Council Elections — Save the date for a candidate forum on October 25 

Seven candidates are running for five seats on the council, and the date has now been set for a candidate forum. All candidates are invited to meet the members on Friday, Oct. 25, starting at 6 pm at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center (58 Barre Street). 

Stay tuned for more information on the candidates, their reasons for running, and their vision for the Co-op on the website in the coming weeks. Voting begins at the Annual Meeting on November 7.  

ChatGPT thinks the council has operational responsibilities 

I wondered whether ChatGPT could give me some inspiration for this week’s eNews, so I asked it to write an amusing story about what it’s like to be on the board of a cooperative grocery store. Its story began: 

“Last week, we had an intense debate over whether to stock kale chips or sweet potato fries. It quickly escalated into an all-out ‘Crunch War.’ Janet, our resident nutritionist, passionately advocated for the kale chips, claiming they were ‘the future of snacking.’ Meanwhile, Bob, the self-proclaimed fry connoisseur, retaliated with an impromptu ‘Ode to Sweet Potatoes,’ complete with finger snapping and a dramatic flair that would make Broadway proud.” 

I guess it could be an amusing scenario. Sure, ChatGPT doesn’t completely understand the concept of chips versus fries—we can certainly “stock” kale chips or sweet potato chips on our shelves, but “stocking” fries seems impractical, since their shelf life is measured in minutes.  

More seriously, ChatGPT made a common error about what board responsibilities are, thinking that the council would involve itself in the details of product selection. Since many humans have the same misimpression, it’s maybe a sign that ChatGPT is good at mimicking humans. ChatGPT’s error is a good opportunity to say a few words about what the council does versus what Co-op staff does.  

The council sets general priorities for the Co-op, using the process called Policy Governance. For example, at our October meeting, we’ll review management’s success in meeting our global “ends policies,” the highest-level statements about what the store’s mission is. At other meetings, we review management’s success with subsidiary policies, like treatment of customers, treatment of staff, and the financial condition of the Co-op.  

The council delegates questions of kale chips versus sweet potato chips, and all other operational decisions, to Mary Mullally, the General Manager (GM). She, in turn, is free to delegate those decisions to others on the staff. If the council tried to use its time to lobby for a specific product, I’d expect the GM to thank us for the suggestion and to remind us that we’ve delegated those decisions to her. 

The council does have limited operational authority—but only for its own operations. Like the question of whom to hire as a facilitator. (We’ve invited Elly Wood back to the position; she’s served in that role in previous years.) Or, as in ChatGPT’s story, which veered from a debate about store products to a trivial but more appropriate debate about what to serve at a potluck of the board:  

“By the end of the meeting, we had decided to serve both kale chips and sweet potato fries at the potluck, ensuring everyone left happy. I felt like a master negotiator, ready to tackle world peace next.” 

We do discuss more consequential issues at council meetings, but we could, if we chose, use our time to debate the menu of a council potluck!  

Wrap-Up 

Though I think we work together better when we’re in person, the council does some of its work via Zoom. I made a joke during a Zoom call recently, and no one laughed. Seems I’m not remotely funny. 

—Carl Etnier, Council President

Do you have any questions or comments about the council? Do you know any jokes even faintly related to food and/or co-ops? Please email them to me!