Event:2014/10/16 Weekly Delegate's Meeting

October 16 Delegates Meeting

• Facilitator: Sarah P
• Stack:kevin
• Timekeeper: korl
• Notes: yar
• Delegates: sara (bs), ben (sudo), margit (omnidance), joel (til), pam (lc), joe (fnb), danny (pa), mary (ccl), kathleen (camo), tati (bh), mia (baps)
• Quorum: HELL YES
• Vibe Reader: mia
• Next weeks facilitators: alexandria + stephen

(encourage someone who hasn't facilitated before. If they'd like support, someone who has facilitated 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 )

• explain hand signals: deaf applause, raised hand, point of process, direct response, hurry it up, irrelevant elephant
• share the URL of this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom

intros

icebreaker: what do you do for self care?

• sarah omnidance dance
• ben sudo hack on robots
• margit omnidance sleeping dancing
• niki lc/baps sharing meals with friends
• pamela lc hike on hills
• korl sudo eat a crapload of ginger
• liz sudo red wine & chocolate
• stephen baps foraging figs
• jesse unaffiliated sail a boat
• tom sudo shoot the shit
• alexandria new dancer get my nails done + oysters
• danny pa picking grapefruits from trees
• kevin omp forgetting what i should do and do what i feel like
• ian baps/cps read poems
• mary ccl yoga
• joe several collectives, laugh & make ppl laugh
• maximilian fermentation station & renovation collaboration, not stretch it too far something something
• tatiana, the film collective that does exist, pickup basketball
• mia baps elaborate routine involving impulsive haircuts & worrying about my outfit
• laura baps sing
• jenny sudo start projects i may or may not finish
• yar sudo ride my bicycle
• sara baps/backspace yoga & meditation
• scott baps/sudo/omp meditate & take long walks to absolutely nowhere
• joel til reading poems
• gabriela rise above go on hikes with my dog and also do yoga
• joe fnb be in the pacific ocean when it's around 70 degrees
• andrew backspace meditate & binge-watch tv
• matt sudo listen
• kathleen baps/camo listening + yoga practice + spinal health
• eric new here certain foods like a hamburger or burrito

wg report-backs

permits

we need to buy:

• 2 more emergency exit signs with integrated emergency lights ($90 each)
• 3 panic bar door handles for ballroom ($120-$400 each)

building inspection:

• will happen soon but is not yet scheduled, they have to accept our plans. we are in a revise-resubmit cycle

the lift:

• we need a lift approved for commercial use. we have a lead on one available for $nearlyfree, but it might require us to build a small shaft that would protrude into the downstairs kitchen a bit.

the TIL wall:

• will probably not be loved by inspectors (for example: screws were used instead of nails for the rough wood framing)
• is a structural wall if it incorporates existing load-bearing elements
• is only done on one side (at the moment)

the ballroom:

• electrical needs to be mapped out and spec’d out for the AV people running the upcoming events (cere will help)

cafe bathroom:

• making it ADA accessible by removing a toilet made one of the agencies unhappy because now we have too few toilets. hashing it out.
  • having fewer toilets might significantly impact building occupancy

events:

• Danny asks: A group inquired about having phone/computer/wristwatch-free, alcohol-free party and concert on New Years Eve. Construction and soundproofing looks like it'll be sufficiently complete by then to host this event. Permiting is moving ahead. The group wants tentative confirmation (like a deposit) by Friday. Questions? Concerns?

Facilitating Collectivity

• Informal quorum for FC: 3
• Let's write the pad out on a whiteboard at General Meetings!
• Find new ways to rotate facilitation roles, each meeting, a new facilitator will be chosen for next week
• encourage rotating facilitation roles
• when you volunteer for facilitator, it's great to steward the agenda and remind people of it in advance
• How to address the problem of non-systematic, unidentifiable, non-routine tasks
  • invisible labor, invisible hands
• re-imagine leadership not as a hierarchy, but facilitating awareness of each other
• meets tuesdays 7-9 aka 7-8:30 aka 7-whenever

Commons

• "booking"
• Could use some folks to help out w/ Oct 26th event
  • may get paid
  • the birthday party
• livestreaming event postponed to dec 12

Communications

• new calendar is in progress
• + booking system (separate process)

Community & Fundraising

• New subgroups you can join to get involved easily: coordinating within Omni, publicity and outreach, communications and design, and events. New deadline of Dec 31! Every Monday, 7–9pm, lots of snacks and fun.
• gonna raise 70k by end of year
• 3 subgroups: something i didn't hear, publicity & outreach, and events
• hopes that raising this money can be similarly motivational to signing the lease
• meets mondays at 7

CDC

• Possible meeting with Healthy Communities (http://healthycommunities.us/)

Finance

• niki just paid off the wheelchair lift
  • $17,000 in the bank after paying for wheelchair lift & october rent
• lots of new volunteers
• amgo may be new CFO, but not sure yet

kitchen

• gonna tear out the wooden shelving, run more electricity
• Need an electrician
• needs ~$1500 to pay for downstairs kitchen renovations
• need to lay down some calendar rules for the new kitchen for when we're sharing it
• going to submit a plan for the building inspector

permits

• ben has a report
• we need to buy:
  • 2 more emergency exit signs with integrated emergency lights ($90/each)
  • 3 panic bars for ballroom (~$120 each)
• building inspection:
  • will happen soon but is not yet scheduled, they have to accept our plans. we are in a revise-resubmit cycle
• the lift:
  • we need a lift approved for commercial use. we have a lead on one available for $nearlyfree, but it *might* require us to build a small shaft that would protrude into the downstairs kitchen a bit.
• the TIL wall:
  • will probably not be loved by inspectors (for example: screws were used instead of nails for the rough wood framing)
  • is a structural wall if it incorporates existing load-bearing elements
  • is only done on one side (at the moment)
• the ballroom:
  • electrical needs to be mapped out and spec’d out for the AV people running the upcoming events

safer space & conflict resolution policies

• 8/30 Proposal from the CDC to approve the safer space and conflict resolution policies, with the understanding that both are living documents that will continue to evolve as we learn and grow as a collective.
• Safer space policy: http://wiki.omni-oakland.org/w/Safe_Space_Policy
• Conflict resolution policy: http://wiki.omni-oakland.org/w/Conflict_Resolution_Policy

formality

• 9/10 affirmative consent, with fnb abstaining + black hole says yes

Rise Above

PROPOSAL: Rise Above moves into the utility room adjacent to the front room/cafe area.

• Can use common space for desk space
• Washout space could be a separate proposal
• chemicals mainly used for cleaning, in washout area, not really part of press operation
• gabriela has all the material safety data sheets for everything she uses, if anyone's curious
• she can't use the sink in there for washout
• eventually omni will have a mop sink somewhere
• she's not trying to pull one over on us
  • gaby: a really slow one
• she wants more orientation on the lines of communication. who does she ask permission for her future space mods?
• space doesn't need to be locked, so we can still access the main breaker. door to the cafe needs to be locked, but other door doesn't.
  • Johnny said that breaker could easily be moved to the outer wall
• any major building modifications need to be approved by the landlord.
• proposal: gaby moves into utility room, and wall moves 4'
  • 9/10 affirmative consent: baps camo pa ccl til fnb lc omnidance backspace
  • 1 abstaining: sudo
• will need to decide where the kitchen moves to
• perhaps tenants can work together on a tenancy contract

print studio & TIL

• http://wiki.omni-oakland.org/w/Print_Studio_Proposal_v2

formality

• 9/10 affirmative consent, with fnb abstaining + black hole says yes

welcome, community print shop! send yar a logo so she can put you on the website

Backspace

Proposal Summary: see full text at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hi2_xRKwEu8VPHZlm3xym6rLuM4lJeGiNhZuvwfXXGs/edit

Backspace proposes to move into the ADA accessible Storage Area on the Shattuck Ave side (former TIL space), the small BDRM upstairs and the upstair Den (re: the Den - Backspace plans to offer this room part of the time as a Commons to other Omni collectives).

Den: Backspace is interested in the Den that overlooks La Commune (next to TIL’s upstairs office). We will use this room approx. 50% of the time in a multi-purpose way: for use for yoga, martial arts, open affordable holistic clinic hours, meditation, wellness special events, etc. We will offer this room as a common space by reservation during the times when it is not reserved for Backspace use. A public calendar that Backspace would be very happy to administrate would be set up for this room (alternately we can link to an existing Omni-wide calendar but just need more info on how to do so).

Small BDRM upstairs: We need one small, private room for use as a small studio space for practitioners, as well as for locked Backspace storage (which will include herbs and tinctures that must be locked and not available to the public).

Former TIL office: We envision this as a private ADA accessible clinic room for Backspace (for massage appts, etc, where the practitioner would need to lock the door behind them).

discussion

• den: "half backspace and half common"
• why so fast? they need more people. the people interested want to know what kind of space there will be. catch 22. and they have rent & utilities coming up. need to get moving in order to be a member collective and actually exist.
• danny: what about the disco room? less cafe chatter. sara: they considered it. but are supporting the commons wg in that
• they're thinking of covering the balcony with windows
• what changes to the den? painting definitely. needs new floors because the tiles are cracked. possibly openable windows at the balcony, not sure yet.
• some classes will be sliding scale donations, some will be free.
• baps is worried about having class space. putting windows on the ballroom mezzainine classroom would help with that.
• sara: i'm a founding public school member. obviously i care about baps. :)
• margit: there's groups with huge spaces, and groups scrambling over little spaces. how are we gonna be commoning these spaces?
• yar: 12 hours per day of classes would be great for the omni. sara: it wouldn't be 50% of space, it would be 50% of access. does that make sense? yar: no but i'll ask you later.
• baps would need to store a table and chairs in the den in order to use it for classes
• margit: start having classes in omnidance's space on monday! we have an open schedule! response: awesomeeeee.
• discussing consenting on giving backspace the eyeball room tonight
• backspace meets every friday at 8am at mama's royal cafe
• eyeball room would have a door that locks so that herbal mixtures aren't accessible to everyone. will mostly be 1-on-1 massage sessions with clients. will require quiet outside. for example, don's martial arts class is too loud.
• scott: omp people can help with soundproofing. also, basement room will be good for those sessions.

Proposal from Commons Working Group

• 10.14.14: The Commons Working Group proposes

collectively steward several common spaces in the Omni, including the ballroom and the Disco Room (as of December 1). The Commons Working Group will create systems for maintaining all these spaces as common spaces as well as making them available to the community to rent hourly. 

• Specifically, the Disco Room will be maintained as a space for body-based and somatic practices (i.e., dance, yoga, martial arts, meditation, etc.).
• As the Commons Working Group expects to garner income for the Omni from hourly rentals of these spaces, we propose that no new tenant be given exclusive use of them.

20 minute breakout discussion

• What does "commons" mean to us?
• Why is maintaining a commons important?
• What are your dreams for the commons in the Omni?
• How can we all steward the Omni commons together?

building modifications & bans

• since these now must be considered at meetings, let's always keep a section here to remind us
• Soundproofing - need to approve approx $1k for preliminary soundproofing measures in the ballroom

kitchen

proposal from the kitchen working group: We order a second compost bin and another recycling bin from Alameda County Waste Management. The bins cost $9.75 each per month and will show up on the collection day after we ask for them. The one green bin we have gets overloaded by Tuesday when FNB needs to use it, and there seems to be a similar problem with recycling. One complication is that the pipckup is listed as a residential pickup. I suppose it is still in John's name. I also suppose that we are actually paying for it. If we switch to a business pickup the rates may be different - presumeably higher. I'll try to find out by Thursday. (Helen)

• see email
• kitchen wg envisions times where groups can reserve it EXCLUSIVELY. fnb, phat beets, etc.
• there will need to be a backup kitchen. mezzanine one is small, but might have to do. All it needs is a fridge; it's complete otherwise.
• proposal: $1019 to spend on fixing the stove and reimbursing joe & helen for metro racks, hood filters, stainless steel table, plumbing repair + electrical parts