To My Friends of Citizens Co-op Workers Union, An open letter to the board & management at Citizens Co-op: In light of recent events, the firing of five workers under the management of Ms. McNett on the heels of an outraged group of members at the last board meeting only two weeks ago, I strongly feel that there are members of the board and members of management (perhaps only McNett now that G. McIntyre has left her post as Financial Manager) whose vision of the cooperative model has diverged in practice from its original inception. To me, a cooperative model means there is no GM dictating and delegating, there is no board inciting fear and hidden agendas. It is accessible by and for all: worker-owners, member-owners, etc. It is a business run by people who work for the betterment of the food justice system and specialize in specific areas that bring more awareness to the cooperatives purchasing practices and by extension the member-owners, themselves. In some ways Citizens has clung to those ideals in large part by the worker-owners, in other ways it has come up short. It is with great appreciation that I recognize the enormity with which I am presenting this model and asking its current board members, current management, and worker-owners to uphold. In my mind it is the model presented and sold to me before the doors were open. A collective group of consciously driven folks out to make the community a better place, one co-op visit at a time. It is a model that requires us all to participate and to participate with a consciousness at all times on its mission. It is a grueling model, at times slow to move for all of the cooperative communication that must ensue for the cooperative business model to be a practice rather than an idea. The cooperative model is one that demands meeting tension amongst one another and difference of opinion directly with communication. Admittedly, I also recognize the difficulty of this task. It takes a commitment and dedication to place yourself in tense and uncomfortable situations in order to keep the model in tact. I believe we are at such a moment and I am writing this to you to hold the mirror up to those who still believe the current state of Citizens is the fault of the worker-owners and see no fault of their own tied to where the co-op stands today. I am also writing to state my commitment to seeing this vision extend well into the lifetime of my own children and the next generation growing up in Gainesville. For some time it has been only financially, rather than volunteer work, that my family and I could commit to the co-op. However, we did so whole-heartedly. We have consistently been one of Citizens top shoppers and make it a priority to support a business model whose very existence is built upon ensuring basic food justice equalities. I remember when questions, comments, and ordering were all done by pen and pad sitting by what used to be the coffee bar. We have waited out the kinks and dealt with what we were dealt, rather than taking on bigger roles. I recognize how foolish that was and am committed to using the vote and voice I have in this share of business. If the workers feel they cannot address the board, currently or in the past, a dangerous precedent has obviously been set. (It has been well established by comments from previous and current worker-owners, alongside my own personal experiences that the ideals put forth by its founders have not been upheld or fairly practiced with any consistency since Citizens opened.) I am also quite offended at member emails sent by the board and statements made by board members and management that the worker-owners have in effect been the uncooperative, thieving, hostile culprits; moreover, I am offended that anyone would think me or anyone else that clueless that we do not clearly see that the workers have been without rights and a voice for so long that they werent reaching out to us members in desperation because their livelihood was directly threatened in the ways that others fired or resigned were kind enough not to report until now. I do not wish to receive anymore emails that attempt to cover this up, It is dishonest and condescending. It is my understanding that many of the workers and board members who have either stepped down or been fired share the same sentiment about the environment fostered behind closed doors by previous and current boards and current management. Every board member may not be accountable for every incident, every mis-step that has occurred since Citizens opened its doors to the public two years ago, but at some point each of you must come to some conscious conclusion that what is being practiced right now is against good sense and against the coops very mission. I am asking that the current board members and management who have been directly named by the Citizens Co-op Worker Union as uncooperative, hostile, and unapproachable take a moment to recognize how far from this mission they have become. In addition, I would ask that those same members and management consider resigning. In the last few weeks I have read over Citizens mission statement, their vision, the Articles. Because there is no clause in the Articles stating a member may call a membership meeting to remove members I asked in my previous email to you that those members unwilling and uncooperative in their intentions remove themselves. I am now making a formal petition to the Board to amend the Articles to state that membership may call a member meeting and create such procedures that allow for the removal of board members. In addition, I am petitioning for a major re-structuring of the way the board practices the cooperative model from here on out; this should include its GM position and the person currently holding it. Citizens Co-op as a cooperative model was not meant to be a top-down business model. At some point in the fear of closing its doors due to financial loss, it became important to bring someone in like Ms McNett whose strategy is to clean house and turn a profit. It is important to make financial gains, and I would love to receive a dividend at the end of each fiscal year in store credit back to the co-op, but not at the cost of the basic principles its by-laws ask each of us to uphold. (I digress to point out that in a recent year end newsletter Ms McIntyre has even pointed to the coops success in comparison to other food cooperatives on a timeline.) In then end what is a profit turning business if it is not running based on what its members signed on, paid dues, and diligently shop at to sustain? If the ideology behind its conception is lost on practice, it becomes, at best, another locally run business; at worst, it is an eye-sore of a lie. I hold every single member, worker, and board member accountable moving forward and will no longer be a silent voice awaiting the change I want to see. My most sincere loyalty is and will be to the co-op and the people who uphold its most valued principles. I believe the worker-owners share these values, are fighting for these values, and have been wrongly faulted for trying to uphold these value. My husband and I will vote and voice our single family-share vote in support of the Citizens Co-op Workers Union worker-owners until those board members and management they hired agree to make right on the duties they volunteered and are paid to uphold. Your loyal co-op member, Katie Conley
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 02:18:50 +0000
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