September 2022 Council News
from Marilyn Chase, Council President
GreenStar Council News for September 2022
Your Vote Matters!
Council elections and the Partners for Change vote began on Saturday, October 1. This year you can vote for 4 Candidates to fill 4 seats on Council, as well as 10 Partners for Change recipients! We urge you to vote online between October 1 – October 31.
If you have not yet voted and wish to meet the candidates, an online Member Forum is scheduled for Monday, October 17, 6:00 – 7:30 PM. Pease email for more information boardadmin@greenstar.coop
On Monday, October 3rd Council hosted the first in-person Member Meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held at the Ithaca Farmers Market and attended by just over 100 GreenStar member-owners who participated in a planning activity, met our Council Candidates, and engaged in a Q&A session. The food, catered by GreenStar’s kitchen, was phenomenal. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces in person and Council is looking forward to hosting more in-person events in 2023.
Highlights from the August Council Meeting
At its September meeting, Council approved three proposals relevant to the Fall Annual Member Meeting and Council Elections. We appointed tellers for the Council Election, approved an adjusted meeting date from the originally chosen date of October 4th to October 3rd to honor Yom Kippur, and approved a new voting administration system, Simply Voting. This system costs less than our previously utilized platform and provides numerous advantages: the system is more user friendly, will increase efficiency, utilize less staff time, and interface with our online member center. Members should find it very easy to use and will have a record of every vote they have cast.
Council approved a newly developed Code of Conduct Procedure for use when a Council member is out of compliance with Policy C.5 – Council Code of Conduct. We have had a code of conduct policy in place for many years, but never established a procedure to handle code of conduct complaints. It is the responsibility of Council members to be accountable to our bylaws and policies, and to hold each other accountable. A clarified procedure was needed to ensure complaints are handled fairly and consistently.
Other business including the approval of Wegner Associates as our Auditing firm for the 2022 Annual audit. Council also acknowledged that there is no surplus available for distribution of dividends or patronage rebates, and instructed the General Manager to notify our investors and member owners.
You can find details on these items by reviewing the September Council Agenda, which is available on the Council Documents page of the greenstar.coop/ website. Minutes are posted to the website upon approval from Council (typically at the following month’s Council meeting).
Next GreenStar Council Meeting: Tuesday, October 11th beginning at 6:30 PM
Member-Owners are always welcome to attend! Meetings are held online.
Email boardadmin@greenstar.coop for instructions on how to attend. Meeting agendas are posted online 6 days before the meeting at: https://greenstar.coop/council-downloads
Come early for a Conversation with Council!
From 6:00 – 6:30 PM GreenStar members are invited to join Council members for an opportunity to engage in conversation. This 30 minute period is an “open-mic” format and will be recurring – taking place ahead of the GreenStar Council meeting every second Tuesday of the month. Email boardadmin@greenstar.coop for instructions on how to attend.