Event:2022/04/21 Delegates

Omni Delegates' Meeting - April 21, 2022 7pm-9pm

• Talk at https://meet.google.com/diw-hszw-msr or 515-428-1108 (PIN: 465814905)
• Type at https://omnicommons.org/notes
• Send proposals to consensus@lists.omnicommons.org prior to the meeting

Meeting Roles

• Facilitator/s: Micha
• Stacktaker:
• Timekeeper:
• Notetaker/s: Yar, Patrik
• Next meeting's facilitator(s):

Delegates

• ANV: active - Silver
• CCL: active - Patrik
• CSC: inactive
• FNB: active - joe
• FYE: inactive
• GWS: depends, but nobody here
• LL: inactive
• Sudo Room: active - jake
• Sudo Mesh: active
• Quorum (2/3 of active groups): need 4

Agenda

intros

brief intros, ~2 minutes per person, all fields optional:

• name, pronoun, affiliation, land you're on, if you're a delegate
• do you have any unmet access needs at this meeting?
• what meeting roles you'd like to help with
• discussion topics or proposals you'd like to put on tonight's agenda
• announcements, updates and report-backs for your collectives, working groups, etc
• updates on any conflict mediation or safe space issues

• rafiq, clp
• micha they/she/he
• mike, myriad outreach project
• jackie she/her
• julie, common humanity collective
• chris he/him, CHC
• patrik ccl
• joe fnb he/him
• sarah she/her, safer DIY, bookkeeper & secretary
  • new insurance! half the price! event liability!
• maryann CSC she/her
• imma she/they, events + finance, came thru sudo
• marquise they/them BCC
• KO her/she gaia ccl, interested in ballroom events
• jake sudoroom

common humanity collective

• application sent 3/30 https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-March/003310.html see also https://www.commonhumanitycollective.org/
• Julie: 100% volunteer mutual aid group. Manufacturing hand sanitizer, air purifiers, covid masks. Looking to store raw materials and completed items. Tends to be bulky items - ideally ground floor or with easy loading. 250sqft
• chris: thinking about how to partner with other orgs - form a coherent network of producers exchanging things in a nontransactional nonmonetized way? excited to begin relationship with omni.
• micha: trying to figure out how space will work in the basement? sounds like we have the space you'll need? what kind will you need?
• julie: our distribution model is going directly into communities
• stairs are a problem - moving boxes up a staircase and around corners is a problem - but maybe the basement stairs are ok?
• imma: can the front room be partitioned? it's underutilized
  • yar: my proposal later this meeting is related to entrance hall. also proposal to building new rooms is relevant.
• joe: what does a week's worth of work look like?
  • julie: it's cyclical. during wildfire season, more interest in air purifiers. prepping materials takes a few hours and happens once every few weeks or so. other than that we aren't in the space super often. loading & unloading might take an hour once a week. maybe a group meeting. not always in the space.
  • joe: and the manufacturing part?
  • julie: some builds happen in parking lots. cutting mask materials done in batches sometimes.
  • would have to be up the stairs or in the basement
• david: what footprint? square feet of storage area? (250sqft) probably storage would need to be in the basement. we recently moved out lots of abandoned objects from other projects. maybe cheaper alternatives from places that just specialize in storage. but your org sounds great.
• Offering $400/mo, based on email thread discussion
• ticket booth room? mixed opinions
• chris: if we needed to unpack stuff, put a few tables out, and process material, would there be space for that?
  • sarah: one of the things about the basement is there is shared/common paths and open areas so you could do that. also, do you need the 250sqft area to be secured, like a room with locking door, or just shelving?
  • chris: mostly just need open storage, would probably get a small locker or box
• imma: next steps seem unclear. i can help connect and get a more coherent proposal in 2 weeks. will be point person for CHC.

CLP

• community liberation programs applied to be a member collective on 3/21, discussed at 4/8 meeting - consensus tonight? https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-March/003305.html
• up for consensus
• rafiq: clp looking for new hq. still $200/mo for 10x10 open storage space, maybe increasing over time. very much interested in making the revitalization of omni a part of our mission. would love to offer political education courses, building facilities that can be collectively used. will be at open house.
• jake: sudoroom talked about the onboarding process, wanted to suggest a 3 month probationary period for new members, where they participate as everything was decided before, but their appointment to be a board member and blocking power are delayed 3 months while we make sure everything is working. if we could do that with CLP and the other prospective member collectives, we're eager to get more participation in omni and more member collectives, and this delays that by 3 months, and we have a great spread of applicants and probably everything's gonna be fine. but that would give us protection and flexibility.
• patrik: i agree with david's comment in chat that storage isn't a terribly good use of omni as space, but i'd like to hear more about CLP, how many members are involved, how it's structured, how you make decisions, those kinds of things
  • micha: that feels repetitive, the proposal talks about that
  • rafiq: we generally provide community aid programs around the east bay, mostly oakland-berkeley area. we have 12 active organizers in the volunteer pool, 30-40 volunteers, democratic centralism with central committee among a core group of experienced organizers (6 folks in core group)
• sarah: wanted to get rafiq to confirm, what it sounds like from the proposal is that it sounds like they want a small storage area that doens't have to be secure, but they'd be participating and organizing in public/shared spaces. not just storage. involved in working groups, producing events, etc.
• yar: is jake's concern blocking?
  • jake: we could approve if the 3 month delay was added
• joe: question about roadway inn
• imma: will you be ok saying yes to CLP without fleshing out the honeymoon phase right now?
• jake feels peer-pressured
• david: is CLP ok with that 3-month period?
• micha: i hear you saying they're not a
• jake's suggestion was their blocking power be suppressed and their legal appointment to the board delayed for 3 months. i'd be satisfied with us just writing that into the meeting notes and agreeing here
• sarah: the sense i get from jake is that i feel awkward about this issue being raised. it feels like it's being targeted at CLP. i'd feel awkward if i was them. but it sounds like it's just meant to apply to all incoming collectives, and they just happen to be the first at this meeting. just getting this idea out of the way and addressed.
• rafiq: a provisional period makes sense. from CLP's perspective, we don't want special rules for us alone. we're planning on being part of the collective in a big way. i understand blocking our veto power for now but we'd like to be included in the decision process in the next few months.
• CONSENSUS: YES (patrik/ccl, silver/anv, fnb/joe); BLOCK (); ABSTAIN (jake/sudo)

myriad outreach project

• jacqi & mike came to last meeting
• application sent 4/21 https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-April/003409.html
• mike: we engage in direct outreach projects. banner drops, interactive art events, [too fast talking] work alongside BCC, direct action for farmworkers. move donations from bay area to sonoma county.
• 10x10 was a conservative estimate. need space! workshops, art projects, different facilitation things. it's open, accessible when it is. haven't seen the place yet. based in oakland, events in san jose, sacramento, antioch.
• patrik: how many people involved?
  • mike: it fluctuates. nonprofit has a 3 board structure. DAFW has ~5. BCC 8-12. meet infrequently, ~twice/month. a bunch of streams into one river of abundance. community events that intersect art/food/etc
• they're a 501c3. meals on onewheels is a DbA of MOP. BCC is a separate organization, not a fiscally sponsored project of MOP.
• imma: still want to flesh out the new member collective process - orientation/onboarding/project management for it.

new rooms

• proposal to build new rooms, discussed 4/7 https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-April/003342.html
• up for consensus
• sarah:
• david: agree
• patrik: 2 ccl members were strongly opposed to accepting any more contractor work until the roof issue was dealt with
• jake: i was asked to represent a sudoroom member in the same position with the same concerns. push back on more expenses until we get updates on the roof situation - $9k skylight issue and rain in sudo/ccl. they want more scrutiny & accountability.
• KO: to start projects before fixing the roof and ballroom skylights... today it rained
• yar: i think tying these issues together would be a mistake. we'll lose this building in 33 weeks without a refi.
• dk: the contractor's a relative of a longstanding member of omni. they've agreed to refund essentially half the money we gave them. there's no contest there, it's just taking a long time. puts us in a difficult position - how do we compel getting that money back? that's a decision the group needs to make.
• joe: i understand the concerns also, but agree the smartest most effective way to pull omni out is the build the kind of space people need and are asking for. in favor of the designs. not too clear on the proposals. current contractor is great!
• sarah: is this a concern about not having money left to fix roof? or about not trusting the process of hiring contractors?
• patrik: i'm not going to block the proposal, just want concerns to be heard
  • KO: thanks, i think our questions have been answered
• Proposal to approve as written, but with the potential to increase budget by another $1K for modifying exact layout
• CONSENSUS: YES (silver/anv, joe/fnb, Jake/Sudo, rafiq/clp); BLOCK (none); ABSTAIN (patrik/ccl)

entrance hall

• proposal to spend $4k fixing floor https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-April/003400.html
• up for consensus vote
• joe: i'm mixed about this. i agree with everything you say, but i think there are things that come before the floor. when you walk in, what you see is never pleasant. so much needs to happen for very little money. it's called caring and cleaning, and it's a huge job because so much goes on in the entryhall. i wanna know who's gonna do the floor. it's a hard job if you really wanna evenly level it.
• david: i've been shopping this and trying to quote out doing that floor the past week or so. floors can be really expensive, but i think it could actually be less than 4k. we can get into specifics in another call. we're only talking about just the surface, at most 1/2 inch. wouldn't be self-leveling concrete or anything like that. i have confidence in matt that this can be done. southeast corner where new mailroom is, we can put down resin epoxy or quarry tile (food prep code). i have confidence in that number, i think we'll come in under. i had the same concerns at first.
• what material?
  • david's trying to remember brand name. akin to epoxy resin but cheaper. i looked it up on my computer. not clear but opaque. matt will do the work, his quote came in the lowest, i like the work he's done to date. he says he's done this before. we can have a call with him tomorrow.
• CONSENSUS: YES (sudo/jake, anv/silver joe/fnb); BLOCK (); ABSTAIN (ccl/patrik, rafiq/clp)

Open House

• coming sunday 4/24 12-5
• micha: a few other groups coming to table, get visibility. PYM, food vendor. encourage all groups to table, invite people into your space. have omni volunteers around to give informal tours. you don't know how big omni is unless you tour it. you can email me to talk more.

Roof leaks

• Major leaks in CCL and Sudo this past weekend. Roof drain was blocked, and we had a foot of water on the roof, causing widespread rain inside CCL along the graffiti wall.
  • DK notified Mike Tenuto - any response? Is he upholding his warranty on the roof work?
• Any progress getting a hold of Mike to get our $9K refunded? If not, what is our next step?
• david: there was a whole series of mike agreeing to meet and then not showing up. i think it's a delegate-level decision. if we do something like file a complaint and try to get our money back from the bond (probably the best way to get it) that'll be public, will go on his record, hurt his ability to get work. won't end his career, but he has a clean record now. we'd be a mark on his record. decide to send him a letter with a date at which point we're doing it, and then actually do it? might take 6 months to resolve with CSLB, but based on all our documents i'm pretty confident it'd result in our favor. decision lies with delegates - have jesse write mike a letter? other option is talk to his friends.
• Should write proposal to be approved at next delegates meeting May 5 to have Jesse send an official letter. Need payment by delegates meeting after that - May 19 - or we will take further action.

potential new groups

• xoxo's eyeglass/optical services, sent 3/12 https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-March/003279.html
• Saude wants studio space (sent as event request, 4/17)
• guerilla gardening? (no longer interested, we will be moving into the REAP center in Alameda as it better fits our outdoor gardening needs)
• Open To All?
• Recess Oak?

Building Improvement Omnibus Proposal by DK

Omni Proposed new Improvements 2022-21

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RvQXaMPrNpms7DrZs3NDVsqZBVJUpx0fOIh8X2rB_I4/edit#gid=1649236078

The rationale for the above improvements in general are:

1. Engaging with these improvements will increase the viability / income from omni events, and raise the value of other tenantable areas, improving our odds of having regular income that meets the meets the needs of the refi. We have come a very long way, but a few core tasks still need completion, and there basic items we need to restore to omni such as for example, some venue-quality microphones and things like that.

2. For the purposes of the refi, the savings we have in the bank bears little -- for banks, its mainly how much net income we are generating per month. Given our december deadline for showing an increase in recurring income from events and/or tenants, to me it makes sense at this juncture to spend down the funds we have (within reasonable limits of course) on maximizing our ability to bring in new income.

Best, David

discussion

• david: i'd really appreciate being able to go over these improvements individually with collectives. feeling time pressure to get a lot of these things done, as the ballroom starts getting booked up.

BCC

• tabled until further notice
• Building Community Collective applied to be a member collective on 4/7 https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2022-April/003347.html
• pdf at https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/attachments/20220407/0cefde6d/attachment-0001.pdf
  • Postponed until further notice - room for more discussion

village of love

• proposal to join omni expected soon

End of Meeting

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