---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jenny Ryan <tunabananas(a)gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Feb 8, 2019 at 12:15 PM
Subject: Proposal: Hire or Replace Me as Omni's Bookkeeper
To: <consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org>
Dear Omninoms,
Recently, the topic of more regular and transparent financial reporting has
come up in Omni Delegates Meetings. While this has traditionally been the
domain of the Finance Working Group, said working group has usually seen
fewer than 3 members in attendance, and historically has relied on one or
two volunteers to uphold day-to-day financial transactions, regular
reporting, annual filings (State, Federal, County, and City), loan
repayments, invoicing, bank reconciliations, bill payments, check cashing
and internal financing and filings. Additionally, we continue to receive
requests for and accrue fiscally-sponsored projects, significantly adding
to our administrative overhead. Our property tax exemption application is
due February 15th, which requires detailed documentation of all entities
that use the building (including one-time event rentals and small recurring
group meetings). We also need to consolidate our mortgage loan within the
next two years. Total number of hours spent on this labor each month has
frequently trended toward that of full-time employment (with overtime).
I am now incapable of continuing to engage on this level with Omni’s
bookkeeping and operations on a volunteer basis. I enjoy this work, and
have been studying nonprofit bookkeeping and law generally over the past
three years, obtained Quickbooks certifications, attended webinars and
workshops, and have already begun doing nonprofit bookkeeping as a paid
position for other clients. However, I have bills to pay and will soon need
to find full-time paid employment or the equivalent - which means I won't
have time to work on Omni.
This work adds up to minimally 20 hours/month and is reliant on skilled
labor that has been consistently out of reach for Omni Commons since its
inception. Starting March 1st, all of our community loans - totalling over
$100K with monthly average repayments to the tune of $3,200 - will have
been repaid! We are now in a position, financially, to afford professional
bookkeeping and administrative services (see Feasibility
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pZwwjGPjsCryp78dySTHFbrmiTZR-Q5FqQf82S5…>).
Paying for skilled labor is not unprecedented: since our beginnings, we
have readily paid the hourly or project-based rate for legal assistance,
city permitting and inspection fees, and building and maintenance work
(including electrical, plumbing, fire safety, and roof repair) - as well as
supporting paid A/V for events. Traditionally, those we hire have been
people aligned and familiar with Omni’s vision and structure, or
recommended by comrades within our community.
Summary/Proposal:
It seems to me that Omni has the following options:
1.
Hire an accountant and train them in the structure and history of Omni
and its collectives (probably expensive);
2.
Hire another Omni volunteer and train them in bookkeeping, taxes, etc;
(who will do the training?);
3.
Attempt to find someone else to do this work for free;
4.
Pay me to continue doing the work I've been doing for free over the past
3+ years.
Hire me as Omni’s interim bookkeeper/operations admin on a $25 hourly
basis, with a reexamination of the agreement and contractual follow-up due
diligence by a consensed-upon Omni Delegate upon the start of the next
fiscal quarter (April 2019), with an aspirational increase to $30/hr before
the end of 2019.
*Accomplishments:*
-
Created Chart of Accounts, generated nonprofit financial statements
<https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Finances#Financial_Statements> annually
and custom reports on an as-needed basis for four nonprofit organizations
(Sudo Room, OOC, Omni, and Sudo Mesh), and one worker-cooperatives (Agua
Viva);
-
Created custom reports automatically sent monthly to Commons WG and Sudo
Room;
-
Created and maintain Omni and Sudo Mesh’s business plans and budgets
(both actual and 5-year Projected);
-
Filed Forms 990 and 199
<https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Finances#990_Tax_Forms> (taxes) for all of
the above organizations dating back to 2013
-
Rigorous bank account reconciliations, including redoing Omni’s dating
back to 2014;
-
Oversaw Omni’s building purchase process
<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17qHsn6HUcqWGElqFEdmauFQTrdE-JhyT5pZ…>,
which required hundreds of hours, nearly 50 individual and organizational
entities, and nearly 75 documents and signed contracts;
-
Oversaw Omni’s applications
<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4_Q7DQvNFT-bXE4NGQ2WVZzRm8>
for and successful acquisitions of federal, state, city/business, sales,
and property tax exemptions;
-
Oversaw much of the soliciting, drafting of promissory notes, and
near-complete (as of March 1st) repayment of over $100,000 in community
loans;
-
Oversee collective invoicing and followup of overdue invoices;
-
Drafted the following key nonprofit governance/finance documents for
Omni (and the same for Sudo Mesh minus the latter two bullet points):
-
Omni Commons Budget
<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rvkMc5lmd8PovoViNLdvlrv0tSyvrH7iB0S…>
-
Omni Commons Business Plan
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DSVoQlY2SiX8EjYS9HcNke6Kkj5pVOAqOWO6Zg_…>
-
Omni Commons Fiscal Policies & Procedures
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QiQeCfD1AwaSy4R5gch67bSdSmgirZ0GZxj8vcF…>
-
Omni Finances Overview and Financial Reports
<https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Finances> (2012-current)
-
Commercial Real Estate Loan Application
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4_Q7DQvNFT-ZU9qdjRlaFlUdlk>
-
Bottomlined budgets for the Kitchen,
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gog9KDQb8youQp8LalMM11vquNyWAVN2v2z_LEeTV…>
the Media Lab <https://omnicommons.org/wiki/MediaLab>, and nearly a
dozen grant applications for Omni, Sudo Room, Sudo Mesh, ABDC,
and Qilombo.
*Qualifications and Skills:*
-
Quickbooks ProAdvisor Certification (May 2018);
-
5 years of nonprofit bookkeeping experience (Sudo Room 2013-current;
Sudo Mesh 2013-current; Omni Commons 2015-current);
-
Proficiency with Quickbooks Online, Google Drive, and MediaWiki;
-
Knowledge of bookkeeping and generally accepted best practice accounting
principles for complex non-profit organizations;
-
Strong organizational and communication skills; able to communicate
effectively and efficiently through verbal and/or written means;
-
Attention to detail, especially with regards to data entry;
-
Discretion in the handling of confidential or sensitive information;
-
Great love of spreadsheets and documentation.
Responsibilities / Deliverables:
*The vast majority of these I already do, but would be able to do more
consistently and ideally while training a new Treasurer of the nonprofit.*
-
Monthly bookkeeping tasks:
-
Bank account reconciliations in Quickbooks;
-
Accounts payable (bills - maintain Vendor files and payments
including bill pay system & payroll;
-
Accounts receivable (invoices - ensure that receivables are collected
promptly);
-
Liabilities (loan repayments & security deposits);
-
Assets (calculating value of purchases of equipment, machinery,
fixtures, furniture, leasehold improvements & in-kind donations;
calculating depreciation);
-
Regular, transparently-documented financial reporting:
-
Monthly income and expense reports to be submitted to the Delegates
Council by the first Thursday of the month;
-
Monthly customized reports for Commons and Project income & loss;
-
Quarterly reports including: Incomes & Expenses (+ comparative
analysis); Accounts Payable/Receivable; Bank Acct.
Reconciliation; Income &
Expense changes over 1-5 yrs;
-
Annual reporting including: current year’s Statement of Activity &
Statement of Financial Position; State and Federal tax filings;
-
Communications & Fundraising:
-
Preparation and sending of donation acknowledgement letters by Jan
31st;
-
Assist with maintenance of grant budgets, and prepare reports for
funders;
-
Prettified financial reports and binders for potential funders.
-
State Filings:
-
Prepare and file annual Federal 990s;
-
CA State Filings: Forms 199 (and schedules) and RRF-1s;
-
Bi-annual Statements of Information (SI-100s);
-
Property Tax Exemption Application submitted by Feb. 15th annually;
-
Budgeting:
-
Maintain current month-to-month and 5-Year Projected Budget docs;
-
Maintain Designated Funds (eg; Kitchen), Operational & Capital
Reserve Funds;
-
Budgets created as-needed for grant applications and fundraising
campaigns.
-
Create mortgage loan consolidation application package.
-
Documentation:
-
Updating our Guidestar and other online profiles;
-
Ensure accounting and communication processes are properly
documented, and annual reports published on our website/wiki;
-
Update and prettify business plan;
-
Filing annual Board Meeting minutes (analog and digital);
-
Filing system management (analog and digital) and clear labeling/
documentation.
*Goals & Aspirations:*
-
Build Operating and Capital Reserve Funds as budgeted;
-
Scheduled regular maintenance of roof, exterior, HVAC, Fire, etc;
-
Boost the following potential sources of Omni income: MediaLab, Kitchen,
Commons, recurring donations (eg; Patreon), grant awards, substantial
donors/foundations;
-
Create and propose a long-term plan for moving toward sustainable energy
(solar) and full-venue capabilities (fire sprinkler system, Conditional Use
Permit / Liquor License, catering, event promotion, streamlined booking
system);
-
Create and propose a sustainable compensation plan for
currently-undervalued volunteer and member-collective labor (eg; percentage
of Commons/event rental income to bottomliners and member-collective
sponsors).
Financial Feasibility:
Omni’s current monthly expenses average $9,500/mo once all short-term loans
are repaid in February of 2019. Our current monthly average income is
$10,750, leaving a surplus of roughly $1,200/month in the beginning of
2019. This income is an average and does not reflect one-time larger grants
and donations, which we’d be in a much better position to obtain with some
upgrades to our documentation, reporting, and donor engagement.
I propose to do Omni’s bookkeeping work for hire (while still participating
in additional volunteer capacity as I always have) on a 3-month trial basis
at $25/hr, with hours fully documented and invoiced by the 1st of the
month. This is a discounted rate ($45-$60/hr) and about what Omni is
currently able to afford.
This full proposal, including my resume, can be read and commented on as a
Google Doc here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pZwwjGPjsCryp78dySTHFbrmiTZR-Q5FqQf82S5…
Many thanks for your consideration. I hope to continue working with Omni
Commons in a capacity that is sustainable for me and enables the continued
fiscal operations of the building.
<3
Jenny
Help open a professional kitchen at the Omni Commons in Oakland!
https://omnicommons.org/kitchen
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
-Laurie Anderson
"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."
-Hannah Arendt
"To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
-Stéphane Mallarmé
"Anything done for the first time unleashes a demon."
--Dave Sim, "Cerebus the Aardvark"
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
A new year has come round,
trash and e-waste abound!
Sudo is not quite solid state,
we must care for its fate.
I'll take out clutter by the bag,
let us now plan to de-frag?
- - - -
Weblog: http://adammunich.com
With great power comes great responsibility.
If anybody's interested in following up with these people, lemme know
and I'll send you their contact info.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
Date: Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 9:31 AM
Subject: [sudo-info] Cloud nerds just wanna have fun
To: <info(a)sudoroom.org>
Yo! I run a team of cloud geeks who will all be in SF the second week
of April. We'd love to descend on your scene with around 40 people,
generally make a mess, make some useless things, binge on pizza and
solder smoke.
On the positive side, we'd also love to make a substantial donation.
Can someone help us set that up? Is this cool? We get that it's a lot
of bodies all at once, and we'd love help and support and camaraderie
and we're also completely ok if this is just not your jam. Let us
know!
We're gonna finally build out Omni's basement kitchen. But first we
need to do some serious cleanup, removing all the old junk. So we're
having a cleanup party this Saturday!
Saturday March 9 11am-2pm
Omni Commons 4799 Shattuck
> NOTE: emails to the helpdesk list were sent to an individual email address (such as info(a)omnicommons.org) with the PRESUMPTION OF PRIVACY. They may include personal information which the sender would not have sent to a public list (such as omni-discuss). If you must forward messages to a public list, please take great care to REMOVE SENSITIVE INFORMATION!
^^ Do people even notice this warning anymore? Kind of ironic in context.
Not sure if anyone wants to respond to this...
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: xxxxxxxxxx <xxxxxxx(a)xxxxxx.xxx>
Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 12:37
Subject: [omni-helpdesk] need help with computer stuff
To: <info(a)omnicommons.org>
Dear omni commons,
I'm xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx. I need some concise help with how to
set up a secure computer. Wouldn't mind joining a casual meeting, etc.
either. But if you suggest a specific day, or maybe a specific person to
speak to, would be of great help.
thanks for the help,
xxxxx xxxxx
NOTE: emails to the helpdesk list were sent to an individual email address
(such as info(a)omnicommons.org) with the PRESUMPTION OF PRIVACY. They may
include personal information which the sender would not have sent to a
public list (such as omni-discuss). If you must forward messages to a
public list, please take great care to REMOVE SENSITIVE INFORMATION!
_______________________________________________
helpdesk mailing list
helpdesk(a)lists.omnicommons.org
https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/helpdesk
anybody haz a circuit diagram that limits current through a transistor by
means of adjusting the duty cycle of a microcontrolloer (arduino/esp8266)?
seems like all the diagrams i can find use a current sense resistor & not
the mcu
thx4haxing
Dear Sudo Room,
Here's your invoice! We appreciate your prompt payment.
Thank you for stewarding the commons.
Love and solidarity,
Omni Commons
------------------------ Pledge Summary --------------------------
Invoice # : 1710
Invoice Date: 03/01/2019
Due Date: 03/25/2019
Terms: Net 25
Amount Due: $6,000.00
The complete version has been provided as an attachment to this email.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
there is a small offset printing press in sudoroom which is never going to be
used here, and will probably end up getting thrown out or recycled if it
doesn't go somewhere.
It's an Adana Five-Three and they can be quite valuable:
http://www.briarpress.org/40882
of course ours isn't as polished as this one in the picture, but it's basically
the same thing. The wood base is not flawless, but the rollers seem soft and
new and the action of the whole thing is smooth.
does anyone want to handle getting this thing out of sudoroom? Perhaps you can
sell it and donate some of the money back to sudoroom to keep the lights on?
thank you,
-jake
Is the Sudo Humans account management system no longer working?
sudoroom.org/humans right now just forwards to a "Page NOT Found".
That means CCL is not able to add any new members, we can't check who is
paying their membership fees, existing members are not able to update their
payment information, etc...
Help!
Patrik
sudoroom wont have another meeting before the next delegates meeting
plz, read, comment, provide concerns/questions if you will
proposal:
This is a GCEA draft proposal, which could be amended, based on feedback
from the delegates at this meeting. Thank you for taking the time to
discuss this proposal.
GCEA as an organization is working to establish itself on firm economic
grounding. Unfortunately this has meant that GCEA hasn't been able to pay
its rent for 5 months of 2018, as well as currently in 2019. GCEA feels
that there is strong value for both parties in the relationship between
GCEA and the Omni, and hopes that the Omni collectives feel the same way.
To this end, we are making this proposal to change the status of GCEA's
rent payment.
As an Omni collective organization, GCEA members appreciate the other Omni
collectives’ willingness to work with us as we solidify our financial
situation.
1) GCEA would like to pay its existing back rent to the Omni and is
planning to conduct fundraising event to that effect. We propose that GCEA
be able to pay the back rent at its normal rate, and propose that the Omni
waive the late fees on rent payment. We believe this to be consistent
behavior with many Omni collectives.
1a) GCEA organized a fundraising event, Out The Blue, on December 7th, 2018
in partnership with several University alumnae orgs and groups. We expected
a portion of the funds ($1,100) to go towards GCEA's rent/youth trip to
Africa. This portion would have covered our back rent from 2018 completely.
We have been informed, after the fact, that the rules of the Commons Group
prevent the funds from this event from going towards GCEA's rent. We
believe this is a miscommunication and intend to have a conversation with
the Common's Group in hope that our portion of the funds be allocated
towards GCEA's rent. We will be appreciative if that happens, but if not
GCEA intends to hold another fundraising event in order to pay for its back
rent.
2) GCEA would like to propose that the rent be reduced to one dollar, for
the ongoing period. We hope to be able to return to a larger rental rate
in the future, but are having difficulty meeting this need right now. We
understand that there is some precident in Omni history for an organization
to have one dollar rent.
2a) We understand that there are organizations that exist at the Omni who
make payments largely through paying a percentage of their donations
directly to the Omni, rather than a monthly rent. GCEA would like to
propose that it continue to support the Omni financially by giving a
portion of its income from fundraisings and donations to the Omni. We
would like to discuss that level with the Omni. Internally we have
discussed numbers around 30-50% of GCEA donations, but are happy to discuss
the appropriate level for this with the Omni Delegates.
3) GCEA has limited funds at the moment, but wants to continue contributing
to the Omni Commons as much as it is able. To this end GCEA would like to
propose that it take on a distinct project for the Omni. We have
brainstormed an project: to take responsibility for a renovation of the
Disco Room. This would involve organizing and taking responsibility for
creating a working group to hold the meetings, organizing fundraising
efforts (which should be easier as an Omni project, than direct GCEA
fundraising), managing volunteer contractors, seeking input from the Omni
Community, and ensuring that all legal regulations are followed.
4) The delegates have previously approved that GCEA and BAPS have priority
use for the Small Classroom. Recently, some delegates requested that the
lock be removed from the Classroom door. GCEA, in conversation with BAPS,
propose to convert the small classroom from fully common space to
semi-common. We propose to keep the door locked, in order to establish
accountable common access to the room, and to keep it secure and clean.
However, we seek to make the room available to any group that makes a
reasonable request, except when GCEA or BAPS is already using the space.
Please note additionally that we encourage that the Ticketbooth room be
made more accessible to fully common use as soon as possible.
Thank you delegates for taking the time to consider this proposal. We
welcome your thoughts and questions, and hope to be able to return at the
next delegates meeting with a m ore formalized and informed proposal.
We could make an Electrical Discharge Machining setup at Sudoroom pretty
easily.
https://www.wired.com/story/gaze-upon-the-black-magic-of-electrical-dischar…
at sudoroom, we have an old CSAM (Confocal Scanning Accoustic Microscope) in
the corner which is basically an extremely precise 3-axis CNC machine with a
granite base (for stability) and a liquid tank below the toolhead where the
CSAM used to happen. (attached picture is somewhat similar to what we have)
We still have all the old CSAM stuff (including the ultrasonic pickup and
amplifier) but the software on the old computer (RUNNING WINDOWS 95) barely
works and probably is not worth resurrecting, besides who cares about CSAM?
The point being that we could pretty easily put a piece of metal in a clamp
attached to the toolhead and move it through a stationary brass wire in a
distilled-water bath, and thus be able to do 2-dimensional Electrical Discharge
Machining pretty easily. We could cut flat stencils and even make thick stuff.
I believe we could also do conventional 3-axis CNC machining with the same
idea, if the toolhead held a conductive point and just machined away at the
material from above. EDM is slow, but doesn't pollute the air with fumes or
even noise, so it would be fine to just leave it going overnight or even during
meetings.
I don't have any experience or detailed knowledge of EDM but I could certainly
get the motors of this CNC machine working and i know how to pour distilled
water, and could probably hook up the appropriate high-frequency power supply
between the brass electrode and the work, if other people are interested in
bottomlining this process.
-jake
On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 10:37 AM Yardena Cohen <yardenack(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> We've been paying for Sudoroom's Gandi & Digitalocean using a debit
> card with Matt Senate's name on it, which expires this month. Is there
> a newer/better form of payment I can add?
Escalating this to sudo-discuss as we really need an answer soon. Thanks.
not enough $ for said duties but good 1st step towards sustainability
On Fri, Feb 8, 2019 at 2:10 PM Adam <me(a)adammunich.com> wrote:
> I vote in favor
>
> - - - -
> Weblog: http://adammunich.com
> With great power comes great responsibility.
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 8, 2019 at 1:08 PM Kyle Mitchell <kyle(a)kemitchell.com> wrote:
>
>> I've been absent from Sudo for the past few months, but worked directly
>> with Jenny on records for Sudo in connection with the original
>> application for determination of tax-exempt status, on finance and other
>> matters. My experience was very good. I encouraged her several times
>> over the years to take pay for the extensive work she does, and I'm glad
>> to see her do so now.
>>
>> My only concern is that $25 is less than twice the Oakland minimum wage,
>> which is itself amorally low.
>>
>> I represented Sudo pro bono for several years. I don't doubt that
>> decision. But when other counsel became available, for pay, to handle
>> the merger and building acquisition, I stepped aside, for several
>> good reasons.
>>
>> Unlike for-profit orgs, it's perfectly fine for nonprofit orgs to take
>> volunteer and pro bono services. But when services can't be both pro
>> bono and sustainable, they ought to cost what they cost. Even the best-
>> intentioned orgs tend to forget about discounts, treat all paid
>> providers as if they were paid properly, and then suffer surprise and
>> disruption when the underlying unsustainability resurfaces.
>>
>> In the end, there's a budget, and dollars in have to balance with
>> dollars out. Omni runs lean, I'm sure. However things pan out, I'd
>> encourage all involved to keep tabs on the other balances inherent in
>> any good service relationship.
>>
>> --
>> Kyle Mitchell, attorney // Oakland // (510) 712 - 0933
>> _______________________________________________
>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>> sudo-discuss(a)lists.sudoroom.org
>> https://sudoroom.org/lists/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>
> _______________________________________________
> consensus mailing list
> consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org
> https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/consensus
>
Hello,
The place I work is getting rid of three work tables, which might be good
for sudoroom. One is welded together (doesn't come apart) and has a shelf.
There are also two tables without a shelf, the legs of which bolt on, so
they can be partially dismantled. The tables are all 8ft long and in good
shape.
One or two of them could replace part of the "island of doom" near the
robot arm, or perhaps the workbenches against the wall.
Pictures attached. We would need a large vehicle to transport them, and
pickup would probably have to be during business hours. I would probably
need to know if we want them today (Friday) or Monday, and we'd probably
need to grab them some time next week.
Alex
Hey guys,
Apparently, he just stalked a sudoroom member to their house and threatened
them with violence. Not cool. I don't have all the details, but I don't
think this is someone we want in the space right now.
This is the tall, skinny white guy with a Pepe the frog sticker on his
laptop.
L
<http://lesleybell.com>