From the Director’s Seat: Listening, Engaging, Acting and Governing

By Alan Weisberg, Board President

If you have been following the news and/ or our social media channels, by now you know that BriarPatch is “Growing” to Auburn. Alongside the many challenges of operating a grocery store during a pandemic, the Auburn store is the buzz at BriarPatch among staff and the Board. In the Co-op’s 45-year history, this is a huge milestone.

I see the main purpose of these columns from the Board President as an effort to inform our members about the workings of the Board in its governance role for BriarPatch. So, in writing about our expansion to Auburn, I will stick to the issue of governance—an account of how the Board plans to exercise its responsibility to continue fair and effective governance as BriarPatch grows into a new community.

All co-ops are committed to “democratic owner control.” It is the Board’s job to ensure that the hundreds and eventually thousands of new members in the Auburn area feel their voice can be heard not just about the food in their new store, but also the positive impact on their community.

Recent events in Washington D.C. bring to the forefront the challenges that exist for a democracy to remain accountable to its people. I refer, of course, to the horrid mob attack on democracy that took place in our national Capitol as Congress met to accept the Electoral College’s report on the results of the 2020 presidential election.

It is the Board’s job to ensure that the hundreds and eventually thousands of new members in the Auburn area feel their voice can be heard not just about the food in their new store, but also the positive impact on their community.

During a two-year period beginning around 2005, our Board suffered from its own troubling divisions, and these hurt the Co-op. We struggled to regain our footing after finding that our governing documents and procedures were minimal and not helpful during a time of dissension. It took a lot of hard work by a lot of committed people to turn this around. In fact, our governance restructuring work received national recognition for Cooperative Excellence— the highest reward given at the 2018 national food co-op conference.

Our clear rules about how we operate as a policy board, and how we relate to our General Manager and staff, give me confidence that the Board will continue to shine as our reach expands. Here are some highlights of how we plan to incorporate the Auburn community in our democratic governance. We will:

• continue to work closely with a core group of co-operators (formerly called the Central Square Co-op) in Auburn who had been working for several years to form a food co-op and who we recently asked to join-up with BriarPatch, rather than open a store on their own;

• encourage Auburn residents to “attend” (by Zoom) and participate in our meetings in the months to come, especially when the Board addresses policies relating to the Auburn store;

• invite Auburn residents to join the Coop and to participate in our governance now to join our board development and community engagement committees as they seek creative ways to build the BriarPatch spirit in Auburn; and

• support and expand efforts already underway by our staff to understand the Auburn community, especially local farmers and non-profit organizations.

I, and all of our Board Directors, welcome your thoughts and ideas for integrating with the Auburn community in the months leading up to the mid-2022 opening of BriarPatch Auburn.

And speaking of democracy, our annual election for three seats on the Board of Directors is coming up in mid-May. It’s all about voting.