Event:2015/01/15 Weekly Delegate's Meeting

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Delegates Meeting - January 15, 2014

The meeting will begin promptly at 7pm, and end at 9pm; unless consensed upon to go beyond 9pm.

  • Facilitator/s: Kevin & Niki
  • Explanation of hand signals: "deaf applause", "raised hand", "point of process", "direct response", "time's up", etc.
  • Stacktaker & explanation of progressive stack: Amgo
  • Timekeeper & reminder to keep comments brief: Joel
  • Notes: David K
  • Vibe Reader: Ryan
  • Next weeks facilitator(s): Kate / David K
  • Delegates: Chris, David Brazil, Joel, Cere, Joe, Laura, David K, Kathleen, Ryan
  • Quorum:
  • Facilitator/s for next week:

Introductions (10 mins)

Name; Affiliation; Prefered Pronoun; If you are new, one thing that brought you here.

  • Kevin (CDC, How we Organize), Niki (Public School / La Commune / Sudo), Chris (Public School Delegate), Yar (Sudo), Jenny (Sudo), Ryan (Sudo Delegate / Welcoming Comm), Bert (East Bay Express), Amgo (Public School / Finance), Dennis, Gabe, Comron, Josh, Ashley, Giley (Spark Space), Kate (Public School), Joel (TIL Delegate), Patrick, Mish, Kathleen (CAMO), DBraz (Public School / La Commune Delegate), Cere (CCL Delegate), David, David K (Public School / Sudo / Black Hole Delegate), Joe (FNB Delegate), Laura (MPM Delegate / Public School), Aiyikwe (Omni Media Group / UNIT 1), Stephen (Public School), Sue

Announcements 15

Any Omni-related announcements:

  • David and Sue: Subterranean Art House looking for members
  • Kathleen: Wants CAMO to take a hiatus
    • Wrote a letter regarding her involvement as a delegate of CAMO
    • Description of CAMO's original vision to use Commons for display of artwork
    • Would be good to have this conversation at a working group meeting - How We Organize: Tuesdays at 7pm
      • Yar adds: Without a delegate, you're 'inactive' which means you can't block or vote on things until you start coming to meetins.
  • Kwic: Starting "Ebb and Flow" to address Omni functionalities..
    • Cere: Can you explain what the group would cover?
    • Kwic: The rhythms, patterns, incoming groups and people
    • Niki: can you write up a description for your Working Group? (Something we decided all working groups should have).
    • Should put link here - to what WG's are empowered and not empowered to do.
  • Gabe: Artists Redefining Culture (ARC) - Activists through art
  • Ryan: Sunday Night Social is a potluck cupcake decorating party 5-7PM
  • Laura: Has someone who can come pick up cardboard: "Mark" plaid cap curley grey hair. Introduced to some Omniers already. We should set a day.
  • Giley: Wants to reinvigorate kids working group in order to prepare the space for kids!
  • Kwic: Royal Tribe is inviting those interested in drumming and dancing

Working Group Report-Backs (5 mins per WG, 40 mins max total)

Report-backs consist of answering 3 questions:

  • What did you accomplish this week?
  • what problems or action items do you need to bring to our attention?
  • When is your next meeting?

Commons

  • We review proposals for space rental
  • Saturday, 1pm

How We Organize

  • Reminder that, as articulated in our sublease agreement, tenants cannot sub-sublease their space.
  • Inquiry about delegates availability the following Thursday from 6-7
  • Tuesday, 7pm
  • Stephen: There was a Discussion about having a retreat / strategic planning session
    • Wants to have a 6pm Thu mtg about planning this
    • Joe: Should be on a day when lots of people can attend

Communications

  • NEED FACILITATOR, modified purpose?


Challenging Domniant Culture (CDC)

  • Sundays at noon
  • This coming Sunday 1/18, Mars from TRUCE will come up to talk about 'Reclaiming Internal Conflict', did an ethnography/research on how radical communities deal with conflict -
    • DK makes a plea to all organizers to attend this meeting
  • Discussion about how to create a more welcoming environment at the Omni, have envisioned distributing printed materials with information about our values

Finance

  • 10k
  • Tuesday, 7:30pm
  • Everyone's insurance who is on the main lease has been paid through 7/1. (As part of a Proposal was went out last meeting).
  • Each collective will pay back OOC either monthly or in lump sum; etc.
  • Budget form has been created if people/groups would like to be reimbursed for funds spent on large/ongoing projects.

Fundraising

  • Close to $70k
  • We should send out a message letting donors know that we have received additional funds
  • Tonight or tomorrow we are going to lower our goal to $40k
  • $20K deposited already, $20K on way
  • Monday, 7pm
  • Yar announced: Indigogo has agreed to allow us to lower our fundraising limit to 40k as a response to reflect our out-of-band donations, so we now appear to be very close to our financial goal on our fundraising site.

Kitchen

  • Thinking about what they could do w/$30k :)
  • Would like to enlarge kitchen (talk to Joe)

Welcome

  • Need people to give tours! Email welcoming@omnicommons.org
  • Documentation hackathon Monday at 2pm
  • Thursdays at 6pm

Permits

  • Ongoing. One request (not yet a formal proposal) to have no more new uses.
  • Tues @ 5:30 / Sat @ 1 - need help moving bookshelves up to the ballroom mezzanine
  • David Early, professional city planner consultant has volunteered to help with Omni permits.

Building and Facilities


Chores

Proposals

Please provide the following information with your proposal:

  • The date the proposal was put on the pad;
  • The group or person making/bottom-lining the proposal;
  • Who will be speaking to the proposal at the meeting;
  • Where the full text or other information about the proposal can be found, if it's not all here.


==01-12-15== Proposal from sysadmins WG:

Allocate at least $400/year for IT expenses:

  • digitalocean server = $10/month x 12 = $120
  • domain names = ~$15/year x 8 = $120

Proposals

Please provide the following information with your proposal:

  • The date the proposal was put on the pad;
  • The group or person making/bottom-lining the proposal;
  • Who will be speaking to the proposal at the meeting;
  • Where the full text or other information about the proposal can be found, if it's not all here.
  • ssl cert = $10
  • CDN, etc
  • Proposed to allocate $400/yr : APPROVED
  • Passed!

Yay!

01-09-15 Proposal from the Welcoming Committee regarding staffing large events

Large events (over 20 people) must have at least 1 person manning the (front) door starting 30 minutes before and until at least 15 minutes after start time.

  • Tabled why?
    • Too long of a conversation for this meeting, we want to address DB's proposal for opening that was put forth in August

01-08-15 Proposal to write all proposals only on the wiki & all proposals be linked / ToC'd on a central 'Proposals' wiki page:

  • https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Backspace/Membership-Lease-Term-Proposal
  • Proposals announced to Consensus list (still required) would always have to link to a proposal as written on the wiki.
  • Each proposal would have to have its own wiki page.
  • All all proposals and all meeting notes discussing, voting, and/or amending the proposals to have links findable on central 'Proposals' links page (essentially an index of all proposals, their amendments, passage, etc).
  • Begins to address problem of not being able to find & follow passage of proposals spread across meeting notes and emails. All proposals should be findable / browseable from a single URL. Wil make discussion & modification of proposals easier.
  • DK volunteers to bottomline this task.
  • Passed 8 Yes / 1 Abstention


REVISED PROPOSAL : PREPARING THE OMNI TO BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

BROUGHT BY LA COMMUNE JANUARY 8, 2015

[REVISED FROM A PROPOSAL BROUGHT BY LA COMMUNE, AUGUST 20, 2014]

The Omni is already a dynamic and exciting space, and will become even more so when it is opened to the public in September. In order for the Omni to be a functional, safe and autonomous social center, it is important that we establish the framework for public use now, before we open the doors. This will head off a number of predictable conflicts and problems, and hopefully save us all some headaches.

This proposal outlines seven areas of a public use framework : hours, public areas, staffing, ground rules, expulsion, bathrooms, and after-hours access. All of these provisions will be publicized through adequate signage.

Hours. The Omni will open to the public with the regular hours of 12noon to 6pm. These will be our public hours seven days a week going forward. From Wednesday through Sunday, La Commune staff will open the front door at 48th & Shattuck, as well as La Commune and the public areas of the Omni, in the morning, and close the public areas, La Commune, and the 48th Street door at night. Other Omni members will be responsible for opening the space on Mondays and Tuesdays until La Commune opens up daily, within the next few months.

Public hours will be extended as appropriate for special events as long as adequate staffing is available.

Public Areas. The public areas of the Omni are defined as La Commune, the basement, the upstairs kitchen and hallway, and the upstairs den and ballroom (if not previously reserved). All other areas of the Omni (Sudo Room, CounterCulture Labs, Rise Above and ground floor hallways) will be considered members-only areas and restricted to active members of the Omni collectives.

Staffing. The Omni will require staffing whenever it is open to the public. The initial open hours of 12noon-6pm, Wednesday through Sunday, will coincide with the shifts of La Commune, so the La Commune staff can be in part responsible for opening and closing the building. This proposal requests that one other person from any of the collectives be present every day the building is open, to act as a greeter, help orient people in the building, answer questions, and deal with any problems that might arise. All member collectives are requested to put out a call to their membership asking for volunteers to staff these shifts. Each collective is expected to be responsible for at least one day a month, regardless of its size. We will be dealing with many challenges in having such a large building open to the general public, including crime and antisocial behavior of various kinds, and staffing is absolutely essential. This volunteering will be coordinated through the Welcoming Committee.


Ground Rules. The Omni must have clear and posted rules about what is not permitted in the space. We need a sign prominently posted at each entrance, in the bathrooms, and in other places as appropriate. These rules include : NO DRUGS; NO SLEEPING; NO STORAGE; NO VIOLENCE; NO HARASSMENT; NO THREATS; NO SHOUTING; NO SOLICITATION; NO UNLEASHED DOGS; NO MATERIAL DONATIONS WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL. We can word the signs however we like but these things have to be crystal-clear. Every community space in Oakland and elsewhere has dealt with these issues and the Omni will be no exception. With compassion and love, we have to deal with these things strongly from the beginning.

Expulsion. We need to be able to kick people out for violation of our ground rules, or at our discretion. This is sad but totally necessary. Day staff (La Commune staff and the rotating volunteer) are empowered to expel people from the space for violations of the ground rules or according to the good judgment of the day staff. We can form a conflict-resolution group to deal with appeals to expulsions, but we do need to be able to expel people for violent or antisocial behavior, drug use, threats, or as necessary on a case-by-case basis, as soon as we are open to the public.

Bathrooms. Public bathrooms are always a tricky issue. Organizers of other community spaces have told us many stories about bathrooms being used for drug use or prostitution, or simply of people locking themselves inside and refusing to come out. We also need to deal with the issues of safety and comfort in unisex bathrooms -- that is, the possibility of antisocial behavior in such bathrooms. Bathrooms are part of the commons that we offer, and it's a very important human rights issue to have access to them, but we need to make sure that our bathroom system is functional.

All of our bathrooms need to be refurbished so that Omni staff can enter them with key access if someone has locked the door. The Omni should allot funds to pay for this. The La Commune bathroom and the Sudo/CCL bathroom should be redesignated as single-occupancy unisex bathrooms so that those who would feel more comfortable not using a multiple-occupancy unisex bathroom are able to do so. Urinals in the bathrooms should be covered up so that they are not used by men in bathrooms that are intended to be unisex.

After-Hours Access. As per the section on Hours, the Omni will close to the public at 6pm. The Omni will still be available to members of its collectives, including those, like Sudo Room, that require 24-hour access. Members will be furnished either with a key (following a lock-change at the Omni's expense) or a magnetic card or fob (if an appropriate access system can be developed).

Signage. All provisions of this proposal will be articulated in large & legible signage distributed throughout the Omni. The Welcoming Committee will be responsible for writing & producing this signage, which will aim to strike a balance between safety and a welcoming atmosphere. 

Opening to the general public every day of the week is a great fulfillment of the Omni's mission to be a radical social commons. Let us make  strong decisions now about how we receive the public, so that this wonderful project can most fully flourish.
  • The whole thing as it is hasn't followed the process (it isn't on the consensus list)
  • It's not formatted well as something that the delegates can pass - we already have conflict resolution and safe space policies
  • We need to discuss w/our collectives and come back to vote next week
  • Perhaps we can unburden DB by distributing each section among the relevant working groups.
  • Agree it's not formatted well as something that the groups can vote on, can we agree to have it stand as a working document
  • Most of the issues that this document tries to address are things that we are in dereliction of a framework for
  • Reiterate that this is a great deal of urgency
  • Accept this as a working draft, identify a group to shepard this forward, set deadlines for a revised version
  • Working group should include people who have difficulty / issues with the proposal as it stands
  • Sense of urgency scares me, these things are already happening and the awesome people here are already dealing with them w/in the structures that we have in place
  • Agree that a lot of things are being worked out but it's helpful to have a summary
  • We've already passed a ban reciprocity, all members are already empower to expell someone
  • How to do you imagine this existing as a working document
  • Does this document need to exist? In this form? We could agree that this is purely a working version that will be amended
  • Would like to see a Working Group tasked specifically to draft this w/ a dedicated thread
  • We have a wiki!
  • Proposal will reduce work for everbody
  • Could act as a TL;DR for all of our other policies
  • As a visitor, signage and posted clear value statements is desireable. There's a lot of confusion when one wanders through here
  • We need a clear policy, in one place, that's legible to everyone. More than just a proposal to be open to the public.
  • Worry about the building in the evening, not during the middle of the day. Thanks to David for refocusing us on this.
  • All of our documents are amendable, let's put something in place and then set a deadline for revising it.
  • From a safety perspective, can see how important it is.
  • Let's end with some kind of an action plan. DB should not bear the burden. Can we identify a committee?
  • Every delegate needs to take this back to their collective and work on it. Yes, a committee can shepherd it.
  • This is something that would concern a newly forming group called Ebb and Flow
  • Maybe How We Organize would be a good place to work on this
  • David, Joe and Kwic agree to shepherd the proposal
  • Let's agree to set a date to bring it back - 2 weeks from now?
  • Might need a little bit more time. But let's shoot for 2 weeks.

Next Week

==01-12-15== Proposal from Finance WG:

  • In light of failure to meet commitments laid out in Peak Agency's sublease agreement or to work with the Omni to produce new agreement terms, this proposal is to remove Peak Agency as a member collective and to forgive all past debts in the amount of $1,200.

Discussion

Meeting-wide discussion of issues, concerns, ideas, etc.

Discussion of garbage storage and management at the Omni.20 mins

Where should the bins be stored moving forward? The bike room? Another place in the building? Outside? Dumpsters vs. plastic bins, etc...

Current space taken up by garbage bins in exit corridor is ~24x3ft = 72 sqft. Need at least 100sqft if not in a corridor.

(Let's discuss bikes separately - Laura) Likewise, where can we provide more indoor bike storage? Expect to see double the number of people at Omni, including bikes floating around the building, and double the amount of garbage generated by this time next year. Need to set aside some space NOW before all spaces are spoken for. Best locations would be closest to exits: ticket booth; close off part of ballroom; part of the Cafe near the entrance; rooms around the walk-in freezer. See https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Bike_Storage#Indoor_bike_storage

We should plan for space to store at least 20 bikes, at 8 sqft/bike = 160sqft.

  • DK - Recycling: To reduce existing # of recycling bins & total sq. ft req'd by garbabge, we should stop recycling with Waste Management and engage regular pickup from self-employed individuals with trucks who can come by say 2-3 times a week to remove recycling. (Laura D. has a hookup here.)
  • DK - Garbage: If we run out of space, we should upsize our bins to from 64gal to 96gal and put them in the small alcove on 48th leading adjacent to the door that leads up to the disco room (the single door, not the double doors.) The above two things should allow our recycling and garbage capacity to grow a bit at least, while also moving the bins out of the hallway.
  • DK - Dumpsters: are quite expensive and also, legally they must be moved inside at night (cannot be kept outside 24x7). Moving them inside the hallway (double doors) on 48th would then block the fire exit..

Action Items

Optional Breakout Discussion

Meeting attendees count up to >8 (number dependant on size of meeting), after which all same numbers collect into smaller groups to discuss the current topic/s. (Approx 20 mins, depending on time available)

This Week's Topic: 

Do-ocracy vs. Consensus: 
   * What does the conflict between these two styles look like?
   * What types of decision / actions are appropriate for a do-ocratic approach? Which require community involvement / consensus?


Ideas for Breakout Discussions

  • OMNI Finances - How can move toward more transparency about how much the Omni costs? And more comfort talking about money within the Omni and its members
  • TOPIC: Kindness, Forgiveness, Self care, Debt and Jubilee
  • TOPIC: Friendships, Relationships, and Organizing
  • TOPIC: What is your 50 year vision for The Omni? The year is 2064: What is the Omni? Who/What makes up its membership? How has it changed Oakland, the rest of the world, and the word "community"?
  • Topic: How do/should we ineract with unwelcome (abusive/hostile/drunk/etc) guests (Especially if you are alone!) and diffuse/solve the situation?
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