April 1, 2025
By Nikia Dawkins
At the start of February’s General Meeting, Chair David Moss announced that the Dispute Resolution Committee election would be postponed, which left just one issue on the official agenda. It was an issue that elicited excitement, frustration and personal accusations, an issue near and dear to the hearts of many—the Coop bulletin board. During an evening spent discussing hybrid meetings, unexpected financial loss and the search for a new general manager, the most hotly debated issue of the night was where this hypothetical bulletin board should be located.
But first, the open forum began with an impassioned plea from member Spike Kahn about the need for hybrid meetings. While wearing a mask, Kahn argued that hybrid meetings would allow more accessibility for members like herself who are immunocompromised or otherwise unable to attend in person, adding that they would also be more democratic because Prospect Park’s Picnic House is not large enough to accommodate the entire Coop community. Later, during the General Coordinators’ Reports, Joe Szladek addressed concerns that the GCs are fundamentally against hybrid meetings. “We are not opposed to considering it,” he said, “but are concerned about the impact and how it will be implemented.” He went on to raise the following questions: How do we ensure that only Coop members have access and that no one video records or screenshots the meetings? How do we determine who can be remote and who must be there in person? And, finally, how much will it cost? Szladek advised that one tech company gave him a quote of $4,000 per meeting. “And when I asked if we could DIY, they laughed,” he said. Szladek floated the idea that we could, perhaps, purchase equipment and use skilled member labor instead of a third party, but right now there are more questions than answers. He bemoaned that a lot of these issues weren’t properly addressed by those who initially proposed the idea. “Yes, they were!” said Carol Wald from the audience, after which a few other members raised their hands to speak on the topic, but Chair Moss determined there wasn’t enough time left for discussion on the matter.
General Manager Joe Holtz presented the Treasurer’s Report, in which he compared the financial projections from 2023 to the financial actualities of 2024. It had been projected that the Coop would have a positive gain of $25,000, but the Coop actually lost $420,000. Sales last year were up 6.68%, but income was down due to a lower markup and higher-than-expected expenses, including health benefits, electronic payment fees, and business insurance. The unexpected portion of the expenses totaled $438,000, with the bulk of that being the unexpected increase in health benefits, which cost $312,000 more than projected. However, despite these negative variances, the Coop still ended the year with $247,000 in positive cash flow. So, overall, there was an increase in cash despite a loss of income. A few members requested more information about the unexpected increase in expenses. Holtz explained that health insurance rates are skyrocketing across the country, adding that the Coop did tweak the employee health plan to save a little money, and now it is more expensive to seek treatment out-of-network. With regard to insurance, he wanted to make sure the Coop could be rebuilt if it were, say, hit by an asteroid or otherwise demolished, so coverage had to be increased. Finally, Holtz shared that he’s working on getting into a program that will lower fees for electronic payments and that the newly extended shopping hours will also help improve Coop finances.
Later, during the General Coordinators’ Reports, Elinoar Astrinsky outlined several ways that members can also help to cut costs. She said that members are now being used for front end support on the shopping floor, a decision designed to decrease staff hours. She suggested that members sign up for squad leader roles and repair shifts to further decrease the Coop’s expenses. Most of the repair work requires skill and expertise (so if you are experienced, please sign up!), but some of the work can be done by almost anyone, such as painting. She stressed that using member labor instead of hired help saves a lot of money, and that many squad leaders are aging out or retiring, so we need a new generation to step up. On a similar note, Chairwoman and Board Member Imani Q’ryn informed the crowd that she would be retiring in June, which means that we will need a new chair committee member and a new board member to replace her.
Valerie Vadala from the Personnel Committee said they were still reviewing candidates for the new General Manager and had whittled the pool down to four people who would be interviewed in the coming weeks. She said that replacing Joe Holtz, who’s been with us for 50 years, won’t be easy. They’re looking for someone both innovative and with the appropriate level of experience, who can handle the volume and intensity of the Coop.
Speaking on behalf of the International Trade Education Committee, Bart DeCoursy reported that Trump’s tariffs would begin on April 2, raising U.S. inflation by 0.8%. He encouraged members to visit BlueSky for more information as the economic impact will be ongoing and extensive.
At this point, the meeting moved to the official agenda, and Keyian Vafai gave a presentation explaining the history of the Coop bulletin board, from its initial creation in the 1980s to its removal in 2020 due to Covid precautions and fire code regulations. There is now an official Coop-business-only bulletin board in the corner entrance, and he proposed that members should be allowed to use it as well. His presentation was followed by that of Katheryn Keller, who argued that reinstating the bulletin board would foster connection, provide access to trustworthy local resources, and encourage non-digital engagement. A small-business owner herself, she said that over the years, she was able to find a pet sitter, a subletter and multiple clients via the old bulletin board, and she believes that reinstating it would create a lifeline for service providers and freelancers, as well as a shared information hub for events and opportunities. She also presented the results of a member survey she created to determine the level of interest in the bulletin board, and although she was only able to survey 375 out of 17,000 members, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Almost everyone seemed excited about the bulletin board—so excited, in fact, that there was a flurry of ideas. For every idea, however, there was an opposing idea, and for every point a counterpoint. The main issues revolved around the location of the bulletin board and the supervision of its content. Two members were extremely concerned that Vafai, who is a vocal supporter of Palestine, would weaponize the bulletin board to promote and organize the BDS movement. Vafai calmly replied, “I won’t be running it,” which left members arguing over whether anyone needed to run it. As for its location, members were divided on whether it should be located in the corner entrance (which is, perhaps, too small for such use), in the stairwell (where it originally existed but which may not meet fire code regulations or provide enough accessibility), just outside the Coop (which could exacerbate the Coop’s current litter problem), or in place of the lockers near the entrance. The animated discussion was ultimately ended by Chair Moss because it was “really in the weeds.”
The Board then voted to approve the minutes of the January GM after no one had any suggested changes, and the meeting disbanded.
Nikia Dawkins is a creative writer, journalist, and night owl.