Meeting Notes 2017-01-04

sudo room mtg / party - 4 January 2017

announcements

• we didn't hold our special members meeting on dec. 22nd, necessary w/ 45-day notice to pass amendment to bylaws terminating members. Jenny is sorry / not sorry.

proposal: repurposing of omni's old 501c3

via David Keenan 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 :)