Cooperatively Yours has been a loose affiliation of shareholders meeting irregularly to discuss life at the coop and share ideas for improvements to our community. We’ve had two very productive open meetings — one after Sandy, to discuss emergency preparedness, and another this past spring to examine the financial strength of the co-op. We’ve helped to promote initiatives such as the community garden, Halloween trick-or-treating, and the recent chili cook-off by providing an online platform and communication tools. And we’ve used our website, Facebook page, and volunteers to distribute information to shareholders and invite feedback.
This fall we are be working on a new mission: to increase participation in the annual election and shareholder meeting, and to further engage cooperators in the betterment of East River. Our general principles were agreed to at our outdoor meeting in June. More specific proposals are being distributed throughout the coop and can be found online here.
We are also endorsing candidates for the board of directors who have participated in our previous meetings and share our general principles:
LEE BERMAN is a second-generation East River cooperator who has previously served one term on the board. He has a law degree and works for the City of New York.
PETER HERB is a real estate lawyer who served as president of the board at his previous cooperative home in the West Village.
HEATHER HUBBS is director of New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), a non-profit collective of contemporary artists with headquarters on Chrystie Street.
DON MATHISEN is a native New Yorker and professional journalist and has lived at East River since 2002.
We will have more information about these proposals and these candidates in the weeks ahead, and welcome your initial comments below.