Event:2020/07/02 Delegates
Omni Delegates' Meeting - 2 July 2020 7pm-9pm
for instructions on preparing and archiving these notes, please see the bottom
Agenda
- Introductions [15 minutes]
- Meeting Roles
- Delegates Count
- Access Check-in
- Check-ins, Updates & Report-Backs [30 minutes]
- Brief Announcements
- Working Groups
- Member Collectives
- Conflicts, Mediation & Safe Space
- Proposals & Discussions
Introductions
Introduce yourself: Name; Preferred Pronoun; Affiliation; any brief announcements; say whether you're a delegate; let us know about any access needs you have†
- WHY DO WE ASK PRONOUNS? To make space for people who are trans, nonbinary, gender noncomforming or otherwise vulnerable to being misgendered. It's not an invitation to make jokes or trivialize the idea of pronouns. If you are fine with the gender and pronouns society generally assigns to you, please just say what they are without fanfare or embellishment. Conversely, please don't pressure anybody to give their pronouns, as that can harm trans people who are closeted or questioning. The point is to prompt and normalize asking, but not to mandate or enforce. Thank you! <3 Yar
- Mary Ann - CSC - she/her - delegate
- Jane - GWS - she'her - delegate
- Jenny - Sudo Room / sudo mesh - delegate for Sudo Room
- Lesley - Sudo Mesh - she / her / they - can be Sudo Mesh delegate
- Mai - Sudo Mesh - she / her / they - delegate
- John - GWS / Fundraising - he/ they -
- Patrik - CCL - he/him - delegate
- Robb - LibLens - he/him - delegate
- Rachel - GWS & USPROS - she/her
Access Check In
Is everybody able to participate fully in this meeting? Do people have unmet needs or concerns?
Meeting Roles
- Facilitator/s: Mary Ann
- Explanation of hand signals: "deaf applause", "raised hand", "point of process", "direct response"(wildcard), etc.
- Stacktaker:
- Timekeeper:
- Notetaker/s: Jenny, John?
- URL of this pad: https://pad.riseup.net/p/omninom
- Vibe Reader:
- Who will out next meeting's agenda beforehand:
- Next meeting's facilitator(s):
Delegates
- CCL: Patrik
- CSC: Mary Ann
- FNB: N/A
- FYE: (inactive)
- GWS: Jane
- LL: Robb
- Phat Beets: (inactive)
- Sudo Room: Jenny
- Sudo Mesh: Mai/Lesley
- Quorum: 6/7 - must be 2/3 active collectives
Brief Announcements
- TestThePeople.org - another round of free covid-19 testing
Working Group Report-Backs
Building & permits
- Meetings: only the kitchen group meets regularly, new times tbd
- https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/building
- Annual fire extinguisher/lighting compliance done by John from Genesis
- Did we have fire inspection (1 May)? Okay no, need to schedule.
- Fire Extinguishers and lights have been checked by Genesis - Jenny to follow up
- Need to schedule annual fire inspection
- Rodents?
- Losing a bit - Ken not around - getting into areas they haven't been in awhile, eg walkin, ballroom - need to store food there better
- Jenny: $10K SFF Covid grant we just got could be used to buy rodent proof food containers
- Losing a bit - Ken not around - getting into areas they haven't been in awhile, eg walkin, ballroom - need to store food there better
Commons
- Meetings: 2nd & 4th Mondays at 5:30pm @ https://omnicommons.live/commons
- Join! * https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/commons
- Haven't been meeting nor getting requests excepting donation drive (informal emails to robb with dates)
- Recently got one where a for-profit wants to do a production at Omni
- Jenny: also to emphasize: they will abide by physical distancing protocols, offering $5000, production topic is on impact of coronavirus on state of work
- Robb: if they expect to be able to lock their setup, could be a dealbreaker - hauling stuff in & out of studio, maybe would need to offer disco room for lockable storage
- Patrik: should look into who these people are, what work have they done previously, etc. How legitimate are they, what re their political leanings?
- Jane: Concern about distro ops and keeping that separate
- John, can we given circumstances get more than $5k?
- July 15 - Sep 9
- Think about this further, in the commons working group and ensure that there is a clear written agreement before going forward.
Communications
- Meetings: Email for now
- Join! https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/comms
- This WG needs a facilitator - plenty people willing to help but not bottomline
- Please send updates, announcements, etc to comms@lists.omnicommons.org
- We will be sending out a Doodle soon to figure out a meeting time
Finance
- Meetings: TBD @ https://omnicommons.live/finance
- Join! https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/finance
- 2019 financial reports posted at: https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Finances
- Village report submitted by Sarah L - accounting for recent correction, either Omni owes Village $2K or Village owes Omni $2K. [Verbal reportback/Discussion[
- Phat Beets has paid up their back due rent to ~$6400
- Patrik - re: sudo-discuss - will not renew unless we have a sprinkler system?
- Jenny: agent from Autonomous, will ping
Fundraising
- Meetings: Sundays, noon or 11:00 am
- Join! https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/fundraising
- $10K grant from San Francisco Foundation
- had discussion w/ Unify re: commercial real estate loan last week. Guarantor required, but audited books not required. Going to look into ~half a dozen other lenders - help wanted!
- John: ongoing discussion about bridge grant funding for an employed ops person
- John: Birthday fundraiser on Facebook - so far brought in about $900
- tweeted out to @oaklanduprising (formerly @occupyoakland)
- Robb about $266/month on patreon
- John not that bad re: fundraising! - decent shape - ~$15K in paypal, $10K from SFF,
- Sarah reported back on Village/Omni balance. Contested transactions loom - need to resolve quickly and amicably
- Brian - "The first step for us is that at the next Omni meeting we need to put into the meeting notes 1) Who is currently on each sub-account 2) Who we want to be on each sub-account 3) We want to put explicitly into the notes that we want to remove the previous people from the account. My understanding is that the previous three people we need to remove are Me, Jenny, and Matt senate. I am evidently on some of the sub-accounts but not all, which means that they can't tell me who the signers are on the accounts I'm not on. But the meeting notes should talk about removing the three of us (and anyone else we want to remove) from the accounts. When listing who should be added to each account, the notes should list them out account by account. I'm not sure who all is on which account, but I suspect that knowledge is there at the omni. I'm not sure how much I can help get that info, but let me know if I can."
Member Collective Updates
What is going on with your collective? What are you working on? What have you accomplished? Any events coming up? Any difficulties you are encountering that you need help with?
CCL
- Working on our reopening documents; planning ahead. Includes a Site-specific Protection Plan required by Alameda County, that we really should have for Omni as a whole as well - or at least for every essential business working out of Omni, such as Phat Beets. Happy to share our docs.
- Had sent around an early version ~ a month ago - social distancing protocol. So far no enforcement, but State of CA will start linking funding for municipalities to enforcement - need it to be up on the wall
- Jenny, Robb happy to iterate
CSC
- Mary Ann (sorry CCL shoulda been first! -jnny) - currently doing a fundraiser for Las Abejas __ - early Zapatista massacre, displace for 2 years, shot at daily, makes it difficult for them to get food anywhere. Fundraiser at https://chiapas-support.org/
FNB
- Not here
FYE
- Not here
GWS
- Seizing the moment of defund the police to move on decriminalization of sex work further
- PPC had 1.5 million people on-line for virtual rally and marvh on washington 6/20. Talks by impacted people were powerful.
LL
- Working on Phat Beets video, in mutual aid coalition that seeks funding for alternative to police, dispute resolution staffing at restorative justice.
- Less going out to stream and record events, mostly editing now. Renegade Bio and Anka filmed Pride Riot event.
Phat Beets
- Not here
Sudo Room
- Discussed an official reopening - very small, primarily so we could have a more structured way of ensuring safety protocols.
- 3 people regularly in Omni not wearing masks? Joe(?). This can't go on!
I will help correct this if it involves difficulty one way or another. .
- Patrik: query who typically are there,
Sudo Mesh
- Chatting with RYSE Commons in Richmond, CA to connect them to available fast internet from the Internet Archive building in the same neighborhood. They own building, and bought buildings around them. Good to connect with, build and relate to another commons and cooperative economics space.
- Increased possible towers for nodes for better mesh coverage.
Conflicts, Mediation & Safe Space
- Updates for any ongoing issues
- Has anybody been asked to leave? asked to leave
Proposals
Pandemic Emergency Bridge Strategic Planning and Organizational Development Grant
- Via Omni Commons Fundraising Committee (for discussion then consensus)
- We urgently need all hands on deck in this effort. **
- Main point to discuss and reach consensus on: We will for the first time be hiring an Omni Commons staff person. The draft job description is [Appendix 6] at the bottom. *** Please review the draft grant proposal below and let us have your feedback. Also if you have a lead for a donor (individual or organization) that can write us the check, please let us know immediately.
- We urgently need all hands on deck in this effort. **
We are a federally tax-exempt California non-profit corporation. We seek grant funding now, but are mindful never to become wholly dependent on grant seeking. See, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, 2017).
-John Torok, Global Women’s Strike Omni Collective, Member of Omni Commons Fundraising Committee - maydayjt@riseup.net
Omni Commons : Pandemic Emergency Bridge Strategic Planning Two-Year Grant OCPEBSP2YG.1 DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT $300K PROPOSAL [Draft 2 -jt - 06-15-20 21:30 pm]
July __, 2020 Introduction Omni Commons is an American utopian experiment in Oakland, California that seeks to transform society by modeling alternatives to existing social relations and economic forms.
We were born of the Occupy Oakland 2011-12 moment that frames later social justice organizing in the Bay Area. Omni Commons seeks to build up and serve the community, the peoples, and social justice organizing efforts in the East Bay of San Francisco. We have and will continue to incubate and fulfill the needs of innovative social movement projects and organizational start ups.
We are a federally tax-exempt California non-profit corporation (see Appendix I). To overcome our momentary economic challenge we ask for a $300,000 two-year Pandemic Emergency Bridge Grant for strategic planning and organizational development purposes. Organizational Description Nine active member collectives constitute the Omni Commons. Some have existed for decades and one of our newest ones has existed for only a year.
In our six-year existence, Omni Commons has become a preeminent community- and movement-building resource in the Bay Area. Appendix II includes descriptions of the nine collectives and contact persons for each.
Three years ago, Omni Commons member collectives sought and secured a mortgage loan to purchase our building. We will either pay or refinance that loan within seventeen months. Appendix III includes the loan and business insurance documents.
Thus Omni Commons now collectively owns and operates a 20,000 square foot former Italian Social Club and multi-use event space in the Temescal District. Available to organizations in the Bay Area, activities have included community events and projects, art shows, concerts, meetings, film screenings and series, book and zine fairs, parties, dances, and conferences.
Appendix IV lists most of the larger and public events, but excludes the by now thousands of small political organizing meetings that have occurred. We further use the building for work spaces for our nine member collective-owners.
We recognize that we have become in effect a small business. Our unconventional form, however, renders us ineligible for Small Business Administration loans or grants. Conventional mortgage lenders also have difficulties with unconventional corporate forms like ours.
Like other small businesses, we face a challenge in the pandemic and the related economic downturn. Specifically, we began losing over 60% of our monthly income since the public health Shelter-In-Place order went into effect. We have negotiated a six month forbearance on our mortgage from our lender. This breather gives us time to clarify our vision for our future as a radical Bay Area community institution.
Omni Commons has been entirely volunteer-run to date in line with the aspirations articulated in our founding documents. Appendix V is our mission statement. Now we hope for the first time to hire a paid staffer to help us manage the business, our activities, and to better coordinate our organization’s hundreds of volunteers. Appendix VI is a skeleton job description for that new role.
Investment Need The primary purpose of our $300,000 grant request is to ensure that Omni Commons survives the pandemic moment not just healthy, but stronger. During the grant period, we will (1) re-articulate a clear collective vision for ourselves in the community, and (2) develop thorough plans for our next five years and beyond of Omni Commons work. Given the surrounding social relations, our survival for six years is in itself a major accomplishment. This grant at this time will help us go from surviving to in the future thriving brilliantly by serving the people of the East Bay and beyond.
Deliverables
Strategic Plan During the first year we will work with all member collectives to build a shared vision of our collective future as Omni Commons for the next two, five and twenty five years.
Development Plan Omni Commons has been primarily focused on meeting operating costs and building maintenance to make the space immediately usable for our community in line with our mission. Thus we only have operating budget related financial documentation.
We have some capital projects we wish to undertake. This includes but is not not limited to building a commercial kitchen to support both our continuing food aid (led by member collectives Food Not Bombs and Phat Beets Produce) to Oakland’s unhoused, and future revenue-generating events in our event spaces. Approaching nearly 100 years old, the building’s roof needs replacing or serious remediation. Finally, although we are in a historic building we seek to renovate it to reach best practices for meeting access needs of community members. We are therefore cultivating a development plan and budgeting for these three capital projects. By the end of the grant term we will provide completed or working drafts of these three documents and a development plan.
Business Plans In Year One of the grant we will develop a two-year business plan for Omni Commons. Like other small businesses, we face uncertainty because the schedule for opening up the economy fully remains opaque. At the end of the second year we will have our draft five year plan.
Omni Commons seeks to thrive, build, and continue to serve the community, the peoples, and social movements in the East Bay. We are especially interested in continuing helping incubate and serve the needs of start-up Bay Area social justice movement organizations.
Conclusion This grant is exactly what Omni Commons needs to survive the pandemic moment and the economic downturn. We aspire to still be serving Bay Area communities, organizations, and social justice startups and movements for many years. We ask your support for our survival pending revolution with a two year $300,000 Pandemic Emergency Bridge and Strategic Planning Grant.
Thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to hearing from you.
Appendices ●Appendix I: Federal and State Nonprofit Exemption Letters ●Appendix II: Current Member Collectives ●Appendix III: Mortgage Loan and Insurance Documents ●Appendix IV: Past Events of Note ●Appendix V: Mission Statement
Omni Commons envisions a more equitable commoning of resources and meeting of human needs over private interests or corporate profit. Our mission is to own and operate property for the purposes of educating the public, carrying on scientific research, combating community deterioration, and defending human rights in Oakland, as an integral place within the San Francisco Bay area.
●Appendix VI: Omni Commons Administrative Coordinator Job Description (__% time base)
The administrative coordinator works with working groups, member collectives, the delegates assembly, and the board to help ensure the smooth functioning of the workflow and of such groups. They focus us on (1) ensuring finances, and fund development are high-functioning, (2), helping the building committee maximize use and revenue from space rentals, and (3) to help all the Omni Commons Collectives to collaborate towards a renewed collective vision and strategic plan.
●Appendix VII: Grant Budget ●Appendix VIII: Financial Statements
Thrilled to Read this Inspiring history of our adventure at OC. thank You All and Everyone who has put so much gutz into this grand effort. I will try and rebound from absentiatis.
Discussion
- Do we agree in principle for John to go forward on his proposal to pursue a $300K bridge grant to pursue this?
- Delegates were supposed to go back to their collectives by now
- Jenny: totally into this, would help out
- Patrik: on behalf of CCL, on board
- CSC: Yes
- GWS: Yes
- LibLens: abstain
- Sudo Mesh: Yes - 4 stewards here - feel we can say yes to go for this grant to hire somebody. seems inline.
- Sudo Room: abstain
If any movement on abstains, please let John know by Sunday night or otherwise asap
FYE Discussion
- Omni policy on how to deal with collectives who are not able to pay Omni dues ==
- We blocked first proposal, but not the second
- Mary-anne: The idea is that a collective that can't pay is supposed to notify the Omni and then the finance commitee is supposed to schedule a meeting to sit down and figure out a solution. I re-read the language and I don't know if the language accurately reflects the intention. I don't agree with the interpretation of automatically kicking people out.
- Joe - Can FYE speak about how they see their situation?
POLICY - as emailed out by MaryAnn earlier
A collective may find itself in financial difficulties. If a collective cannot meet its rent because of a cash-flow problem or some other glitch, it should work out the problem with the finance committee.
But a deeper problem may require a collective to change the terms of its lease or fiscal sponsorship. This could be a financial problem, or it could be some other issue such as the collective's use of its space. If a collective needs to change the terms of any part of its lease it must come to the Delegates' Assembly with a proposal for new terms within one month. Even if the collective is unable to pay its rent, it retains full membership in the OMNI for three months, as long as a solution to the problem is being negotiated in good faith.
The three-month clock starts ticking as soon as the collective comes to a Delegates' Assembly, or fails to meet the terms of its agreement, whichever comes first.
It is the responsibility of a collective with a problem to bring it to the Delegates' Assembly.
The delegates must prioritize finding a way to retain a current member collective.
- jenny/robb: needs to be a mediation / Delegates convo since this regards sleeping in the space
- juul: brought up they didn't have a collective process back when they applied, no wayof making decisions collectively - expressed concern but was shut down because it would delay the process. if people dont have a collective process that's a huge red flag for me
- lesley - willing to reach out about use of space, money, collective process
- john - had a couple of conversations with AB, introducing myself wanting to learn about the collective. i did share a couple of grant prospects with him.
- jenny - i shared half a dozen or so grant prospects
- patrik - i tried to get FYE on the art grant CCL was applying for
- lesley - so one thing would be to ask about the grant process and how it's going
Fiscally Sponsor renegade.bio's free public testing donations
- submitted by Jenny on 7/1
- Full proposal with Appendices at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12zf6DuLB_0Fu1SVmZ3_fk65uMv6px9p1ye39FtTzw0g/edit?usp=sharing
- Summary of proposal:
renegade.bio is a Queer-owned and -operated Public Benefit Corporation. Founded in response to the pandemic, renegade.bio provides COVID-19 testing to underserved communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. This past Sunday, renegade.bio launched our first free public COVID-19 testing event at #PrideIsARiot (see TestThePeople.org). - we collected over 250 samples and delivered results to patients within 24 hours. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure funding for these essential public health endeavors from any of the entities that should be funding them: SF Dept of Public Health, Alameda County Dept of Public Health, nor California CDPH. There are those who want to donate to support our efforts, but as a Public Benefit Corporation (see Appendix A) we're unable to accept donations. Previous donations have been forwarded to a sister organization, Vaugn's Wings of Hope, which supports patients with a terminal illness and COVID in the Midwest. In order to continue providing free COVID-19 testing to underserved communities, we do indeed need funding for rent, payroll, equipment, reagents, and PPE. As such, we propose a crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with grassroots organizations committed to the health and well-being of our most vulnerable. Because: #WeKeepUsSafe.
To support Omni Commons during this difficult time, we are proposing the high end of administrative fees - 15% of donations received through this campaign, which we intend to keep rolling as we plan and popup more free public testing events. Donations received through this campaign will go solely toward paying for expenses incurred directly in putting on free public testing events - a sample budget from our first popup event is attached.
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