[sudo-discuss] [BAPS-Organizing] Full Building Purchase Proposal & FAQ

[Yardena Cohen]

What if Omni shares ownership with Bay Area Community Land Trust? Last
year the fundraising wg was leaning towards schemes like where BACLT
owns the land and Omni owns the building. BACLT is a 501c3 and the
kind of property stewardship we're assigning to "Omni2" is already
their core mission.

I'm sorry to say, I don't think power balance issues can ever be
eradicated while Sudo owns half the building. One of the most
important powers at Omni is the power to reject or kick out another
collective. Not that I foresee anybody actually kicking out Sudo, but
over the past few years, Sudoroom has exercised its blocking power to
prevent several new groups from joining or remaining in Omni (Creative
Empowerment Project, Oakland Nights Live), and to prevent other Omni
groups from making important operating decisions which affected their
status - such as Buried Seeds decreasing their rent, Homes Not Jails
being a member collective without paying rent, Black Hole using the
basement, Backspace's various plans, etc. Who would be able to hold
Sudoroom to similar standards it's held for other groups? It's not
about whether we trust each other. If you have to say "trust me" then
you don't just have a "perceived power imbalance", you have a real
one.