Event:2023/01/05 Delegates

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Omni Delegates' Meeting - January 5, 2023 7pm-9pm

Meeting Details

Roles

  • Facilitator/s:
  • Stacktaker:
  • Timekeeper:
  • Notetaker/s:
  • Next meeting's facilitator(s):

Delegates

  • inactive groups: CSC, GWS
  • ANV: depends, nobody here, so inactive
  • BOGSS: active, geraldo
  • CCL: active, cere & patrik
  • CLP: active, silvia
  • FNB: active, joe
  • LL: active, nobody here
  • MOP: active, jacqi
  • SM: depends, nobody here, so inactive
  • SR: depends, jake
  • Quorum (2/3 of active groups): need 5

intros

BRIEF INTROS MAY INCLUDE: name, pronouns, groups you're in, land you're on, if you're a delegate, unmet access needs, meeting roles you'd like to help with, discussion topics or proposals to add to agenda, announcements/updates/report-backs from your groups, safe space issues or updates

  • yar she/her
  • cere
  • emily finance she/her
  • geraldo he/they bogss
  • silvia she/her clp. hoping for emergency shelter. great opportunity to bring more mutual aid to omni
  • jacqi mop she/her
  • silver they/them
  • sevine he/they. proposing transformative justice support space.
  • jake sudo.
    • sudo may have to revert to 2k/mo instead of 3k/mo.
  • shikako (ko) they/them. foodz, cook every monday. looking forward to working together. emergency shelter would be helpful way to use the space.
  • madrone he/they. curious how things work.

abk

  • silvia: No update for ABK

crates

  • jacqi: forgot to email ANV, sorry

weapons ban

  • jacqi: we all agreed on ban but weren't sure how to word it / post it?
  • shikako: maybe a lock box for people to turn their weapons in. you need it on the street.
  • jacqi: these are 2 convos. a previous proposal to generally ban weapons from omni, and a newer discussion about how to handle weapons at a shelter
  • harold: our previous proposal was “No individuals at the Omni Commons should carry weapons (i.e., firearms, knives, machetes, tasers, pepper spray). Licensed and bonded event security may carry pepper spray.” - Geraldo
  • jake: can put up signs that say "you're not allowed to have weapons or say you have weapons in the course of arguing with people", it's basically a threat to say you have a gun. that's a good first step which would relate to the incident that sparked this discussion. from a practical standpoint it doesn't make sense to suggest we could get people to hand over their weapons, or expect people to do that, or that it makes anything safer to have a locker filled with guns. make a policy that says "if you have a weapon, you should keep it secret". if you break that policy, you either are using it to save someone or you need to leave.
  • yar proposes 10 minute time limit on this convo
  • emily: that could be summed up by a sign that says "no weapons"
  • patrik: i think requiring it to be secret is counterproductive.
  • yar: i'm more worried about what the consequences are? a policy is about what we do, not about what they do.
  • patrik & jacqi concerned about banning pepper spray

Geraldo via chat: Agree with the signage of no weapon and we craft an internal policy

  • jacqi: tough thing. maybe a vague sign makes the most sense to start with.
  • cere: for pepper spray, less lethal weapons for defense or averting escalation, that'll result in mediation anyway. we can't imagine all the different levels of weaponry or safety etc.
  • Yar: Need to be explicit about consequences - a policy is about what *we* do, not what they do.
    • Emily: consequence would be asking them to leave the building
  • yar: just saying it's a safe space violation, and triggers all our existing processes, is good enough for me
  • delegate decision to put up signs saying "no weapons" with those using or threatening others with weapons to be asked to leave the building per safer spaces policy
    • CONSENSUS: yes (jacqi/mop clp/silvia geraldo/bogss ccl/patrik sudo/jake) abstain (none) block(none). passed!

hire building manager

  • proposal "to hire a building manager to complete the fire permit process and any other repairs needed for fire and water proofing the building. This person should understand fire code and permits, be able to talk to construction vendors, and be interested in communicating with the omni on building@ 1-2 times a month about progress as a point person, but not as the only person, working on building improvements."

fundraising grant

  • proposal: authorize Sarah & Safer DIY to write $25,000 reimbursement facade improvement grant
  • emily: i don't think it should need approval, but the question of how to use gofundme money implies this should be also.
  • jake: i agree, i don't think that needs to be a proposal. but any objections?
  • no objections
  • yar: i don't think my points about the gofundme money imply that this also needs approval

use of gofundme

  • Currently 50k raised. Use?
    • Option 1: Mortgage payments
    • Option 2: Preserving the building (ie property tax payments, principal portion of mortgage payments, building changes for fire inspections, ____)
    • Option 3: ??

Patrik 7:54PM "Every dollar we earn here will go towards the $900,000 we need to raise" Yar: Our gofundme is being sent to contractors Emily: There was a one time issue where Sarah paid herself from paypal when Yar did not respond, I was not hired, and no one else could access the pay account Yar: That is not relavant

  • silver: a lot of work went into raising that money. my and others' free labor. we're 99% volunteers. emily gets paid. i wanna understand - their role is they can pay people out? want clarity around that. money is hard.
  • Patrik: I think property taxes are valid as well

Jake: The purpose of the gofundme was "Save the Omni"

  • Proposal: GoFundMe money can be used specifically for the following purposes:
    • Paying off the principal of our loan, including whatever % of our monthly mortgage goes towards principal (see loan amortization schedule for exact amounts - around $1600-1700/mo)

link to loan amortization schedule: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erV_VqazAIiLJ8GNXptd7a2SCRDv8BNw/view?usp=share_link

    • Paying the monthly mortgage if no other funds are available
    • Property taxes
    • Any taxes, fees, expenses that are used directly for the loan refinance
  • Emily: The purpose of the gofundme was "save the omni" and to go toward 900k payments. Changing this to a savings account changes the purpose
  • Yar: village of love rent has not been collected, sudo dues were not being transferred consistently

Indigo: Can we postpone Patrik & Jake: Let's postpone to next meeting


Emergency Shelter

  • proposal is to start hosting people in volunteer shifts from friday night thru wednesday morning
  • a small discussion about using omni for emergency shelter from rain storm, ended up snowballing into a large thing and then a reporter already has written about it
  • Friday night-Wednesday morning, starting with 30 guests along with 4-8 omni volunteers
  • east oakland shelter closing just as we open

ballroom for sleeping, basement to be used for donations Full proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13JXhQ5Oefuf5DXvSd_sZZI6QbeKcrsmjOOtV5MW5Aj4/edit

  • jacqi: 6 volunteers, possibly more. 1 at door doing intake, folks floating, with first aid / conflict resolution knowledge. sharing info with new volunteers. sharing donations so people are sleeping comfortable. masks and sanitizer. covid protocol if people are showing symptoms. rapid tests for symptomatic people. our goal is to check in after first night, see how it went, decide whether to raise capacity or make changes. idea is to use ballroom + basement to start. ballroom to sleep, basement for storage. families who want privacy can use VOL space (got their permission).
  • patrik: wondering about legality of people sleeping at omni?
  • yar: IMO it doesn't impact zoning or anything like that, as long as it's in response to a temporary emergency like a storm. hosting a perpetual/indefinite shelter would open up more serious legal issues for sure. de minimis. it's not habitation if it's temporary.
  • alameda county listed us as a shelter
  • city of oakland reposted it on their official instagram
  • patrik: hard to approve something without clear legal guidance
  • yar: storm is tomorrow
  • jacqi: i think because it's an emergency ...
  • yar: IMO the worst that would happen is they tell us to stop. the nature of the emergency gives us enough protection from this impacting our other activities as long as we obey a shut-down if/when it comes. ask forgiveness rather than permission. AS LONG AS nothing bad happens and nobody is hurt. it would not be covered by insurance and it could be very bad. also they probably won't shut us down because kicking folks out in the rain would be a terrible look for them.
  • proposal: delegates will let this new ad hoc working group try an experimental project of hosting an emergency shelter in the ballroom for the next week. great care will be taken to stay safe. if anything happens we have to shut it down. make that clear to people. Starts Friday and ends Wednesday morning, or until the major rain storm passes.
  • emily: what if 100 people show up?
    • jacqi: we'll just have a really hard boundary for that first night. it sucks, it'll be tough, but we need to make sure we're not biting off more than we can chew.
    • yar: the storm probably won't start in earnest until saturday around sunrise
  • silvia: old berkeley city hall also having a shelter with no limit
    • yar: probably also not zoned for habitation
  • emily: slip and fall plan? emt or injury? will you feed people? bathrooms working?
    • jacqi: we have volunteers who are EMTs and nurses. we'll have protocol. call 911 if we have to. peoples programs or mental health first folks on call. volunteers will be trained to respond. food is being donated, folks offering to bring and serve it. shouldn't have to worry about heating.
  • other spaces in omni will be restricted
  • patrik: basement is more of a fire hazard
    • jacqi: most people won't use basement. it's reserved for people who need safe space.
  • patrik: can we use the ticket booth room instead of the basement?
    • patrik thinks egress from ticket booth room is easier but yar isn't so sure
  • patrik: also keep ventilation fans and heater both on
  • silver: more folks die of hypothermia on west coast than east coast
  • emily: air purifiers?
    • jacqi: yes, there will be air purifiers
    • patrik: ccl & sudo have hepa filters; Patrik will check with CCL about moving theirs into the ballroom
  • jake: i'm abstaining because i didn't have time to ask the rest of sudo
  • patrik: i'm abstaining because we don't know enough about the legal implications. concerned about how it could impact omni.
  • consensus: yes (jacqi/mop geraldo/bogss silvia/clp joe/fnb) abstain (jake/sudo patrik/ccl) block (none). passed!

End of Meeting

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