Welcome to the Omni Commons

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Omni Collective

Overview

A Collective of Collectives in Oakland, California. See Founding Document for governance.

From Latin omni-, "all, every, the whole, of every kind,"

OMNI Oakland Collective is comprised of several Bay Area collectives. Its express purpose is to build consensus among member collectives with minimal possible bureaucracy for the administration of a common space and sharing of resources for the use and stewardship of the greater community.

The point of the OMNI Oakland Collective is NOT to function as any sort of governing body for the groups involved in any general sense. There are no senators. Its only and sole point is to administer the space, pay bills, make group decisions about the shared space, resolve any conflicts between the groups in the space, interface with the state, banks, authorities, etc. Logistics and bureaucracy: That's it.

  • What kind of groups? Mainly:
    • Non-profit
    • Volunteer-led
    • Donation-based
    • Offer value to the public for free or sliding scale
  • What core values do groups share?
    • Fostering radical discourse and education
    • Maintaining an active, publicly accessible commons
    • Providing a venue for innovative cultural production
    • Striving for social, economic & environmental justice
    • Standing in solidarity with all oppressed people
    • Cultures of consent, against rape, violence & exploitation
    • The survival & thrival of our communities and neighborhoods

OMNI Oakland Collective Processes and Structure

  • Meetings
    • Times and Location
      • 1st, 2nd and 4th Thursday of the Month at 2141 Broadway
      • 6:30pm for newcomers
      • 7:00pm for delegates (open to all)

The Collectives

The Building

  • It's a 22,000 sq ft building, built as a meeting hall for the Ligure Club in 1933, on Shattuck and 48th. After decades serving as a social hub for members of the Oakland Scavengers club, appropriately enough, a garbage collecting collective, it was transformed into the Omni, a music venue featuring mostly heavy metal and rock that provides the namesake for this project.

Space Features

  • a appx 4,000 sq ft, 2 story ballroom / event space with mezzanine
  • an industrial kitchen & walk-in freezer (needs fixing up)
  • a massive back room with capacity for vertical expansion
  • 55'-ish ceilings
  • massive basement with windows above street level (currently blacked out)
  • a separate room that used to function as a disco (with lighted floor)
  • a warren of odd little rooms, a stage, lots of bathrooms, skylights throughout

Price/Sq Ft

Distribution of Space

Tentative Distribution of Space (Not final, will likely change!)

    • Sudo Room: Half bocce call court room
    • BAPS: mobile units - based out of a balcony room in the ballroom, having classes in unused space around the building as needed
    • Timless, Infinite Light: 2nd floor, Balcony room above bar, on corner of Shattuck / 48th (NE corner)
    • HackerSpa Wellness Center: Cluster of rooms between bar and bocce ball court room
    • Counter Culture Labs: Half bocce ball court room
    • Food Not Bombs: Shares basement industrial kitchen & food storage area with cafe-bookstore, hopefully serve food too upstairs to the community - either in the cafe, or the ballroom, etc
    • La Commune Cafe & Bookstore: Bar area
    • Live Space: Disco room in back (NW corner)
    • Oakland Nights Live: Uses ballroom area for performances, some storage in the building somewhere
    • Celluloid Processing Labs: Part of the basement
    • Creative Empowerment Project: Part of basement (screenprinting gear)

Use of Shared / Common Space

    • Schedule-able shared spaces around the building
    • Ballroom (scheduled mostly as per current Common room)
    • Parts of the basement
    • Bookstore / Cafe

Use of Space

  • How do we envision using the space?
    • To collaborate on projects
    • To host classes and performances
    • To network, meet each other, welcome newcomers
    • To store resources for common use (or equitably restricted)
  • Concerns about use of space
    • Will there be commercial activity in the space?
      • Yes, bookstore/cafe will operate as businesses
    • will profit-sharing be required of profitable endeavors?
      • Ideally, consensus can be reached that profitable endeavors can help to subsidize rent/mortgage/property taxes

Financial Information

  • Rental Terms
    • Expenses
      • Move-in Costs
      • Monthly Rent
    • Revenue
      • From Member Collectives
      • From Other Supporters
        • Loans
        • Donations
        • Grants

Legal Concerns

  • Permits
  • Zoning
  • Licensing and Certification

Questions for Collectives

To-Do List

  • Finalize proposal
  • Build Consensus of Member Collectives
  • Review Contract (agreement) and sign

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