On May 14 over 200 attendees joined the hybrid online/in-person Annual Meeting for Greenbelt Homes Inc. (GHI) to make announcements, ask questions, listen to candidates running for the Board of Directors and Audit Committees, and to vote on a much-anticipated item of new business: Whether to authorize the Board of Directors to spend up to $30,000 to investigate the viability of purchasing 121 Centerway, the home of the Greenbelt Consumer Cooperative (the Co-op).
Members gathered in the Community Center Gymnasium to query the current Board of Directors, as well as GHI staff, about certain elements of the annual report and actions being taken to ensure the physical and financial well-being of the housing cooperative, and to offer suggestions, share their experiences and comment on the 2025 Annual Report. Members expressed appreciation for individuals and departments of GHI staff, expressed their concerns with rising costs and looming trends and voiced both support of and reservations about a potential purchase of the property in question. It was noted that the purchase would be of the building, not the Co-op itself which is leasing the space along with the Greenbelt Arts Center and the once-again vacant old post office location.
Centerway Purchase
Importantly, the membership vote at the meeting was to approve or deny the motion of allowing expenditures to investigate and obtain answers to myriad questions surrounding such a purchase. GHI’s bylaws contain strict limits to how many resources may be spent on a certain item/topic without membership approval, and thus the membership was given the opportunity to decide whether GHI could commit the funds to proceed with the actions needed to get the information required to know if doing this is a good idea.
When it came time for the vote, well over 95 percent of the membership present supported the motion. The board members present indicated that if findings from upcoming investigations into the purchase came back promisingly, there would be another membership meeting in the summer, likely in July, to approve or disapprove the actual acquisition of the property. Staff and the Board of Directors intend to provide as much useful information as possible ahead of such a meeting so that members can consider the facts before deciding how they will vote.
Elections
At the adjournment of the meeting, the election began for four (of nine positions total) two-year terms on the Board of Directors, and three (of three positions total) one-year terms for the Audit Committee. The election ran through 8 p.m. on the following day, with 349 total votes cast. (See below.)
Final Results of GHI Election
Board of Directors
295 Carl Sanders*
293 Ed James*
291 Stefan Brodd*
291 Debbie McKinley*
Audit Committee
284 Kerry Loring*
234 Bill Jones*
232 Michael Campbell*
144 Nick Leanos
* Indicates those elected
