Meet the Candidates

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to represent co-op members while serving on the ORC Board of Directors. I have been a member, and a member-worker, at City Market since I moved to Burlington. Over the last year and half, I have attended several board meetings. As a board member I will leverage my business experience, economics background, love for the Burlington community, and grocery industry experience to help build, strengthen and sustain the Co-op. The years ahead offer exciting opportunities to the ORC. As a director, I will offer thoughtful input as we navigate those opportunities and help set a course that most benefits the co-op membership, the co-op organization, and our local community."

"Having been a member-worker for ten years, I hope to serve on the Board because I feel City Market is important to our community and our economy, and because I bring skills and values that will support its work. In my current job I train and advise the boards of housing cooperatives. I am experienced in policy development, budgeting and financial analysis, cooperative structure, and group dynamics. I have also worked as a union organizer and a community organizer. I like to strengthen community by helping people work together, with shared control and accountability, to meet their common needs. I value every facet of what City Market does. It sells food and products I like and trust. It strengthens local and sustainable food production and the local economy. It strives to provide decent and sustainable jobs. It aims to serve a broad range of people, including low-income customers who need a supermarket nearby. To go on meeting this goals, City Market has to continue to be managed well and to look creatively at its opportunities. I’d like to use my skills to help it do so."

"I want to be on the ORC Board because I’m interested in supporting and progressing the members’ vision of guiding the Co-op as a socially responsible business integral to the health of our community. My background includes 3 years as Chairman of the City of Plattsburgh, NY Democratic Committee where we were successful in creating a Democratic city council in a very conservative city. We also revised our committee bylaws, held to a strict budget, and conducted events, fundraising and voter mobilization. I was also the Chairman of the City of Plattsburgh’s Recreation Path Sub-committee. My guidance was critical in securing $50000 from our state senator for a path feasibility study in 2005 which led to $1.2 million in 2006 from the Governor of NYS. Professionally, I’ve been a massage therapist since 1998 and am currently in my last months of clinical rotations getting a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from UVM. I own Vermont Pain Relief on Pearl St. and have lived in our wonderfully eclectic City of Burlington for the past 3 years. As a parent, a healthcare professional, and lifelong athlete I value healthy food. As a socially and politically aware citizen I value the ORC mission."

"My past three years of service on the Board have deepened my understanding of what it takes to be a co-owner -- aka a member -- of a coop. I enjoy working with our fellow Board members, have a fuller sense of the complexities of policy governance and consensus, welcome the opportunity to give back to the coop, and thoroughly believe in the values and goals that this coop promotes. My time on the Board has made me even more proud of the multitude of ways we contribute to the larger community; it is very evident to me that we are so much more than just a grocery store. I came to the Board with a background in environmental and experiential education, fifteen years experience in program coordination, and a passion for healthy and local eating for my family and myself. I was elected to be Vice President during this past year and enjoy participating fully in our monthly meetings. I would be honored to be chosen for another three year term to help represent our membership."

"My family moved to Burlington 7 months ago. Although we’ve only been here a short time, I’ve worked very hard to immerse myself into the community. One of the many things that drew me to VT was the culture and attitiude about food and nutrition. I’m a whole-hearted believer that good nutrition is key to a good health. Having locally grown food available and affordable is necessary to good nutrition. As a member of City Market I have volunteered in the store and for Grow Team O.N.E and have seen this belief put to work. If elected to the Board, I believe I can offer an educated opinion on best practices for the coop. I’ve held a number of different positions at my current place of employment - all of which have taught me skills I think would be useful to the board. I’ve managed large budgets, worked with union workers and representatives, managed boards (and edited by-laws), and I understand the challenges of communication/advertising/marketing in a world that has moved very quickly into the digital world. Thank you for the opportunity to run for a seat on the Board. If elected, I will be honored to serve for the next three years."