Event:2020/10/15 Delegates

From Omni Commons
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Omni Delegates' Meeting - October 15, 2020 7pm-9pm

1. Joining info:

  • First Thursdays: <we need a new link, the google meet links required jenny to accept everyone before they could join>
    • Join by phone: +1 585-340-7889‬ PIN: <need new>
  • Third Thursdays: https://meet.google.com/eyx-mhxd-iig
    • Join by phone: Join by phone ‪(US) +1 484-854-3287‬

PIN: ‪724 863 905‬#

  • THIS WILL BE DIFFERENT NEXT MEETING, NOVEMBER 5

2. URL of these notes: https://omnicommons.org/notes

3. Please add items to the agenda below and send any proposals to consensus@lists.omnicommons.org prior to the meeting

4. 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
  • Jane (she/her) - GWS
  • Mai she/they sudomesh
  • Yar she/her sudoroom
  • Aaron he/him ANV
  • MaryAnn she/her CSC
  • Michael CCL
  • Rachel GWS she/her
  • John GWS
  • AB FYE he/him
  • Silver they/them FNB & Sudo
  • Jenny she/her Sudoroom & mesh
  • Robb FNB he/him
  • Helen she/her FNB
  • Shido FYE he/him

Access Check In

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

Meeting Roles

  • Facilitator/s: John
  • Explanation of hand signals: "deaf applause", "raised hand", "point of process", "direct response"(wildcard), etc.
  • Stacktaker:
  • Timekeeper: Robb
  • Notetaker/s: Yar, Mai, Jenny
  • Vibe Reader: Rachel
  • Who will out next meeting's agenda beforehand:
  • Next meeting's facilitator(s):

Delegates

  • ANV: Aaron
  • CCL: Michael
  • CSC: Maryann
  • FNB: Helen
  • FYE: AB
  • GWS: Jane / Rachel
  • LL: (Inactive)
  • Sudo Room: Yar
  • Sudo Mesh: Mai
  • Quorum: Yes (7/8 active collectives)

Brief Announcements

Working Group Report-Backs

Building & permits

  • Meetings: only the kitchen group meets regularly, new times tbd
  • https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/building
  • Michael contacted the fire dept to schedule inspection, our permit ran out in may. Adam Ball called him back, said since we're officially closed and inspectors aren't doing much activity because of covid, he'd prefer putting it off until later. no idea when it might happen again. "when it becomes time for oakland & AC to open from covid"
  • commons wg reopening activity would depend on this permit getting renewed. since AC entered orange tier (25% capacity, 68 in ballroom)
  • jenny says 49 attendees & under (and outside events?) are exempt from this, so we can still have smaller events
  • property tax exemption application finally getting followed through on, inspection scheduled for 10/28
  • scheduling roof patching party

Commons

  • Meetings: 2nd & 4th Mondays at 5:30pm @ https://omnicommons.live/commons
  • Join! * https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/commons
  • robb: talking about meeting again to discuss possibly reopening. request from green party, want to do event. they're a 527, support candidates. we'd have to charge market value. not the $300 they want. mutual aid drive wants to do sidewalk free store but we haven't gotten the request officially. separate from FYE event, mostly about the clothing they get which don't fit into packages well.
  • jenny: wouldn't market rate be reduced since ballroom is full of stuff?
    • robb: we might move stuff to basement
  • looks like we'll have no for-profit activity in the ballroom this year
  • even if we charged that full rate we'd have to pay taxes on the ballroom. wouldn't offset the taxes, so bad idea.
  • MaryAnn: can't we just declare parts of the building taxable?
    • Robb: we could.
    • Yar: definitely no way it'd add up in 2020
  • jenny's list of comparative local venue spaces https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NmCtQR1YTuP8rJUbYpxGepm3l8-vTax1kBAeDjQhPbU/edit#gid=1916171199
  • Mai: were protocols posted around omni like we discussed last week?
    • Robb: i don't have a printer
    • Yar: send me a pdf, i'll print it!
    • Robb: deal
    • AB: we can print it too if it's emailed to us

Communications

  • Meetings: Email for now
  • Join! https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/comms
  • Dane wants to start it up again
  • AB: are we still doing that newsletter? if so, is roberto still in charge? that was great
  • robb: nobody's in charge!
  • Yar recommends contacting roberto
  • John: we have a crew - roberto, dane, silver and ab
  • Silver's doing instagram, we have 1000 followers now!!
  • AB's down to contribute, can't be at the core

Finance

  • Meetings: TBD @ https://omnicommons.live/finance
  • Join! https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/finance
  • Needing help. Need all the collectives to begin participating more in saving the omni. overwhelmed with work and feeling very alone!
    • shido: what do you need help with?
    • Jane: small business loan application. different fundraising ideas, saving for when we have to start paying our big loan back. building fund so we don't lose the building. it's a big issue. we all have our own collective work that we're doing. but we all need to somehow get together and figure out who's gonna come in.
    • MaryAnn: we've got a list from jessie, of private funders/corporations/etc who'll fund nonprofit commercial loans. most banks won't unless you have a guarantor. but that's just one small task. there's a lot of them.
  • Robb: we're also getting notices that we have years past filings with the state. they're saying we never sent them our tax returns. OOC needs to file for 2016.
    • Jenny: they were filed. just send the requested 990s (which *were* filed with state & IRS timely) to attorney general (registry of charitable trusts). all filings are on the wiki at https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Finances and in the GDrive.
  • Jane: don't we need new officers?
    • Shido along with AB willing to participate in finance/fundraising on behalf of FYE.
  • Meeting every Tuesday at 2!
  • Yar: we need to fix internal issues in order to have more people in order to have money
  • Rachel: money is urgent crisis right now. Bulk shouldn't fall on 2 collectives. Important to be in meetings - they're good, productive. just a huge burden.
  • Mai: completely agree with Yar. Truly think that strengthening omni - us, our relationship - is key to being able to do anything. That includes fundraising, stewarding in other ways. There's been tensions in the past. Worth hiring professional facilitators. I'm happy to do that for the next few months, but in general the kind of things jenny's been doing for years, that now robb is doing, there's a lot ot be said for just paying an accountant. to really have their records in order. to make sure there's no form that's been forgotten about or whatever. to make sure we can be confident we're doing that stuff very well. and a lot of tension around money and ... jenny's been doing a great job. having it be someone who's not a collective member is maybe the way to go. bigger conversation though.
  • John: underscore the urgency of fundraising & finance work, & request that collectives & all members start thinking about how we can collectively get through this crisis by participating more in fundraising & finance by every collective, and brainstorming AMAP to raise funds for paying our debt and future projects like the kitchen
  • robb: it's a requirement for each collective to have a member in a WG, if we don't get more participation we should come up with a penalty for not having someone in a WG. building stuff needs to be done. patch roof before it rains. people have talked about the website needs to look more like what we're doing, remind people, we're applying for grants, and they go to our website, dont' see any mutual aid or what we're doing. not just finance. self help bank ... something
    • yar can help with website
  • AB: also agree, fundraising is important, but the approach would be better to instead of penalizing, just highlighting how important it is, and approach it from that aspect. i don't think anybody fundamentally wouldn't want to contribute. it's an overall feeling of interconnectedness and that we're working together. also, to follow up on yar, i think the unity at a foundational level is gonna great this platform to do more and do things more efficiently, mindfully. FYE have ideas, fundraising campaign, we really to even bring it to the table, need to feel like veerybody's supporting each other or we're not gonna be able to pull this off. we really do wanna help contribute creative assests and stuff. unity is really important. better communication would help. when there's problems, they can be resolved on a personal level first rather than brought straight to a delegates meeting and thrown on the table in front of everybody. we call can disagree and have differnet perspectives. but if you feel like someone's doing something wrong or can do better, say it in a tangible way. constructive, how people can change. instead of vague statements about types of people in general. we can help each other when things are made tangibly.
  • MaryAnn: do you have any specific ideas of how to go about achieving the unity?
  • Yar has lots of ideas
  • Shido: yes, tough times, unity needed. gravity already there. definitely up to connect with each other better. let's move out of email into talking. open space, remove ego & judgement. share space, common goals. best in the longevity sense. ultimate goal is to own building in full and not owe anybody. [CHEERS] we're not in this alone, we're all in this together. we've got several heads!
  • AB: tangibly speaking, one of the mottos of me & shido, as creatives & artists, we have ideas & think - how do we turn things into simple action items? for better communication, i'm big on phone calls. and of course meeting in person. I put my phone number in the chat. I encourage anybody who wants to speak to me directly for any reason, or wants to get in touch with someone who's regularly at omni, please call or text me. looking forward to talking more. that'll dispel a lot of fear. very harmless ignorance per se, so we can get to know each other a lot more. Shido also.
  • Michael: in february's insurance inspection, someone made an action list of all the things that needed to be done. that was great. once i got the list i could identify things i could do personally to contribute. then i did them. it'd be great to get a list like that for finance or whatever. that'd go a long way.
  • Robb: we should add a section to the pad.
  • Laura made the list, not Yar, according to someone in the meeting?
  • AB: The blackboard is barely used.
  • Robb's talked to self help credit union, they're social justice focused nonprofit, have programs to help black businesses & nonprofits get funding. cool stuff going on. They like us. They don't require a guarantor for a loan. Pretty much ready to give us a loan. 20 year loan. would increase monthly payments from 6 to 7k/mo. very interested in us moving our accounts over to them. i think we should do it, they're the ones we should go with the loan for. annual % rate for checking is .25% annual. free checks with minimum 25k. no fees. 1 year CVs. we can have 1 account and they can do subaccounts.
  • Jane: I'm unclear about the OOC requirement for updated elected members/officers. state was requesting we update/elect new members and there was a time limit on doing that.

- we should re-elect if all are aboard

    • MaryAnn: you can't do it the same way
    • officers of OOC need to create some minutes and name new officers before they can update their SOI which is needed by the state
    • Jane: by when?
    • Robb: by 100 days or it's revoked. both a prior tax return, should be easy, just gotta find in google drive
    • yar lost track of this conversation
    • why is it still happening? i could answer all these questions in an email.
  • AB: nothing against robb or jenny, but she interjected and overpowered what he was saying. if we dispel emotions and analyze on a technical level...

Fundraising

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?

ANV

CCL

CSC

FNB

FYE

GWS

LL

Sudo Room

Sudo Mesh

Conflicts, Mediation & Safe Space

  • Updates for any ongoing issues
  • Has anybody been asked to leave? asked to leave

Endorsing caregiver letter

access policy during pandemic

What is essential work? When can we reopen? https://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/2020-October/002210.html

  • Yar willing to table this for now
  • AB: since last meeting, there's been more precautions taken. All we're really missing is that printout which I'm about to take care of, it's sent to us. Omni's seeming fairly safe right now. The science people will laminate it.

Last Meeting Notes

https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Event:2020/10/01_Delegates

End of Meeting

Retrieved from "https://omnicommons.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Event:2020/10/15_Delegates&oldid=6105"