The results look a little like President Ronald Reagan's lopsided re-election victory of 1984.
By a tally of 2,557 to 147, Willy Street Co-op members have authorized the board of directors to select a second retail site for the natural-foods grocery store. The vote, counted yesterday, frees the board to negotiate the site in confidence, without further direct input from members.
The measure had provoked some protest. In an Apr. 19 Capital Times opinion piece called "Keeping potential site for new co-op secret is wrong," co-op member Bridget Birdsall wrote, "No site is worth watering down our democratic process and risking the loss of our greatest asset: the collective wisdom, feedback, support and goodwill of our members." Other members commenting on the process were John McNamara and John Benninghouse. More discussion of the vote can also be found on TDPF.
But the overwhelming margin suggests that co-op members trust their board, and also that they are ready to get on with it. The search for a new site began four years ago.
