Event:2015/01/08 Weekly Delegate's Meeting

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Delegates Meeting - January 8, 2014 The meeting will begin promptly at 7pm, and end at 9pm; unless consensed upon to go beyond 9pm.

  • Facilitator/s: Satt Menate
  • Explanation of hand signals: "deaf applause", "raised hand", "point of process", "direct response", "time's up", etc.
  • Stacktaker & explanation of progressive stack: Kevin
  • Timekeeper & reminder to keep comments brief: Joel
  • Notes: Jenny
  • Vibe Reader: Margaretha
  • Next weeks facilitator(s):
  • Delegates: Mary, Chris D, David B, Joel, Ian, Chloe, Jenny, Helen
  • Quorum:
  • Facilitator/s for next week: Kevin & Niki

Introductions (10 mins)

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

  • Matt (sudo, bicycle ride), Kevin (CDC, How We Organize), Jenny (sudo, unspecified omni drama), Laura (BAPS, fundraising), Patrick (checkin it out), DZ (BAPS & la Commune - unquenchable fervor for anticapitalist social justice and beloved community), Mary (CCL, ditto), Andrew (Backspace, reconnecting), Colin (Welcoming committee, FNB), Helen, (FNB), Chris (BAPS delegate, missed us so much), Joel (TIL delegate, stuff to do), Max (Ving Tsun @ the OMni), Niki (La Commune, Sudo, BAPS), David (Sudo, BAPS, Black Hole), Ryan (sudo, Welcoming Committee, positive nontoxic culture), Margaretha (Backspace), Ian (Material Print Machine delegate, BAPS), Chloe (Black Hole delegate), Jamie (Anti-Repression benefit), Paulo (Anti-Repression benefit), Nicolas (here to help with whatever), Monica (like to see what's going on and propose an art project), Amgo (the mtg), Kwic, Solchi (The Outsider News, interested in profiling the Omni), Josh (curious community member), Troy (librarian),

Announcements 15

Any Omni-related announcements:

  • ian is bottomlining big fundraiser for anti-repression committee (more information on arc available here:https://antirepressionbayarea.com/). (David K. also helping, as there will likely be some permitting & insurance work)
  • bike room is cleaned out. Bikes that are in back staircase (disco room) are free-for-all until Matt feels like removing them (still don't know who put them there). If you need a bike, take one.
  • The bunch of gym equipment upstairs needs to removed by whomever donated it. (If anyone wants it to stay it should go to consensus vote.)
  • Monica: Possible to use a room (unlocked) to make a public mess art :) to teach folks how to use graphite powder on a large scale; related to Jungian therapy.
  • Patrick: Video game events / space
  • La Commune hosting a poetry reading at Rise Above tomorrow night @ 7pm - https://www.facebook.com/events/846811222021070/?ref=br_tf
  • Mary working w/CCL to get plumbing work done
  • Max: Ving Tsun: Teaching a 300 y/o martial art, a variation of kung fu, used for self-defense to overpower larger beings. Will teach you to kick ass! Looking for folks to train with. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Disco Room!
  • Anti-Repression Crew benefit event - want it to be really big (~500 people)! Would require we upgrade soundproofing, possibly get a temp permit for alcohol. Could push it back a month or two. They bail people out of jail, awesome crew. Would be fully-staffed by the ARC.
  • Welcoming Committee having another social this weekend, looking for folks to volunteer
  • Sunday events: Open Circle on #BlackLivesMatter 2-5pm, Omni Social 5-7pm, Gather (music and food) 7-10pm!
  • Box moved from La Commune - anyone know where it is?

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 need more people to steward events!
  • Saturday, 1pm

How We Organize

  • There should be a person from every collective on the Commons WG
  • Tuesday, 7pm

Communications

  • NEED FACILITATOR, modified purpose?
  • Mondays? Maybe change days due to conflict with the fundraising working group.
  • Need more clear documentation, overlaps with the Welcoming Committee.
    • Workshops on learning skills to work with existing and amply-used communication tools.
  • If calls for needs / tasks go out, include info about required ability (physical, emotional, etc)
  • Ping Niki if interested in helping create a list of non-manual labor tasks

Challenging Domniant Culture (CDC)

  • Talking with TRUCE (reclaiming internal conflict research) about doing a workshop, possibly the 18th at noon
  • Discussion on #BlacklivesMatter and inviting more groups doing anti-racist work into the building
  • Sundays at noon

Finance

  • We have $24,746.67 in bank including the $10k anonymous matching grant from IGG campaign
  • We paid 1237.39 in utilities last month, 2144.7 insurances, $12k in rent
  • We'd like at least one member of each collective to join the finance working group, if only to be on the finance listserv and follow the general financial health of Omni as a whole
  • Tuesday, 7:30pm
  • Next week 1/14/2015: WEDNESDAY 7:30pm

Fundraising

  • IGG campaign extended until J28
  • soon we will be starting fulfillment of the perks offered
  • Got ideas to increase momentum? fundraising@lists.omnicommons.org
  • If you're bottomlining a large event or class, please give a short pitch directing people to our website where they can donate
  • Monday, 7pm

Kitchen

  • Worked out a design, but it needs money - yet to work out a budget
  • Stretch goal!? Reward levels?

Welcome

  • Ice Cream social was a good showing, need more omni bodies though to keep an eye on things and mediate any conflicts that arise
  • Setting up a schedule for taking shifts at the front desk. Monday - Thursday is covered, we would like to get 10am-2pm, 2pm-6pm, 6pm-10pm shifts filled.
  • Open to Anyone and Everyone, it's kind of the point.
  • Door documentation, answering the door, what is the omni, etc.
  • Thursdays at 6pm

Permits

  • First big meeting at City Hall yesterday, Office of Econ Dev't w/ the Planning Dept, office of economic development, Temescal BID (they like us!?), some others.
  • We're in a pretty good space, but have to do a lot of paperwork pretty quickly
  • They'll come here to inspect, we need to invite them specifically
  • We really need to move out any clutter
  • Tues @ 5:30 / Sat @ 1 - need help moving bookshelves up to the ballroom mezzanine

=Building and Facilities

nascent anti-racist wg

  • CDC'd
  • Monday, 7:30pm

Chores

  • Need another Berkeley recycling run to get throw away book pile out of basement: 669 Gilman Street (corner of 2nd Street) Berkeley, Mon-Sun 8:30-4PM
    • Who?
  • MOOP - Matter Out Of Place - Put stuff neatly back in place please ;)
  • LNT - Leave No Trace - Like the commons will be ready for the next person to use it.
  • Break down cardboard boxes please!
  • More signs! Talk to Joel

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.

12-04-14 (added by Niki) Proposal to designate the bunker / cave room between La Commune and the ballroom as a lockable space for all groups to safetly store expensive equipment. 15 mins

    • La Commune would like to propose that the bunker / cave room between La Commune and the ballroom be designated as a secure space for expensive equipment, sensitive documents, etc. to be stored by all Omni member groups and tenants. Access will be available to all member groups and tenants but not to the general public.
    • Potential friendly amendment: Specify small items
    • Potential friendly amendment: all personal storage space should be in the form of allocated and/or rented locker or storage cages of some form. Otherwise any available storage space will get filled up very quickly by a few pack rats...
    • scott-lotsa bikes getting stolen. security is important
    • Potential friendly amendment: An earlier verion of this posited that this room would function equally as an office for doing omni work - with a desk, workstation, and locking file cabinet - and not only storage.
    • Potential friendly amendment: Not big enough for individual / personal storage; to be uised only for group-owned & Omni-equipment.
  • Locking inside the locked room is possible and would help (if all member collectives have access to that space).
  • Consenso: 8/8

1-8-14 Backspace Discussion about how to move forward 15 mins max

Summary Margaretha will be in attendance tonight to present ideas for how wellness can be integrated into OMNI in a way that the collectives feel good about. Request 5 minutes to give thoughts and ideas about how we can move forward with 5-10 minutes of feedback from the community. No proposal is put forward this week. Thank you! DECEMBER PROPOSAL HERE (but will not be put forward this week): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J1triXg0T4msJ3Ab4-OBtkpLAUG4sejD2vtv7CeIe9o/edit Notes from last time proposal was submitted :

  • concerns about the time:space ratio - too little $$ for lots of time using the commons
  • sudo room is not blocking, but requests that they explain why they are applying as a member collective. it is confusing that they call themselves a collective yet are charging fees for services and would they be amenable to language like "sliding-scale, no one turned away due to lack of funds"?
  • Kevin - member of Backspace needed to have a more useful discussion
  • DK - concern that the den area needs to remain shared space, useable & scheduleable by all groups including backspace.

Tonight's notes: Margaretha:

  • Feeling they're currently at an impasse
  • Concerns about where the Omni's at and if a fulltime wellness space is possible right now
  • Can't currently afford more than $400, hard to get practitioners on board
  • Begin offering wellness at the Omni through a regular clinic day offering no- to low-cost services
  • Would need to be able to reserve private space throughout the building for that day
  • Ryan: LGBT Center in San Francisco is a good model
  • Cere: Perhaps apply as a tenant to start out?
  • Matt: Having a face and a presence is necessary to growing the community
  • DK: Having a space is a big commitment, how to steward as a commons..?

12-18-14 Proposal to install lock on back door

Sean Logan proposes to install a lock on the building entrance on 48th street (the back door), so that people can access the building after hours with a key. This proposal was also made to the Sudo Room meeting on Dec. 17th. All present agreed. At that meeting, Matt Senate, on behalf of the Building and Facilities working group, stated that a budget for tasks such as this may be available.

  • Contact Sean Logan -- fountain11235@gmail.com
  • Not enough delegates were present at the Dec. 18th OMNI meeting for quorum.
  • Note: Legally, any locks on fire exits should be openable by pressing the panic bar.
  • Finance committee asks for folks wanting to use Omni money to submit a budget

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.

01-08-15 Resubmitted Proposal that: OOC pay all member entities' and Subtenants' Insurance bills directly, and in turn bill members/subtenants for their insurance, to be due at the same time as rent. (Requires modifying sublease agreement)

  • Rationale: So that we are never late paying any members' insurance policy, which is a requirement of our overall lease.
  • So far two member collectives were months late paying their own GL insurance premiums, which caused their insurance to cancel or near-cancel. This in turn prompted landlord to twice threaten to penalize OOC $1300 (10% of our base rent) each time, which he is allowed to do as per the lease. Every time we break the lease by being late on a payment, we weaken our rights as tenants. If this comes to happen a third time DK thinks landlord will excercise his right to bill us $1300 because he is highly concerned about liability.
  • For groups that have already paid insurance through the year term, OOC would start paying the next applicable billing month.
  • If any group does not wish to have OOC pay their insurance, that group would agree to be wholly responsible for the entire penalty amount OOC could be billed if they were ever late ($1300), and provide an additional deposit of $1300 to OOC to cover for that eventuality. Additionally, any such group would be required to provide regular, proactive notification to OOC (via email or etc) every month that their insurance bill has been paid.

Feedback:

  • Yes, would need to add it to a new sublease
  • Friendly amendment: $1300 deposit or Omni would pay for it?
  • Omni Commons is already named as additional insured on every group's policy
  • Matt did I get these amendments right?
  • Consenso: 8/8

01-08-15 Proposal to ban Kwic's dad from Omni for at least 6 months due to safe space policy

  • It was reported during December that Kwic's dad slept or tried to sleep at the space, and then was verbally abusive to members who asked him not to, and ultimately specifically threatened violence the last time he was asked to leave.
  • Kwic's dad was seen being verbally abusive and aggressive towards Omni members on least two other occasions prior to December.
  • Should Kwic's dad would like to return to Omni in six months, he would have to follow the conflict mediation process with an Omni organizer.
  • Our standing policy is to reciprocate the bans of any given collective.
  • Kwic: It's not right to have the conversation without the other party present
  • Safe space policy is not about judgement/trial, but a need for safety and how we collectively ensure safe space
  • We need to create a space and time to have that discussion, and ask that the threatening party not return to the space until that process completes
  • Jenny will email Kwik and CDC to begin conflict resolution process

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.

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 at a future meeting - Laura, facilitator) 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

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