- We have had a success because we decided to have a session of these workshops once a month on Thursday
- At our last staff meeting, we decided to take decisions made at these meetings to the board in the form of a report, and we would just take these as real decisions unless the board has some issues with any of these decisions since we have a staff presence at these meetings and the executive director here also
- We have had some discussion about the vision statement that is on our website. Mike F. worries that the word “incredible” as describing the healing happening during meals might be overstated
- Matt J. wonders what this healing means
- Ron feels like the statement about needing personal growth and community well-being indicates or implies that the community isn’t well already
- Ron wonders what the community is? The neighborhood?
- Ron’s questions: what does community mean? Are we saying that people aren’t well and that people need to grow?
- Ron would also like to look at what “accommodate, foster, and provide” and “activities and programs”
- Teig: there used to be lots of programs and activities from old pamphlets but it seems like we have lost a lot of that, this seems ashame
- Ron reminds us about how we tried this but just didn’t seem to have the staff the sustain
- Farrand: thinks we need to focus on other topics before getting to these specific programming ideas; in regards to personal growth and community well-being, mike feels like we can keep this and that it doesn’t insinuate that there are problems
- Matt J: reminds us about the idea that we can have a full day of activities, maybe Friday could be this day
- Ron: how can we take all of our resources and make this kind of place be what we want – teig or matt’s ideas
- Philip: if we have ideas we need to come up with ways that we can sustain these ideas as a community
- Ron: we need to keep our minds open to the idea that anything is possible; we need to start with the foundation of where we are, and we are not sure where we might be in the future
- Roy: feels like “facilitate” would be a better word for “accommodate” because the actual building provides a facility for people; accommodate sounds more like a motel idea – just a place to come and act any way they might want to
- Heather: has talked to people around ocp when ocp is closed, and she feels like telling people they have to work on a particular day isn’t always going to work – some people need people to tell them what to do; but she wonders if there is a way to get people to a point where they won’t have to be told what to do
- This topic relates to our deliverables about code of behavior, framework for community governance
- Mike F: in an effort to capture the ideas that people are having, mike would ask the minute taker to make some minutes about these ideas; mike does believe that words are very important, and if someone like roy is going to stumble over some of the words in our purposes, other may also; mike feels like if we stick in the pre-process too long, we may lose people; mike does think that if this process works, people will be so energized and excited that people will be working because they want to, because they feel empowered
- Sigi: many people in the community before the September close don’t really know what is going on;
- Ron: feels like we had failed before when we felt like we needed more rules instead of coming up with ways for people to plug in and enjoy doing so; night out seems like a time where people plug in because they love the place – what are we doing that creates this feeling
- Teig: feels like we should have a big fundraiser and then take a bus to the beach
- Roy: maybe change the words from “work day” to “helping hand” for Tuesday workday
- Currently the first deliverable: process for workshops – Who is part of the group? Who has voice? Who has say? How do we know when we have reached a decision?
- What makes up the group? – how is this defined
- Mike: feels like it is people who walk in the door, staff, board, broader community, longer-term community people, experts who we may want to call in, maybe an independent expert, volunteers, church
- Ron wonders who is invited to be part of the discussion: mike seems to feel like anyone in the world should be invited
- Ron wonders how decisions can be made
- Sadie feels like the board should have the final decision making
- Ron suggests that the board is not going to be here all the time, ron wants the group to figure out how the day-to-day group can make decisions
- Mike: simple majority of the group present
- Ron would like to have the board tell us what decisions we can’t make – we can come up with a process that allows us to make some decisions
- HOW:
- Mike: simple majority
- Roy: ballot process
- Ron: suggests that each vote needs an 80% majority in order to pass – ron suggests that consensus may be the best, but the 80/20, sleep on it may help keep the majority of the community happy about decisions, and the sleep on it part would allow a decision to be carried over to the next meeting
- WHO: (decision making)
- Jonathan: have to have volunteered at least once at ocp
- Heather agrees somewhat with Jonathan – maybe someone should volunteer more than once in order to take part in these decisions
- Mike: any system of tracking volunteering is going to take some maintenance, mike suggest someone who has been involved with this process – participating in the workshops - could make someone allowed to participate
- Mike: where does staff role fit into decision making process, does the staff have the ability to turn down decisions – can the group go to the board if the staff does not agree with a decision
- Ron: feels like Philip and the board could always stop something, Ron suggests
- Sadie: if you have only been here one time and then are gone for a while, you shouldn’t have a vote; if you have been around more than 90 days, you can be a part of the vote; Sadie suggests that you have to be here for 90 days and be a part of these meetings during this time so you can learn the process and how ocp works
- Philip feels like the staff and board won’t really be creating decisions that could be vetoed, but the board may have something like a question or a challenge that may be brought; ultimately we should always be making decisions that are in line with our purposes and visions
- Heather: would like to see the staff decisions made public as soon as they are made, also she has a concern that decisions may be made by a staff that doesn’t involve everyone
- Ron: clarifies that we don’t have secret staff meetings, but the concern about how do deal with community issues does need to be better addressed, community meetings seemed to have not much interest over time – maybe we need to bring these back
- Teig: understands the concern about the staff have secret meetings and then decisions aren’t made public
- Matt: would like to see decisions by the staff made public to the group
- Mike: a defined body for decision making might be hard to come to – what about a quorum
- Mike: the board might direct us towards what decisions cannot be made; make still wonders about if the community wants something and the staff says no, what is the next step
- Jonathan: would ultimately love to see this building run by the community and that there may be a staff but the whole place is run by the community – the community might decide who the paid staff is and how much they get paid;
- Ron: there is a community in Philadelphia – a democratically run space – we need to take some time to figure this out – a system that will work for us;
- We are talking about three things: 1. who can be in the room, part of the discussions, 2. Who can be part of the decision making process, 3. How are decisions reached?
- Ron: suggests that maybe next week we need to come to some sort of consensus about “HOW” we decide so that we can move forward with some of these other ideas – so that we can actually vote
- Daneen: we can decide whatever we want, but maybe we can close with a prayer so that God will help us; ron thinks that we have even talked about starting with a prayer
Other topics:
Grievances, community meetings, Tuesday workday ideas,
programming improvements
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