Juri jennings

The Port Townsend Food Co-op is a great grocery store. Since joining the board, I’ve seen active member-owners, who are responsible for 80% of store purchases, grow to more than 7,000. The store supports the food bank and local farms and producers; it is one of the bigger employers in the community.

It has also made strong efforts to become more accessible to people with tighter budgets. In general, I find it a friendly and forward-thinking place to shop with my two young kids.  

For the past seven years, I’ve believed in the Food Co-op’s mission and faithfully served on the Board of Directors, including as Board President.

However, in light of the recent dismissal of Cameron Jones from the Board on July 29, which I consider a great injustice, I resigned from the board the next day. I cannot believe that the content of the grievances relayed by Cameron could even lead to his expulsion. Especially after we on the Co-op board had put in place policies that prevent us from singling out a voice, regardless of uncomfortable conversations, and agreed to “seek, encourage, and listen to people with diverse experiences and perspectives.”

I believe we urgently need to have a deep dialogue about equity and inclusion. I also strongly disagree with the decisions made at the last executive session and feel the need to publicly voice my thoughts on what I believe to be the Board’s failure to comply with its own written policies and bylaws. 

The Co-op’s by-laws require the board to “hold regular and special meetings at such time and place as it shall determine. …All directors shall be notified in writing of said meeting at least five (5) days in advance, unless the Board agrees to a shorter notice… The Board will provide ten (10) days’ notice of all board meetings to member-owners. Meetings shall be open to all member-owners unless the Board decides to go into executive session regarding confidential or proprietary matters …”

That’s not what happened. I was at my day job when an impromptu meeting was called for that evening. The call came without any clear written agenda, even after several board members asked for one.

I didn’t even know impromptu meetings were allowed. Details of the incident that allegedly justified removal, as well as the resulting motion for removal, were not communicated to the entire Executive Committee (of which I was a member). Despite a call for a meeting that failed to express the bare minimum of the agenda, an urgency to be there and vote was heavily emphasized.

The process for Cameron’s removal was not in compliance with our explicitly stated “Governing Style.” Rather, it was unilateral. Diverse perspectives were vilified, conversation was difficult to navigate, and the Board abandoned its explicit commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Although the vote was conducted in accordance with by-laws requiring a decision by 2/3 of the remaining Directors, it was never made clear, either in the motion to remove or by the members supporting the motion, exactly what the grounds for removal really were. 

To me, the only reason for the removal was that certain Board members did not feel like dealing with the issues that Cameron was trying to raise. Simply saying that a Director’s conduct is “contrary to the Co-op” does not make it true. There should have at least been a written record pointing to specific evidence that justified removal.

Cameron was a great board member. He turned in well-written monitoring reports on time, attended board meetings and committee meetings, responded to emails thoughtfully, and brought in an underrepresented perspective. He also lent the Board his expertise as a permaculturist, farmer, grant writer, equity proponent, yogi, and former staff member. These were the reasons I asked Cameron to be on the board in the first place. 

During what I believe to be the three months Cameron’s removal was being planned, Cameron and I felt that we were making progress on the equity work that we had promised our member-owners. We drafted what an Equity Committee would look like, updated the Board on our progress during board meetings, and sent out requests for proposals (RFP’s) to numerous equity consultants who could best help guide the Co-op Board. I feel we were taken advantage of in the sense that while we were busy upholding our board’s commitments to our member-owners, our work was being undermined without our knowledge.

Our community spirit should allow us to gracefully deal with and encourage respect and dignity for all of us, no matter our color, gender or sexual orientation, economic wealth, or social standing. As a board, we must recognize who we are, how we are perceived, and who we represent. Uncomfortable things may have truth in them; we need to be curious, dig deep, and find common ground.

In removing Cameron Jones from the Board, the Co-op violated its own core principles and practices and failed the very community it purports to serve. Above all, the Food Co-op needs to “work together to nourish our community” and not just be a grocery store.

Juri Jennings, an Osaka native, moved to Port Townsend in 2016.

Owen rowe

The Leader published an article on Aug. 7 about The Food Co-op Board that was based on social media posts. The editor said a number of people contacted the newspaper close to deadline and as breaking news there wasn’t time to contact the Board. Thank you, Meredith, for offering this space to set the record straight on the removal of Cameron Jones from the Board. 

The Board of The Food Co-op voted to remove Cameron Jones as an act of repair, so we can continue to fulfill the duty entrusted to us by our member-owners.

The Food Co-op is a consumer cooperative, a business owned by its customers. Our 7,500+ member-owners elect a Board of Directors to represent them in deciding the strategic direction of the cooperative. The Board, in turn, hires a general manager (GM) to direct all day-to-day operations, including product selection, personnel, finance, purchasing, and facilities.

The success of our store depends on the relationship between the Board, representing member-owners, and the GM, representing staff and operations. The Board and GM make a mutual commitment to respectful partnership — and the Board holds itself accountable for maintaining that partnership.

A Board member, Cameron Jones, jeopardized the working Board/GM relationship through his words and actions. From April through June, I and other Board members tried to work with Cameron. He would not acknowledge the damage his actions had done and he rejected repeated requests to repair the relationship. Instead, he continued to undermine every attempt of the Board to hold itself accountable.

By July, with the elected terms of several Board members who had witnessed Cameron’s actions coming to an end, I had determined to ask Cameron to resign from the Board — or ask those same Board members to vote to remove him.

Being a Board member is not a job — it’s a voluntary association dedicated to a well-defined purpose. When a member’s actions are counter to that purpose, or for any other reason it deems sufficient, the Board can vote to remove that member.

According to provisions of our Articles of Incorporation and our Bylaws, a vote to remove a member requires approval by two-thirds of the other Board members.

I scheduled an executive session of the Board, giving the advance notice required by our Bylaws. Although some Board members raised schedule concerns, in the end every single Board member attended and participated in the meeting as originally scheduled. The required two-thirds of Board members approved the removal of Cameron Jones.

With this action, the Board in office in July held itself accountable to repairing the Board/GM relationship. 

All of this was happening as the Board conducted our annual elections. We had record turnout — thank you for voting! Our member-owners elected three new Board members to full-length terms and they took their seats in August. These new Board members did not witness Cameron’s actions and had no part in his removal.

Along with our continuing Board members, they now share in the Board and GM’s commitment to respectful partnership with each other. As we have seen, it can be a difficult task to uphold that commitment, even within a cooperative system designed for self-repair.

We wish Cameron well with his work in the community. The Board will move forward with ours. Together, we will work cooperatively and collaboratively to sustain the grocery store which has nourished our community for 52 years.

Owen Rowe is president of the Board of Directors of The Food Co-op and a resident of Port Townsend since 1997.