Event:2023/12/07 Delegates

Omni Delegates' Meeting - 7 December 2023 7pm-9pm

Meeting Details

• Talk at https://meet.google.com/des-hkce-hof or 515-428-1108 (PIN: 465814905)
• Type at https://omnicommons.org/notes
• Send proposals to consensus@lists.omnicommons.org prior to the meeting

Roles

• Facilitator/s: john
• Stacktaker:
• Timekeeper:
• Notetaker/s: paige, jemma
• Next meeting's facilitator(s):

Delegates

• BOGSS: inactive
• CCL: Patrik
• FNB: Toan
• LL: John
• SB: Natalie
• SM: inactive
• SR: Jemma They/Them
• Quorum (2/3 of active groups):

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 PROMPT people to share contact info in the chat, so we can stay in touch

• John, LL. Request for help with contract
• Pallavi. development consultant for Omni, just started. Want to discuss non501(c)3 status of Peoples Programs (edit: later in meeting, learned they do have 5013c status)
• Paige - They/Them - From SudoRoom, building working group, future woodshop
• Philip - Events working group
• Carlos He/Him - TANC
• G - Contracted Marketing person - Has been involved around the space for a few years, first DJ event was in the basement. Is interested in discussing immediate needs around messaging with the building and has some ideas to share
• Danny? - he/him - TANC - Soft mandate to concrete proposal for moving into Omni
• Sam - he/him - TANC - People are interested in moving forward with becomming a collective member at Omni
• E - she/her - TANC - Discussing the work with TANC and their collective print shop that they work with.
• Patrik - CCL
• Philip M. - he/him - omni commons maintenance. agenda item, personal conflict involving troy
• Yar - she/her no items to add to agenda, very happy to be here with you all
• Toan - volunteer with East bay food not bombs, also a delegate
• Anca- FNB and liberated lens. as john mentioned, we are starting a contract with japanese film. want to talk about that
• Natalie - They/them - Sketchboard collective. access needs - im off camera. no agenda items
• Sarah Lockhart - she/her, omnis bookkeeper and also with Pro-Arts. i think we are overdue to discuss omnis financial situation with regards to the build, and potential options to retaining the building. im available to answer any questions about finances or accounting stuff. would like to deal with that early given PP showing at 8, and would be good to have a preamble to discussing with them
• Jemma - they/them, i am SR delegate and also here to discuss state of building
• Jacqi - community member and former delegate of myriad outreach project. just here to see things through
• joe - fnb he/him (came in late to meeting)

State of the Building

• john - yar sent out message that foreclosure is upcoming. does anyone have something they want to start with?
• G - with foreclosure coming, i feel like its a scary precarious space to be in, and what i learned from boycott is its impacting ability to bring in funds's. It's a barrier to people wanting to rent space. a part of the strategy is 1. create messaging of collective solidarity with gaza 2. write an impact statement of how the boycott is affecting groups at omni. that requires us to have numbers to show, for example, could say what impact FNB does with how many people it serves in last number of months. where the boycott is now, its battle of ideas of "im morally right, youre morally wrong". but if we look with numbers, it shows the real work done and will help the statement and show the community is at risk. action item: what are some metrics and numbers we can share. Like TANC isnt officially in space but have been using it... but can make a statement like how omni has impacted you.
• pallavi - a great point actually. when i was strategizing about different deliverables, one was a condensed annual report. this is needed to develop trust with our donor base, and remind people of all work we are doing here. essentially this is something that you would want before end of calendar year, but what I could use and would be manageable right now is having 4-5 sentence impact statement from every collective and project, and that would include a handful of statistics. like 2-3 statistics per collective
• sarah - i want to clarify whats going on with building. i have been the one communicating with lawyer for past 6 months. and i feel like some of the emails that went out... they are good that people feel a sense of urgency, but basically where we are at is: the financial extension of the loan is ending at the end of the month. i communicated to jesse that we would benefit from at least 6 months longer of extension because of county assessor failing to process our tax burden. what it looks like is we owe $250,000 in property tax, which looks like a dealbreaker to new lenders. we recently received news from the assessor that they still have a few months to work process this, so will not have it resolved in time to present to lenders. Given the situation, Jesse thought that would be a reasonable request to ask for another extension. From the email it looks like he also brought up the conflict with the boycott, but the lender did not look at that sympathetically. i wrote up a brief report of what is going on at omni and sent that to them. In terms of what G and Pallavi are talking about, a data and impact statement would be helpful to send to the lender, given imminent foreclosure starting next month. that could maybe buy us a little more time
• G - question about the drama... i dont mean to diminish it, but want to ask just if that is something lender cares about?
• Sarah - they are aware of it. but in lenders eyes this was supposed to be a 5 year bridge loan. 5 years for omni to get its shit together and find a new lender. so lender is relatively impatient. We need to communicate how omni is impacting the community. that type of messaging i think would make them more sympathetic to omni
• patrik - time check. would love to pick sarahs brain about other options for the building
• sarah - at this point, timeline and the members, i dont think we are going to get any conventional type of loan. options are some generous private individual. i believe jake was speaking to someone interested. also some members of TANC may of known someone. i created some documents that has some terms they might be interested in. other option, selling building, most desirable candidate probably a land trust, that would lease to tenants, however land trust would own building, decide on other tenants, and probably bring someone in to manage the ballroom. PP proposal is kind of like role of land trust. a land trust would be a 5013c nonprofit. however we have not identified a land trust. so thats the question.
• patrik - one option marc juul brought up, get 20 people to load $50k, that would only happen if we get enough funders. apparently thats how they financed makerspace marc started in copenhagen
• g - what is the timeline with foreclosure process?
• sarah - i dont entirely know answer to that but great question, but i am meaning to ask lawyer that, and can CC those who are interested
• g - PP has a proposal, but timeline would let us know how long we need to make a decision
• patrik - worst case scenario would take several months
• philip - my opinion that the more important question is: how quickly do lenders need an answer so they dont start the foreclosure process. really messy if foreclosure process is started
• patrik - at any time during foreclosure process we could find a lender, and then end the process
• sarah - better to ask than speculate, i will follow up on that
• silver - clarifying q: whats gonna happen if we do foreclosure route, what will happen if building is sold. bought for $2million, now it went up, how would money get divided collectively
• sarah - depends on how much it sold more. if amount less than loan + legal fees, omni wouldnt get anything. but if more, would have to be decided collectively.
• philip - as 5013c it has to return to...
• yar - omni would still exist as nonprofit, and would still have money. im prefer them not selling the building because they have said they would make "affordable housing" which usually means middle class housing.
• philip - is there insurance here?
• sarah - we have good property insurance policy, and one for events, and work with children. our insurance does not cover bouncy houses or petting zoos

property tax payment

• sarah - property tax payment due monday $19,000, we have $14,000. is anyone opposed to borrow what is needed from hellman and then pay it back
• silver - yea as long as contractors will still be financially supported
• sarah - at most borrowing $6000 and we have around $20k in grant still, so more than enough left for contractors pallavi and G
• patrik - CCL will be paying early, would encourage others to so we can close the gap
• sarah - events money coming in, i believe within the next 20 days will be plenty
• john - thank you sarah for all the financials you handle

no objections and quorum met

• sarah - i am going to show screen, showing what jake requested. basic building details, Loan to Value ratio, current rent list, income and expenses

request from CCL

• patrik - giant blue tarp, idea to cover roof. requires us to screw down slats to the roof itself. we will use all right materials to screw in roof. one of our members has training in emergency roof covering. thought id bring it up because it affects the roof. hope to stretch across both CCL and SR

no objections

Liberated Lens

• anca - been here 5+ years, used to have office til covid. we produced some documentaries, now contacted to make a film on japanese american culture.
• john - religious and cultural center and club of diablo valley, founded 1926, by japanese immigrant farmers. they were able to get a grant from concord city council to film a centennial documentary. would like to contract LL for $60k for 2 years. Question is because we are fiscally sponsored project of Omni Commons, is it okay for Omni commons to sign in our behalf? We have done a contract like that before
• Sarah - yes i can do paperwork. should loop in pallavi
• john - and percentage will come to omni of course. we are finishing pre-production, starting production.
• G - i think one thing, from marketing lens, so much is happening here that you wouldnt know unless you are here. if any groups have pictures they should share
• pallavi - yea can make a shared folder
• natalie - yea im down to share, where to?
• yar - slack

going to make a marketing channel in the slack

phil conflict

• phil - troy says he is the omni librarian. trouble in the past, but been getting worse. troy brings boxes of books, putting up signs. using chairs to block off space to keep dane off. yells and screams at me. getting more and more cramped up there, with new tenants coming in. i do not think behavior is okay. i would like to mediate process before it gets any worse.

peoples programs proposals

Intros

abbas - he/him delency - he/him yemi - she/her

proposal

• delency - peoples programs founded july of 2017, born out of history of BPP, adopts survival programs: health clinic, fresh grocery, hot meals, also a black student resource at UC berkeley. these programs are the foundation of an international movement for new afrikans, and anti imperialism. abbas and me are cochairs. yemi is director of operations. we recognize some of contradictions inside of omni. we have had different people here in leadership reach out to us. we can come here to lend some leadership as a means to having this space used at full capacity. i see potential of this place, i think its a shame that the community is not getting full use of it. yemi and i are both in the area. i grew up poor on welfare in north oakland my whole life, shame that we never knew of the space until the boycott.
• yemi - in our meetings we take 3 deep breaths

[notetakers computer locked up here TODO get from Philip]

• yemi - we understand there is financial need right now. once that is handled, we want to create a democratic organizing structure. to flesh out what im saying, we hope first and foremost, that we would collaborate closely with delegates, to both insert some structure and learn how you structure yourselves now. PP is communal and egalitarian and centered on equity and inclusion. [?] is important because it will create a shared understanding of what constitutes a safe space. we are willing to work with yall now, and hopefully bring more investment to current orgs, and help yall bring in way more people. over 70,000 ppl served from our hot meal programs, almost 4000 free fresh grocery boxes, we farm some of the produced food that goes directly to food boxes, mobile health clinic. these are resources for those most harmed by capitalism. also creative things we can do and would provide; poetry events, podcast, extensive 300-400 volunteers that are invested in work since beginning in 2017. we are really good and bringing people in to the work and keeping them, and we are not doing easy work here. hope we can bring that into this space, keeping it alive and relevant. another clear work we are doing is tenant organizing. we must work closely with tenants in oakland, glad to see tanc here. 85% community in acorn that is struggling to stay present.
• yemi - plan is that rates for collectives would stay unchanged. we would like to ask you all - what do you all dream, expect in terms of revitalization. we also proposed that paid staff would stay on in paid position. goal of a transformative process at omni and commitment to oaklands black community. to get into the weeds of member organizations - we understand there is a delegate structure. we hope that structure will be maintained, allow them to democratically vocalize needs, and our members would come into these meetings, and make sure needs get met. we have trained restorative justice practitioners, and we are confident that would help resolve interpersonal conflicts that have arisen here. fiscally sponsored projects can continue at omni, and we would continue with your current event vendors, but we would also like to have conversations in terms of booking and cleaning. as ive gone through the wiki, seen there are conflict resolution policy already in place. not trying to completely change those, but rather come up with something combining both our processes. we dont want to come as a landlord, but as a collective that can guide with our experience.
• yemi - in terms of maintenance and repairs: i think for us its important that those are #1 or #2 after paying for expenses. not safe if things not up to code. first step is do a full assessment of building. also assess cleanliness so anyone can come here safely, all people, including children.
• yemi - our finances, we know it can be really hard to raise money. we hope as a team, we have all run very successful events. our hope is to bring some of those events here. not just social but political events that could bring great attention.
• yemi - our hope in our mission statement champions as the ethos of a black community centering, [mission statement read from doc] "The NOC champions the ethos of a Black (New Afrikan) community center, emphasizing collective ownership and democratic practices that cater to the community's aspirations."
• patrik - i really appreciate effort you put in the proposal to make us at ease, in terms of staying in the building, but question is, what changes here?
• abbas - from info we have, omni has financial issues. i would say we could come in with administrative experience, whether it schools we worked at or community centers we built. we have that white collar experience, running art galleries. accounting support, regular maintenance, plumbing. we would take on responsibility for that
• patrik - how about decision making power?
• abbas - idea for us is to bring in more collectives here. lots of black people in omni who would benefit greatly. bring in black groups to the space. we want liberation for all people. we dont fall back on this "race science". we want it for all oppressed people, all colonized people. for example, palestinian youth movement. omni can serve as an organizing hub for oakland.
• patrik - i dont think omni has ever been fully utilized.
• yemi - another important point is that we have a lot of people already plugged into the stuff that you do at omni commons.
• delency - lot of intersections with the work that we do. when you think about what silver does with decolonization sewing programs. what would it look like if we were able to start using the equipment thats here. we have a lot of people in tech in organization. abbas and i have taught 20 classes at OUSD. brick and mortar plays so much in allowing people organize. why historically the panthers' brick and mortars were attacked. i would say too much work going on in silos, which is a problem for people who want to organize to take back the world
• anca - what is your decision making process?
• abbas - we abide by democratic centralism. theres a central committee, and a leadership bureau. circular relationship in our org. essentially minorities subjected to rule of majority. if 35 people say we want to do breakfast program on this day, and one person says no, we run the program. we use democracy at its highest form. We hold a high standard of education.
• delency - while someone may say they run "non-hierarchical," it ends up people can still wield power through information they hold. why we value political education.
• toan - so omni is run horizontally, decisions are decided through consensus. how would you see your process working with the consensus process?
• delency - yall talk about non-hierarchical decision making, but my understanding is when someone ran the books quit, you stopped running?
• abbas - with every structure there are going to be contradictions. we would like to see true democratic principles. how can we create a new structure here? looking at the past, has it worked?
• delency - requires clear standards, and common belief. you can talk tactic all day, but ideology is key for unity. once we have established this common understanding - i.e. you need this many programs you need this many events... efficient systems and clear cut standards
• pallavi - shared observation. as i have gotten to known omnis structure, more ive seen that there is a "lack there of" in structures. as an expert, trying to fund the individual collectives, there is a major challenge to show funders what they need to see. we absolutely must have external help to come in and scaffold the structure of decision making process, and fundraising infrastructure. that is the very basis of literal assets to submit for proposals. we have fiduciary responsibility to donors to show efforts have not gone in vain. part of my question to PP, one thing sarah brought up is that you are not technically 5013c?
• abbas delency yemi - no we are a 5013c
• pallavi - great, my need is to know your fundraising infrastructure, and any support i can provide to co-collaborate on grants nad programs
• jemma - question, thank you for presentation. mentioned setting up standards for member collectives. i would love to see what those standards would be, what are you looking for and what are you trying to set
• G - i feel like in the last meeting, i came out to the call out meeting. i didnt realize how much was happening at omni. the more i learn, omni has opportunity for immense growth, and there's new mobilization within people who are already here. people in community dont really know about foreclosure, we need to get that info out and them in conversation. QTBIPOC groups that left for many different reasons, we should invite them back in to know what happens. what do we need to change for them to come back is important. A proposal: larger community meeting, talk about foreclosure, PP proposal, and what it would take to bring people back. i know of need for conflict resolution, we as a community can learn and hold space together and that would make impact on cultural level. cancel culture is really big. so much drama in bay area organizing. we could make a big difference on a macro level
• delency - we are interested in getting as many groups in as possible but short deadline with the foreclosure timeline.
• john - time check 8:43,
• G - theres a document with silvers name all over, and theyve been getting death threats. thats why i think its a priority to figure this out
• yemi - yes and we have been in conversation with silver about this
• silver - i think this conversation is important, in terms of cancel culture. but also at omni we steamroll deep conflict in order to save the building... but also i dont want my interpersonal conflict to take over discussion
• g - standards, how do we manage conflict before theres more things coming. lets flush the toilet so we can have a place to shit
• abbas - we have shared collective principles, i.e. restorative/transformtive justice, with which these things can be addressed. have protocols in place, but recognize theres not a one sized fits all way to handle things. find our points of unity, which are in operating principles we are proposing. if you look at history, interpersonal conflict can destroy orgs. Our proposal operating principles:
  • Operating Principles:
    • We use language that uplifts the humanity of ALL Afrikan people (including but not limited to: Trans folks, Queer folks, disabled folks, poor folks).
    • What’s learned here in the name of liberation is to be shared with the people, in the name of liberation.
    • No cop zone!
    • Keep a learning stance.
    • Transparency - practice a high level of self-awareness. Communicate what you need & what you can do.
    • Follow through on your commitment to the people & the work.
    • Protect your comrades & the community
    • Remember why you are here - to contribute to the liberation of ALL Afrikan people and thus all of humanity!
    • LOVE - the goal is to heal, protect, & liberate ALL Afrikans (including self)!
• abbas - having these operating principles, that we have agreed to, we can go back to these principles. have some standards to hold people to.
• joe - thank you for proposal and interest in omni. my question is very mundane, about offer to basically rescue us from foreclosure. raise in pieces or take it all at once? how would that effect the ownership structure
• delency - not that we are trying to save omni, we are trying to save the community. this is for the names we dont know yet, the future generations. its community effort.
• abbas - our offer is based off the donor we are in contact with. they want to remain anonymous. honestly, they had concerns, but willing to donate if donation goes to our nonprofit and we assume financial responsibility. we take on financial, administrative, and operations, but would retain delegate structure. bigger than any organization. atransformative step for the condition of africans. esp. in terms of how north oakland has been gentrified in ways we cant even articulate. this could be a beacon for further generations
• yar - confusing to me what is written on paper is not what you said. if we passed this as it is written, it would leave you vulnerable to board of delegates. language used in there doesnt actually protect you in legal sense ... if lawyers poured over it, they would say yea, the original people control omni.
• delency - what language are you referring to?
• yar - because it doesnt address who is on the board. legally speaking, non profit is controlled by a board. doesnt address who are going to be the new board members
• E - again im not a deciscion maker, im wonder if it makes sense to come with adjustments you would make to the bylaws. since that is where is specificity on how power flows
• patrik - and who owns building
• G - there's a timeline to talk with the old donor with. and then i feel like with proposal, some dancing to do
• abbas - yea this is a proposal, not legally binding, just what we have been thinking. again this foreclosure is happening so quickly so wanted to reach out asap. from the trust perspective, we understand there needs to be a new entity to come in and be responsible. we can offer financial, admin, and operational responsibility.
• john - excited about proposal and politics of decolonization and liberation, support movements of new afrika and pan-africanism. nothing you have said that would raise any concerns about a working collaboration and membership. a number of us came through occupy oakland movement. and that was horizontal and participatory decision making. and one thing we have learned from this is there are limits to that horizontal decision making, when trying to run a small business with quarter million budget. offer of technical expertise and all that is good to hear. and from what im also hearing about, the way in which you do internal decision making, respects the fundamental right of consensus. i dont have a problem with structure on this project, with our project of liberation, and PP focus on new afrikans. I see going forward as us, the current delegates, bringing back proposal now. my inclination is yes we want to go forward with this and build this. im excited and thank you again for the thoughtful and careful proposal.
• delency - has anyone come to our programs other than yar?
• silver - yes
• natalie - yes and really admire the proposal and excited for black leadership
• delency - slow distribution time for us right now, but some things you can come and see: event coming up next friday and saturday for film that abbas and i made.* delency - slow distribution time, but some things you can come and see. event coming next friday and saturday for film that abbas and i made. we can pull up things from 3 years back if any concerns on material data
• delency - if any questions, we can pull up things from 3 years back if any concerns on material data
• yemi - important that we can survive on grassroots support, dont need grants
• delency - community programs foundation is nonprofit name.
• patrik - can you clarify your relationship with CLP?
• delency - we work in securing 5 states in black belt to set up a new afrika. first step to is to have our own nation state, part of step to pan-africanism. we got connected to CLP is through 2020
• abbas - it was when shelter and mutual aid going on at omni. CLP reached out to us to learn how we organized. We realize we have had different experiences with them. to be clear we are separate orgs. they wanted to know about our de-colonial projects
• delency - we believe that we can reach a positive resolution if the goal is to have maximum community impact. and we have seen too often that people mask the personal as political. contextualize this, OPD got a $$$ budget for 2 years. if you are committed to positive resolution. our allegiance is to politics, not to people.
• john - proposal...
• yar - i would say more conversation needed but. i want to say that i was one of the people who brought CLP in. I didnt do a lot of research, didnt go to peoples park or look at social media. im sorry about that. im trying to do right by that by really getting to know peoples programs. PP are so transparent, you can go listen to hours and hours of their conversations online.
• abbas - but dont look at our 2nd episode, watch the recent ones hah
• yar - and the most transparent part is seeing how people change and grow. it lets you see what youre getting into for the long run. this is a genuine offer of significant effort. i want to make this work, to the extent that we disagree on some things, like we talked for hours about middle east politics, but i think its really important that we develop ways to have a real anti-imperialist movement, that includes palestinians, jewish people...
• anca - what is your timeline
• delency - we are not personally rushed, we are only rushed based off of your foreclosure timeline.
• yar - if you do have that big donor lined up, i would ask if they prefer to make that decision by the end of the year
• john - this place has incredible potential, especially in terms of being in oakland
• yemi - happy to share email with people here