Local 20/20’s Steering Council approved sending the below letter to the Port Townsend Co-op board at its 12/18/24 meeting.
Local 20/20: Working together to foster a regenerative, sustainable, resilient, equitable, and inclusive community in Jefferson County through both action and education.
Dear Co-op Board,
We are writing to you, Council-to-Board because we feel that leaders in the community need to step up during difficult times. As some of you already know, the Local 20/20 Steering Council functions as the oversight organization for Local 20/20’s Action Groups, but via a Council vs a Board. Like you, we have bylaws we must follow, the public is always welcome to attend our Council meetings, and we work very hard to be diligent in our procedures so that we maintain the trust of the community.
The Local 20/20 Steering Council has been paying attention to events going on at the Port Townsend Food Co-op, following the news in the Port Townsend Leader, the Jefferson County Beacon, on FaceBook, and at the Co-op board meetings. The Port Townsend Food Co-op has always been a key part of the sustainable, resilient community we all want to create here in Jefferson County, and we are concerned about recent accusations that you have acted in violation of your bylaws. We encourage you to undertake a very public investigation of these possible bylaw violations, specifically regarding the calling of a special meeting without prior notice and the removal of a board member for subjective reasons, We all have a Duty of Obedience to our bylaws and for the good of the community, we encourage full transparency and compassionate communication as you work with an independent organization that can assess possible lapses in procedures. We recommend this because it is what we would do were we ever to find ourselves in a similar position.
In May 2024, the Local 20/20 Steering Council undertook a facilitated session led by Usawa to examine our DEI practices, and we found the experience to be both emotionally challenging and incredibly useful. Page 15 of The Co-Op Policy Register specifically notes
Item 4: Seek, encourage, and listen to people with diverse experiences and perspectives.
Item 5. Cultivate systems and practices for navigating challenging conversations, supporting deep listening, and working towards conflict resolution.
Given that this is your stated policy, we encourage you to undertake similar training as a board, and to extend it to every employee of the co-op. We would be happy to connect you with our facilitator.
We are following through on our own mission statement when we mention our observation of the two-phase, pre-registration hurdle you place between member-owners and their ability to participate in and comment at your meetings. We acknowledge the deep emotional difficulties of listening to dissent and disagreement, but in the spirit of openness, we encourage you to revisit your meeting practices so that every member-owner and every employee of the co-op feels not only that they are welcome to participate in meetings but also that each person leaves every meeting knowing that their concerns have been listened to, understood, and taken under thoughtful consideration. Jefferson County is a place of truly cooperative spirit and we encourage you to lean into this.
Board duty is difficult, and we acknowledge the burden you’re carrying as you work your way through this.
Sincerely,
Local 20/20 Steering Council
