Event:2015/02/05 Weekly Delegate's Meeting

Omni Delegates Meeting - 5 February 2015

The meeting begins promptly at 7pm, every Thursday, and ends promptly at 9pm, unless delegates agree to continuation.

= Attendees =


 * Facilitator/s: ryan, matt


 * Introduction to the Omni Commons & our values


 * Explanation of hand signals:
 * "Deaf applause," "raised hand," "point of process," "direct response," "time's up," "stop and reflect," "kermit" (wildcard), etc.


 * Stacktaker: Mary
 * Explanation of progressive stack: Raise your hand and make eye contact with the stack taker. Please wait your turn, and try not to interupt or speak over others. Direct responses are allowed only as Points Of Information/ Clarifications, etc (use hand signal). For everything else, please raise your hand and wait your turn.


 * Timekeeper: MG
 * Reminder to keep comments brief.


 * Notetaker/s: Rachel
 * URL of this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
 * Vibe Reader: Brandon


 * Facilitator/s for next week: Jes & Rachel
 * Encourage someone who hasn't facilitated before. If they'd like support, someone who has facilitated before can join them to facilitate   together! If they'd like to know how the agenda works, here's a page  outlining the different parts of our agenda:   https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Facilitating_General_Meetings_Tips_and_Info

Delegates

 * Black Hole : David
 * CCL: Mary
 * FNB: Joe
 * La Commune: Steve
 * MPM: Hannah
 * Sudo Room: Matt
 * TIL: MG


 * Quorum: WE HAVE POWER (revocable accountable power)

Introductions
Time: 15 min 5 min - Make pairs! Ask your partner "Who have you appreciated lately?" 5 min - Sharing time! Prepare to share your partner's answer to the question... Share: Your Name; Your Affiliation; Your Preferred Pronoun; Your Partner's Answer
 * Matt: Sudo Room - Hacker...
 * Ryan: Partner appreciates Johaan who found grocery carts.
 * Steve: La Commune appreciates a toilet paper fairy. (Jenny and Liz fairies)
 * Lindsay: Loose affiliation, spoke with Rayc
 * Emji: Spoke with Matt who appreciates our lawyer.
 * Mary: With CCL who spoke with Leon who appreciates his family. Brian also appreciates his coworkers
 * Rayc: Spoke with Lindsay who appreciates her accupunture-person-hero.
 * Darren: FNB who spoke with someone who appreciates a volunteer manager with school gardens.
 * Ory: Loose affiliation, spoke with Darren who appreciates Sand with FNB doin' work in People's Park.
 * Dusty: spoke with Jessie appreciates her housemate
 * Jessie: Affiliated with CCL and others spoke with Dusty who appreciates his students for pushing him to be a decent person.
 * Leon: Spoke with Brian who appreciates his coworker and Mary appreciates education.
 * Brian: with Berkeley Liberation Radio who spoke with Mary who appreciates folks trying to change education and Leon who appreciates family.
 * David messed up. He really appreciates Grace who, at the East Bay Anarchist fair, gave him food because he was hungry. She suggested that FNB be a part of Omni, and they said yes and all was well.
 * Grace appreciates David because he's cool and her advisor at school who let's her cry in the office.
 * Joe: FNB spoke with Naomi who couldn't think of anybody. She appreciates Joel for some frames.
 * Naomi: Spoke with Joel who appreciates Anka from FNB appreciates appreciates Hallihammer
 * Michael: he is from Berkeley Liberation Radio spoke with Hanna who appreciates some people who sometimes appear as egyptian goddes of justice, then you can call me she
 * Brandon: Spoke with ______ Appreciates Drag Queens for the work that they put in.
 * Rachel: affiliated with the entirety of existence. Brendan appreciates his co-worker for sharing motivational words and messages!

= Announcements = Time: 1 min per announcement (under 10 min total) Reminder: Working Groups are NEXT, please save your wg announcements for later
 * Emji - Event w/ publisher ____________ in Omni!
 * Mary - bike racks are coming soon. mary is handling this sh!t. City employee came to mark the sidewalk where the city plans to install the bike racks (that's right, for free $.$)
 * Ory - interview series, launch youtube channel, talk to ppl engaged in their passion, how they learned what they know, how they got to be pursuing what they're doing now, Would love to talk to anyone interested in an interview!
 * Jesse - interested in sharing piece of her life here, another one, aerial silks, would like to hang one at the omni, (put away when not in use), waivers signed (liability), has a way of getting mats, etc., easy to fold up, Disco Room? Maybe Ballroom for shows
 * Matt: "Commons working group is a good place to get more info on this"
 * Rayc -Mapping omni electrical, detailed, circuits, rather than hiring an electrician, saves time/etc., start Electrical Working Group (collaborating with experiences persons)
 * Michael ~Interested in being a part of the omni, relaying info between his collective and this collective [twinkle fingers in the room]
 * Brandon - present a new collective called oakland next to the omni, sent an email to discuss list and consensus list, we would like to be affiliated with the omni
 * Matt:"Someone to follow up with you at the last meeting"?
 * Brandon:yes, they got back to me and I answered
 * Ryan- More time to just listen and appreicate each toher's words, empathetic listening circle tomorrow, friday, 6-8pm
 * David - Structural engineer access load rating of beams in ballroom, mostly for things like speakers, etc., if you have questions about things to hang, talk to me :)
 * upstairs kitchen no high amp loads! Electrician on their way
 * ELECTRICAL ISSUE - Upstairs kitchen circuit.
 * Breaker #7 (used to be #8) tripping constantly: Leave off pending electrician visit
 * All electrical kitchen appliances have been temporarily moved to Sudo Room  for now. Until the electrical is resolved, please do not use appliances  in the kitchen or anywhere upstairs..
 * The Space heater from upstairs 'treatment room' has also been removed to bunker room.
 * Until electrical issue is resolved, request that the use of space heaters stop in the building, and definitely NO space heaters upstairs  until this is resovled
 * Gym equip in basement got unpacked - must be repacked, & removed Gym Equip from building.
 * Proposal URL: https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Proposal_to_Remove_Gym_Equip
 * Due to liability, permitting & consensus issues it cannot be set up in a way that can be used.
 * ASAP it needs to be re-consolidated and covered with a tarp.
 * The equipment has been stored at omni without consent and not moved for months. Voluntary proposal below to remove it from the building by Weds 2/11
 * Request that large trike needs to be moved from where it is chained up on 48th.
 * Unfo trike is impeding foot traffic, we could be cited, has been locked up there for weeks.
 * Can trike be parked on street and locked to pole at least so this does not happen?
 * Also a request for trike to moved in advance of bike parking for Saturday event.
 * Michael of BLR: Looking to become part of the collective, get a sense of how we operate. Collaboratation between collectives.
 * Ryan: empathtic listening circle tomorrow from six to eight.
 * David brings up that folks must submit new proposals five days in advance.

= Working Group Report-Backs= Time: 2 min per announcement (under 20 min total) Check for what working groups have updates; take stack.
 * Naomi: Lava: toying with names like "omni wellness league". we're moving forward with de-coupling with "Backspace" entity. We are indeed working on the meditation proposal, in more detail, working on commons, fee strucutre, bottomlining on the calendars, not sure if since we're not tech a collective if I have to bring information to this meeting, or put that long updated proposal so everyone can see it and comment on it.
 * RyanSubmit through wiki, give time for consensus
 * Naomi/Lava: didn't know, thought it had to be in by tuesday
 * Ryan: At least a week
 * Matt: Put it on next week's right now
 * N?L: Also do that with the backspace proposal?
 * ANDREW: bring it into a larger meeting than just cwg so people know what is going on with backspace
 * Ryan: mis-placed in order of agenda items, but I appreciate that you're bringing it
 * Matt: Make room for it next week, post it to discussion
 * Joel: Last time I heard anything official about backspace, .....?
 * Ryan: Please take this to the email list, thread going on right now, we'd like to come back to this and get through the working groups
 * Matt: We're desperate to make this a 2hr meeting for you :)
 * Naomi/Lava: What you're considering a working group? what that even means?
 * Matt explains wg's, suggests announcements, discuss, etc., appreciate your work, which we can all come to a conclusion to in the meeting
 * Emji: That would be a good commons working group update
 * David where?

Commons

 * Meets Saturdays at 1 in Meetspace / BAPS classroom
 * Responsibilibuddy: Jenny
 * Need more paid events, most are free
 * At the least, ask event organizers to pass the hat for Omni and/or announce our funding campaign (omnicommons.org/donate)

Building and Facilities
Responsibilibuddy: DK
 * Stuff is happening in this area, i just want to let people know that, but rather than go into details I'll just ask folks to contact me off-meeting/list as it may not be super interesting to everyone.

Challenging Dominant Culture (CDC)
Meets Sundays at 12 Responsibilibuddy:taller Ryan (Rising)
 * conflict resolution in the space, going well, balancing safe space against access, people who are not in any of the collectives here come in and participate in conflicts, and we have to engage what to do in the space
 * non-engagement, non-escalation of conflict agreement in the space has been well received
 * shorter Ryan:"Non action is not covered in the safe space policy, if someone is a bystander, they cannot be banned for that"

Communications / SysAdmins
Responsibilibuddy:

Finance
Meets Tuesdays at 7 Responsibilibuddy:

Fundraising
Meets Mondays at 7, in Meetspace /Old TIL room /BAPS classroom Responsibilibuddy:
 * Matt: Fundraising wg, raised 80k, go a long way, need a lot more, uphill  battle, try to make do, launched next fundraising campaing, 1.95 million  to buy the building, sponsor a square ft, $100/sqft (1k for sq m), from  my point of view the reason to do this is to do your projects,  incredible wonderful, valuable, get to the stage where we can be  connected to enough people to buy this building, please send anyone to  fundraising wg, we already have folks applying to grants, run events,  once open to pub make smaller moneys, let's talk

How We Organize
Meets Tuesdays at 7, in Meetspace /Old TIL room /BAPS classroom Responsibilibuddy:

Kitchen
Meets when? Responsibilibuddy:

Welcoming
Meets Thursdays at 6, where? Responsibilibuddy:
 * Ryan: Ice cream social 2 the reckoning! 5-7pm SUnday!!!!
 * please go back to your collectives and tell people we need them on doors! join welcoming mailing list or
 * use this link:https://ethercalc.com/omni-front-desk

= Discussion =

Visioning Activity
10 min What do you see for Omni Commons in 5 years? Write some of your thoughts, even a few words, a drawing, or whatever on a sticky note, and place it on the wall labeled "Teh Futur3!!1" After the meeting, walk past the future and iiiiimmmmmaaaaaggggggiiiiiinnnnnnnneee...

Bans

 * "Perry" - 2015-02-03 -
 * An olderish musician (guitarist & uke-player), claiming to be a member of FNB but who was verified to be not, who has been  discovered to be wandering drunk around the space, and in so being  transgressing boundaries of personal space, private dance rehearsals,  and disrupting meetings. Has been asked not to come to the space drunk,  agreed, but did so again anyway. Therefore, in response to the last  instance where an Omnier's space was violated while he was drunk, he is  provisionally banned pending conflict resolution with Omni, which he  should arrange.
 * David T - Indefinitely banned from the sudo room physical space pending mediation 2015-01-08
 * The collective/community they were identified with: sudo room
 * David T asked someone in Sudo to borrow headphones. This went into overborrowing teritory; he left omni with them. The headphones were someone's property, a discussion about this occured, culminated into a physical and verbal confrontation.
 * Jenny talked with david T and said he's not welcome at sudo room until he engages in conflict resolution.
 * Chris - Indefinitely banned from the Omni physical space 2015-02-04
 * The collective/community they were identified with: Food Not Bombs
 * Sleeping in the space and getting aggressive when told it wasn't appropriate
 * Food Not Bombs contacted Chris about this and he has agreed to stay away from the Omni. He has refused mediation.
 * Rus (Aerosonic) - Indefinitely banned from the sudo room physical space 2015-01-28
 * Adam was working in Sudo, Rus stuck his hand into workbox and area; Adam noticed vaporizor gone. Adam confronted Rus. Rus admitted to going into Adam's stuff, but said that he then put the vape on the  table. soon after Rus and his friends left Omni. Rus came back and was  asked to leave. Jake offered to contact him via IRC, there Rus aka  Aerosonic asked to do conflict mediation, Jake is uninterested in doing  this. Jake spoke to three other people. Noisebridge says, Rus has no  idea why anyone thinks he took the vape, maybe someone just saw him  touch it, fails to acknowledge evidence

Thefts in the Space
Tabled for 1 week. Matt: about to add this to the agenda for next week, a lot has been lifted, DON'T LEAVE ANY OF YOUR PERSONAL POSSESSIONS UNATTENDED AT ANY TIME WHEN YOU'RE IN THE OMNI, PERIOD. +1
 * Darin: Missing 2 travel flash drives, would like my stuff back :-/
 * What do they look like; Where were they last seen; etc?
 * Jes: Should there bw signage for this?

How we treat each other
Time: 30 min = Proposals = = Tabled =
 * tone policing vs non-violent communication?
 * acculturates us to not assert ourselves
 * emotional labor
 * all voices being heard
 * https://ethercalc.com/omni-front-desk
 * Ryan: Aggressions, micro-aggressions, it's really important to talk about how we treat each other, in general, and at meetings. He's been receiving microaggressions from a lot of people, access in the space is tiring me out, only way to deal is to kick things over--am often tone policed for it, the way we treat the space is how we treat each other, people having reactions to how i react- if we had signs that didn't let certain genders or skin colors into a space, it would not be acceptable, having to deal with bans and work, feels it's everyone's job to take care of everyone else in this space. is the most visible but not the only wheel chair user, most mobile one,
 * mary direct response: group SATURCDAY 4 O'CLOCK, IF YOU HAVE IDEAS OF HOW TO MOTIVATE, (important to me aat CCL to make is accessible) IF ANYONE WANTS TO COME, I WILL BE THERE, AT DISABILITY HACK NIGHT! +1!!
 * Joel: Are there access pads laid out at all the doors?
 * Ryan: they get removed
 * Rayc:(Access should be a priority and should be included in design
 * I feel that I am currently being "Tone policed right now." - Rayc
 * Ryan: it's about the tone policing and the way we treat each other
 * Mary: this comes to a core issue of trust, taking people's word for it, trusting people have good intentions, so that things can et done, we call come from a variety of different backgrounds, that's why we're here, mechanisms of getting out of that hardship, which a lot of us have gone through try to trust people in this space, people here are usually here for a reason
 * ??: it's a core issue
 * Rachel seconds this
 * joel: neon tape, make paths
 * ryan: it's not about ada access, it's about tone policing, want to focus on how we're treating each other in general
 * joel: you might not have to be mistreated if it was clearer
 * Rachel thinks this will help, even if it doesn't solve it
 * ryan: it's a bigger issue in the larger community
 * matt: let's just wait, we're rushing into longer conversation
 * ??: people wait
 * Emji: creating signage, about everything, if there are other ideas, we welcome them
 * Jes: safe space thing? i'm confused about signage for it, if we're having issues with that
 * emji: more in terms of oppression than property
 * ryan: lgbtu places specifically started this trend, since become a larger trend for marginilized ppl in general, our safe space policy is on the wiki
 * ??: "A place where anyone can relax and be fully self-expressed, without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe on account of biological sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, cultural background, age, or physical or mental ability; a place where the rules guard each person's self-respect and dignity and strongly encourage everyone to respect others." — Advocates for Youth via Wikipedia.<3
 * Nick: Kitchen issue of ppl using spices, someone else's kitchen product wihtout asking
 * joel: i don't think that's safe space
 * mary explains it, interpersonal dilemmas and triumphs around the space
 * Joel: epidemic, terrible 2 weeks, in terms of how ppl have been treating each other, don't want to go into it, talking a lot, not getting anywhere
 * Rachel has also noticed this cosmic trend
 * Mary : probably apply that to every body
 * Ryan: that's why this conversation is so important right now, so we don't get to that pt again
 * ORY?: collective house, built trust over 3 yrs, irreplacable, begin with intention "i feel cared for when/if..." created a list, started interacting this way about a yr ago, something im going to try to do in every collective space i'm in, also don'ts
 * Ryan: being nice cripple 24/7, if we could get to place where we have nice interactions, perfect, but ppl can't always phrase their statements perfectly
 * ORY?: not how we speak all the time, get angry at eaqch other often at my house, it's what we choose to bring up in broader snense, have space to be nice, that's not what i mean to say
 * matt: leave room and time for folks who haven't had time to speak, STEP BACK MOMENT, STEP UP ANYONE?
 * hannah:: being in omni, common open space, lots of ppl coing through, can understand how welcoming, door ppl, signage, those things that are everpresent helps it feel like the space is being held, understand that's a lot of labor/energy/time, when i've been in strong ocllectives, big, diffuse, those elements are what helped me feel like it was knit together those are the things i feel i might do to contribute to welcoming committee, etc., signs, those things
 * nick: what is working? nurturing that, pt out when someone does something to respect your boundary, you appreciate, whatever the issue may be,
 * mary: being thankful
 * nick: being thankful
 * matt: let's take a few min to think of osmething you can DO actiVEly, this week, one thing tangibly, you want to do/participate in, that you think could help us treat each other better, collaborate, find the things we find important and value
 * Ryan: 8 mnutes for people who want to share, you can always pass
 * rachel: mrewow
 * Ryan: 30 more seconds to think in your heads
 * ryan: he'll start..what we can do the most is take responsibility for the core group of community organizers who are more likely to be snippy and take on too much work, we need to all step up and put a hand in, so they can feel like they can let go, all have self-care, they can have self-care
 * Steve?: respecting each others time (when i don't do what i came to do, i hate being here)
 * lindsay : feels overwhelming to me, i'm sensitive to this stuff, feel anxious just being here and my body starts to hurt, i'm really glad these conversations are happening, energetic shift, one thing i try to do is remember to breathe, stay grouded, it's pretty awesome that you guys have a vibe reader
 * Mary: would like to set aside time for people in this space, sitting down, saying thankyou, if theyll allow it give them a hug, touches can be very healing to a lot of ppl
 * ory?????don;t know name: introduce myself, look them in the eye, to ppl, share name, build relationships, beginning of trust, keep my eyes open to what's around me and who's around
 * Jes: looking fwd to this week resolveing/helping to resolve my part in some of the drama that has unfolded in the sunday cook house, details omitting, solution will be right whre the problem is, it's going to happen this week, she's looking forward to it
 * rayc: definition, community, altruism, empathy, camradierie
 * emji: almost a yr, burnt out, at this pt, tired
 * rayc: not sustainable feeling
 * ???: new would like to get the chance to meet ppl, following on the discussion, hear l who have been in this for yr, really want to know what's happened, how it's got to this pt, want t plug in in some way, want to know the story, incredible ppl here to have poured their heart and soul more positively
 * remote-jenny: 20:43 I'm going to actively set boundaries when people come to me complaining and ask that they return when they can communicate more positively and i encourage others to do the same :)
 * grace: mural artist, in den, this week design you guys a fucking awesome mural design [crowd cheers] in general tangentially connected to omni, never really had the space in my life to do more than that, but some space has opened up in my life recently, ut on my sched, figure out what people NEED FROM ME the most, what fresh energy is needed most urgently
 * Joe: Agrees with Jenny and wants to come to the Omni when he is willing and ready, not when it feels like he really has to come to the Omni. will tell people when they';re not being constructive, be more direct, that i learned this week with a few things
 * Hannah: <<THANKS being more direct, she comes to collective spaces pretty defensive, bad experiences, jaded, focus on projects, introduce myself, one new person every time she comes, a stretch but a good one, getting hurt happens a lot in spaces like this, she has a short temper for it, working on confronting that directly instead of just not coming,
 * Michael: Valuable to know whats going on especially since there is a plan to join the collectives. Been the cranky person, this happens at all collectives, my job is what we do in peoples park, keeping the peace (not security), we're all responsible for this, generally know my folks, know who i could potentially have to try to resolve, not let it go, when ppl are calmer, esp when its not heated, if he gets involved in this collective, could help you with this.
 * [Time Check: 10 minutes left]
 * Nick: focus on making ppl here aware of all the resources omni has for catharsis, conversations, places to go, empathetic listening, movement, yoga, people should take advantage of that, and participate in what we have available, it's very important that you're able to have that cathardic moment out of your focus. focusing on making ppl aware of the cathardic, [healing rachel says], resources we have, helping people relate to others and in life in general.
 * Brandon: constantly keep thinking about, how much i appreciate the intellectuals in the omni, everyone here is pretty smart, has a lot to offer in terms of knowledge space and equipment, can't take my head off of is there should be something to protect what we have, excited about this new project, CYBER SECURITY, we're all techno savvy, we're smart enought o put together an intricate system of cameras to know what's going on at all times (discussion tabled)
 * Rachel: echoes security (brandon), really echoes self-healing, centering and grounding ourselves with those cathardic resources (echoes nick).....what i'm going to do this week is give ANYONE who is spoken of in third person and not ther eto defend themselves, give them the benefit of the doubt, even if i do trust the speaker's judgment to begin with, just do it
 * Matt: time i should go to yoga, but x, y, z come before me and yoga. invite eveyrone to !!!!CROSS POLLINATE COLLECTIVES!!!!!!!!
 * Matt: FIGHT PATRIARCHY, make more resources available about fighting domination in any form.
 * MARY: post to discuss?
 * Matt: any media, including that
 * Mary: no more stack
 * Ryan: reflect, it's awesome we were able to have this conversation, if anyone feels hurt, burned out, etc, please come tomorrow, just to sit and listen, not fix problems, but just be there for each other, it's hard not to prob solve, but let's solve the problem of too much problem solving
 * DONE 3 MINUTES EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOTTTT!!!
 * sTEVE says la commune will not be here next week,
 * RAYC: Vacation Time for La Commune next week, they will not be here.
 * ryan: encourages everyone to check out the wall AFTER the meeting
 * IT IS OVER, THE END, LOVE <3

Quiet Rooms

 * Creation of a "Quiet" Room as an intentional space for people to decompress or mark themselves as "Not Available" for other reasons. - Ryan deilann 2/3

Oakland Next
= Action Items = Time: 5 min (Review):
 * MOVE THE GYM