Candidate Questionnaire

David Mark

Why do you want to serve on the Board of Directors for the RPFC?

I am interested in lending my talents to an organization committed to providing quality food and neighborly assistance in the community. I also realize that our Food Coop is not going to develop itself, it will take the efforts of friends and neighbors working toward that common goal.

What is your passion? How could we see that passion in action in your day-to-day life?

I am passionate about developing my skills and being of service to others. Developing my professional skills is important to me because I think Ray Crock had a point when he said “…when you are green you are growing, when you are ripe you rot.”  So seeking out change and new challenges is important to me.  Service is something that I think is important and I truly believe that every profession is a service profession.

List some of the organizations, causes, initiatives, and groups of which you have been a part. How do you believe you involvement with these groups have prepared you to serve on the RPFC Board of Directors?

I must confess that I feel a little guilty in the lack of charitable work that is on my resume. I did volunteer for the Center on Halsted and I have been on the Board for our homeowners association for 10 years but I feel that I should contribute more time to the welfare of others and our community.  I think working for the Center on Halsted taught me what is possible with the commitment of a core group of people and a community that supports them and working with he HOA has provided a basic understanding of how boards function.

Describe an experience in which you worked on a team.

I think most of us work with a team on a daily basis.  For me that means, under the direction of a group of leaders an organization works toward a common goal.  That does not mean that we all work on the same thing but rather that we work together lending our strengths to compliment others weaknesses.  I tend to be good at teaching and explaining things to other and I have a depth of patience that is often needed.

Briefly describe two or three possible ways you could handle the following situation. How you would ultimately act?

You've recently been elected to the RPFC Board. A close friend and local food producer privately asks you to help her business by having the Board publicly denounce the alleged unethical business practices of her closest competitor, whose products are already sold at RPFC. The business owner says she will deeply discount RPFC orders for her product for a year if you help her.

The first way is simply to decline. Another approach would be to arrange or facilitate a private meeting with the competitor to determine if there is a legitimate grievance and if there is work toward a solution. Third would be listen to my friend and research the complaint and if true stop supporting the vendor.  I would personally prefer to have a private meeting to discuss the business practices with the vendor to see if a solution could be reached and if the complaint was true and they were not willing change I would recommend quietly removing their products.  Under no circumstance would I want to take a public position on the vendors business practices unless it was unavoidable.

Could you share with us some ideas you may have for owner recruitment to the co-op?

Recruitment is not my strong suit, but I think an outreach to churches and community organizations would be a good start.  I think talking with business leaders to see if they are willing to help advertise or promote the Food Coop might also produce fruit.