Event:2018/05/17 Delegates Meeting

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lOmni Delegates' Meeting - May 17, 2018 7pm-9pm

Agenda

  • Introductions, Meeting Roles, and Delegates Count [10 minutes]
  • Access Check-in [5 minutes]
  • Announcements [5 minutes]
  • Bans [5 minutes]
  • Working Group Report-Backs [15 minutes]
  • Member Collective Updates (10 minutes)
  • Proposal: Omni Media Lab [15 minutes]
  • Proposal Y: [10 minutes]
  • Discussion from Feedback Loop : [15 minutes]

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†

† Is everybody able to participate fully in this meeting? Do people have unmet needs or concerns?

  • Julian - BAPS - wtvr/Julian - delegate
  • Ken - CCL - delegate - 5 yr anniversary for CCL in September
  • Brian - Finance WG, Secretary, - He/him - has to leave at nine PM.
  • phil - FNB
  • Marcus - he/him - all around Omni
  • Charlie - Considering no pronouns - "the people are doing well"
  • Laura - Finance/FR/Commons Media lab WGs, She/her
  • lynn - commons wg - she/her, President
  • Helen - fnb - she/her
  • rachel - global women's strike - she/her - delegate
  • Mary Ann - Chiapas support committee - delegate
  • LIz - lib lense - she/her - the 27th of May, movie, the Chinese Exclusion act.
  • Jenny - she/her - Sudo delegate - fin/fund wrkgrps - quickbooks pro certified + can help get cheap software - poor people's action in sacramento on this previous Monday.
  • Robb - Sudo/LibLens, he/him/they
  • Almaz - GCEA - she

Meeting Roles

  • Facilitator/s: Julian
  • Explanation of hand signals: "deaf applause", "raised hand", "point of process", "direct response"(wildcard), etc.
  • Stacktaker: Lynn
  • Timekeeper: Charlie
  • Notetaker/s: Brian, Jenny, Laura
  • Vibe Reader: Marcus
  • Next meeting's facilitator(s):

Delegates

  • ABDC:
  • BAPS: Julian
  • CCL: Ken
  • CSC: Mary Ann
  • FNB: Helen
  • GWS: Rachel
  • LL: Liz
  • Sudo: Jenny
  • TIL: inactive
  • GCEA: Almaz
  • Quorum: 8/9

New Bans

  • Add to list of people asked to leave
  • Cheyenne (via sudo) has been asked to leave for safe space reasons after repeatedly becoming aggressive in the space and sexually harassing a member. This was the second time he was asked to leave. He wont be allowed back until there is mediation/RJ process.
    • Helen - Did he request mediation? Answer: Not sure. Tho it should be protocol (is, but not always practiced) to inform folx of the existence of our mediation process
      • Talk to Matt Stewart, Dante, Paul from sudo
    • Rachel: Did he leave when asked? Answer (Robb): Yes, from what I've heard he left fairly amicably. It wasn't this smooth the previous times he'd been asked to leave.
    • Almaz: WE need to make sure to invite him to a mediation process. Ask him why he is acting out. Maybe invite him to CDC (?) meeting.
      • Task: Jenny will pass Cheyenne's contact information to Julian and Almaz.

Working Group Report-Backs

Building & permits

Meetings: 1st & 3rd Mondays @ 6pm

  • This group needs help; https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/building
  • Laura - What happened to all the trash cans?
    • Laura: Several Months ago several people went around and made sure there were trash cans everywhere that there should be trash cans, and now they are all gone. Does anybody know where they went?
      • Phil: A few of the green bins has these metal rods as a feature, and they keep falling out, so they wont close and need to be replaced.
      • Laura: My plea is to keep one of the trash cans in all of the usual locations, and do our best to leave them there.
      • Robb: I propose we put the name of the room on each trash can, on the trash can. (Laura: But first we'll need to find them).
      • Charlie: Directly below us, in the closet (cafe area) there are four or so.
  • Jenny: Kitchen meeting update. Had a meeting with someone last week who has architect experience. HE is working on a plan for us, and also had a conversation about getting suppliers, etc. very positive meeting. Next step is to send out these plans to kitchen supplier markets, and then you get quotes. They'll come up with what kind of equipment will fit best in there, and you get model nubmers for equipment and then we can go around looking for those pieces of equipment as donations.
  • Jenny: Next steps for the kitchen is to make up layout/floor designs and we'll send those out to collectives that are invested in the kitchen, and we'll get the layout and take feedback from groups based on the initial drafts.
    • Almaz: IF he is going to do the kitchen plan he should come to the delegates meeting and do a presentation. Then we can all go talk to our collectives.
    • Jenny: Once we get to a place where we have a design, I'll ask him to come give a presentation
    • Robb: HE is not an architect, but he does 3D models for architects. Apparently since we are not making any major structural changes we don't need to have an architect sign off on it. He'll give us everything, and then we can submit to the city. WE do also have an architect to sign off on it, for good measure, but right now we just need to figure out what people want who are going to be using the kitchen.
  • trash pile in entrance hall? (what are we going to do with teh pile of stuff in the entrance hall)
    • Robb: Sunday. Rayc had a thing in the basement. WE thought we were going to have an opportnity when we did the fire inspection to get it out, but we didn't. WE'll have a vehicle on this sunday, so I expect it to be gone on Monday.
    • Lynn: The hard deadline (from my perspective) is that the CApoeira are going to be doing classes on June 1st, so we need to get it gone before then.
    • Robb: Yes, we're definitely planning on getting stuff out of here in the next few days. Will be done well before then.
    • JEnny: There is a mailing list Dumprun@omnicommons.org, which is a list of people who have trucks who have been helpful in the past to Omni. Nobody has used the list in a year and a half, but the list does still exist.

Commons

Meetings: First and Third Thursdays at 6pm

  • This group needs help:
  • Lynn: starting June 1 there are weekly Capoiera events 3 evenings in a week
    • Lynn: Capoeira group which does classes here and around the community. MWF in the entrance hall is the current class schedule. They would like to do this forever, since they lost their existing space. we're not sure if this is going to work. They are a physically active group, and they can also be louder. We've been talking to them about the sound issues and we're going to try to make it work. This is evolving as we go through it. Also, people will be accessing the building still, so they will need to make a walkway or something for people to pass them by. But we want to make this happen because they are a good commmunity group, and a good partner. If there are issues or concerns you can call me, I live just across the street, and I'll take point on resolving issues.
    • Phil: Would we want to direct people to a side entrance during their classes?
    • Robb: We cant just leave the side door open. And we dont have key codes on the side door.
    • Helen: What about the Cafe?
    • Lynn: Cafe hasn't started yet, but we'll need to renegotiate this when the Cafe actually openss
      • jnny: cafe hours ends @ 6pm
      • laura: and they'll need 6 months for buildout/renovations
    • Ken: When are they doing this class? 7-8:30PM Monday WEdnesday Friday. Could they provide a tangible person to staff the back door, and let people in.
    • Rob: It seems like if we got some velvet stanchions running along the wall, an obvious isle, that seems like a good solution.
    • Almaz: I just wanted to say, if they have their own person watch the door, to make sure that its being monitored. I dont think it would be a problem for Omni folks to come in. They should be able to come in through either door (?). They should have their own person sitting on the door to make sure nobody else is coming.
    • Lynn: I Don't think they are resposnible for monitoring the door once their classes is started, but yes definitely for before classes.
    • General agreement.

Communications

Meetings: Second and Fourth Wednesdays at 6pm*

  • mailing list: https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/comms
  • Julian: Met last week in SAn Francisco at Aspiration Tech.
  • Jenny: We decided that we couldn't do much, because we've been primarily working on the kitchen campaign. There have been some stalls on getting that work started. Communications want to film people doing work on the basement once thats happening, and use that to launch phrase two of the kitchen campaign.
  • Julian: When there are drawings of things we can use them as material for the campaign. WE are thinking about having a launch event for the next phase of fundraising. May include music and food, possibly projections of the demolition work.
  • JEnny: So if you are excited at the intersection of omni communications and making some exciting events, to help push this forward.

Finance

Meetings: Currently conjoined with Fundraising, 2nd & 4th Mondays at 6pm

  • Cafe lease will take effect June 1. Cafe will be called Cafe Caracol.
    • Laura: Will take effect as of June 1st. I'm going out of the country as of may 21st. I'm going to try to get them set up with keycards before I go.
    • Then we had a discussion about what Caracol means. either Snail, Conch (that calls people to meetings), or spiral to heaven
  • Jenny: We're moving to a new bank soon. Beneficial State Bank. They allow unlimited signers, subaccounts, and other nice things. Owned by beneficial state organization, who we were thinking about getting a loan from last year. They are at 14th and Franklin, in Oakland. Very accessible. I had the most pleasant bank experience of my life, which I don't typically say. For multiple reasons (that many people are aware of) we need a different bank.

Fundraising

Meetings: Currently conjoined with Finance,, 2nd & 4th Mondays at 6pm

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?

ABDC

BAPS

  • We were contacted by somoe folks re: a summer school program. summer class in the works.

CCL

CSC

FNB

  • Helen: Nothing to report

GCEA

GWS

  • The poor people's cafe is every monday for the next six weeks. Poor people are bringing poor people's issues to the capital, to raise attention. Direct action events. There are themes each week (eg, racism night, the military industrial complex, env degradation, etc). Martin luther king, taking off from his campaign 50 years ago this may.
  • Haiti Reportback: Sunday June 3rd at La Peña. Reportback from one of the women in our org (marget prescot) went to Haiti and traveled through the country. Fundraiser for community radio station in Haiti. https://www.facebook.com/events/1459361677506926/

LL

  • Liz: We've been going through an ongoing process of restructuring lib lense. WE have a new process for accepting members, and we have a new membership agreement document that we've been drafting but haven't consented on yet. Will do so soon, then should go into effect. Then we are going to increase our outreach mission to bring more people in, because we have a small group of people who are highly involved, and we need to expand or we're all going to get burned out. One of our members directed us to a woman who is interested in film making meet ups. We may start doing film making meetups as an ongoing event.

Sudo

  • Jenny: WE had a great sudo party last night where the architecturally inclined friend came to the kitchen meeting, came over to sudo afterwards for our weekly mac and cheese party/meeting. ITs not really a meeting. WE designed a second floor for Sudo room in Auto-cad. It was fun.
  • Rob: The Rayc Collective, electronic music group performing semi-out of sudo.
  • Jenny: Someone's mission to bring happy hardcore to omni.
    • Almaz: Can sudo do any trainings for IT use? Since we have computers in the basement now, any group can teach anything. IF you guys could do some training for how to use computers.
    • Jenny: There is already instruction in place for digital security projects. WE are about to reboot those. There are a few people who have bottomlined those. WE used to have them monthly. Matt stewart has put together a digital literacy workshop which focuses on core skills. I'm going to start, with three other people, doing those on the regular. AS public open workshops. How to find what you need to find on the internet, how to set up an email account, how to set up a website that yuo can manage on your own. If you would like to collaborate on curriculum, or things that people you work with would really like to learn
    • Almaz: Start learning linux. Also, should talk to fred.
    • Charlie: Installing Ubuntu from a USB, and how to use its different UI. Its not a small project for many linux interested individuals.

TIL

Proposal: Omni Media Lab

  • via Jenny & Laura, 5/16:
  • We propose to build a community media laboratory for the production of propaganda and educational materials for campaigns and projects. Our mission is to transform the most neglected space in Omni Commons into a place for creative production available to Omni members, and, eventually, local artists, activists, organizers, and members of the general public (either supervised or trained), sustained through sliding-scale donations, grants, mutual aid, and creative reuse. A new working group will steward supplies, tools, and resources, as well as host educational hands-on workshops. Approval of this proposal means the formation of an official committee of the Board to manage a Media Lab, and acceptance of the following general plan.
  • Full proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ebaHkaSeCWHKKEjbg6u-VvDzifF-eFuBX_b_HmdDv0E/edit#

Discussion: Omni Media Lab

  • Jenny: Budget is aroung 700 dollars for upgrading the basement area, paint, lights, etc. Painting walls, floor, get better lights. Brighten the space up again, its a little gloomy. Also HVAC and ventilation in that area (not included in the current budget).
  • Rob: If you turn on the fan in the basement its a wind tunnel.
  • Jenny: Its really really loud.
  • Rob: It just needs oil.
  • Jenny: Yes, but we need to do something about it.
  • Rob: there are other areas that need work, but not the basement.
  • Helen: I just scanned the document that you sent, and it didn't make much sense to me. The doc included an equipment list, does that mean that we'll need to be aquiring new things in order for this to be viable?
    • JEnny: no, we already have a bunch of stuff. WE're mostly just buying paint and fixer upper stuff. We'll be meeting again soon, so if anyone wants to brainstorm for this, we'd lvoe to have you join us.
  • Marcus: Two things, with regards to the HVAC my concern has less to do with air flow and more to do with air quality. The air quality down there is a little worse than it is up here. I had looked into this when I was making my coworking proposal a year and a half ago or whatever. I wanted to know if there would be any objections if I led a campaign to get HVAC's in there, through donations or whatever. Air purifiers, to help reduce mold and such.
    • general agreement, no real vote taken but there were mumblings of support, and no objections.
  • Liz: ideas for items to add to udget: stocking up on ink/toner cartridges, reams of legal-sized paper, poster sized paper, reams for plotter printer. (additional thought: media lab will probably require a monthly budget to keep supplies stocked. Maybe this will have to be developed after it is complete and in production and after seeing how quickly resources get used, but group will need to submit another proposal for a regular budget draw for this lab)
    • julian: 1 other thing that would be cool would be avoiding overstretching existing volunteers... invite new people to steward/join - outreach plan for getting new people involved.
  • Ken: We will/need to educate people about how to use things. And have those people do trainings.
    • Julian: This is a proposal, so please remember to discuss this with your organizations.

Discussion: Feedback Loop - Helen, Mary Ann, Julian

  • Helen's draft "proposal on concensus process"
  • Proposal on our consensus process
    • Background
      • The goal of a consensus process is not to vote a proposal up or down, but rather to find a way to meet the purpose of the proposal that we can all agree to. For a description of a careful consensus process, go to the Seeds of Peace website. Most of our collectives are small, and use an informal process, but one that hopefully gives all members a chance to be heard.
      • Our OMNI process is supposed to work like this: delegates take proposals to their collectives, the collectives discuss them and voice any concerns. Then the delegates bring the concerns, if any, to the delegate's meeting, the proposal is perhaps modified, and if the concerns are met, the delegates agree to it. Otherwise it must go back to the collectives for more discussion, etc.
    • Proposal
      • Sometimes the OMNI process is not carried out, and delegates agree to a proposal without discussion in their collectives. In that case a collective member may feel that their concerns have not been met. Anyone who feels that way can explain their concern, and ask that the full process be carried out from the beginning. Ordinarily that will mean that the original agreement of the delegates is void. Note that this is only an option when the proposal has not been discussed in the collectives.
    • commment on proposal - Helen - we were thinking about the incident around blocking. what does it mean to block something. it seems to me the problem is deeper than that—it concerns what a consensus process intends to do, and the way its different from a simple up and down vote. consensus is not about yes or no but about building consensus, a place that we can all agree on. our process is often informal and things fall through the cracks.
      • danger is that this could be abused. but if thew collectives have had discussion amongst their collectives that shouldnt ba a problem
        • Maryanne: There is the responsability for delegates to go back to their organizations and discuss the issues we're talking about here. We go to our people and they let us know how we should vote. IT seems to me that if a proposal comes up, and it hasn't been discussed with the collectives, then we shouldn't vote.
      • ken: steve and julian had mentioned some things, which is that our block process needs to be codified if you're going to use it... cites yar/running wolf
    • laura: two bad things when groups dont talk t their collectives - they're not aware, and decision get held up. need to balance both.
    • julian: following discussion at last meeting, sent out a doc that helen had shared - 24p doc on consensus process.


  • interviews via collectives - delegates haven't replied to us!
  • getting involved in neighborhood politics
    • as a way to offer Omni a unified social direction and building political education around racism and classism in the neighborhood
    • ken suggests participating in the Temescal Street Fair
  • Discussion
    • Julian: Some of the feedback we've heard is that checking in with delegates and at collective meetings, would be a good idea. Conversation 3 is an idea that came together, we were noticing that one potential gap in the omni is that aside from delegates meeting we dont have an orientation. WE don't have a good "all omni" project to help onboard people. HAving some sort of, potentially, involvement in the neighborhood would be a good idea. In particular the project around caspers plaza (?).
    • Ken: one of the things, and I thought I sent this out, the biz improvement district is having their annual street fair in teh first week of jUne. Last year, omni participated in it. WE get a space on this side street of 48th and telegraph. WE get that little alcove there. Any collective that wants to have direct interface with the public, the B.I.D., and all the things involved there, thats the actual neighborhood street fair. I am willing to organize that. I've forgotten the date exactly, but I think its June 10th. I'll confirm and get back to people. Last year it came together at the very last minute.
  • Helen's proposal, Helen: So we were just thinking about the incident in which someone was disatisfied with an agreement which was made, and tried to go back and change it. There was a whole discussion around what it means to block something. This proposal seeks to address the difference between what we want Concensus to do, and what actually ends up happening given how much experience people

Example Discussion Item

Last Meeting Notes

https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Event:2018/05/03/Delegates_Meeting

End of Meeting

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