STaTemenT From Board memBer STacey FranciS

Good Morning Fellow Shareholders,

To all who showed up or logged in via Zoom and witnessed/heard the chaos of the Cooperators’ Session on Monday, April 22, 2023: ruleS goVerning The cooPeraTorS SeSSion

Serving as a duly elected board director is a strictly volunteer position. Shareholders who sit / have sat on the board are stewards of the corporation’s finances, must seek professionals to deal with day-to-day operations, and cultivate cooperative living.

Board members receive training from management and DHCR in order to properly fulfill their legal obligations. We, also further that education by attending workshops and other cooperative meetings.

The Cooperators’ portion of the Board Meeting is the venue where shareholders bring their concerns to the board and management in a public forum. It was never designed to be a dais where volunteer board members are quizzed on Private Housing Finance Laws and or the history of Rochdale. Nor is it the venue to accuse board members of censorship, racism, fascism or genocide.

The board consists of various age groups, genders, and work status. Serving on the board is a part of our lives which we balance with working, elder care, rearing children/ grandchildren etc.

So, I want to encourage you to continue to attend your monthly board meeting despite the bullying that took place last night. I pray we all agree as a community of color that bullying has no place in the village.

Peace and blessings!

• The Cooperators session will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

• Cooperators will sign up for speaking time using the sign-up sheet which will be available at 6:30 p.m.. The sign-up sheet requests the following information: Name, Building/Section, Apartment Number and if the cooperator is representing an organization.

• Speaking times are as follows: three (3) minutes for cooperators and five (5) minutes for cooperators who represent an organization.

• The Board Member who is chairing the Cooperators session has the authority to rule a cooperator out of order and terminate their speaking time if their language becomes abusive or their conduct becomes threatening. If a cooperator is ruled out of order because of conduct or language, they must leave the podium.