The Community Room is currently closed to the public. Read below to learn more.
The community room was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, the Community Room function has been updated to meet the needs of the Collective Management and Store Operations.
In response to input from the community and our Member-Owners, the Board has asked the CM to begin working on a plan to expand the use of the Community Room so that it once again functions as a space for fostering community and gathering together.
People’s collective management is working to expand community room use beyond its current function. To find our more, come to a Board Meeting!
The CM is providing monthly updates on this project to the Board at the monthly Board meetings. To receive these updates first-hand, come to a Board meeting! Can’t make it? Posted below are materials from Board meeting packets and minutes from the CM updates since the September, 2025, Board meeting. Newest posts are at the top.
From the 2025-10-28 Board Meeting Packet
1) Monthly Community Room Update
Sponsor: CM Link
Purpose: educate, discuss
Time: 5 min
What outcome do you hope for?
To inform the board and community members present at the meeting of the Collective Management's progress on developing a plan to expand use of the Community Room over the past month.
Why does the Board need to talk about this?
This update is to fulfill the agreement made in the September 2025 board meeting for the CM to provide monthly updates which demonstrate progress on this project in lieu of having a due date for the project.
Relevant background
Since the September 2025 board meeting, the CM has formally established a committee to meet regularly and work on the development of a plan. This committee consists of stakeholders from several teams, including the Community Engagement Team (CET), the Front End Team (FET), the Store Operations Team, and the Buyers Team. This group is planning to have their first meeting on 10/23/2025.
Due to vacations, and giving priority to organizing a recent courtyard event in celebration of National Co-op Month, the CM has not yet created a place on the People's website to post updates about the Community Room project.
from the 2025-09-30 Board Meeting Minutes
1) Update on Plan to Expand Use of the Community Room
Sponsor: CM Link
Purpose: educate, discuss, decide
Introduction:
At the December 2024 board meeting, CM Link agreed to work with CM to draft a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and to deliver that plan in June. In May, requested an extension, and to date the CM has not generated a plan to present to the board. Now asking for a different set of agreements under which the board and CM can move forward on this project. The creation of a plan is taking considerably longer than anticipated. We are continuously coming up against challenges and tasks that take a higher priority: staffing, hiring, keeping the store open, purchasing the property next door. CM has had to bump developing this plan down the priority list. Foresee this to be a thing that continues to happen. The creation of a plan continues to happen, but at a much slower pace
One of the biggest takeaways from the M-O forum, and conversations with M-Os who are passionate about this topic, is a desire for more transparency, and to understand what the barriers are. CM Link has included in the board meeting packet a thorough history of this project to date, including the barriers and challenges that have come up and prevented the project from advancing more quickly
Hoping that out of this conversation the CM and board can come to a different set of agreements under which we can move forward on this project in good faith without a strict timeline. The Link is concerned that the CM will continue to fail to meet, or continue to have to ask for extensions on a rigid timeline. It’s a challenging emotional impact not being able to meet specific deadlines.
CM’s highest priority always has to be to keep the store open and running. When we fulfill that obligation at the expense of being able to work on this project, shouldn’t be viewed as a failure to meet job expectations.
Can we revise our agreements around what would be considered acceptable progress related to the CM creating a plan to expand use of the Community Room?
Historical question, because wasn’t a M-O when the Community Room was open: What is the M-O opinion on reopening the Community Room? Is it a small but loud minority? Is it the majority?
CM Link doesn’t feel positioned to make a well informed response to this question. Her sense is that it is a smaller, vocal minority. Acknowledge that there is probably a large number of M-Os who are interested but of that group, many are understanding of the CM position and receptive to the CM’s response that the Community Room is unavailable
Hard to say without putting out a survey. There is a vocal group of people who would like the community room to reopen. There's also a group of people who don’t know it ever existed.
People who used to take yoga classes miss the Community Room a lot. Being used as a store room right now, but it’s a really beautiful space. Don’t think the yoga people are complaining. Concerned about Mending Club when it gets cold out. It may be difficult for the mending club to meet outside. Mending Club would like to have an indoor space for two hours twice a month. Comes up each time we gather. Also don’t think you’ll hear from any of them
Appreciate all of the background and details. Have a sense that the lack of clarity has been a large part of what has caused frustration on the part of the board and M-Os. Taken out of context, having no deadline sounds scary. But I sense that is not the intent of the CM, and I think that if we’re provided a monthly update that would keep it on everyone’s mind. Think it’s a good solution given all the uncertainty that makes meeting a specific date difficult
Looking through policies, the use of the Community Room is operational - as part of the operations of the store. Struggling to determine what authority the board has in demanding this plan. The board represents the M-Os and is speaking on their behalf. But, the board doesn’t really have the authority to say that it wants something done. The gray area between operations and governance, and we work as a team with the CM to move things forward. Concern that the board is stepping into a more operational aspect without a policy to support us. The board could create a policy that would address this. Could say something like, the CM shall not prevent the use of the Community Room, which would be a weird operational policy. Believe that’s how policy governance would work.
Have you asked your consultants about that?
Had an informal conversation, but it was somewhat unresolved. Preliminary view is that it is operational
Believe the act of transparency will support CM progress. The CM has already put significant time and effort into this project, feel confident that there is commitment to seeing it through.
Understand the point about the Community Room being operational, and while People’s board has historically not been operational, it’s not a requirement. Speaking to the board consultants, boards can decide how operational they want to be. By not asking for a strict deadline and instead asking for regular updates, perhaps keeps the board from stepping on operational toes. We’re just asking to be kept in the loop and to keep that momentum going
Proposal: The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM as evidence of progress on development of a plan to expand the use of the Community Room. Further, the board will accept increased transparency and evidence of progress as acceptable action taken by the CM in the project to develop a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and will not require that a plan be submitted by a specific delivery date.
How does the board want to be updated?
Read this proposal as having 5-10 min (or as needed amount of time) verbal update at each meeting. M-Os have expressed interest in this, and if the update is just in the packet, then M-Os may not see it
Update to proposal: The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM at the board meeting…
Written update that goes out in the packet may be more accessible to some M-Os. A lot of proposed transparency is for M-Os. Also worried about consistently taking up time in our board meetings
Meeting packets are available upon request, not posted to the website. Unless it’s in the meeting minutes, it won’t be available to M-Os who didn’t come to the meeting
What the Link had in mind: hesitated to say that there’d be a standing item in the meeting. Intention to provide some update through the packet or at the meeting, and to create a place on the People’s website that captures all updates provided in the board packet. Whatever goes into the packet goes into the Community Room Update page on website. Whatever minutes get approved in the meeting, the excerpt relevant to the Community Room also gets posted to that page
Update to proposal: The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM in the board meeting packet with possible time in the meeting, and posted to the website…
Concern that the website updates might create a lot of work for the CM to do
Content will already exist, and it’s a matter of pasting it into another location
Where on the website would it go?
Would need to create a new page on the website. Would need to work with Marketing to determine where on the People’s website these updates would go
Marketing says it’s not too much work to do. Majority of the work would fall on Link to update the content of the page
Could this be an email, but some M-Os aren’t opted into receiving our emails
Sending out a newsletter is creating opportunities for wide engagement on this topic, and could potentially be divisive. Having interested folks check on the website feels better
Does plan for increasing transparency help the process move along, or does it slow it down? Is the time well spent?
Answering inquiries about the project sometimes does detract from making headway on the project. Having a planned structured approach to addressing interest in this topic will be more controlled and an expected, manageable amount of work
Suggestion: after the first website posting, send an email with information about what we’re doing and where to find the information
Intend for the background information provided in this meeting packet to be part of the first post to the website, if the board decides to proceed in that way
Proposal: The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM in the board meeting packet with possible time in the meeting, and posted to the website as evidence of progress on development of a plan to expand the use of the Community Room. Further, the board will accept increased transparency and evidence of progress as acceptable action taken by the CM in the project to develop a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and will not require that a plan be submitted by a specific delivery date.
One abstention
Eleanor abstains due to technical difficulties prevent her from participating in decision
DECISION: The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM in the board meeting packet with possible time in the meeting, and posted to the website as evidence of progress on development of a plan to expand the use of the Community Room. Further, the board will accept increased transparency and evidence of progress as acceptable action taken by the CM in the project to develop a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and will not require that a plan be submitted by a specific delivery date.
From the 2025-09-30 Board Meeting Packet
1) Update on Plan to Expand Use of the Community Room
Sponsor: CM Link
Purpose: educate, discuss, decide
Time: 36 min
Why does the Board need to talk about this?
The CM was not able to meet the originally agreed upon timeline for producing a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and to date has not provided the board with the requested plan. Since the CM was not able to meet the terms of the original request, the CM-Board Link is requesting that the board consider setting different parameters within which the CM is expected to make progress on the requested plan, and to establish updated agreements around communication regarding this project.
What outcome do you hope for?
Agreement about how the CM will keep the board and Member-Owners informed about progress on the plan to expand use of the Community Room.
Relevant background
In the December, 2024, board meeting, the board requested that the CM create a plan to reopen the Community Room, and that the plan was due to be delivered to the board in June, 2025. The Link agreed with the timeline of this request, and proceeded to get input from the CM about developing a plan to reopen the Community Room. Responses from the CM in March, 2025, showed general support for expanding the use of the Community Room to include more community and Member-Owner engagement events. Soon after that input was gathered, the Community Engagement Team (CET, “set”) began working on a proposal to establish agreement within the CM about jurisdiction and decision making authority regarding events held in the Community Room, and some fundamental criteria that would be considered when scheduling events in the Community Room. The CM has discussed this proposal but it has not yet been consensed on by the CM.
In May, 2025, when it was clear that the CM would not be able to produce a finalized plan to the board by June, the Link requested an extension on the delivery date for this requested plan. The intention was to produce a plan “before the end of the summer.” As the end of the summer is now upon us, it is once again apparent that the CM will not have a completed plan within this stated time frame either. Needless to say, the time needed for the CM to be able to produce this plan far exceeds what was imagined by either the board or the Link. Such as it is, the Link is now requesting that the board consider accepting updates of process on this project while allowing the CM the time it needs to create a well thought out plan that is agreeable to the entire Collective. The Link does not have a projected timeline for completion of this project, but is offering monthly updates to demonstrate continued work and forward progress on the creation of the plan.
The Link anticipates some hesitation or reluctance on the part of the board to agree to proceeding without a set due date. The Link is also concerned about setting another date for delivery of the plan that the CM will not be able to meet. The Collective has been met with a number of challenges and time sensitive priorities that have contributed to the delay in progress on the Community Room plan. Since December, 2024, there have been seven Collective Managers who have resigned or were otherwise terminated. We have been conducting nearly continuous hiring processes for various positions, which takes a significant amount of labor and reduces the time and labor available for other projects. We have also been onboarding and training new staff at a staggering rate, which also depletes our available labor. In spite of all of the hiring and training, we are still operating with fewer staff than we need, and these hiring and training efforts are ongoing.
In addition to the ongoing labor challenges, the recent real estate acquisition took up another vast swath of CM capacity. Performing all the due diligence - organizing inspections, shopping for and establishing a relationship with a realtor, negotiating terms of the sale, etc. - as well as investigating the feasibility of finding a resolution to the driveway access issue - working with a land use attorney, talking with city planners, digging into old paper files and city archives for historical agreements and contracts, etc. - were both extremely labor intensive, as was the task of communicating all of the information to both the CM and the board so that both bodies could make an informed decision about the purchase.
The CM has been making headway on and accomplishing all of these things, and all while fulfilling our primary objective: operating a grocery store. Wildly increased sales have greatly increased the labor required to fulfill the daily operational needs of the store.
Another thing that needs to be considered with regard to this project, for the CM to develop a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, is that this is a cultural shift for the current CM. It has been noted in previous conversations with the board that staff turnover at People’s has been so high since 2020 that very few of the current CM have worked at People’s while the Community Room was open to the community. Many of the current staff have structured their workdays and, more specifically, how they take breaks around having unrestricted access to the Community Room as a place where they can remove their mask without intruding on other staff members’ space. The other way in which access to the Community Room has been integrated into the workflow of many CM is its use as a storage space for merchandise and other operational materials. The storage needs of the store, in order to support increased sales, customer count, and expanding community, have exceeded the space available in backstock and other staff only areas. Changing storage plans so that staff are not reliant on space in the Community Room is possible, but will take significant logistical reorganizing.
So, at this time, the Link would like to establish some agreements around communication and demonstrating progress on the CM project to write a plan to expand the use of the Community Room without imposing a specific due date on the delivery of this plan.
Proposal Language
The board agrees to accept monthly updates from the CM as evidence of progress on development of a plan to expand the use of the Community Room. Further, the board will accept increased transparency and evidence of progress as acceptable action taken by the CM in the project to develop a plan to expand the use of the Community Room, and will not require that a plan be submitted by a specific delivery date.
