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I was sent to a residents' workshop with one position and came back less certain

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Our block association asked me to attend a workshop on reorganising the waste-collection stops. I went with a clear instruction: oppose moving ours away from the entrance.

During the session, another resident showed how the existing position blocks the turn into his building. The organisers also discussed a position I hadn't seen in the papers our association read. I don't know yet whether it would work, but I no longer think our original objection covers the whole problem.

Then the chair asked each attendee whether they supported exploring the new option. I said yes. Back home, our secretary asked, "Did you change our position without asking us?"

I meant yes to examining it, not yes to endorsing a final design. That difference may be clearer in my head than in the workshop notes. How do I report back honestly and clarify what I agreed to, without claiming the association sent me there to keep an open mind when it had actually given me an instruction?

Discussion

1 community replies

Start with the uncomfortable part: the association gave you a particular position, and you expressed willingness to explore something else. Then explain exactly what the chair asked and what you answered. Don't lead with a speech about how representatives must be open-minded; you haven't established that this was your agreed role.

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