3 Jan
2017
3 Jan
'17
3:09 a.m.
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
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