From our landlord & future of sudo kids - sudo-kids

18 Sep 2013

hi all,
during this evening's meeting we'll be discussing how best to address
laurie's last message below. as you can see, a number of issues are tied
together here, including having children in the space. all of you are
welcome this evening to help us come up with a solution to this situation.
additionally, while we're on pause for tuesday evenings, this is a good
time to evaluate where we want to go with sudo kids. what do we envision as
the future of this program? how much and what can we contribute to making
it happen? what needs to happen in order for sudo kids to be a success? is
once a week in the evenings a good time? how should programming be
organized, etc?
i'll start:
- my bandwidth for helping organize sudo kids and being present at sudo
room every tuesday night is rapidly shrinking and i'm afraid i can't take
on any new obligations at this time.
- with the larger # of kids the last few times, i didn't feel that we were
able to provide the kind of adult support that i'd like to see for the
kinds of things that i envision sudo kids to be about: hacking, making
stuff, learning, etc.
- i think that in order to move forward, an insurance/waiver situation will
be necessary. it will be necessary for someone to investigate the options
and then for us to figure out a way to pay for it. i can't do this right
now :(
- one way to move forward would be to partner with other organizations
and/or become a chapter or affiliate of a larger program. one option here
would be to pursue a possible collaboration with hackerscouts (who are
looking for a new place and may be open to collaboration ...i am currently
not able to start conversations with those folks about this).
- finally, there is the option of getting a separate sudo kids space,
whether it's one of the other rooms at 2141, or a separate space entirely.
this would involve looking for locations,finding enough people to commit to
paying a regular share of the rent, etc. etc. i can't take the lead on this
process either.
all right, that's it for me! what do others think?
- marina
Forwarded conversation
Subject: [sudo-discuss] Fwd: Children/Security/Janitorial issues.....
------------------------
From: *Matthew Senate* &lt;mattsenate(a)gmail.com&gt;
Date: Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 9:16 PM
To: sudo-discuss &lt;sudo-discuss(a)lists.sudoroom.org&gt;
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Laurie Cooperman Rosen &lt;Lscoop(a)comcast.net&gt;
Date: Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Subject: RE: Children/Security/Janitorial issues.....
To: Matthew Senate &lt;mattsenate(a)gmail.com&gt;
Hi Matthew…****
I think a meeting would be best because there are so many issues.  I agree
that the confrontation was bad, and that George has a problem  when
something hurts him deeply.  Hopefully those who know him understand that
he has a huge heart, and repays kindness with kindness, but has a hard time
handling any type of abuse relating to people, animals or the building, and
he simply can’t control his emotions and what he says when a violent
incident occurs that is uncalled for.  Accusations were not made at a
particular person but there was ranting about the lack of control in the
evenings and lack of responsibility/training/accountability for those using
the premises that allowed this to happen, and in that he was righteous. ****
The problem boils down to the security in the building.  Doors are being
left open in the evening and are not being monitored. People not affiliated
with the group having an event can enter, hide, and do what they want later
(which only by INCREDIBLE luck has not been grand theft thus far).  We
won’t be able to continue the late hours and will have to shut the building
down after a certain time in the evening UNLESS we have a direct
responsible person on-site that is trustworthy, has his/her own security
code, and is fully conversant with the shutting down procedures and who
also knows which doors should be shut (and when) throughout the entire 2141
floor during the evening.  It’s not ok for The Sudo Room (or the Public
School) to leave it to the last member staying late to shut down and
monitor what is happening in the building if that person is not trained and
knowledgeable and does not have his/her own security code.****
Sometimes people in 2141 leave the door from the office corridor to the
bathrooms open when they should not.  This has never been a problem until
recently, when traffic started coming in from the rear door.  In the past
all traffic came in from the front door.   The person in charge should make
sure that the rear door from the bathrooms into that corridor is always
locked throughout the evening.****
We have fixed the lock on the 22nd St. entrance so there should no longer
be a reason to keep that door open during non-business hours (during
business hours when certain hair stylists are there it might be kept open,
because the stylists can’t use your security buzz-in system….something that
should be rectified and would help building security IMMENSELY.  I have
also noticed that even when not being buzzed in the elevator is always
accessible…something that should not be the case).  ****
We are now getting calls up until as late as 3am on a fairly regular basis
(one at 3am this past weekend—usually more like until 11:30 on weekdays and
12-12:30am on weekends), and it is almost at the point where we are
throwing our hands up and saying “don’t send the police” at a time when it
is possible that a robbery COULD be in process or the building could be
open to theft in the middle of the night, because we don’t know who is in
charge or who to call at that hour.  ****
For our part, we need to put in more cameras in a couple of places,
although I will draw the line at having them in a restroom stall.  We met
the gentleman who was likely the last person there the night of the awful
event, and we believe that although his group was not directly responsible,
he did say that nobody checked the restrooms before leaving, which should
not have been the case.  For both security and for those that arrive in the
morning, we are now asking that after every evening group meets that the
restrooms be checked, excess trash disposed of and paper towels/toilet
paper replaced as needed.  We have never been responsible for cleanup after
events and since what has been happening there has been way beyond normal
usage, we ask that you get together with the Public School to purchase some
extra toilet paper/paper towels to keep on hand and to make sure that the
restrooms are clean, stocked and ready for use when folks arrive in the
a.m.  The person in charge for the evening (see more on that below) should
be in charge of that (janitorial/security) aspect as well.  We will
continue to come in late afternoons to take care of trash that builds up
during the daytime.  In order for this to happen we will ask on every
evening if your groups have people there after 9pm that we have the
name/phone number of the person on the premises who will be closing up and
whom we can contact in case of security issues.  It is possible for you
(and a couple of others from The Sudo Room & Public School as designated by
us) to be able to give people temporary codes for the security system if a
person is trained but will not have access to the building on a regular
basis.  The responsible people may give out “one time” security codes as
needed, with the ability to call those codes in directly to Sonitrol (you
would use your own passcode when  calling them, and then give them the name
of the temporary person and temporary passcode) as the responsible person
allowed to give out additional temporary codes.    ****
Also, George had me take care of the recycling on Saturday while he was
dealing with the restroom incident.  We should not have to be doing that.
It took at least an hour to sort through the massive amount of glass to
make sure that the insides of the bottles were cleaned out and that the
plastic and glass (recyclable) was separated from the cans (which are
returned for deposit).  In that mess was also a modicum of some gross
garbage that found its way into the recycling.  We ask that this be done
for us (glass-plastic separated, washed, into one set of plastic bags, and
clean rinsed aluminum cans into another) and we will be happy to continue
to haul them away, unless you prefer to haul them away yourselves—at this
time the aluminum cans bring in a small amount of money after amassed for a
month or two but the rest goes in our recycle can at home.   When unwashed
they attract all kinds of bugs and animals which is why they need to be
cleaned out if we are to take them.****
I think that this and the other message covers all of the main issues.
There is more to discuss if a related but separate group wants to be
holding some child care sessions on the premises, but I think that should
be via a conversation with all parties present to address issues of
permits, security, insurance and likely additional rent.****
I think this is a fairly thorough response to most of the items, except the
one (child care) that will require more discussion, because we don’t want
to see anybody spend money for permitting or separate child care insurance
until a more full understanding and agreement is made between all
participating parties.  Obviously, at this point in a lot of ways it would
be much easier if the Sudo Room and related parties were to expand into
some additional space so that more of our costs for that space are covered
and so that we can put some better security features in place and have less
worry about constantly having to clear out excess furnishings, objects and
garbage that do not belong in the large common space, as well as our
complete inability to rent out space to unrelated parties on any regular
basis with the way the space is being used.  At this point the headaches,
stress, lack of sleep (for us) and stress on the building contents (i.e.
walls, carpeting) and vulnerability of the building and its tenants are not
aligned with the amount of rent received from your groups.  That is not in
any way to say that we don’t support and love what your groups are
doing……just that we very much would like to have it work and be a win-win
for all of us, without putting our other tenants at risk.****
Your thoughts would be much appreciated.****
Laurie****
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