Online Alternative to Decision-Making
Dear Coop members,
Thanks to everyone who came to the September GM and shared their thoughts on the proposal to create an online, asynchronous alternative to decision-making. The item was postponed, allowing us to further consider members’ concerns around forum moderation, staff commitments and other topics.
I’m interested in getting more detailed thoughts from those who spoke (and everyone else!), in particular:
- For those with concerns about moderation, what do you think of Discourse’s base guidelines (and accompanying blog post with rationale for said guidelines)? What do you think is an acceptable response time by moderators? Do you think any of the following moderation features would be helpful or harmful?
- Limiting the number of consecutive replies by a single non-thread-owner member?
- Limiting the minimum and maximum number of characters in a reply?
- Requiring a certain period of time between replies to a thread by a single member?
- Temporarily closing a topic under certain conditions (e.g., if the mod queue reaches a certain length; if a thread has a certain percentage of flagged/hidden/removed replies; regularly overnight)?
- Limiting specific agenda items to GM only? By what process? One idea: If the sponsor requests it during agenda-item submission and the GM reaches a certain threshold of first-week GM signups after the item is scheduled.
- For those interested in a pilot program for the forum, what does that mean to you? What questions would you like the pilot to answer? Should all members get access, or only a select group?
- For those with suggested amendments, send them my way!
Please email me at psfc.async.prop@gmail.com to share your thoughts on these topics, or any other topic related to the proposal, thanks!
Sincerely,
Yejia Chen
Food Bagging Concerns
To the Coop:
My grandson has severe food allergies that include tree nuts. His allergies are such that he even has a health para in school. I recently bought a small bag of peanuts packaged by members. Imagine how I felt when I emptied the bag into the food I was preparing for a holiday dinner and found a cashew in the middle of the peanuts. Thank goodness I saw it immediately, but I had to throw out the food.
Please, fellow members, take really good care when you are bagging food. There are people for whom one tree nut or two sesame seeds will spark an allergic reaction. Their well-being depends on you.
Thank you for your attention,
Judith Foster
Saddam Hussein Elections 1995 and 2002
Dear Coop members,
People who were not adults in the 1990s may not be aware of these historic events. Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, held two referendums. There was one open position and only one candidate on the ballot. The country declared Saddam Hussein won by over 99% of the vote.
Our GM on August 25 had an agenda item to elect members for the two open positions on the Personnel Committee. There were two candidates for the two open positions. The process where the interested members are vetted by committees before they are put on the ballot was news to me. It did remind me of Saddam Hussein’s practice of one position and one candidate—himself—and mandatory participation by the population.
The proposal to change the election practice was deferred to the next meeting. I do hope members read this before the next GM.
Sincerely,
Amol Kaikini
Ideas for Improvement
Dear Coop,
I wonder if we could bring back more cohesive and social work shifts. It’s difficult to get any sort of momentum under the current system, with people coming and going from one shift to the next.
For a year or maybe more, SUVs and vans have been parking on the sidewalk in front of Scottadito restaurant next to the firehouse. I called the cops once, and they did nothing about it. Is the Coop community going to tolerate this on our block? We have a liaison to the firehouse—has this person reached out to Scottadito and the firehouse about the situation? The Coop does not exist in a vacuum: We are part of a community spanning our own block and Park Slope. If we do not protest this parking impunity, figuring this is none of our business, this will send a green light that we look the other way and do not care about lawlessness.
Is there an actual policy regarding filming or taking photos in the Coop? Who is allowed to pursue this, who gives permission at the Coop, and on what basis? Recently, an article came out in the Forward about the Coop, which had me in the frame while I was waiting in line. No one asked my permission, and while I don’t resent the situation, it made me wonder how these decisions get made.
Recently, Zohran Mamdani proposed a network of publicly owned food grocery stores to address affordability and food insecurity. While this is certainly understandable, given the affordability crisis, I am perplexed why food cooperatives have been left out of the picture. Why isn’t Mamdani proposing food cooperatives, which are more sustainable and democratic than his current scheme? Has the Coop reached out to city government?
Sincerely,
Nikolas Kozloff
Low prices: No longer a Coop birthright
Dear Coop members,
For the nearly 20 years that I have been a member of the Coop, I thought that the low-price/high-quality product value of the Coop made “putting up with” the unique challenges of the place worthwhile. The cramped, unpleasant experience of shopping at the Coop seemed justified by the price/value relationship.
Unfortunately, recent events have caused me to reevaluate the overall “Is it worth it?” question. I landed on the answer of “no.” Surprisingly, in part because the Coop no longer provides a compelling value in the products it sells.
On a recent shopping trip, the prices of several items in my basket (fresh blueberries, frozen berries, and Borax soap powder) were at least one dollar higher than prevailing prices at other neighborhood grocers.
After Covid, when we all “pulled together” as a community in support of the Coop’s broader mission, we were also asked to put up with an increased markup. I justified continuing to shop at the Coop because I felt good about the values of the place and I enjoyed the social interaction (one recent letter writer called it their “third space”—I felt that way too).
After this spring’s contentious general meetings and generally hyperpolitical atmosphere, I decided enough was enough.
The store Syms used to have a slogan: “An educated consumer is our best customer.” You can no longer say that about the Coop. Coop prices are HIGH. This is also driven by a retail environment that has changed dramatically, with new physical entrants (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Lidl, specialty stores) and endless online options.
For the Coop to thrive, it needs members to spend more money to drive volume (and reduce prices). Maybe all of the political agitators should have considered this as they foisted their agenda on the broader community.
Sincerely,
Jed Meyer
Helping in Venezuela
To the Editor,
Apropos of Sonia Alio’s fine August 18 article about contributing to organizations that are helping the victims of the earthquake in Venezuela, I add that the organization World Jewish Relief is also helping. Contributions can be made via the organization’s website:
https://www.worldjewishrelief.org/venezuela-earthquake/
Thank you,
Irvin Schonfeld
Diners
Dear Coop members,
A wonderful article on Park Slope diners failed to mention that the original Purity was on Seventh Avenue and Union Street. Across Union was the Economy—where folks went when lines to Purity were too long. The writer also should have mentioned Terrace on Fifth Avenue and Garfield, the Seventh Avenue donut diner near Eighth Street, Little Purity on Seventh Avenue and 11th Street; and there is also the Fifth Avenue Diner near Ninth Street.
Sincerely,
Steve Viuker
Bring Back the Bike Valet
To the Editor,
For a brief time, the PSFC offered a bike valet service. It was great. Shoppers on bikes did not need to bring locks (opening up weight and space for groceries); the area was covered in the event of rain; and, most importantly, there was plentiful room. The service ended for reasons I don’t know, and not reviving the program represents a missed opportunity to embrace greener city living. Biking and other non-car movement is on the rise, and the PSFC is woefully short on bike racks. The three or so racks in front of the entry are always packed, making a hazard for walkers. Please bring the bike valet service back.
Sincerely,
Amelia Wilson
The General Coordinators Respond
Dear Amelia,
We appreciate your interest in making biking more accessible and convenient for Coop members. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to offer the bike valet service because we no longer have access to the space in front of the wall where it was previously located. We were able to use that space with the permission of the principal of St. Francis Xavier School on President Street. However, since the Department of Education took over the building, the space is no longer available for the Coop’s use.
Additionally, our operations sometimes require the use of portions of the sidewalk, which must take priority over bike valet parking.
As an alternative, we encourage you to contact the NYC Department of Transportation to request the installation of additional city bike racks along Union Street.
In cooperation,
The General Coordinators