After all, it is Halloween.

The unsigned memo we all received tonight is obviously a deliberate attempt to suppress the vote in this year’s coop election by making one type of legitimate vote look like a threat.

General proxies are a standard way to vote in all corporate environments, including coops. In fact, when general proxies aren’t encouraged, the result is often a turnout less than a quorum and postponement of the election.

Last year, there were approximately 909 votes cast for board candidates. More than a third were cast by general proxy — more votes were cast by general proxy than were cast by shareholders actually attending the annual meeting.

Traditionally at East River, challengers have favored general proxies over directed proxies. Why? Because the board, with memos like these, has created an air of mistrust around the election process, and cooperators looking to oust the incumbents aren’t comfortable relying on the Coop’s own lawyer to handle their directed proxies properly.

Vote however you like. Of course you should not feel pressured. But if you want to vote for our endorsed candidates — James Keenan, Faith Schreier, Julian Swearengin, and Mike Turner — feel free to do so with one of the proxies attached to our flyers (or download one here: for building 1, building 2, building 3, or building 4).