[Community_garden] Locking garden gates?

[Ken Hargesheimer]

Jack's email below is the ideal. We have used that process in our
neighborhood association meetings for years and never has there been a
"fight" or no coming together.  The most truth he stated is about time but
all walk away feeling good about it

Ken Hargesheimer.

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 4:35 PM, Jack Hale <jackh at knoxparks.org> wrote:

>  We get these kinds of challenges when groups haven't decided how they
> are going to make decisions before they have to get into actually making
> them - the "no process" model.  Bill's "one person-one vote, majority
> rules" model is one way to go.  It does mean that you can make a
> decision in challenging circumstances, but it also means that you get
> winners and losers and the likelihood that the same issue will keep
> coming around.  I tend to prefer some kind of consensus model.  It
> drives some people crazy because it can be very time consuming, but it
> can allow an apparently fractious group to move forward positively
> without kicking some folks to the curb.
> For example, the "lock/no lock" discussion, if there are strong
> proponents on each side, appears difficult to resolve.  Alternate
> solutions might look like "try a lock for a month and revisit at our
> next meeting," or "lock at night and leave open during the day," or "try
> some other security methods for a month and revisit at our next
> meeting," or something else.  It involves people spending the time and
> exercising the creativity to arrive at a mutually acceptable course of
> action.  It is not unanimity.  People still hang onto their core
> beliefs, but they can arrive at a course of action while agreeing to
> disagree.
> Neither process is necessarily perfect in all situations.  Both can
> require some skill and practice to use well, so that voting doesn't
> become a blunt instrument and consensus doesn't turn into a confusing
> mess.  I believe it's worth the effort either way.
> Sometimes a good battle is also a good impetus for a group to talk about
> its values and ways to realize them in their decision making.
> Good luck to us all.
> JH
>
>
> Jack N. Hale
> Executive Director
> Knox Parks Foundation
> 75 Laurel Street
> Hartford, CT 06106
> 860/951-7694
>
>
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