<div dir="ltr"><div>The following is a statement collectively written by Omni's Finance Working Group:</div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr"><p><font size="2">Dear delegates,</font></p>
<p><font size="2">It has come to our attention that <a href="https://www.oaklandedfund.org" target="_blank">Oakland
Public Education Fund,</a> GCEA's fiscal sponsor, terminated
their sponsorship agreement on 11/2/18 for breach of contract.
We spoke to Ryan Terada from their accounting department who
told us that OPEF sent several emails to Almaz to inform her
that she was not meeting her obligations under the agreement,
but she did not respond. It was noted in her file that she went
into the OPEF office on 11/2 and when she was informed that her
sponsorship was cancelled, she became very upset and stormed
out. Ryan didn't tell us why she was in the office, but we
believe it was to deposit the check for $1000 that GCEA received
but was unable to cash (because GCEA doesn't have its own bank
account), nor transfer to Omni. <br></font>
</p>
<p><font size="2">We also noticed that GCEA is fraudulently
claiming on their
<a href="http://www.globalcommunicationservices.org/about-us/" target="_blank"> website</a> to be a 501c3 organization, where a fake tax
ID number is provided. The number (81-3599363) does not appear in the IRS database. </font></p>
<p><font size="2">We also asked Ryan about the GCEA lease and were
told that OPEF doesn't authorize their sponsored organizations
to sign leases. Our lease is with "GCEA, a fiscally sponsored
project of OPEF". Even though Laura skimmed the GCEA/OPEF
contract and noted to Almaz that she had to run the lease by
OPEF, she never did. <br></font>
</p>
<p><font size="2">According to Jesse Palmer, our lawyer, since
Almaz was not an authorized signer for OPEF, the GCEA lease is
void. This means that GCEA is not legally a tenant. Since a
group must be a tenant or fiscally sponsored project of Omni
Commons to be a member collective, GCEA is not a member
collective. Jesse advised us to send a 3-day eviction notice to
both OPEF and GCEA. He also noted that beyond being a breach of
an agreement, not paying rent owed is simply divisive in
collective projects. What tends to happen is if one party stops
paying, then other parties stop and the structure falls apart.<br></font>
</p>
<p><font size="2">In light of this new information, we suggest that
the latest proposal submitted by Almaz, Julio, Katrina, and Yar,
be modified to focus on what agreements could be made between
GCEA and OC to permit GCEA to become a member collective, as
well as examining our policies and practices to improve
accountability and create a space where more black people and
people of color feel welcome.</font></p>
<p><font size="2">- Finance Working Group</font></p><p><font size="2"><br></font></p><p><font size="2">--<br></font></p></div></div><div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Jenny<br><br></div><div>Help open a professional kitchen at the Omni Commons in Oakland!<br></div><div><a href="https://omnicommons.org/kitchen" target="_blank">https://omnicommons.org/kitchen</a><br>
<br>
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`<br>
<div>
"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."<br>
-Laurie Anderson<br>
<br>
"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."<br>
-Hannah Arendt<br>
<br>
"To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."<br>
-Stéphane Mallarmé</div><div><br></div>"Anything done for the first time unleashes a demon."<br>--Dave Sim, "Cerebus the Aardvark"<div>
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`</div>
</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 6:20 PM David Keenan <<a href="mailto:dkeenan44@gmail.com">dkeenan44@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>If I can, I would be willing to participate in mediation - I have no details about it. I hope it is an outside entity (NVC, Seeds, etc). If someone has information, please pass it on? </div><div> </div>This may not have been intended, but I find myself resistant to the implication that its just one or two people that have been treated poorly. It's more than just two people for sure. From what I've seen this a broad and ongoing problem, not a one-off kind of problem. As with virtually all past behavior akin to this, most people on the receiving end simply leave and dont come back.<div><div><div><br></div><div>In my opinion, dialogue/accountability about what exactly is going to change, as well as transparency and true understanding around what the real needs at stake are, really needs to come first? As in, before anything else like forgiving debts or unilaterally locking up space can meaningfully be agreed to. Otherwise, it's not clear to me at least how such a solution as proposed would prevent the same problems from re-occurring at a systemic level in any way, which to my mind is more important for the collective health of omni and the community at large, that omni is in theory trying to be in solidarity with, than being able to lock this or that room, or forgive this or that debt. </div><div><br></div><div>If real dialogue and real accountability dont come first, omni could conversely send a message of non-accountability, i.e. if the goal is simply a quid pro quo with no learning, no healing, and therefore no tangible reason for a rational person to believe anything will change for the better, which I would normally say is probably not what anyone wants.. but in this case, perhaps all bets are off idk. For some, the real goal may be for actually nothing to change, and for everything to stay the same as it is, because I also get that vibe. <div><br></div><div>Part of me wonders if the only reason people are talking about having to get creative here is perhaps due to our collective inability to live up to our boring old anodyne existing values and policies which I feel like we are not really doing in this case. Idk. </div><div><div><div><div><br></div><div>David </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 4:45 PM Julio Rios <<a href="mailto:julio.rios@gmail.com" target="_blank">julio.rios@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>+1 on everything Yar just summarized, especially this, because I believe we can be more creative than we seem to give ourselves credit for.<br></div><div dir="ltr">>>></div><div dir="ltr">I believe we should forgive their debt, allow them to lock the<br>room, and also hold her accountable for how she's treated <span class="gmail-m_-4159387982331441945gmail-m_-3883273736719677581gmail-il">Robb</span> and<br>Jenny (in particular). All these things can be true at the same time.<br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><< </div></div></div>
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