Log In


Reset Password
Opinion Editorial Cartoons Op-Ed Editorials Letters to the Editor

Create a new modern, healthy Durango Natural Foods

Durango Natural Foods board of directors applications are due by 5 p.m. Friday. Voting will begin April 25 (www.DurangoNaturalFoods.coop for details and application packet). Five of seven seats are open.

This creates a remarkable opportunity for an entirely new majority and a new direction for a better DNF future. We need five applicants; I am one of them. You can find my vision for DNF at www.AlpineAnalytics.com/DNF/Root-TopPriorityAgendaForNewDNF-Board-April-2015.pdf. I present a campaign pledge for a new, safe and healthy co-op. We need four other like-minded applicants to make this opportunity a reality; please read my pledge and consider applying.

There are two widely different visions for Durango Natural Foods Co-op.

One is that of the current board, which identifies itself in the election packet with a new moniker “DNFC,” replacing the “DNF” we’ve all used for the last 40 years.

The “DNFC” vision holds to an old policy governance structure, where the co-op is treated as an entity and the board is not engaged with its internal soundness. The board simply controls it like a corporate business unit, merely hiring, firing and managing the general manager. This allows the board to do “entity things” such as deciding to spend thousands of dollars preparing it for sale to an organization in another state, which is what the board did last summer. That was stopped when more than 200 members signed a petition against the sale and against this board doing any further damage. We stopped the sale; unfortunately, we were unable to prevent further damage, and our co-op has suffered impacts to its functionality, staff morale and turnover.

In the document I submitted with my application, I lay out plans for a new DNF vision. This member-democracy vision redefines DNF’s management structure with a modern, more effective management approach and a complete rewrite of the DNF bylaws that will ensure our security as a locally owned food cooperative and democratically will empower the general membership and member-employees for a healthy future.

Please join me to create a modern, healthy and safe new DNF.

Root Routledge

Durango



Reader Comments