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Re: [sudo-discuss] [omni-consensus] Proposal: Repurpose 'Omni1' 501c3 into a Land Trust

by David Keenan

Hi all, So sorry to spam all the lists.. After a month, I'm bumping this proposal up again for this Thursday's omni delegates' meeting / GA, because it has become suddenly pressing in the wake of the Ghostship fire. I was really hoping member collectives might be able have had some discussion about this and hopefully attned this thursday's meeting to achieve quorum (and maybe even, pass the proposal? :) The proposal is in essence the following: 1. Repurpose Omni's 'extra' 501c3 corporation we no longer need, which originally was going to be wound down, to be used as a non-profit Land Trust and resource specifically for DIY / community spaces (also for DIY living spaces) currently in need of much support as they are presently facing a wave of punitive code enforcement and eviction. 2. For this to happen, some logistical hoops have to be jumped through: - Complete the disengagement of omni's finances of last year, from our old 501c3. Yes, I'm told this could take a while, but I'm optimistic :) - Mild modifications to the old c3's statement of purpose, charitable activities, bylaws (this being mostly low-level stuff.) Jesse, our lawyer, has verified this should be possible. 3. After such a proposal was approved and the necessary logistical steps taken, this land trust could then optionally become omni's land trust, at the collective's choosing -- i.e., a Trust ensuring that the building stays used for community use into the foreseeable future and follows its own bylaws, founding document, statement of solidarity etc long after we are all gone. Personally I think this is very important to the long-term survival of omni, but that particular aspect, of being Omni's land trust specifically, is *not* part of the scope of this proposal at this time, as it would have to be a later and more substantial proposal unto itself, encompassing many logistical aspects. So this proposal is just a proposed use for our old 501c3, for when we have fully disengaged our finances from it and no longer need it. 4. In the immediate wake of Ghostship (note: which occurred after I made the original proposal), members of the wider oakland community assembled to help DIY spaces stave off eviction, code-related closures, and to commit core fire life-safety improvements: The 'DIY Safety Group'. This group, which I (among many) helped to assemble, currently raises donations for such work, and this money is presently being stewarded by Omni as a fiscally sponsored project to the tune of ~7% in fees (not atypical for a sponsoring 501c3.) The sooner Omni is able able to unmoor our 'extra' 501c3 corporation to use as a land trust dedicated to helping and preserving DIY spaces like Omni, the sooner that group can take on the accounting overhead, eliminate this 7% fee and rather use 100% of funds raised to help other critical community spaces are currently being actively threatened. Anyhow I am hoping the dire needs of the community at large in this time is enough to get quorum Thursday and hopefully, consensus on the productive use of this extra c3 per this proposal :) If anyone has any questions or objections, please fire away :) Best, David On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 8:19 AM, Kazoo Studios <lovekazoo(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hey David! > > I like the way you're thinking, and the direction things are moving. > Creating the land trust out of the former c3 seems prudent in terms of > effort, money, and time. Also, making the building a community land trust > feels like a ray of sunshine in the darkness of the next 4 years. We could > be very useful in helping other spaces resist the rampant privatization > that will likely follow in the near future. > > I'm out of the country for the next week so won't be able to comment more, > but appreciate the creative thinking and resourcefulness of this plan. > > Thanks for all that you do, > Kazoo > > Kazoo Studios > www.KazooStudios.net <http://www.kazoostudios.net> > > On Dec 1, 2016, at 4:37 PM, David Keenan <dkeenan44(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi all, > > With the 'Omni1' > 'Omni2' switcheroo required by the building purchase > arrangement currently in escrow, Omni's current 501c3 and EIN will no > longer be used. > > *(More explicitly: In order to intake tax-free the large donation that > makes the building purchase possible, Sudo Room's 501c3 corporation will be > intaking that donation and renaming itself Omni Commons -- and > subsequently, Sudo Room will become will become a fiscally-sponsored > project of Omni. This in turn leaves us with Omni Oakland Commons' 501c3 > corporation basically no longer in use.)* > > Rather than let this incredibly-hard-earned 501c3 corporation lapse into > disuse, my proposal is to repurpose our c3 corp into a Land Trust focusing > on being a resource and trust for non-residential collective / radical > spaces and commons's like Omni. Per our lawyer Jesse, doing so would also > largely already be in line with the c3's existing stated charitable > activities, and I believe, would require only minor changes to the existing > corporate structure, bylaws etc. > > From the inception of Omni, a major goal was to partner with an existing > Land Trust in order to provide a check/balance on Omni into the future, > i.e. to ensure that Omni generally follows its bylaws and mission statement > (founding document), and essentially *ensure that the building remain off > the market and used as a community resource forever into the future* > (prevent the building from being sold later on, for example) -- even after > all of us volunteers have passed on to greener pastures. > > My initial thought is that this new Trust could potentially function in > that role for Omni, as well as for any other non-residential collective > work spaces that desired it, in one of the traditional land trust > arrangements (land/improvements split, 99yr lease etc.) > > However, in terms of this proposal, the potential terms or complications > of any Land Trust functioning as such for Omni *not* in the scope of this > proposal. > > This proposal is simply to advocate repurposing this c3 to this end -- a > Land Trust for collective / commoned / radical spaces focused on community > organizing and related resources like Omni and in line with Omni's values. > > Another reason for the trust is that existing land trusts and foundations > we met with (those with which we had a shared politics), focused primarily > on co-housing -- not on 'commercial' spaces for working or organizing, let > alone anything as novel as Omni's multi-tenant, inter-collective structure. > > It became clear that there is not a good local trust that had solid > experience with radical spaces for community & collective work, who had > principles and politics in line with our own. (This contrasts to the > housing front, where there are a number of active land trusts and > foundations that are already doing a great job with lots of experience to > boot.) > > In any case, this trust would also function to centralize and disseminate > as a resource what I feel is a bounty of experience, information, best > practices, and connections built up under the course of Omni to aid in the > development and support of other radical spaces centered on similar > community organizing. > > What do people think? > > Best, > David > > _______________________________________________ > consensus mailing list > consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org > https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/consensus > >

9 years, 9 months

Linux Install Party Tonight!

by Lesley Bell

Happy New Years Eve! Are you sick of Windows 10 showing you ads on the start menu? Get Linux! (Or just come dance.) Omni Ballroom 8PM BYOB Bring a USB drive if you have one and want to do an install, though we should have some available.

9 years, 9 months

privacy / crypto group - any ideas for a workshop on privacy with home voice assistants?

by Romy Ilano

Hey privacy folks - I recently got an Amazon Dash (Echo) and I'm messing around with Alexa. While there are a lot of great things about it, and I'm having fun as a developer creating, I'm interested to see what your perspective is for mainstream people. I saw this article on wired: https://www.wired.com/2016/12/alexa-and-google-record-your-voice You can tease me if you want: I use Siri and I'm interested in Alexa, and I'm sure many of you would never want to use these things. But I'm interested in the advantages and disadvantages of stuff like Alexa and Google Home. I'd love to hold a little workshop on it sometime, maybe after a meeting in January. Any opinions? ============================= Romy Ilano romy(a)snowyla.com

9 years, 9 months

non-profit/collective bike rentals / bike shares

by Romy Ilano

Hey matt, I have a guest in town from Greece. We are doing the usual bike rental thing from a cool bike shop. But are there alternatives to for-profit bike rental in Oakland? Does your collective rent bikes? Can people rent bikes on a platform for something that's not part of a big corporation or a start-up? Best, Romy ============================= Romy Ilano romy(a)snowyla.com

9 years, 9 months

Awesome outdoor POE device !

by Valent Turkovic

Has anyone played with Mikrotik Powerbox? https://routerboard.com/RB750P-PBr2 We just installed two, and they are AWESOME! We use them only as POE switches, but it would be awesome to get OpenWrt working on them... I'll look into that over the next few weeks... Cheers, Valent

9 years, 9 months

transportation hack group -> let's start one

by Romy Ilano

https://sudoroom.org/hacking-a-tesla-at-hardware-hack-night/ Hey I stopped by sudoroom! and the hardware guys were hacking on a tesla. We have people working at a bike collective too. we are all passionate about trains, I think some sudoroom members have travelled cross country on train as well. And we all know that we love BART and it needs all the help it gets as it reaches epic overcrowding. I'm going to start a SudoRoom transportation hack group! We can cross fertilize at Noisebridge... So there it is! https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Movement I started the Wiki. I'll have more time over break to help out. Some thoughts: - I do not want to this to only be about ride share, although that's important. It'd be cool to have a communal, non-profit alternative to the current car sharing options out there. - Trains!!!!! - Cars - although I don't know that much about cars, I have worked for a car company and have owned a car for the past ten years. I still don't know that much about cars! There is no such thing as a car mechanic collective the way there is a bike mechanic collective. Bike collectives often have a "get to know you bike night" and nothing of that kind exists for cars. The only time I've interacted with cars is at car dealerships and at work and at a mechanic. Until recently I've received little or no detailed data about my car, and its health until a start-up had one of its indie mechanics fill out a "Car report card" for me. I'd love to have something similar for us! Rock on hope you are all enjoying your break! ============================= Romy Ilano romy(a)snowyla.com

9 years, 9 months

how to catch many mice/rats alive with one container

by Jake

this video shows a pretty straightforward way to catch lots of mice alive without having to reset a trap all the time. it's for mice, so since we have rats we would need to do it differently, with a much larger container. but the concept is pretty straightforward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChpMSrBbn3I

9 years, 10 months

In need of a small favor

by peter boehlke

I was recently visiting sudo at omni and I took a short trip into a different part of California and now require assistance of someone to keep a watchful eye on something for me. I can be reached at 612-801-4634 to discuss further details. Thank-you

9 years, 10 months

Environmental science / data science / collaborations? Student here from Greece until January 10

by Romy Ilano

Hi, I have a student from Greece staying here in Oakland until January 10. He's studying oceanology with an interest in data science around environmental sciences and green energy topics. Is anyone working on these kinds of projects at SudoRoom or counter culture labs? I think it's interesting. If we don't have topics around this subject we should probably plan some kind of collaboration! I remember Counter Culture labs had ever flux speak... is there a work group or anyone focused on these general topics? Best, Romy ============================= Romy Ilano romy(a)snowyla.com

9 years, 10 months

Re: [sudo-discuss] Help needed for Deli fridge for CCL - URGENT

by Patrik D'haeseleer

Sorry - false alarm. I bid up to $200, but I still didn't exceed the reserve price for this item. So I think we'll let this one go, and hope to get a free one through Bio-Link Depot some time in the next year... Patrik On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 3:38 PM, Patrik D'haeseleer <patrikd(a)gmail.com> wrote: > There's a deli-style fridge up for auction right now, that would be > perfect for CCL.But we would need to bid on it ASAP, and I need help from > someone who can go pick it up in San Leandro later this week or next, since > I will be out of town starting tomorrow. > > *Please let me know as soon as possible if you can help out!* > > I've been looking for a glass door fridge for a while now, but they don't > come up that often, or are priced too expensive. This one is currently > listed at $50, with only two bids and a little over two hours left on the > auction: > > http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=1745147 > > > >

9 years, 10 months

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