Greetings Building Goers,
I hope that your April has been filled with moments of joy, strength, and growth! Below you will find my monthly updates, reminders, and next steps with dates highlighted in YELLOW.
Updates & What's New:
Notices: I have started practicing the use of providing notices for important information being disseminated to lessees. While I prefer to engage people directly, this method of communication is required for my stewardship role and is a right that you all have to property management communication. My process will be to provide information via your mail cubby. In some situations I may post additional notice in a visible location in your leased space like a doorway or near a sign-in area. Please keep a look out for notices in these locations. I am also printing public notices on bright green paper so they can be visible. Please inform your members so they can be attentive and review the information.
Building rules going into effect: Based on the feedback process the V1 building rules [HERE ] had no blocking concerns or edit, and have substantially enough detail to go into effect for the remainder of the year. We will release our response document that compiled the feedback collected over the last few weeks in my future newsletter. The primary reason why that couldn't be shared at this moment is because most comments, questions, and topics of interest fall under wider building policy requests and implementation inquiries versus the merits of keeping a building rule or editing its contents.
Stewardship Practice: Requests for mediation practices, and protocols around conflict must be addressed outside the building rules document in supplemental documents. For the time being, we highly encourage all groups to prepare their own answers and perspectives around conflict, banning individuals, and ensuring safe spaces. While we are establishing the baseline we will not be doing that alone or in a vacuum and expect groups to help shape that, especially in situations that pertain to your members or impacts to your members.
Stewardship Prerequisites: Specific equipment or appliance requests that are unique to certain groups will be handled on a case by case basis versus changes to the building rules as a whole. As we enter a new monthly leasing period, CALLI will begin norming around the building rule content and can begin to process exemptions. Unless there is an urgent amendment, routine feedback will be accepted via the previously shared feedback from [HERE] This will be the best method for requesting inclusions or changes to the next version of the building rules that will be released in 2026.Clear passages and egress: It is essential that we get into the practice of keeping 3 feet of clearance from all doorways through hallways and walkways. I am attaching an image that demonstrates the path of egress that must be cleared at all times demonstrated in blue. We have already begun addressing this topic and are relying on everyone's support to communicate this information out to your members.
Examples of some of these efforts: Working with CCL to avoid clutter outside of their leased space by redesigning their layout and using more of their leased area instead of hallway space for storage. Working with Sudoroom to address immediate and temporary solutions to bike parking during events. For the next three weeks bikes can be parked in the entryhall while we discuss design and bike parking.Clearing items on the mezzanine in front of Sudomesh so that there is full stair exposure and doors are able to open a full 90 degrees in case of emergencies.
Voluntary fire inspector upgrades: Our team has removed an unnecessary door leading to the ballroom stage, and has widened the path in the basement by removing the one step platform next to the back storage area. There is a lot of construction debris down there that we still need to sort and discard. Please remember that the basement area (including any common areas) pose a safety risk and continue to be closed.
Infraction visuals: I am compiling a list of images that illustrate building rule infractions and demonstrates unwelcomed actions [HERE]. This isn't intended to be punitive, but rather to help us all become more mindful and develop a common understanding of infractions to avoid both additional labor of our team in curing these issues, as well as avoiding future lease violation notices.
Learnings & actions based on 4/1 event: For those of you that didn't see my Omni slack message, I am including the transcribed notes from the 4/1/25 gathering [HERE] I went through an additional synthesis process to identify items that are actionable immediately (over next 4 months) and in the near future (over subsequent 5-12 months) I will be adjusting my work plan to integrate the actionable item from the meeting and referencing updates in future newsletters as "4/1 gathering priority updates".
Plumbing Repair: A public notice has been posted that we will be shutting off the water the morning of April 28th to repair the main service line that has been leaking for several weeks. The work is anticipated between 8:30-11:30 am. Please notify everyone to use sinks, restrooms, and other water sources after the work is completed. I will be on-sight to provide reminders to people. Given the impact to our main line this plumbing issue must be addressed before we can perform any other plumbing upgrades in the building.
Tree Maintenance and Removal: After consulting horticulture and landscaping experts, we were advised to remove the Italian Cypress trees (shrubs) from the front of the building. This recommendation was given due to their close proximity to the structure and encroachment on gutters, windows, and roof tile as well as for pest control management. We recognize that this would be a big change with potentially negative impact to the building community. Instead we opted for moving forward with a modified version of keeping 4 trees alongside the front entrance and ballroom entrance, and removing 5 trees: three back trees on 48th, and the two middle trees on Shattuck. I am attaching photos to show what trees are being removed with a historical photo of the building we are using for inspiration [Photos Here]
If anyone has experience in wood working and is interested in salvaging the trunks for a creative collaborative or commemorative project please let me know as soon as possible and we can coordinate. A public notice will be posted throughout the building at least 24 hours before the work will commence.
Painting and Floor Upgrades: It has been expressed to me that there is a desire to make the back hallway leading to the side exit more inviting. We will be moving forward with two phases of upgrades. Monday, April 28th-Tuesday, April 29th beginning at 8 am Don Luis will be prepping and painting the side walls and ceiling between the side exit and demo wall and will coordinate with FNB to minimize impacts to food distribution. Everyone should avoid passing through the back hallway to the side exit for the next two weeks. Next we will apply a clear Epoxy to the floor which is tentatively set for the morning of May 4th but takes at least 2 days to cure. Closer to that date additional notices will be posted to show alternative routes to enter into CCL & Sudoroom. We are trying our best to minimize impacts to groups, but applying some protective layer on the concrete hallway will help protect the floor and make cleaning a lot easier in the future.
ADA Door Opener: The building has been approved for and requires installation of an ADA automatic door opener for a couple of years now. We will be finalizing our selection of an ADA installer that can provide a warranty for the work in the next few weeks. Moving forward, the Free Store should keep the main table and all items behind the window with the "Susan's Corner" sign clear (she photo below.) This will help the estimating and design process and will be necessary to allow proper clearance once the ADA button is installed. Shout out to yesterdays Free Store volunteers Wynd and Toan who started reorganizing and opening this space up after the photo was taken.
Siding: After rigorous review, we have signed a new siding repair contract with GVD Renovations. Our first measurement meeting is scheduled for April 29th. Based on their project schedule and the city's permitting timeline the work is anticipated to start in June and be completed by August 1st. I will provide regular updates as more information comes in.
Recap & Reminders:
Rent Due: Monthly payments are due today. If you haven't already completed your CALLI invoice don't forget to submit it as soon as possible.
Approvals: Please continue to reach out to me for items that require CALLI buy-in and approval. If you are wondering what falls under that category please reference your lease, the building rules, or ask me about it. If you anticipate specific people playing hands-on roles in building improvements, it would be ideal to reach out ahead of time so that we can get a liability waiver signed and have it on file ahead of requests. This will allow for the process to run more smoothly.
Dollies & Carts: Remember that there is equipment available to the entire building to transport and move items back and forth into the building that are located in the foyer storage before the trash room. Please refrain from using the chair dolly for transporting items. It should remain untouched unless explicitly being used for events. I would like to avoid items being improperly put away to ensure the longevity of the equipment. See the picture below for a reference:
On the Horizon:
Access Control: We are still looking at different access control considerations as well as thinking about access control in relationship to building rule orientation. Be on the lookout for more questions and information on this in the future.
Contact Information: In May our team will be reaching out to collect information regarding active members and points of contact for specific roles. As well as any proof of insurance or other items that may be missing from our files. Stay tuned for more info and requests.
Safety & Security: There have been a number of instances reported of personal harm and safety impacts in and around the building. Due to the nature of the situations, our team is discussing additional community safety measures beyond our existing curriculum development and trust-building process. It will likely be a source of deeper inquiry and conversation in the coming weeks.
Locks: Due to issues of safety and security additional locks will be added (main nook latch and roof latch) in the near future. It will be important to identify what individuals should have lock combination clearance for each group. If lessees anticipate providing clearance for individuals who are not listed as primary contacts in our records let us know. I may also reach out directly with this question so please prepare a response.
Event in the Entryhall: Please note that tomorrow starting at 2 pm we will begin seeing up for the public event below. If the topic resonates with you, feel free to join CPPC and the other event organizers in the entryhall. All are welcome to join us.
OOO Soon: I will be out of office/omni (OOO) on Thursday, May 1st for International Workers Day. I encourage everyone to take a moment to learn, reflect, and act in memory on this day. If you want to be in community I recommend joining our friends Restore Oakland and Understory at the May Day Rally organized by Oakland Sin Fronteras (without borders.) See the attachment below.
I will also be out of the building Tuesday, May 6th and Thursday, May 8th for a Social Purpose Real Estate conference in LA. Based on my absence on usually scheduled days, I will be adjusting my time on sight and coming in on different days. Feel free to reach out via email or slack to schedule a time to chat.
Thank you for getting through my lengthy email. I hope it was informative and offers clarity. Until we see each other again.
Be well,
