Event:2014/06/05 Weekly Delegates Meeting

June 05 Delegates Meeting

say your name, pronoun, group you're with

Facilitator: Zach

Stack:

Attendees:

Zach / whatever / CAMO, Alana / she / BAPS, Owen / Mr. O / La Commune, Elizabeth / she / OMNIdance, Margit / she / OMNIdance, Ahnon / she/ze / CCL, David / he / BAPS, Maggie / she / Bummer Vacation, Emmilou / she / Bummer Vacation, Niki / she / BAPS / La Commune, Grace / she / FNB, Bill / he / BAPS, Danny / he / Peak Agency, Tyler / mayor / Kulturehaus, Hans / he / Unaffiliated, Elaine / she / CAMO / BAPS, Stephen / he / BAPS, Libbie / she / BAPS, Nico / they / BAPS, Joel / he / TIL, Caliborne / he / BAPS, Helen, Andrew, Yar, Cere, Kathleen

Delegates: David K.(BAPS), Elizabeth(OMNIdance), Ahnon(CCL), Zach(CAMO), Danny(Peak Agency), Joel(TIL), Niki(BAPS/La Commune), Grace(FNB), Jenny (sudo - currently in sudo)

Agenda

==Lease==(10 mins)

• "Final Version" of lease put up a few days ago. Every day there are minor changes, nothing fundamental
• DK would like us to consense on empowering delegates to sign the lease when it's ready. Until it gets signed, John will continue to make changes.
• Tyler: What are the red flags?
  • Jesse: Silver lining: no guarantor. However, landlord is asking for multiple signatories. Being a collective of collectives is a red flag; permits are a red flag
• Elisabeth: What are the terms of transferring over a sub-lease?
  • Jesse: Either party can terminate the sub-leases. None of the member-groups are signing with the landlord, no need for prior consent.
  • Better to have "project groups", "project groups" must be charitable
• Cere: Does John hate us or love us?
  • DK: there's a difference between operations and intent; it's not the missions of the groups it's the financials
• Andrew: How does John make requests / communicate with us?
  • Jesse: Most of the important things have to be in writing. Concern is that landlord will tend to err on the side of communicationg with DK than with anyone else.
    • Yar: there should be an info@ email that he send communications to and anyone interested in responding can be on that list.
    • DK: It's a structural problem but John needs to have a persistant point of presence. DK should be the person until the lease is signed. Will indicate a organizational lack of trust in DK otherwise.
  • Clai: Thanks DK! 24.6(a)?
    • Jesse: Individuals not peronsally liable
  • Alana: Why is he doing this?!?! (not requiring a guarantor)
    • Jesse: He's developed a personal relationship with DK. We've reduced his responsibility for capital improvements by $25k. We're having multiple signatories
    • Going every day showed him that we were dedicated.
  • Helen: What about hiring contractors? Who chooses?
    • Jesse: For building operations costs, landlord would choose. There could be some expense for say, extermination. OMNI should initiate the process if we want the opportunity to choose. Regarding improvements: OMNI has the right to select contractors, landlord has right to "reasonably" approve them.
  • Alana: What makes the lease more pro-landlord vs. more pro-tenant?
    • Jesse: Lease doesn't interfere w/your use of the space, (you have to require it to be legal though). Examples: It's a triple net lease, tenant is responsible for everything. Landlord is involved in approving alterations.
  • DK: If you haven't looked at the lease, not all of the delegates are on the lease as signatories. It's in our interest to have as few people as possible on the lease. The exact number is still fluctuating. Being a signatory means that the org you are signing on behalf us could be named in a lawsuit / be liable. No individual person, however, would be liable.
  • Andrew: How does fiscal sponsorship work?
    • 501(c)3 must operate for a charitable reason.
    • Suggests that we file an expedite request
  • Clai: Is there a limit to UA's that can be fiscally sponsored?
    • Jesse: Fiscally sponsored UA's cannot sign a sub-lease with Fiscal Sponsor
  • Kathleen: What is the move-in date, when are we signing the lease?
    • July 1st, in the next few days
    • Jenny: can we e-sign?
  • Andrew: If you're a UA but not eligable for fiscal sponsorship, does that make you personally liable?
    • Jesse: Surprisingly not. If there's only one person in a UA, it will be hard to argue that they are not personally liable. Should determine if you have assets.
  • Jenny: Regarding Omni collectives eligability for 501(c)3 should we make a distinction between member groups, UAs and business partners?
    • Jesse: Maybe OMNI isn't eligible for 501(c)3 but one of the other groups is, we could funnel money through another organization. We'll figure out a workaround.

• Latest signature line we are suggesting, that jesse is talking about (as of today):
  • "Signature of an officer for each entity with a right to appoint one of Tenant’s directorswith full right and authority to bind said entity per Section 24.6 indicating that said entity agrees to pay, upon Tenant's default, a portion of Tenant's liability to Landlord under this lease equal to said entity's share of Tenant's total liability."

• Consensus?
  • Which groups have consented to sign?
    • All delegates are empowered to sign the lease in the spirit of their organizations when ready.

Proposed Event

• "Bummer Vacation": Want to hold an event at the Omni (one-off)
  • Mix between art opening, comedy, music show
  • Sometime in Mid-August
  • We will keep Bummer Vacation posted as to event space rental / availability

Proposed New Group

• Theater Collective
  • Alana will send proposal to list

working groups

• Legal Governance:
  • Reportback: http://wiki.omni-oakland.org/w/Event:2014/06/02_Legal_Governance_Meeting
  • Put a hold on New Group applications until we work out the application / voting process?
    • Dan (accountant): Willing to put together a spreadsheet for financial questions
    • Member-groups are responsible for getting questions re: New Groups during the week of deliberation
    • DK: Provisional period for new groups
    • MG: 3 Month provisional period before offical vote-in
    • ZH: Don't put a hold on New Group applications until we're in the space
    • Zach: <Zachspeak>
    • Clai: What's the rush trying to get new groups in? Also, Hard to get people to leave after a provisional period
    • MG: Maybe a week isn't enough time for us to decide?
    • Libbie: New Groups feel caught in a system in which they don't know how to proceed. Maybe a month of deliberation? Maybe we can go to their space to get a feel for how they operate?
    • Danny: Can we attempt to spend time trying to "get to know" new groups between the time they apply and the time we vote?
    • Andrew: Solidify proposal process. Do we need a financial statement? Do we need references?
    • DK: Likes Libbie's idea of spending a month. New groups should come to delegates meeting for a month so they understand the committment required. Also, a longer list of questions.
    • Zach: Perhaps some groups operate underneath an larger umbrella member-group <Zachspeak>
    • MG: Can we take these ideas and work out a proposal to bring back to the group?
    • Clai: Proposes a Legal / Governance hack-a-thon / hack-salon.

Communications:

• Reportback
  • Continuing call for collaborative design process, send to the list to be worked into website
  • When to release the website, to launch it - request for feedback
  • Margit: PR / To Not PR? (Related to the website)
    • DK: Must have deliberate forethought on how we announce the Omni.
    • MG: It's exciting to start a tiered launch approach, , we're going door-to-door, let's set ourselves up right
    • Nico: Press releases are lame., not in line with our politics--rhizomatic nature of the project
    • Helen: Maybe not a press release, but some media coverage?
    • Danny: we should prepare language and talking points that we are all happy with, to be ready to share information about the project
    • Zach:ditto Nico, press releases suck
    • Elaine: press releases allow you to tell your story your own way, to make sure it adheres to your values.
    • Claiborne: call it a communique, same thing. control your own narrative.
    • We're not going to have total control, the idea of having something official should be on the table.
    • Alana: Delicate /vulnerable time - figuring out what it's like being in the building / being in the neighborhood. We can build our own internal strength by just feeling it out for awhile. Important to be able to articulate yourself rather than being told what you are by the news reporter.
    • CCL is going to announce their new address
    • DK: We should think about our audience. John/Mary should be our primary audience, Our neighbors should be our secondary, City should be tertiary, then everyone else
    • Nico: We should enact even as we roll out, what we are
  • Elaine: Website is skeletal - not a Press Release sort of thing
    • Alana: Website should launch upon the signing of the lease
    • Alana: before release, everyone should have a chance to look at site (2 week? Next mtg?)
  • Elaine: One week ok?
  • Zach: Vote on our outward facing presence (Bylaws: Legal / Website: Communications) in two weeks?
  • Clai: We should release something before we move into the building (need a strategy)
  • Danny: We should have updates first thing

Action Items

• All delegates to send Bylaws to collectives for a week of deliberation
• Elaine will send out the new website

Event Mgmt / New Events

• We should have a narrative for new groups / events before we've solidified our process.

next week

Future Groups:

• Events Mgmt?
• Building Administration / Logistics:
• Focus on intercollectivity?
• Values
• New Member Getting to know you Committee

Also this:

Jordan creating a takestack script that announces time passing during turns!: https://github.com/yardenac/takestack