[Community_garden] Locking garden gates?

[Mike McGrath]

Dudes! 'Government' that works--what a concept!
                                                            ---McG
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Hargesheimer" <minifarms at gmail.com>
To: "Jack Hale" <jackh at knoxparks.org>
Cc: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 6:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Locking garden gates?


> 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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