RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]:
Although seeking to understand rather than demonize criminals is one mark of a compassionate and thoughtful newspaper, your feature section about the murder of Michael Martin has done a grievous disservice to the Brattleboro Food Co-op, the people who lead it and, by extension, the community that owns this important institution.
Given that Martin is not here to defend the manner in which he discharged his responsibilities as the co-op's store manager, and, in particular, his supervision of the department head who shot him dead one day at the store, the extensive opportunity you have given the perpetrator to justify his actions can only be distorted and misleading.
The implication is that the co-op had so completely strayed from its idealistic roots to become an authoritarian workplace that this kind of violence was understandable if not inevitable. This is profoundly incorrect.
Among other things, your articles fail to make clear the distinction between a consumer co-op and a worker co-op. A worker co-op exists to benefit its employees. A consumer co-op, like the Brattleboro Food Co-op, is owned by, and is in business solely to benefit, its customers. Thus, this murder cannot be explained or reasonably understood as the vindication of a duty owed by the co-op to an employee, sad to say.
This is not to claim that the co-op did a good job here or that Martin was a good store manager. Your stories offer plenty of evidence to the contrary, but they fail to put work life at a food co-op in an appropriate context.
This is an extremely competitive, low-margin business and people like Co-op General Manager Alex Gyori face relentless pressure to stay solvent while remaining true to the lofty ideals of the cooperative movement.
Once upon a time, food co-ops had a monopoly on the sale of natural foods and could afford to be folksy, chaotic workplaces that indulged employees who were quirky to the point of being bizarre. Now, when a food co-op gets weird, the customers drive on down to the local supermarket chain where the very same products are on sale - often at lower prices.
Had this tragedy played out at one of those supermarket chains - where, believe me, workplace frustrations are even more omnipresent - you would never have been able to write such a story because nobody associated with the store would have spoken to you. That Gyori and other key people at the Co-op were so forthcoming is evidence of their good character, their good intentions, and the notions of accountability and honesty for which all co-ops stand.
“What can we learn?,” asked editor Jeff Potter in his sidebar. How about this: A thriving food co-op is a precious community asset - one that can nurture its customers and employees alike but cannot be expected to guarantee any individual's happiness.
And failing to understand that ineluctable reality is no justification for killing someone.