Active Agreements

11 Questions for a Lawyer

Since the co-op is considering incorporating in some form, we have been talking to Beloved Community Incubator (BCI) for legal support with this. As a next step, they asked us to answer 11 questions. 

This proposal is to get consensus and agreement on how we'll be answering these 11 questions. We've discussed these questions in a couple of meetings, and already had agreement in several of them.

  1. How do you want the coop to be managed? By an elected board, by the members themselves, by one or more managers?
    1. Relevant membership agreement.
  2. How will major decisions be made? Majority vote, super majority, consensus, modified consensus?
    1. Relevant governance proposal.
  3. What are some decisions that you think should be considered “major”? For example: Deciding when to buy more paper towels vs. deciding to convert your coop bakery into a coop bowling alley.
    1. The current list from the governance proposal is: "proposals that would increase costs to members, use the cooperative's funds, or make changes to the membership agreement."
    2. To ask lawyer: is what we have enough? Are there other major categories/principles we should consider.
  4. Do you want to have committees? What sort of committees might make sense?
    1. We do currently have committees (working groups):
      1. Social & Comms (onboarding)
      2. Products (getting the things)
      3. Governance
      4. Finance (two co-treasurers)
      5. Business Development
  5. Will all workers be members? (i.e. will there be employees that never become members?)
    1. General agreement that paid employees should be members, but would need to be a different category of member (e.g., might not be required to contribute additions labor or pay dues). Would this pose any issues with labor laws? How would this impact which path we choose for legal incorporation?
  6. Will there be a probationary period before a worker can become a member? What is this period?
    1. Relevant proposal on probationary periods. Note that we've also discussed re-evaluating proposals regularly.
  7. Will all the workers have the legal right to work in the U.S.?
    1.  We want anyone to be able to receive payment for if we decide to pay people to do work. Generally in favor of paying employees but want to be able to do so. We don't yet know if these workers will be employees or worker members.
  8. How do you intend to pay your members? Salaries? Commissions? Profit Distributions? Some combination of these?
    1. At the moment we don't intend to pay members, unless (as mentioned above) we hire employees (salaried but also an owner class?). Then they would be salaried. At the moment we don't think we'll be do profit distributions, preferring to re-invest all profit into the co-op.
  9. How will you decide whether to admit new members?
    1. Relevant membership agreement. They must also pass the probationary period.
  10. How will you decide whether to remove/expel members?
    1. Relevant membership agreement.
  11. Is it important to you to use the word “cooperative” in your name?
    1. No

The vote in this proposal is a simple Yes / No on accepting these answers and taking them to BCI to talk to a lawyer.

Results

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Adoption of the Greens & Beans Grocery Co-operative Bylaws

Background

Since its inception, Greens & Beans has grown from an informal organizing group into a functioning community grocery co-operative. During that time, members have approved a number of individual agreements relating to governance, membership, voting, finances, operations, and organizational structure. 

While these individual agreements have helped guide the Co-operative, they currently exist across multiple documents and proposals. This makes it difficult for both current and prospective members to understand the complete governance framework and creates the potential for inconsistencies or uncertainty as the Co-operative continues to grow.

Without a single governing document, the Co-operative faces several challenges:

Although operating policies can continue to evolve over time, the Co-operative also needs a stable set of governing principles that define its organizational structure, membership rights, decision-making processes, and allocation of authority.

Solution

To address this, the Administration Committee has consolidated the approved agreements into a single Bylaws document. The document incorporates standard organizational governance provisions, such as the purpose of the Co-operative, committee structure, dissolution, and the relationship between bylaws and operating policies, while preserving the intent of previously approved member decisions.

The proposed bylaws consolidate previously approved governance decisions into a single document while distinguishing between Bylaws, which establish the Co-operative's core governance framework and require approval by the membership to amend, and Operating Policies, which provide procedures and day-to-day guidance that may be developed and updated by the appropriate committee within the authority established by the bylaws.

If adopted, these bylaws will become the primary governing document of Greens & Beans and supersede any conflicting governance language contained in previously approved standalone proposals. Existing operational policies that are consistent with the bylaws will remain in effect until amended through the appropriate committee process.

Review Process

Members are encouraged to carefully review the draft bylaws before voting and discuss below (in the "Members discussion" section). The review period will remain open for two (2) weeks following distribution of this proposal.

During this time:

The purpose of this review period is to ensure members have sufficient opportunity to understand the proposed bylaws and identify any remaining concerns before a final vote.

Member discussion

In this section, members are invited to share their perspectives before the proposal moves to a vote. If you would like to contribute, please add your name and then statement. If possible, clearly state whether you are "In Favor", "In Favor With Reservations", or "Against" (and why) within your statement. This helps measure overall positions on the proposal. The goal of this section is to capture nuance and surface concerns early, in addition to conversations that happen at meetings and in online communication channels, so that members can make an informed decision.

Results

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Criteria for accepting Customers

Proposal

The cooperative may begin accepting shopping by 'customers' when all of the following criteria are met:

    1. The cooperative has an active business license to operate in DC.
    2. The cooperative is legally allowed to sell products to 'customers' in DC.
    3. The cooperative has its own lease or mortgage in an independent or shared space outside of Luther Place Church, that individuals who are not members may access during set 'shopping hours' (to be determined by membership).
    4. A consensus of active members determines that labor needs are being met by the current membership.
Member discussion

In this section, members are invited to share their perspectives before the proposal moves to a vote. If you would like to contribute, please add your name and then statement. If possible, clearly state whether you are "In Favor", "In Favor With Reservations", or "Against" (and why) within your statement. This helps measure overall positions on the proposal. The goal of this section is to capture nuance and surface concerns early, in addition to conversations that happen at meetings and in online communication channels, so that members can make an informed decision.

Results

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Customer Shopping Policy

This proposal is to allow customers to be able to shop from the coop, while reserving voting privileges to members.

Background

Currently, only members who contribute labor and pay dues are allowed to shop with the coop.

Problem

By restricting shopping to members, we are screening out individuals who might be interested in shopping and joining our coop community at a lower engagement level than current members. Current practice also restricts our sales volume. If the volume of sales were to increase, we would potentially be able in the future to (1) negotiate for lower prices from Chicano Sol (and any other provider) and (2) provide cheaper and higher-quality goods to people in the community.

Solution

This proposal recommends that we open up access to our shelf stock and the Meso app to non-members, provided they are willing to pick their order up from Luther Place Church during our current shopping windows on Sunday and Wednesday (or other negotiated pickup location if necessary). Individuals who shop, do not contribute labor or pay monthly dues, and are not accompanied by a current member will be known as customers, in contrast to members or guests.

Customer Surcharge

The coop reserves the right to institute a percentage surcharge for orders by customers. This surcharge would be raised in the future if a need is assessed, but this proposal recommends a 10% surcharge to start.

Voting Rights

Only members would be able to vote on formal proposals and structural changes to the coop. Customers would be able to share feedback with members, and to respond to informational surveys that the coop may decide to issue.

Results

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Formalizing the proposal and voting process

Context / Problem

Our grocery cooperative values democratic governance and inclusive participation. However, our current voting process lacks standardization, which can lead to inconsistent implementation, unclear timelines, and reduced transparency. Specific challenges we have experienced or aim to avoid include:

To address these concerns, this proposal introduces a structured, predictable, and inclusive voting process to guide future decisions.

Summary

Detailed Standard Voting Process

1. Eligibility

2. Proposal Development

3. Proposal Refinement

4. Formal Submission

5. Ballot Creation

6. Voting

7. Result Sharing and Feedback

Implementation Notes

Results

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Guest Shopping Policy

This proposal is to allow guests to be able to shop from the coop, while reserving voting privileges to members.

Background

Currently, only members who contribute labor and pay dues are allowed to shop with the coop. If members bring a one-time or infrequent (twice a year) guest, they could shop through the member who brought them or we could establish a Guest Purchase policy with a Guest option on the buyer’s list of names.

Problem

By restricting shopping to members, we are screening out individuals who might be interested in shopping and joining our coop community at a lower engagement level than current members. Current practice also restricts our sales volume. If the volume of sales were to increase, we would potentially be able in the future to (1) negotiate for lower prices from Chicano Sol (and any other provider) and (2) provide cheaper and higher-quality goods to people in the community.

Solution

Individuals who come with a member (e.g., visiting family and friends) can purchase items as a guest. Prospective members who come to a social or onboarding event but have not become a dues and labor contributing member can purchase items as a guest. We define "guests" as people who have been invited to shop at the co-op by friends or through co-op organized events (eg. at an onboarding event or social). If co-op members feel that guests have been shopping too regularly, they should address the guest and ask them to become members and contribute labor.

Guest Surcharge

The coop reserves the right to institute a percentage surcharge for orders by guests. This surcharge would be raised in the future if a need is assessed, but this proposal recommends a 10% surcharge to start.

Voting Rights

Only members would be able to vote on formal proposals and structural changes to the coop. Guests would have no voting rights but could offer outside perspective and ideas on how to continue to improve processes or innovate to draw in more members and customers.

Results

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Markup Policy

Context / Problem

Since the co-op moved away from using Venmo for order payments and transitioned to an online payment processor (Stripe), we pay a fee to Stripe for every order we place.

Every time a member places an order, Stripe charges:

Because of these fees, as we process more orders, the co-op spends more on processing costs.

Currently, members contribute monthly dues on a sliding scale from $5 to $20, which help cover operating costs such as inventory loss, gas for pickups, and saving for future rental space. However, dues are not tied to how much members order. As some members place larger or more frequent orders, processing fees increase without a direct link to individual usage. See Annex A.

These fees will increase with more members, orders, and volume and will limit our ability to save for the co-op's future needs. To address this, we are proposing several options for members to consider.

Options to vote on

Option 1: Add 5% markup on all orders

Option 2: Add processing fee amount as markup on all orders

Option 3: Use dues but increase minimum monthly amount

Option 4: Leave as-is (no markup, no dues increase)

Annex A. Monthly revenue and expense calculations

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Results

Option 1 (Add 5% markup on all orders) is the winner after counting 15 ballots using Instant Runoff Voting, with 80% of the votes in the first round. There were 15 valid ballots and 0 empty ballots.

Round 1 (count of first choices):

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You can access a more detailed breakdown of the results at Opavote: https://opavote.com/results/5939081703325696

Quarterly Task Roundup Proposal

by Jon

Background

As previously raised by Hadley in her proposal for task assignment, we have struggled so far with tasks going unassigned and a lack of clarity on who is responsible to find replacements if members drop their assigned tasks for a given week.

Proposal

Quarterly Task Assignment

Beginning this September, once per quarter, the membership will use a regular Sunday meeting time (6 - 7:30 PM) to jointly volunteer for and distribute labor for the rest of that quarter. i.e. At a meeting in September, we will do task assignment for October, November, and December. This will be accomplished on our existing task spreadsheet, with the goal being to fill all open slots for the quarter. If the group wants to spice it up a bit, we can get a physical calendar/whiteboard/easel paper and mark who will take on which task slots as a group activity.

During this meeting, we will add members to existing Whatsapp channels relevant to the tasks they are assigned. If the group decides it makes sense to consolidate/delete/add new channels for groups to coordinate, we will do so. We will also review at this time whether certain tasks are necessary to assign for each week or whether a task can be deleted or completed on an as-needed basis.

If any tasks remain unassigned by 7:30 PM on the day of the review, we will send a message on the General channel the following day asking for volunteers to fill the remaining tasks for the quarter.

Individual Responsibility to Find Replacement

Once the calendar has been filled for the quarter, it is the responsibility of each member to follow through on their assigned tasks. If a member is not able to complete their previously assigned tasks for a given week, they must do the following as soon as they reasonably can, given their circumstances and ability:

  1. Remove their name from the slot in question on the task spreadsheet.
  2. Reach out to the relevant task group channel to find a replacement.
  3. If a replacement can't be found in the smaller group, reach out to the General channel.

Once a replacement is found, that member will add their name to the open slot on the task spreadsheet and becomes responsible for that slot.

Result

Approved by 8 votes out of a quorum of 15

Sign on to the Free DC Local Business Pledge

Proposal

This is a proposal for Greens & Beans to sign on to the Free DC Local Business Pledge.

The pledge, in full, is:

If you own a business and want to join this program, affirm the following pledge by completing the form at the bottom of this page:

  • This business stands for justice and dignity. We are committed to racial equity and protecting the rights of Black, Brown, immigrant, LGBTQ+, disabled, houseless, and working-class neighbors, as well as defending reproductive freedom and union rights.

  • This business is committed to protecting our community from harm. We oppose state violence, including deportations and over-policing, and support public efforts including DC’s public schools, public transportation, and housing affordability measures.

  • This business celebrates and strengthens DC. We are committed to uplifting the culture, history, and voices of DC residents, and protecting Home Rule, supporting democratic governance, and working toward DC statehood.

  • This business endorses Free DC’s campaign principles.

  • This business will not cooperate knowingly and directly with the Trump administration beyond what is legally required.

  • This business will deny consent to ICE or any law enforcement agency attempting to enter private areas of this business without a signed judicial warrant.

  • This business will review Know Your Rights for Businesses information provided by Free DC.

  • This business will display the Free DC decal proudly in your store window.

  • This business will remove the decal from your storefront if you fail to uphold all that you have pledged.

Business owners, affirm this pledge using the form below:

This proposal is for Greens & Beans to sign the pledge. We will describe our business as: "A membership -based grocery co-operative. People interested in bulk purchasing and shopping with us can fill in our interest form on our website: https://greensandbeansgrocery.com"

Member discussion

In this section, members are invited to share their perspectives before the proposal moves to a vote. If you would like to contribute, please add your name and then statement. If possible, clearly state whether you are "In Favor", "In Favor With Reservations", or "Against" (and why) within your statement. This helps measure overall positions on the proposal. The goal of this section is to capture nuance and surface concerns early, in addition to conversations that happen at meetings and in online communication channels, so that members can make an informed decision.

Results

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Trial Period for New Members

As Greens & Beans continues to grow, we should ensure that new members demonstrate consistent interest and engagement with the group before obtaining full membership rights. This will avoid situations where new members join and then stop paying dues or disengage from contributing time/labor shortly afterwards, while retaining their voting rights and store access for the six month grace period currently in place for permanent members in arrears.

To address this, we will institute a three-month trial period for all new members.

The Membership Agreement will be updated as follows:

Membership Process

Once all of the above have been completed, you will be added as a trial member. After completing your responsibilities and remaining in good standing for three consecutive months (payment of monthly dues and order fees, contribution of time/labor, general appropriate conduct), you will become a permanent member. Otherwise, you will be removed as a member at the end of the trial period.

During the trial period, new members can:

During the trial period, new members cannot:

Results

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