in our co-op and at large. I say that not to be possessive, but rather because I felt protective of him - he was quite a precious visitor. I think that other people in our co-op felt the same aura around William as we did, because they would almost become entranced when he shared stories with them about his co-operative society in Kenya, and about himself.

William in his quiet, polite way explained the differences in our co-operative societies and he was always eager to learn about our co-ops here in Canada. The conversations William heard most always included foreboding about the future of our co-ops in Canada and how the government was not going to fund any more co-operative housing projects. When his co-op would construct a house for someone, it would signify a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, for the member would 'own' that house. He may have wondered why the government in Canada viewed the co-op movement here so negatively, (as if we were freeloading and not giving to the community or society at large). Because of Canada's wealth and prosperity, it sometimes became abundantly clear to me that we in Canada take so much for granted. In Kenya having just a little is so much more appreciated.

Williams was always eager to be taken on different outings, whether for formal affairs, or just for sightseeing. He had lived in England in his younger years, had fought for the Allies during the Second World War and had a good sense of history. William appeared to be very well educated. He certainly did not seem like a seventy year old man. He was fit, energetic and his mind was very finely tuned. William was a friend to everyone, a very gracious gentleman. His stay with us was truly a gift, a moment in time to be treasured.

We received a letter from William upon his return to Mombasa. We were sad to learn that he had a recurrence of malaria and had to be hospitalized for awhile. We learned a lot from him, not just about his co-operative society, but also about his culture and his personal life. William really bonded with our youngest son, who would make little presents for him and was quite attentive throughout his visit.

We were kind of stunned when we said 'Goodbye' to William at the airport. I even gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Although our family felt very close to William, I could sense a reticence on his part to hug. We came back home somewhat lonely. I couldn't wait to write William to tell him why the skies over Ottawa had been so orange that hot, hot day when he left. It was because of the forest fires burning in Northern Ontario. William had been a fire fighter you see . . .

Equal Access?

Yesterday was my fourth time speaking with a representative of Enbridge Gas about the clause inserted into the Occupancy Agreement, which states:

Members are responsible for all gas and hydro charges during their occupancy. The members shall provide the Co-op with proof that their gas and hydro accounts are in good standing when they provide notice to vacate. In addition, and upon the written request by the Co-op, the members shall provide the Co-op with confirmation that the accounts are in good standing on an annual basis. If a member fails to provide satisfactory evidence of payment of gas and hydro charges, the Co-op shall have the right to request such information on the members account directly from the Utility Company and this agreement shall constitute authority to do so.

The representative, like the reps before her, stated that this action by the co-op is completely unheard of; that it goes against Enbridge's privacy policy; that the utility account is the responsibility of the occupant; that it is not tied to the unit as the Office Co-ordinator stated and that it is completely illegal to force a member to give the co-op access to their utility account, in order to allow them to rent a unit. She also stated that it is equivalent to giving the co-op equal access to your Sear's account. How about we ask the Office Co-ordinator if we can have access to her personal accounts?

We've been living in this co-op for 19 years and have never before been subjected to such a draconian demand. The co-op doesn't just want to view your account - there's more to it than that. Giving equal access of your utility account to the co-op is, in essence, giving them Power of Attorney to make decisions on your account, such as reversing charges upon move out.

More to come ...