Mark Thorne, Board President
October 1, 2024, Board Meeting Recap
Autumn is here and the air is filled with the scent of pumpkin spice, and an occasional humongous dust storm! Fall wheat seeding is under way, but the soil is dry and hopefully rain is headed our way.
The Moscow Food Co-op Board of Directors held their October Board meeting on Tuesday the 1 st at the 1912 Center from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Present were seven of our nine Board members, our General Manager and Co-op staff, our meeting facilitator, and one Co-op owner.
The General Manager presented her monitoring report for the B4 Membership Rights and Responsibilities policy, which covers owner equity, patronage dividends, and transparency of owner rights and responsibilities. Equity payments are the cost of being a Co-op Owner and dividend payments are made once a year when there are adequate funds to pay out to owners. Owner rights and responsibilities are listed in the Co-op bylaws and Board policies, and through meeting announcements in-store and on the Co-op’s website, social media, and all Co-op publications. Data for this policy indicated policy compliance and the Board voted unanimously to accept the monitoring report as such. Additional details from the October meeting can be found in the General Manager’s FYI report on the Meetings and Minutes page of the Co-op’s webpage.
The Board reviewed its C7 Board Committee Principles policy covering definitions, responsibilities, and limitations of Board committees. The policy states that the Board will use committees only to help accomplish the Board’s job. Over the past year, the Board has made some adjustments to the policy charters and committee compositions that will help our committees focus on their responsibilities to enhance Board processes. Committees are essential to the Board’s work to help the Co-op better serve its owners. After reviewing and discussing the policy monitoring report, we voted to accept the monitoring report in compliance with the policy.
In other business, the Board voted to continue our subscription to the Cooperative Board Leadership Development Program that provides consulting and educational opportunities essential to our work. In addition, we discussed meeting times for next year and considered Monday evening Board meetings rather than Tuesdays. The discussion will continue in November.
For our Study and Engagement Series, Mark and Vicki Leeper gave a presentation about the Disability Action Center NW (DAC). The DAC’s mission is to help people live independently with self-determination, equal opportunity, and self-respect. Their objective with independent living is that people with disabilities have the same choices and control as non-disabled people to live and to be in control of their lives. The DAC started out as North Idaho CIL and part of the Stepping Stones, Inc. in 1990, and then became DAC as a 501c3 nonprofit in 1993. Since then, DAC has evolved to provide many important services. Mark and Vicki’s presentation illustrated how disabilities can create barriers for people. Their presentation also illustrated the dedication and compassion members of DAC have in bringing independent living to those with disabilities.
More information can be found on the Disability Action Center’s website at https://dacnw.org/. Our Study and Engagement Series helps Board and staff members become better informed about issues and activities that affect our community. One of the Seven Cooperative Principles states that we have “Concern for Community,” and listening to people describe issues of concern in our community is directly tied to our Ends.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for November 5, 2024, in the Fiske Room at the 1912 Center (412 E 3rd St, Moscow, ID). The meeting will run from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Current Co-op owners can attend in person or via Zoom. To attend via Zoom, contact the Board Administrative Assistant at boardadmin@moscowfood.coop for more information and to RSVP.
Further information about our Board meetings is at https://www.moscowfood.coop/board-meetings.
Sincerely,
Mark Thorne, Board President
Moscow Food Co-op Ends Policy
The Moscow Food Co-op is at the heart of a thriving, healthy, and inclusive community where:
1. We embody and embrace cooperative principles and values.
2. All community members have local access to environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and healthful choices.