Member-Owner Meetings

You have received this notice because you are eligible to vote (you are up to date on time investment requirements and ownership interest payments). If you have questions regarding your eligibility, contact Membership Manager Sharon Lastique at MemberServices@honestweight.coop or (518) 482-2667 Ext. 104, three days prior to the meeting to confirm that your name is on the voting list.

Meeting materials will be available at the Customer Services Desk, and by scrolling below for the "Meeting Agenda".

Instructions to participate remotely by phone or online are posted below. Please scroll down for Zoom instructions. 

4:00pm - 6:00pm  CHECK-IN - Refer to “Check-in Process” section below for instructions
6:00pm - 8:20pm  Membership Meeting

 *GRC PRE-Meeting Meet-the-Candidate Sessions: The same meeting link is used for the meeting and all pre-meeting Meet-the-Candidate sessions. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81073676905

[See remote meeting participation information for all below]

Thursday, October 24, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, via ZOOM
Sunday, October 27, 1:30pm – 2:30pm, via ZOOM

 The meeting will be adjourned on Monday, October 28, at 6:00pm
upon the end of the voting period.

We encourage you to participate and be a part of the CO-OP discussion. A successful CO-OP depends on the active support and participation of the membership. Member-Owner participation is the most significant part of our ability to successfully govern the CO-OP. Our Bylaws require a quorum to start a meeting and vote.

Get involved and vote.

We recognize that some of the language associated with online meetings may be unfamiliar to some Member-Owners. Please reach out to Sharon at memberservices@honestweight.coop or 518-482-2667 ext. 104 before October 24 if you have questions or need assistance.

While Member-Owners who dial in by phone will be able to fully participate in the meeting, you are encouraged to connect to the meeting online (via laptop, computer, smartphone app, etc.) to be able to view presentation materials. For the best meeting experience, and to better allow us to provide help if something isn’t working for you, please update to the latest version of Zoom before the Meeting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362233-Upgrading-Zoom-to-the-latest-version

Online meeting link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81073676905

The same meeting link will be used for the meeting and all pre-meeting sessions:

●     October 27 Regular Membership Meeting

●     Meet the Candidate Sessions on Thursday, October 24, 7:00pm – 8:00pm and Sunday, October 27, 1:30pm – 2:30pm.

Phone Login information:
Meeting ID: 810 7367 6905
Phone number: 1 (929) 205 6099     OR        Toll-free phone number: 1 (833) 548 0282

Participant ID: Only needed to link dial-in phone audio to your computer/tablet video.
Linking dial-in phone audio to your computer/tablet video through Zoom requires a Participant ID. To find your Participant ID, log into the meeting through Zoom on your computer/tablet first and click on the icon in the upper left corner (it may be an “information” circle or a shield). The participant ID listed there will be needed during one of the prompts when calling in with your phone to link the two devices.

If you have trouble logging into the October 27 Regular Membership Meeting, please call the Membership Manager at (518) 482-2667 Extension 104. We will help people log in on the night of the meeting as time permits, which may result in a long wait.

Check In Process.
When you first arrive at the meeting, you will be in a virtual waiting area.

1. Please be patient and stay by your device listening for prompts until you are checked in.
2. Next, you will be assigned to a check in table where you will be checked into the meeting.
3. Each person may only check themselves in.
4. While checking in, a live person will need to be able to communicate with you to verify your name and owner number—please be prepared to communicate.
5. Please have your Owner or “Member” number ready.

Member-Owners who check in to the meeting will receive 2 hours for attending the meeting. Member-Owners who check in between 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm will receive an additional .5 hour for helping to alleviate the last-minute rush. We appreciate people checking in early.

After you are checked in, you may freely move about; return to your phone/computer by 6:00 pm for the start of the meeting or to actively wait for quorum.

After you are checked in, you will be moved into the “Meeting Room.” Once in the “Meeting Room” if you click on ‘participants’ on the computer screen you will see yourself as ‘checked in.’ For those connecting by phone only, your confirmation will only be by voice during check-in.

Out of consideration for all, and to protect your own privacy, please mute the mic on all your devices while waiting for the meeting to start.

Once the quorum is reached, the meeting will proceed in the order shown in the agenda above. To reduce bandwidth usage and help those with slower internet connections, participants in the meeting will be muted and their videos disabled. 

To participate in the meeting, you will use the “raise hand” function. If you have a question/verbal comment, you may “raise your hand” to place yourself in the queue to speak. If you are attending the meeting via phone, press *9 on your phone keypad. When it is your turn to speak, unmute by pressing *6 on your phone keypad. If you are attending the meeting online, you may press the “raise hand” button found in the “reactions” menu. After you have finished speaking, please remove the raised hand.

Eligible MOs who attend the Membership Meeting will receive one time investment hour for voting, regardless of the voting method chosen. Three methods of voting are available, one in person voting option at HWFC and two options during the meeting, SurveyMonkey or by-phone. You may choose only one method of voting and cast your ballot set once. Casting more than one ballot for a topic, or casting ballots through multiple methods, will negate all your ballots.

CONFIDENTIAL BALLOT:
In-Person Voting: The confidential voting for this Meeting will occur in-person at HWFC in the Teaching Kitchen the day after the meeting. The designated in-person voting hours for submitting confidential ballots is on Monday, October 28, beginning at 8:00am and ending at 6:00pm.

Ballots are not mailed out with the notice and will be available only at the voting table, along with detailed instructions.

NON-CONFIDENTIAL BALLOT:
Survey Monkey Voting
There will be a SurveyMonkey ballot link provided during the meeting. Survey Monkey voting will be available to online participants, once “ballot boxes” open, only during the meeting. Survey Monkey Ballot boxes will close at the conclusion of the remote part of the meeting. [PLEASE NOTE: Every effort will be made to keep personally identifiable information separate from your vote choices during ballot handling and vote processing, however, Survey Monkey voting is not confidential.]

Phone-Only Voting
Phone-Only participants who cannot vote on Survey Monkey during the meeting or in-person at the CO-OP may vote on facilitated ballots once Survey Monkey voting begins. Phone-Only participants will be asked to “raise their hand” (press *9) to vote by phone. As they become available, Phone-Only participants with raised hands will be moved to a “voting booth,” isolated away from the main meeting room, where Vote-Receivers will read the ballot questions and record their vote. To expedite the process, if you plan to vote by phone, write down information throughout the meeting so you will know how to cast your votes before entering the phone “voting booth.” Phone-Only voting will close at the end of the meeting after all Phone-Only participants have been acknowledged. [PLEASE NOTE: The Phone-only voting method is not confidential.]

If you plan to cast NON-CONFIDENTIAL BALLOTS online or by phone, be sure to have your member number on hand.

If more than one person in your household cannot vote in-person at the CO-OP, you will not all be able to attend the meeting and vote electronically on the same device. Additional people unable to vote in person will need to check-in and vote by phone.

IF YOU CANNOT ACCESS GRC CANDIDATE INFORMATION ON THE HWFC WEBSITE OR AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK, call Sharon Lastique, our Membership Manager, by Sunday, October 20, and request information be mailed to you.