Spokescouncil Meetings

06-23-2025 6:30-9 pm @ MayDay Space
06-22-2025 "Leadership and Accountability" Breakout Group Meeting
06-18-2025 7-9 pm at MayDay Space
06-16-2025, 7-9 pm at May Day Space
06-14-2025 3-5 pm
Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 02-06-2025 6pm
Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 01-15-2025 6pm
Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 12-13-2024
Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 11-20-2024
Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 10-28-2024
Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 09-29-2024

06-23-2025 6:30-9 pm @ MayDay Space

Spokescouncil Meeting - Date: 06-23-2025

Spokescouncil Strategy Meeting 3 (aka what to do about the future of the space)

Agenda

Roles (5 min)

Facilitator (Ash + Katelyn)
Timer (Dora)
Stack (Caroline)
Note taker (paul)
Whiteboarder (none)

Names/Pronouns (5 min)

Updates from Johnny about Lease + Short Q/A (10 min)

Document Template walkthrough (5 min)

Proposal section breakout groups (5 min)

Proposal writing time! (30 min)

Break (5 min)

Proposals presentations (50 min)

we go section by section together

Discussion
Questions
Friendly Ammendments
Review
Vote at the end

Follow up plan/action items (10 min)

timeline and plan to present proposal to Matt

Detailed Meeting Notes

Intro & agenda review

Updates from johnny

dino wants matt to stay on lease and have matt indemnify himself
seems ok with adding vanessa to the lease
said no to LLC being on the lease
not open to reassignment of lease yet. but maybe at some point in the future
"what does indemnification mean?" there will be a document that says matt will have no further involvement with the space & will not contact the landlord directly. if there's a lawsuit against us matt will be party to that lawsuit but then be able to sue us separately

breakout groups

groups are working on editing sections of this transition doc to be presented to the directorship

group red

transitional leadership
governance
conflict / point of unity

group green

statement of intent
timeline
summary / action items

group purple

landlords
finance & fiscal sponsorship

point of clarification: at the last meeting it was decided that we would continue to operate at 585 woodward as an organization independant from Woodbine.

Reviewing the document

Transitional governance

We decided this section was confusing and dropped it. wasn't clear the difference between emergency counsel and the admin/spokes groups.

Agreements w/ landlord

seems like Dino will never be open to an LLC taking over the lease
what does "responsibility" mean? it means legal liability.

Basement

stuff about asbestos fundung is confusing, drop it.

kitchen

landlord want to change the insurance policy wrt the kitchen but it's not clear why

governance model

are these structures temporary or not?

are the individual admins reviewed every 6 months or is the entire admin structure going to be reviewed in 6 months?

clarification that each admin committes are committees-- groups of people, but have a point person that rotates every 6 months.

finance & fiscal sponsorship

we just found out that july rent is part of the 3 month of runway for 585

Next Action Items

Async collaboration on proivisonal 585 transition plan doc
next action items from the doc:
Mid July?
- Schedule of meetings with current directorship for transition
By July 31, 2025:
- Complete basement cleaning and fire compliance
- Clarify financial structures and fiscal sponsor partnership
- Draft initial charters for all Admin Committees
- Begin onboarding process for Admin and Spokescouncil participants
By August 2025:
- Ratify first round of charters
- Conduct full operational dry-run of new governance structure

06-22-2025 "Leadership and Accountability" Breakout Group Meeting

Spokescouncil Meeting - Date: 06-22-2025

6.22.25 Leadership & Accountability Meeting

AGENDA:
1. Names & cute weekend

Johnny update
Leadership structure : integration of spokes council with “leaders” (Point People) and how they related to one another

We need point people for LL
But also spokes people need real power

Lease Stuff — power dynamics & pain points
Johnny In-Person & more lease stuff

Pitfalls: RENTALS and liabilities
Fiscal Sponsorship

When we step out of this meeting what do we want:

How general spokes relate to steering spoke?
Gets us through emergency period > without gaining long term weird power
Like a sunset clause into it > 6 months later, the proposal structure document of structure must be edited

Would General Assembly style replace spokes council after a while of building trust and moving again?

Tomorrow:

Break into 2-3 groups to draft a proposal (using “Katelyn’s” document as a template)
Go through spokes proposal decision making process

Friendly amendments
Discussion questions etc
Synthesis

OR ppl self-select into a “proposal committee”

Page wants to know what the steering element is of the structure “spokes council”

Concerns about certain material things in the space that need to happen : RENT, repairs, rentals, programming, communications

Is the spokescouncil ready to take on all those tasks?
So idea is to have SPECiFIC POINT PEOPLE (TITLE) so that they can commit to keeping up that work so that it doesn’t fall through the cracks to keep the reproduction of space moving forward
Meanwhile spokes council needs to have real power
>> How to integrate those TWO important aspects, during nascent transitional phase

UPDATE: Briar: “Admin Collective” > steps away from any language we’ve used in the past, highlights “collective” nature; highlights un-sexy necessity of important admin work, without being called “leader” or anything like that

- Brooklyn “Leader-ful” rather than “Leader-less” > distinct from being “in charge” without making decision > all this shit needs to be done, anyone can do it, but you gotta commit to doing it

- Being on ‘directorship” > there would be areal split on decisions > ie calendar access > taking away things without real reasons only breeds resentment > invisible power defaulting to what Matt wanted because we weren’t able to come to an agreement >> so if half of directorship disagrees >>> what DO WE DO?

= a void in That process > exhaustion

= sometimes you simply need to make a decision

“Admin collective” > you have specific tasks, 9 people doing 9 specific things, (Odd number so no ties) > feedback, digesting decisions > spokes council to have feedback “tickets” to give anonymous feedback

Spacewide deacon made : voted on spokes council > ie keeping office hours > “how’s this going” about each decision that is made? = report backs for any kind of proposal at each meeting other explain how it’s going, other feedback on how it’s actually going

——————————————————————————————————

Meeting with Dino:

Everything hit in message from Vanessa
Tried to gently propose everything to LL without seeming like we are in crisis
Johnny’s dad is sick > might have to move > feeling out how llc would work (no:
LL wants to keep the status quo as much as possible
Matt self indemnify is ok
Add Vanessa is ok
Longer term: would be open to reassignment, but it’s just so early in the 10 year lease
LL Don’t want instability
Indeterminate amount of time: lease arrangement: Matt indemnify, Add Vanessa
Concerns about basement and kitchen
Insurance things that might change, nothing devastating but could change
>> agenda item for Monday: BASEMENT CLEANUP!! Due in 6 weeks

Shelving too close to pipes easy fix issue
The hole front area where there aren’t 3d printers etc but just “stuff’ everywhere is fire hazard, things we ‘ve talked about getting rid of
Collective cleaning day
LL will be redoing steps anyway
>> we can make a group to figure it out, not time on Monday meeting to discuss further

NO EMERGENCIES >
July is paid: that will come out of the total money that we are being given as part of 3-month seed money runway

Fiscal sponsorship: Tyler EVLoves is a organization that gives us the meals for food pantry

- 5 yrs relationship

They help out a lot
Johnny knows Tyler for a long time: seems like he’d be down
Initial transfer of funds 5-6% > 585 would lose a couple thousand $$ > $1-2k fee to EVLoves

QUESTION: 4200 x 3$
WG $6-7k >> should not be part of runway money
CSA $4k
PANTRY GRANT QUESTIONS: does the fee take away from grant money?? (Sarah says $5000 left has to be spent this month) > should not be part of runway money
Any money raised “for the space” should not be considered as part of the runway money that Matt mentioned

> LOOSE AGREEMENT : NEEDS TO BE HASHED OUT MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT MONEY IS INCLUDED AND WHAT ISN’T

Negotiate a separate bank account
QUESTION: fiscal sponsorship:

Autonomedia is a rare situation, subsidiary, WB “owns” autonomedia > we are under their nonprofit umbrella
Tax filing > WB is separate from Autonomedia > separate from farm share
Personal relationships: level of trust with Autonomedia
Makes WB part of a non profit??
What is the point of being a subsidiary of another nonprofit in this autonomedia model?? : needing a bank account that was not entirely attached to someone’s personal finances > how to get debit cards > old bank account had very few permissions > “Teen bank account” asking every time you needed to withdraw

So need to suss out what EVLOVES is open to
There are initial set up fees ($100s, not too big setback)
Briar: would like 585 to become an organization with our own financial history, credit history, relationship with financial institution > setting that in motion, having our own bank account, more flexibility moving forward (501 c3)

Does Matt money need to be tax-deductible ? Yes, that is required
RAFT > “you can’t take funds from a charity bank account and move them to non-charity w/o penalty”

Lease as relates to leadership / structural stuff: LIABILITY

Vanessa and Johnny on “Admin Collective”
“What’s going in upkeep and programming”
Insurance policy: haven't looked at it yet: Andy in insurance will look over to make sure it protects us

Lots of children party rentals
Parents sue quickly
Make sure we are protected
Event insurance per event $30-100 can be padded into rental fees
Make sure that rentals are covered by insurance >> Vanessa is corresponding with Andy to make sure rentals are covered

How to create structures that integrate with “admin collective” & “spokes council”

Avoiding "director' and “leader”
Ppl committed to material reproduction of the space > make sure the space is supported so that it can exist
Ash: clear idea they would propose, doesn’t want to edge out other models if other people want to put concrete ideas forward:
Iris: once we have defined roles, we send them out to the working groups, ppl can start to self identify, voting process for roles? (IWW point of reference / experience > delegates voted yearly)

Idea is that roles should change hands

Briar: tow bicycles wheels: admin council & membership council

Switch wheels in metaphor:

Admin wheel is the rear power wheel keeping the rotation moving, keeping bike moving
General membership is front wheel > steers the bike! > they have empowered admin to power the bike on their behalf
Admin council then meeting on its own to discuss reproduction > they have representative to go to WG to discuss admin stuff > they are the only spoke with veto power > but everyone else has 2 block power

But if there is sa specific concern about FINANCES or LIABILITY > THEY CAN VETO
But it has to be JUSTIFIED

On the other end: general spokes are the ones empowering the admins to be able to

They can send direction to admin on how they want to handle schedule for now on, but admins are still DOING it

QUESTION: WHAT HAPPENS FOR SPLIT MOMENT DECISION EMERGENCY: (bc proposal meeting are only monthly)

WE don’t have emergency council bc stepping on Matt’s toes
We need to define what we do in emergency situations: for now, that’s up to the admin council
So like: if someone is storing a bunch of furniture in the space, or someone is threatening people > a decision on the fly > that would be in the domain of the spokescouncil

We don’t have a way to make that decision yet
But Johnny thinks he should be able to make that call since he’s on the lease
Admin collective made of various spokes: Liability Collective could enforce rental agreement or something more emergency oriented

Johnny: concern about a EMERGENCY threat
Natalie tired to mention: discomfort with vagueness of decision making around stuff like this”

We should come up with a list of examples of NON STARTERS to make the lease holders to feel safe
(Electric)
Lease holders are by extension admin collective > we have to trust that there must be immediate action when safety and direct liability are involved
Things that threatened our fiscal sponsorships
>> COME up with this list of NON starter items

Things that can be brought up at later spokes meetings
These are very serious decisions daily
There are joyful decisions that can be better > ie grill: one person in the space decided that there should be a grill in the space, but some random person just bought it and brought it > disorganized now
We can always circle back to HOW a decision was made and try to correct when a decision feels bad

natalie: in finance, after the super bowl looking at $400 purchase > 2-six foot sandwiches ? ?? it was this fun thing. >> example of a kind of thing where how do we set a collective rules around those kinds of things : Super Bowl sandwich should not be a unilateral decision
“Liability Spoke” function as EMERGENCY COMMITTEE: SOME group of people that responsible for calling shots, tap or show up to deal with the guy on the couch threatening people

“Liability committee” should just be lease holders?
Someone with some legal experience should please join that to please give some guidance on that
Johnny: V and J and Maybe D as lease holders kind of permanent
People on finance: Calvin, Dora, Natalie > kind of permanent, some room for turnover, but MUST have training > “long term’ rather than permanent
Grants
Programming
Two people: trainable
NO group should have 2 people
No group should be too big
2-3 ppl per group

Rentals
Programming
Grants
Finance
Liability committee

Ash: picture in notes: wheel metaphor:

Admin council wheel:

Contains all th things we talked about
Has POINT PERSON COMMITTED TO DOING THAT ROLE SO NOTHING FALLS THROUGH CRACKS

THEN there are support people on those committees, and these people come from SPOKES COUNCIL
So that there is spokes council oversight for the people who are “point person”
eg: fi admin council is made up committees: has bottom liner person > they have oversight from WG people who are representing WGs within that committee

These decisions on a daily basis
No one is alone, there is always help to make those decisions
Spokes council continues to meet every month: WG’s

People who are coming out of WGs into committees should be self-selecting as a group of people who want to be in rotation of trying out a bunch of different things and roles so they can support the point person in that role for some time, but the self selected group can choose to go through admin roles > general competence goes up > accountability goes up > no one forced into that role
VOTING: for the interim: might be a little slow for these bottom liners > should be ppl who know they have CAPACITY, EXPERIENCE > voting might be a small group of people > we don’t know everybody, someone might feel like they can do a job, but maybe not

Voting can also be popularity context
Point people get a review every 6 months

Wanna keep going?
You’re not suited to the role > mechanism to swap out into a new person who has built up trust and experience

Iris: Comms example vs Locations: it’s depending on who is willing to show the fuck up to do the work

So committees might need to be bigger for some committees vs other depending on needs
MENTORSHIP needs to be a big part of this
There are certain elements of model : ideals for long. Term that might not help (voting on every role right now)
Examples in explainer document about what is “proposal’ spokes council meeting decision vs Admin Collective decision

Unilateral decisions can still come under review at meetings
More openness to do stuff w/o decision making bureaucracy
But also feedback and mentorship

JohnnY: how does programming :

Admin council role: hash out points of unity and partnerships

White ness, cis-ness > programming can reflect that: deter others
Ie friend who wanted to do narcan training: how to make the. Space feel more welcoming to different populations
Opening dialogues
Not just optics, but real training for people to help community
How do we position woodbine to have more to invite broader community to come?

PROGRAMS: SIGNAL THAT PPL INVITED : BUT WITH REAL BENEFITS

Relates to liability, rentals, points of unity
So its part of admin collective

Briar: want us to be explicit about power relationship between admin collective and wg spokes with exception of liability committee

All the rest of spokes of admin collective are empowered by general collective >. That means general collective is shoeing to give this power or REVOKING that
If Geneal collective doesn’t like it, they can add demands

Ie. Demand more black programming from programming committee
+>>> therefore, programming must be more aligned/ in tune with Liability, Points of Unity, etc !!
Programming can handle the heat of disagreements about “where does programming actually come from?” Not unilateral addressing more broadly

PAIN POINT: Other groups have to get permission
So having a programming committee would help with that clarity
JOHNNY: there’s been an understanding in the past about our points f unity that are written on the website, that new people have not read, that expressly expresses an ideological line > that’s why Matt and Andy do the programming , so that’s how the space has always been
Now that we don’t have that unity
It’s unclear where that’s happening
So there’s a break out group that’s “four random people” > but it’s a clarity of 400 people > so how do you get people on the same page > it’s not something we have membership with
Developing point s of unity in a break out group: is that really gonna represent “the community”
Reflect on the full history of who has been pushed out
SO WHAT IS A DIFFERENT WAY OF DOING POINTS OF UNITY THAT HONORS HISTORY AND WHY PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO FOLLOW THAT HISTORICALLY : ESP TRANS, FEMME, BLACK FOLKS NOT FEELING WELCOME
J: I think every iteration of WB has had those people
There was an explicit line against identity politics > but tacit cultural stuff > would love to identify it
It’s very different now: J point me to where I could be wrong / points of tension:
V: ABC NO RIO: document; each wG has a charter!!
So for food pantry : the order something runs, onboarding ,volunteers
Etc so how everything gets run, everyone agrees on it
MISSION STATEMENTS; They can be simple:
What they are
What they’re not
POINTS OF UNITY wishlist: an autonomous space thats qt bipoc > that feels disingenuous > do not do this
V: love the similar bike pitches > I would feel safest
With finance spoke collective : Dora Natalie Calvin all involved, 3 is a good number > in your number, C is driver for food pantry and basement, N is CSA, D is kitchen > So that makes me very safe as a lease holder ! So we don’t have to micromanage this > so V feels really good about that > so with the ADMIN COLLECTIVE I WANT TO SEE MORE PEOPLE THAT I TRUST AND WORK WELL WITH
And then we can have new people move in later in like 6 months 2-3 months
6-month review of bottomliners > rotation of the other people not materially necessary to making the space run smoothly
N: we have a personal relationship: so someone i've met only twice, maybe they also have make charter doc
V: feel safe if I had a not lead role! I can be in liability, comms, I want to know more about fundraising > but FALL > I do NOT have time for this stuff and can’t take this added responsibility > I don’t want to be seen as taking power
A new pain point: that Directorship I thought was a closed situation > was open if you dm’ed a certain person
NEEDS TO BE CLEAR HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN THE ADMIN COLLECTIVE
IF YOU WANT TO HELP, HOW DO YOU GET ON-BOARDED
People with super helpful backgrounds (therapists, legal, etc)
If we don’t vote the point people in, how?
I think for now, who’s been grandfathered in by DOING THE MOST WORK on the space, on the spokes council > we need to steer ship through the next 6 months!
Fill all those roles with redundancy with those people
Ash: Those of us who’ve been around longer to pick roles and present it to people as an interim thing to get things going : as proof on concept, iv’e been staring this meetings, and people seem cool with it and know it needs to happen and know it’s not a permanent thing at all
So the point people for rentals for example: we have a bottom linter: and then we have supports, that are just parts of the general community that would be showing up at meetings “as representative” by proxy of just showing up
We WANT PEOPLE IN ADMIN WHO ARE ACTUALLY PART OF THE SPACE / WGs
How to onboard people into that working group: do research if there are conflict around spokes council
Clear onboarding and outboarding > how to get removedBE CLEAR ABOUT ROLES AND EXPECTATIONS AND HARDLINE AND CLEAR TERMS OF MAINTAINING ROLE

IIN A CHARTER: if you don’t fulfill role, you will be asked to leave, it’s ok, you can come back later
I: admin council: back tire: this is going to be a signal chat with pp from different admin groups making decision as they come up
Not every emergency needs everyone's decision

Ie roof leaking: does programming person need to know about roof leak
But locations committee is the one choosing how to stop the leak
Sussing out what needs group decision or doesn’t

So like if there was a $$ high ticket rental, they would be in
N: idea of coordinators: that there would be communication, publicly, how decision went down, so conflict isn’t siloed
HARD THING ABOUT SIGNAL CHATS: STRIKING balance of transparency, relevancy and clutter and open communication

How to NOT mute the chat forever
Admin council needs to be accountability
>> talk about signal chat etiquette / expectations

V: if someone were to text group chat / tell me directly, hey the door handle is broken : “liability issues” : my first instinct is to call people and run over with my power drill and the people constantly fixing the space

Change code every 30 days
I would make executive decisions to handle situation > and then make sure all WGs have new access information
>> SO yes that seems like a fine way to act and make a decision
Not ambiguous what the function of a door handle is

I: revisit CHARTERS and individual committees on admin collective: they have been empowered specific to charters

IE location: do repairs, expense those repairs,

So anything that falls within that charter, they can do without consulting anyone else
So instead of MOU’s can the charters be signed off on in the groups?

So the charters should be defined by the spokes council > they are the ones writing the charters to give these people the power to do these things without consulting us

We have to make this initial decision now
But ultimately spokes will define that charter and responsibilities
= lots of clarity and conflict awareness> not throwing the book at people with charter
“How something gets done’ doesn’t always jive with people > doesn’t hamstring urgent decision

PGWE; spokes council are making proposals and voting etc, so let’s say they are asking for money and it’s signed off by spokes council, so then from a specific discretionary amount in the budget that the administrative ? What ?? Is there a specific amount that needs to be set aside this month? And then there’s a budget. That can be discretionary

SO admin collective: they figure out what needs to be held separately, save money separately, and then some discretionary budget for WGs to deliberate on for the next 6 months
Very high ceiling for the next 6 months
Overhead is 6$k per month > we are potentially doing lots of asbestos, electrical, other renovations > ideally we want to have $8-9k/mo for the space alone that we don’t want to exceed > finance group will put this together and present it to WGs spokes council > and people would understand that extras expenses couldn’t be out of 585 coffers

So individual WGS could have their own fundraising and volunteers and onboarding > and these could kick back to the general space
ABC no rio > could be a great resource they have welcomed us to learn from them!

The legacy of WGs paying into the space : ambiguous how that works?

Basement ,gym, csa,
How much theyre paying, why
What working groups are expected to give back, make sure it feels fair > that might make sure people don’t make money doing their thing, but they feel comfortable making a fundraiser
It needs to be safe before we can approach finances of basement
Ad hoc handling of finances
Charter document negotiations: does it makes sense for them to give back to the space??

Ie dinners: we really need help: if every wg signed up for a dinner, and all funding went back into the space as space money
MOU questionnaire : what could your financial contribution look like?

We are doing good work figuring out potentials: not doing band aids later to fix: a comparison with FF originally started with/o sublease agreement: lots of band aid situation because they couldn't give back to the space
But BAM is giving back to space by design: how do we come up with solutions for groups that don’t have funds to kick back to 585?
Does one group help fund another group?? CSA making enough money to cover another group without funding available

A: hashing out list of important committees
A: integrate these notes into bigger document for proposal to leader ship and accountability with wheel diagram , charters, info, etc
A: “POINT PEOPLE” bottom-lining w/in admin collective: “how to create expectations for those people”

Participation in WGs
How often in space
How are they building trust with people
Presence at spokes person meetings so that people know their face etc
So with Johnny as part of food pantry WG : but also wants other be back from a lot of decision making, except necessary to lease liability

Asking J what he wants to have to worry about in terms of decisions
How can we structure terms os that makes sense to other pp in other committees
J interested in rentals > get help as necessary to generate income, not excited about it, will continue with Food Pantry role <3
J as admin, a lot of tings will come up, will require lots of involvement, I haven’t been for the last 2 years for personal and other reasons

J’ my whole thing” I’m kind of stuck , I really care about food pantry, I really hope that there’s more meta conflict resolution between old and new 585 groups, I don’t want to sour people, there are just as many people not around who feel like they are bing pushed out of their space, want to bridge that gap
New people coming back to meetings, excited about coming back > both of those forces
Sympathetic to all the things of grievances, in the context of spokes, lots of meetings with new people: one side gets to really weight in

A and N: meeting with Matt t=with proposal to frame as bridge gap and in good faith, that spaces can relate to each other, that people feel free to go in between the two
It would be nice to have all the collectives talking to each other!! PRIORITIZE META CONFLICT RESOLUTION

POINTS OF UNITY: gap between onset of WB and what’s happening now: breakout group can generate group, build awareness of this: J: all the things that are happening now at WB, what is the thing that unifies all those things right now? Ideological doesn’t feel like the thing right now > there are things obviously outside of that right now (fascism) but being anti-fascist, anti-capitalist are good starting points

Mission of wb : idea that we are trying to experiment with how we engage with the community, and that means sometimes NOT being super ideological, code switching, what might we have in common with this person, how to get out of ideological barriers, make our ideas not seem so wing nutty > worked early in the space with older polish people helping out in the space that broadened our thoughts about community dynamics, broad-minded : what does it mean to be in this neighborhood, as lived experience way; I think some of that has been lost because so many people are younger and hipster whatever but I would like an openness to that would be interesting

I: thinks it’s been some of points of unity already
Oakley shared cooperation Jackson movement document: it relates well to what we are doing : “invitationality” not being the most hardcore ideological position possible, but making people feel welcome in the space, and relating to people

This is always messy and hard
But it’s worth it etc

Some semantics issues: ie trigger words that could be changed to make language feel better

We have to expand our capacity, hitching to programs that might not align perfectly with us > makes people curious to find out more!
Ie anti amazon event brought in a lot of right wingers
>> so hopefully meta conflict resolution will help clarify so what we all want because so much we overlap on
Points f unity expands beyond break out groups

Does not represent all people
No finality to it
Just stuff to work from > and make those proposals. > open to the public that can then be amended
Broader discussion where people revisit old wb ethos > thinking broadly! Old WB-heads so that it’s not obviously an anticapitalist space > we shouldn’t all be the same
Finding the spirit! Then draft the letter, with that in mind

Briar: timeline: we come to a place with a foundational document: we are ready to start organizing 585 with our various spokes: by the end of the JUNE > a thing we are able to start operating with > we are going to write and vote on the proposals on MONDAY 6/23 and have something solid to present > because there will still be a process of transition > everything can be provisional: making sure we can work together at this point, hash out later, high emotions now, later details
J: what’s going where: I think it’s self evident: double things are being split: one set of projections for each space, PA system one set for each space, furniture staying, library going, chairs in negotiation; call booths?? Height could be a limiting factor.

CLEANING PROPOSALS

Arrangement with the landlord: we pay Marciela for monthly cleaning and trash maintenance; full cleaning of the space doesn’t happen enough; confusion;

PROPOSE: WE START A DOCUMENT CLARIFYING WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT: NOTES ARE DISCUSSION ,BUT WE NEED CLEAR DOCUMENT FOR TOMORROW’S MEETING: INCLUDE TWO WHEELED BIKE WITH CAVEATS, CHARTER, EMERGENCY IDEAS >> REFERENCE DOCUMENT WE CAN START AND STUFF > ASH WILL MAKE THIS DOCUMENT

Last items / follow up discussions:

Key conversation will come up: codes etc what we have now isn’t working: You don’t even have to put digits in the right order!!!!
Points of unity
Reference document
Figure out what admin council is composed of: and draft the initial charters for them (doesn’t have to happen by Monday)

We need the people in those groups to help draft those charters
Would individual WGS draft their charters?
“Given the now emergency of moving forward, WGS would draft their charters, admins would draft their charters, but moving forward all decisions about those charters would be subject to spokes councils”

Too many people out of town right now to get it down now
Introduce idea of charter document to people on Monday
Then have to make this idea
What if other people don’t even like this idea
This should take time > the contingency of having just heard of it > too spontaneous
Every WG is still functioning within the space: so good opportunity as first spokes meting to engage the individual spokes to start thinking about what they do, list, and making charter
Admin charter vs WG charter

Admin charter: not for month of July is we just do our best for now?
But get these charters in by AUGUST?? Gives us month for people to return and communications
July is almost like time of proof of concept, drafting and input!!
B: once they are drafted by Admin committees, then they are approved in our second big spokes council meeting (august)
N: this rhythm of meetings will continue into July: it won’t be totally asynchronous

A: we need to figure out COMMITTEES and WHO are bottom liners

How is that going to happennnnnnnn
Bottom liner for only one thing at a time per person
Rentals: Johnny
Liability: Johnny & Vanessa: figuring out if use of space is a problem >> add someone with legal experience > “legal / liability spoke” but just need to get things moving first
Conflict Support: Ash ? (is conflict resolution part of Admin?? It seems like a third thing, the middle of the wheels, how to build harmonious wheel; it’s not a daily operations thing or a program > it’s a secret third thing) but also it is for reproduction of the space > so it IS admin; and USEFUL in certain emergencies > needs to be knowledgeable ambiently of WGs too > empowerment > we are empowering this committee to be empowered to deal with this conflict > Conflict Resolution is in Third Space until we determine where it lives permanently? Why not have it in the admin council? Is it semantics? Or is going to suck so much already? So idon’t want to have think about this > but you don’t have to> that’s why it’s a different spoke > we need a MODe in which we talk to one another!! > if there is a frame work for how we solve problems > really necessary to NOT poison the space. It is nice to have a vibe check situation ! So if the Admin chats>> the conflict support bottom liner could be in that chat, but isn’t doing anything > keeping an eye on things bubbling up > keeping an eye on the vibe of the room > and fish bowl concept > conflict support is at its core neutral for the argument, but creating container for the space and resources on how to talk to one another > how to have a group of people develop a better culture of actually resolving conflict together; we have to create a culture where it’s safe and ok to fail ! (As long as you pay the rent) but that’s the point of the bottom linters in all these committees > so conflict support isn’t going to inhibit people from paying the rent;
Johnny: Programming I don’t know what that means yet, there’s stuff I’d like to program but idk if I want to be on the committee
Vanessa; bottomline fundraiser (or be support if not bottom line, with Natalie; support for rentals programming)
Iris: point person for Locations!
Natalie: wants to be on finance, not point person; I do book keeping for my work, but I have no data analysis skills, just data entry!!! And Calvin and Dora might be better-suited point person so ?? (Its covered but not point personnel)
Comms (instagram etc) / Programming:
Grants:
Spokes Council Planning: what does the continued role look like? (Admin or Spoke or Secret Third Thing Pedal)

Do research on other collectives on interesting structures
The glue that keeps SC functioning well
They could write a proposal for it
SCP explainer document : a body of people as a reference to digest what’s working / not working > includes policy of how to be onboarded onto this
What if SCP elects a PP to be a go-between between the two wheels ?? Or it’s right in the admin committee, making sure communication goes from Admin to Spokes General?
The support of each committee ??
When WG meet, should there be a delegate fro admin in each WG?? Or experiment with less cumbersome structure ? Make sure soloing doesn’t happen
Admin report backs
More of advisory group, not POWER group
SPC tries to find a way to get things to work !!
Should have a voice at the Council so that it could potentially undermine the entire spokes model : able to represent the Spokes Council to itself > to maintain things as more transparent, more collective
MANAGING MEETINGS, SYNTHESIZING NOTES, it is an admin/WG combo > spiritually better as a WG
Synthesizing information from spokes council: where are people going to get this information on proposals ? What the capacities are? What’s reasonable to ask for in a proposal? So then they make up this porpsla that sounds reasonable but there needs to be something other than just a big veto / block > in order to draft a good proposal, you should be reaching out to the teams involved and would help INFORM if that’s a good proposal or not > friendly amendments could also help proposal along > due diligence > triage of a proposal that is put on the board to get them on the agenda > helps prioritize > something may never make it to the agenda at all if its not meaningful to general community > so admin would have a financial report for each spokes council meeting? Budges planned ahead oof time and fairly transparent > where team says what’s overhead, what’s buffer, what’s deficit, what’s needed, and if there’s any discretionary budget for Spokes council to proposal usages for
Every spokes person meeting will have report back from ADMIN so they are aware of what is required to run the space

Liability / Legal: Bureaucracy: dealing with the State, other entities, filing our taxes, incorporating

Separate legal from liability: Liability is lease ; legal might be separate issues/ideas
Having a neutral party CPA that actually has that education
One of our friends is a CPA that does specifically like working for these kinds of groups
Legal: we come only when needed to Finance > consultant role of point person that doesn’t have to meet all the time

“Volunteer lawyers for the arts” do we fall under that purview?

Tech Admin Spoke: managing Web etc

06-18-2025 7-9 pm at MayDay Space

Spokescouncil Meeting - Date: 06-18-2025

Spokescouncil Strategy Meeting 2 (aka what to do about the future of the space)

Agenda

Names/Pronouns (5 min)

Roles (5 min)

Facilitator (Ash + Dora?)
Timer
Stack
Whiteboarder

Review of "Options" (5 min)

Review of Monday meeting (10 min)

Brief Updates and Open Questions (10 min)

Breakout group research huddle (35 min)

Break (5 min)

Breakout group reportbacks (15 min)

Plan for Monday June 23 Meeting + Proposal Teams (10 min)

Action Items + Bottomliners (5 min)

Meeting Highlights

Roles (5 min)

Facilitator (Ash + Dora)
Timer : LP
Stack: Shahrazad
Whiteboarder: Iris
Notes: Rachel

Review of "Options" (5 min)

Option 1: “Lease Takeover” : “Matt / Woodbine” moves to new space Ridgewood Democratic Club; 585 Working Groups becomes its own entity REMAIN at 585 by renegotiating lease w landlord w 3-mo seed money (rent)
Option 2: (Matt & Maria are definitely out) current Co-Directors are OUT; what “we”[person speaking] would rather look to do, is stay on lease and work with spokes council as a buffer from directorship; everything stays as is (expanded Directorship roles - retry it)
Option 3: Matt goes to RDC; Other working groups have to find their own spaces if they don’t want to take over 585; seed money would go to this unknown 3rd space. (Budget doesn’t feel available for that?)

Doesn’t sound like any 3rd spaces are pulling through
We have a breakout group looking into 3rd spaces

QUESTION: do “WB” groups WANT to go? (Reading groups, screenings)

The “brand” of WB is transferring to RDC;

Review of Monday meeting (10 min) (Dora)

Reviewed options 1,2,3
Ideated pros and cons of options
Talked about moving parts, what collaborations might be, big questions about funding streams,
Created 5 breakout groups:

Fundraising & Collaborations w other orgs
Potential alternative spaces
Legal support (Incorporation)
Leadership accountability models & Leaseholder Relationships
Points of Unity

A document was created as potential statement of intent to be used for any of the options for us to review and go through

“This is the plan, and this is the timeline” type document

Pulse check at the end of the meeting: MOST people interested in Option 1.

Brief Updates and Open Questions (10 min)

“I want to clarify: Option 2 now sounds a lot like Option 1,?”
- Johnny: under all scenarios, Matt is leaving lease or self-indemnifying
- WE DON’T KNOW IF LANDLORD WILL ALLOW ENTIRELY NEW SET OF LEASEHOLDERS
- Liability issues are still a major concern

Is option 1 now a complete new lease take over??
Option 2 looks different now

UPDATE: option 2 is shifting ?
UPDATE: Johnny talking to landlord on Saturday that will hopefully clarify
QUESTION: would it help our thinking if we throw away options that aren’t working anymore: the critical decision is do we want to talk to landlord about transitioning lease?

Johnny clarifying: Matt is indemnifying/leaving no matter what, so we will have to talk to the landlord no matter what

QUESTION: WHAT IS THE MINIMAL VIABLE DECISION THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE BY WHEN

RE-ASKING because of getting different answers
What Matt asking for is ppl to come together w statement of intent to keep running the space and how it’s going to happen
END OF JUNE
We have a document template for that

QUESTION: have there been people who would be interested in joining the lease as third person? (Good income/credit etc folks??)
- question: what are the requirements for lease?

A couple folks have approached Ash about that directly saying they would be on the lease as good candidates
No one has committed to Johnny about it specifically

QUESTION: is the 9-yr lease deal that Matt negotiated going to be compromised by his self-recusal?

Finding out on Saturday …. Maybe

QUESTION: IF DINO THE LANDLORD WOULD renegotiate leases w/ new lease holders raise rent?

MAYBE

QUESTION: would us [585] incorporating change landlord’s calculus at all? LLC

I don’t think so? I think he cares about getting money and trusting lease holders > but Dino wants a point person to be Johnny or Matt

QUESTION: DO we have a copy of the lease?

Johnny has it on his computer

QUESTION: Do we have feels on what groups would want to leave / stay?
- How have those conversations been happening?
- No one here to answer that

Stay: Gym, pantry, dinner crew, (food fight is looking for new space / open to staying) (the most infrastructure-entrenched groups)
RDC does not intend to accommodate food distro / dinner
leave: ?? Research group? Reading group?
QUESTION: HOW concretely do they feel / who is making that decision for those groups

question: what are the essential roles in the space/duties / responsibilities — who is interested doing them?

Finance, legal, rentals, co-working management, maintenance, lease, operations, lease relations, fundraising, programming, calendar, repairs

QUESTION: a lot of income from co-working: at what point in time do we address those people specifically ($1600/mo)
QUESTION: Co-working people is a collection with “With Friends” — during this transition, when are these people alerted and when do they make this decision? Clarify when they make that decision
- Def have to recruit new people for co-working at 585 bc co-working will happen at RDC

The agreement we talked to Matt about, the first 3 months would split income btw 2 spaces from Patreon and WithFriends > announcing changes

QUESTION: to what extent the various working groups have been informed what might happen?
- first announcement would be through listServ July 1

Matt sent out a message in “Coordinators” chat with sporadic attention, no idea how well those were read
People on Saturday were informed and most people know now
QUESTION: reiterate that whatever changes are made that people in the Patreon need to be informed beforehand — if we do anything w/o telling them is serious defrauding issue:
We will have to talk to Matt about it (Andrew volunteering to do so)
Perhaps financing group can help strategize around that
Legal group did research into that (see below)

Breakout group research huddle (35 min)

Financing funding & Partnership: funding streams & partnerships,
Legal: Incorporation, patreon carry over;
Points Of Unity: making a board unifying mission statement to help us come together
Leadership and Accountability & Leaseholder relationships: dreaming up how these leadership roles that maintain the space : who to make sure spokes coucnil has real power and how does it integrate w other leadership roles (leaseholders)
Alt Spaces: we don’t need to meet? BUT one benefit could be just to see what’s out there so we have a more empowered approach ? Might just be jumping the gun; we’ve been throwing around links but we don’t need to discuss in person so much

LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY group notes: Relationship btw spokes council and leadership roles

Note: Property taxes for 585 lease : $8000/yr in taxes: Department of Finances

Question: Is landlord paying for major repairs ??

discuss pain points from the past to help inform going forward: WHAT HASN’T BEEN WORKING (not blame person but like more generally what dynamics don’t work > with intent to address/avoid a structural concern)

- UNCLEAR overlap / delineation between leadership roles vs responsibility roles : ie busted things : ppl who are in roles of leadership vs roles of responsibility for pragmatic needs

- daily needs need to delineated more clearly

S liked things with “JOY” in reference to a shared example / document: make people WANT to come and do the work because they want to
Avoid “Social capital” of people skills: creates weird power dynamic
Johnny: clarifying what he means by “leadership”: “to me it is I don’t have time to do that much, I don’t have interest in running the space, the issues to leadership to me are things in category of finance, building capacity and legal liability, but I’m fine with everything else litigated by wg’s through spokes council

“So I think there should be a team that I am a part of that can make those decisions”

Oftentimes, the space has changed a lot, usually there is one person who makes decision all time time > rotating roles 2-3 people in roles/realms with open communication where everyone knows what happens
Monthly meetings: “I think it’d be cool if there would be a point where anyone could ask any question”
- Have something online? People show up confused irl > lots of disparate mailing lists and signal groups

Then there’s an agenda
But all finances and agenda should all be public and open and transparent
But every meeting should have a public-contribution option / portion
(Pain point is LOW TRANSPARENCY: HARD TO PLUG IN)

Anyone being able to force others out by denying access codes
TRUST is a big issue: sporadic presence of people in the space

Roles that have been not very present, because they have key influence over things but haven’t been around
Directors not known by people > who are you , why are you telling me to do this??
DOOR CODES: Bloomington people change the code once/month

STRUCTURE: A LOT OF THESE things have overlapping themes of lack of transparency, in building structures there are a lot of tings that are common to organizing: busy, come and go, transience, we can’t control peoples lives and behaviors, but important to create roles and responsibilities with that keep turn over in mind, so even when a leader has to leave ; and that we are going. To be bad at it for a long time and it’s going to be hard
Good idea for how to address that
Accountability: Doesn’t mater how people get into role, but GENERAL MEMBERSHIP NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO VETO / PULL BACK leaders
V: been on a bunch of WB things since 2016, problems with lack of accountability
Things we would like to see:
- Ie rentals could be a clear group of people that can do it together
- All leadership roles should have accountability and
- Something that would help with that: rewriting of lease if that happens; we really should consider being an LLC!! It’s not a single person:
- Rhizome collective Austin TX
- Omni commons Oakland CA
- Johnny: there is an assumption that WB is an anarchist space, but it never has been, and there is a lot of frustration about that , and it feels like no one is listening to the people who were here first
  - Culture is alive and changing
  - Part of legacy and DNA is there and can’t be kept static
- Johnny: Thing have changed, wb has grown; doesn’t want culture of Anarchism to push out all other ideas/groups; that there is a vibe; and so I have a lot of apprehension
- The claimed politics vs the nuts and bolts > if nothing is designated in a clear manner, then there will be a structure that is haphazard
  - We can’t necessarily vote on how money gets used because not everyone has context for that?????
- The common denominator is that Matt is not involved: “we want to buy a pinball machine” example > finance group that can actual field thoughtful proposals
- That would bring so much joy
- How do both wheels overlap, share joy
- Point person mentorship
- Spokes council
- Integration of the two wheel groups
- Point person and spokes people will be doing the work together
- Impeaching and recalling: that is important to feel like there is power in the people creating the space together
- Can we avoid: give people the context so they can make the decision
- So it’s about being prepared for problems and dealing with problems rather than avoiding them!!!
- Conflict-averse people : nothing ever gets done!! (Festering, rot etc)

Rotating roles: appropriate for some things and not others (Rentals — it really is just about who is able to do it, has those relationship, has the time > becomes an efficiency issue; Rentals: a lot of liability on leaseholders as well. > delineation between responsibility vs leadership >> it has to be worked out with CLARITY
Talking about role rotation with another long time organizer : whatever role rotation, there should be a clear structure with MENTORSHIP and FEEDBACK and knowing that people will make mistakes
There are a ton of collectively run spaces where no single person has that role and collective can be responsible and be open to this working
V: my dream and vision for the space from talking to lots and lots of people and meetings, there are the spokes (back wheel is drive wheel, working groups) that drive the drive chain and grow the space, there’s the front wheel (admin) > the bike is the space > full transparency between two wheels that is making the whole bike work
People complain about stuff all the time: not an excuse to hoard knowledge : conflict averse behavior:

WE ARE AT TIME: huge conversation: we will be meeting Thursday or Sunday or both > obviously not a conversation that’s done
THANK YOU JOHNNY FOR BEING HERE! And hearing all these thoughts and conversations;
- Would we have to clear rentals with the spokes council? NO
- But maybe there’s a rental committee very educated on what rentals are and rental liabilities > Johnny would be able to see what the rentals are too > super concerned about NOT IMPEDING RENTALS BECAUSE OF INCOME STREAMS!!!!!

J: talk about worry about finances briefly: at best, WE ARE LOSING AT LEAST 1/2 OF OUR INCOME FOR THE SPACE!!!

Leaseholder stuff: mostly dependent on SATURDAY discussion

Break (5 min)

Breakout group reportbacks (15 min)

WAIT: why am I talking:

LEGAL:

- PATREON & With Friends: their terms of service require that that change of services provided be announced

- NYS law: we do have to report to our donors that we are changing the structure of the organizing;

Incorporating: LLC (hard wired individuals), several other entity types, different from non-profit (directors are responsible to and can be changed), different from 510(c)3 would have a manager/president >> so that no individual has to take on scary liability and bank account could be for the organization
- LLC makes it much harder on grants!!!
- 501c3 MIGHT BE BETTER
- 585 SPACE: during COVID : it took A LOT of legwork t find options: we could reuse this model

= a lot of benefits to incorporating
Can we bring this up with Dino on Saturday? J will ask him but doesn’t know; Dino wants a point person for sure. In his mind as someone to blame for anything going wrong.
NEED A FISCAL SPONSOR: this will be further down the line >> LLC cannot do tax-deductible sponsors

FINANCE/FUNDRAISING:
- Showed us comparison with others space that matters is taking on
- Especially with no reading group on Sundays

Dora shared really great breakdowns of finances over the last year in 2-6 month chunks
Mayday, Ridgewood Tenants Union
Programing for things that are leaving, opens up spaces that are now available: Sunday time slot is a big one (pop-ups : money fundraisers, bake sales, smaller scale do seem to add up, vending market things)

POINTS OF UNITY: we reviewed existing work from last meeting, discussed two-pronged approach oof what we believe, tenants and what the core parts are :

Whether and how to include more about WHO the space is for / who we trying to reach
Ways to overcome the gatekeeping / confusing about legibility and participation

ALT SPACES: Libby put together a report that he will share to a general chat; we CAN get a comparable space price, but much smaller

Leadership / accountability:

Pain-points: accountability & transparency
Liability
Ideas for how to integrate spokes person model with leaders
Make sure admin is integrated with working groups / point persons and spokes persons all integrated
Committees formed around some groups
Point person mentoring new people

Same person stays the same for a while

Concerns about finances and sharing info about it > transparency
We have a lot still to go, meeting Thursday and/or Sunday

QUESTION: what is the point of third space / option 3: the vast majority of people want to stay with 585, have a collective body that pairs with leadership;

- 3rd space is useful to understand value of staying at 585

Plan for Monday June 23 Meeting + Proposal Teams (10 min)

- write proposals prior to meeting to finalize one by the end of the meeting

Beginning of MONDAY meeting: any report backs from all the groups who do meet in the interim, if anything new comes up, new info from landlord Dino on Saturday;
Then do breakout groups depending on size for TO WRITE 2-3 proposals for what we should present to Matt — use that document from K as a template to adjust / add/ phrase based on their ideas
SECOND HALF OF MEETING: VOTING ON PROPOSALS and editing
Other tweaking asynchronously and with a set deadline later, but before 30th

Incorporation stuff: we just need to show an intent by 30th rather than actually have to have it incorporated
QUESTION: do we have any lawyer friends w wb and contract law that we could get help from?

Some people reaching out, haven’t heard back
Briar’s aunt is a tenant lawyer, but “she’s weird”
Andrew can ask their sister lawyer “she’s cool I guess”
Libby has contract lawyer friend > they want a specific set of questions usually > we ned to be more coherent before we approach them
Another person sorry I forgot name was realty paralegal and can ask friends
=====>> GROUP IN WITH LEGAL TEAM HUDDLE

The only thing we need by July 1 is information pertaining to the lease: everything else is a more flexible time line : it’s not the end of the world to not have details hashed out by July 1: is good context

We can do as much as we can with the time slated
Details can change over time

Can we get intel from Saturday landlord meeting ASAP? In the chats

J will reach out to someone to share after Saturday LL meeting

Proposals: visions for the future / charter documents: what are the big plans for the future > proposal for next Monday is more general structure who will take over the lease ?? ? we don’t need every little piece right now
- YES.
- Why would Dino have any incentive to cooperate?

J: there is a world where Dino forces M to stay and there’s a crash and burn option….
Is Dino open to Matt leaving the lease?

Action Items + Bottomliners (5 min)

PLEASE DONATE TO MAYDAY FOR BOTH MEETINGS: Venmo @mayday-space
Meet with your breakout groups
Johnny meeting with Dino LL Saturday .
Please look at the proposal document! Wants edits to it.
Dora posted financial breakdown in the emergency chat > ask Dora or Natalie if questions

06-16-2025, 7-9 pm at May Day Space

Spokescouncil Meeting - Date: 06-16-2025

Spokescouncil Strategy Meeting 1 (aka what to do about the future of the space)

Agenda

Introductions: name, pronouns (5 min)

Volunteer for roles (5 min)

Facilitator (ash)
timer (briar)
note taker
whiteboarder
stack

Refresher on meeting gestures and protocols: jazz hands, stack, "WAIT" (5 min)

Review of the "options" and Open container for processing the news together: fears, hopes (20 min)

Updates (5 min)

landlord updates from johnny (relayed by ash)
fundraising stream updates

Whiteboard session to ideate (30 min)

pros and cons of the options
- this lease, dino and problems with the infrastructure
possible collaborations
fundraising streams
how spokescouncil can work with "leadership" roles to create real accountability: committees, role rotations, etc

Break (5 min)

Task Team formation, volunteer groups (20 min)

gauge who is interested in what sort of labor and then form teams around them
alternative spaces research
legal support: commercial, lease
how to deal with patreon funds
possible collaborations
finance breakdown + fundraising
how spokescouncil can work with "leadership" roles to create real accountability
- committees, role rotations, etc
lease holders
lease research: do we take on as individuals or a corporation?
any others?

Katelyn's document + q/a (10 min)

Commitment to Collective Stewardship of the 585 Space
ash's notes on the doc:
- obviously we need to think about the timelines and what makes sense but very happy you have added have more breathing room in this proposed timeline
- General Assembly (GA) and spokescouncil meetings are different in nature in some definitions. we would want to finesse that. we've never use GA in our spokes explainer but that doesn't mean we can't, we just need to get our terms straight. i personally see GA's as different than spokes meetings. we can talk more about this later.
- the governance model may also need to include some form of expanded "leadership" body in tandem with spokescouncil to move forward with johnny to stay on the lease. we will discuss this more in the meeting.
- one of the "transition phases" should specify a transition of funds and funding streams:
  - the communication to patreon donors (esp coworkers) and other donor streams about the new schism (apparently its illegal not to do that) with links to our new patreon and time for them to move over onto our own platform.
  - also a timeline for receiving seed runaway funding, and any other funds promised to the upkeep and improvement of 585 (like the stove, asbestos, etc)
  - how to reroute CSA funds, gym funds, basement donations
- we should also consult a lawyer about this agreement and get feedback and ask what sort of accountability this entails for us and matt. also whether we should have a notary or not

Special signal chat for these meetings and updates? (5 min)

Action Item Roundup + bottomliners (10 min)

Meeting Highlights

Space 585 Spokescouncil Meeting \#2 Notes Spokescouncil Strategy Meeting 1: What to do about the Future of the Space

Facilitator- Ash
Time Keeper- Briar
Stack- Andrew
Notetaker- Shea
Whiteboard maven - Nina

Review of Options

1- Lease takeover of Space 585 by a new group. Woodbine entity moves to a new space. Working groups remaining at Space 585 would collaborate with lease holders to form democratically run space. ~3 mos rent available to working groups to fund the space during the transition.
2- Current leaseholders remain on the lease, directorship is expanded. Things remain largely the same.
3- Woodbine retains control of Space 585, working groups receive seed money (~3 mos rent) to move mutual aid/ working groups operations to a new space.

Feelings Processing

The group expressed excitement over the opportunity to form a democratically run space, as well as conviction that the mutual aid and community building are vital to the neighborhood. We acknowledged how much those in the 585 working groups care about the space and the community, and how important food pantry and Sunday dinners are to the well-being of many who receive these services.
Many in the group are anxious as well, due to the short timeline, vagueness of the agreement, and lack of cohesion around the vision for the new space/ management structure. Some wondered whether the funds allocated to space repairs and management (electricity etc) would still be available in the event of a split. - A clarification was given that the end of June deadline is for a statement of intent, and that submitting the Collective Stewardship Commitment prepared by Katelyn and signed by the group to the leaseholders would fulfill this deadline.

Update from Johnny- LL is ok with Johnny and Hunter remaining on the lease without Matt. LL is wary of adding new names to the lease, and any new names added can expect a full background and credit check before being added.

Fundraising Update:
CSA- Natalie: it is not a certainty that CSA will remain operating out of Space 585. CSA contributes ~$16k/ yr to the space, which while helpful, “wouldn’t save the space.” That being said, CSA has logistical needs to consider that are already being met by the 585 Space.
Patreon- Dora: If the planning group decides to take control of the 585 lease, Patreon funds for 3 mos would be split between Space 585 and the new Woodbine space. Donors would be informed of the split and a new Patreon formed for Space 585. Once the new Patreon is running, donors would be able to choose which space receives their donations. Other current revenue streams: gym, pantry grants, co-working.

Whiteboard Time- Pros and Cons Options 1-3

Option 1

Con: our group has skills that are underdeveloped in this area, and historically there is a low level of engagement by stakeholders- are there enough of us willing to take this on?
We will need to restructure our relationships with each other and the space.

Pro: Immediate pursuit of the deadline and high levels of group interest indicate this is the most favorable option- group consensus.

Pro: gym, food pantry, and CSA are already well entrenched and operating out of 585. They may not have the desire or capability to relocate.

Pro: we can always revisit option 3 (starting new space) either as we grow or as challenges arise at 585.

Option 2

Q: Is there a role for the spokescouncil here?
A: Possibly, but seems to hinge on which of the current leaseholders remains on the lease and how open they would be to collaborating with the spokescouncil.

Pro: If we are unable to reach group consensus around Options 1 or 3, we can always revisit in the future.

Con: runway funds are most likely not indefinitely available

Con: Many comrades who formerly worked in mutual aid groups have stepped away from Woodbine due to conflict arising from the current structure. They may return if we reach consensus on Option 1 or 3, but will not be interested in Option 2. Several in the working group agreed with this statement and expressed similar feelings.

Option 3

Pro: Funding for new space could open new opportunities for the group.
Con: This is the least clear path forward.

Brainstorm

Q: What do we want to do?
Q: What structure do we need to create to accomplish this?

Briar- allows us to have a voice. There are few democratically run spaces in NYC. Learning these processes will enable us to make more democratic decisions in this group and in our wider communities.

Andrew- the mutual aid and working groups are all community focused, that’s what brings us together.
Usman- our goal should be to center the community
Lippy- create paths to social and communal skills building, development of principles of operation in a shared space
Nina- prompted the group to define “community” for ourselves- which community? Social, geographical, ideological? Who are we centering?

Possible Collaborations

Mayday needs permanent home
Food fight
Soccer team
Ridgewood tenants union

Spokescouncil Creating Accountability w Directorship
Concern: What if a proposal from the Spokecouncil puts the leaseholder in a position where they’re exposed to undue personal risk?
- Structure should take risk into account, but in order to do this we need clarity into what the specific liability concerns are. We need to flesh this out and build a firm framework to address these areas.
Suggestion: Form committees around specific tasks ie fundraising, finance, events. Committees should come from the spokescouncil and are beholden to spokescouncil. Allows us to disperse responsibilities among more individuals, lightening the workload.
Assertion: Directorship/ leaseholders should be involved in the actual running of the space. Come to pantry and events occasionally.
Counter point to concern: current directorship has a history of not immediately addressing safety issues when they arise, which creates tangible liability issues. So why is the directorship worried about amorphous future liability problems?
Many in the group expressed a desire to hear from Matt directly or have him attend a spokescouncil meeting.

Break out into Groups
Alternative Spaces
Legal Support
Patreon
Collaborations
Leadership Accountability
Leaseholders + Relationship
Incorporation?

Groups created Signal chats to communicate and collaborate between meetings

Katelyn presents Stewardship doc- meant to be a statement of intent. Group should feel free to review and revise as needed.
Andy reiterated that the only option with a deadline attached to it is Option 1, Stewardship doc with group signatures meets the requirement of the deadline.
Ash clarified that MOLU are representatives onboarded to a Signal chat who coordinate the spaces everyday operations.

Group voted to start the 585 Emergency Council signal chat.
Group voted to have another Spokescouncil Meeting 6/23 @ 7p location TBD.

Action Items
Groups work on your respective research projects.
Need volunteers for 6/23 meeting facilitator, time keeper, stack, and note taker.

06-14-2025 3-5 pm

Agenda

Greeting

When folks arrive, they should be received by greeters who will: set up a big circle of chairs, say hi and ask what working group people are in, people can sit anywhere. Set up music, bring snacks, finish proposal board decor. light ice breaker?

Start at 3:15 pm

Small group activity: Why are you here? (10 mins)

All attendees form small groups of 4, ideally with people they don't know. In small groups, attendees:

Introduce themselves (name, pronouns, where-ish they live)
Share what brings them to Woodbine as a space/community
Share what brought them to the Spokescouncil meeting

There is no "report out" after the small groups chat.

I'd expect that the small group discussion would take about 6 minutes, and that directing people into and out of small groups would take about 4 minutes.

Introducing the Spokespeople/Coming Together (5 mins)

Spokespeople from the various Spokes simply go around and state their name, pronouns, and which Spoke/Working Group they represent.

Explanation: How will this meeting work? (10 mins)

A spokescouncil is an organizational structure resembling a spoked wheel. It’s designed to allow for connection and decision making to be distributed non-hierarchically across large groups of people. Each group is represented by a rotating speaking delegate and a silent note-taker who agree to bring the will, interests, and needs of their working group to spokescouncil meetings. They also agree to communicate important information and decisions to their working groups after meetings.

Establishing a spokescouncil will be an evolving, experimental process. We may not get it right the first time, and that’s part of the point! Even this document is an ever-evolving work in progress.

A “fish bowl” format is a type of spokescouncil structure that allows all group members who are not delegates and note-takers to observe the meeting and perhaps pass notes and/or other materials to their delegate. The point of the fishbowl is to allow everyone to learn how these meetings work and develop trust with each other. The delegates are the only people allowed to speak during the meeting! This is a measure to keep meetings efficient because we will have a lot to cover and hopefully a lot of people participating. The note-taker is responsible for taking notes on the meeting and discussion and passing this information along to the rest of the working group. It’s important to note that the delegate does not make decisions for the working group! The delegate can speak for the working group but can only vote on proposals as the working group has decided prior to the meeting and cannot make any decisions for the group that was not already decided upon previously. This is the format we’ll be experimenting with for the first meeting.

Facilitators explain the agenda of the meeting, and who will play what roles in the meeting:

Agenda wrangler / Facilitator: guides the group through the sections of the agenda, transitions from one topic to the next (ash)
Timekeeper -- tracks how long is spent on agenda items and people talking (briar)
Stacktaker -- tracks who's up next to speak (ewa)
Vibes (will be ash and briar in this meeting)

Agenda:

Directorship Speaks! (30mins)
Explanation: How did this meeting come to be? (10 mins)
Break (5 mins)
Explanation: How to make a proposal (8 mins)
Mock proposal (10 min)
Closing: Summary + Next Steps (7 mins)
Q/A 15 min if we have time and Aunt Ginnys after

Facilitators explain useful hand signals:

jazz hands, for agreement without interrupting
raised hand + eye contact for stacktaker, for getting on stack
other ones?

-Facilitator intros the agenda

Directorship Speaks! (30mins)

-Andy talks (10 min)

-Ash (5 min): This news is really exciting but also a little scary. This presents some big opportunities for us co-creating a space together and shape it collectively from the ground up. It's up to folks in working groups to ask themselves how they may want to be apart of this future. If you are interested and imagine you have capacity to help brainstorm ideas and take on tasks and roles, there will be a follow up meeting after this one at Ginnys for anyone with the stamina to keep going and then a more formal meeting on Monday at 7 pm and another on Wed at 7 pm. We have to move fast to get this going by the end of June but we can do it! A lot of wheels are turning already and we just need to keep the momentum going together.

We will announce the follow up meetings in the spokescouncil announcements chat as well. Please share this information with your fellow working group members who couldn't make it today!

- q/a from community (15 min)

Explanation: How did this meeting come to be? (10 mins)

Who set this agenda ? who is the spokescouncil planning WG? (we are not an authority)
- The agenda was set by the Spokescouncil Planning Working Group. The group was started in October of last year as an effort to democratize Woodbine and improve communication across the working groups. Ash started this project, sending out an open call to Woodbine working group members at the first working group assembly so that anyone who was interested could participate. After that, we met roughly half-a-dozen times to research and discuss governance models, and then through consensus decision-making created a detailed spokescouncil model to suit Woodbine.
- Moving forward, the Spokescouncil Planning Group will continue to meet with the goal of further honing the Woodbine spokecouncil model. We do not see this working group as an authority on how the spokescouncil will function. We are more of a maintenance and research crew who can nudge things along and help provide a broader scope when issues come up. The planning group remains open to anyone in a working group of Woodbine, though in order to participate, members need to remain actively engaged and both attend meetings and fulfill action items. Please speak to Ash or I afterwards if you’d like to plug in.
who set up the spokescouncil structure (aka us), and how’d we end up with that role? What motivated the creation of the Spokescouncil Planning group?
- So, what is a spokescouncil? It’s a way for organizations and projects to make decisions together. In the case of Woodbine, we have numerous groups and projects that use the space: there’s the gym, there’s the research group, there’s the basement, food pantry, screening group, and so on. Each of these groups makes decisions on their own about how to manage their own projects. However, sometimes we have to make decisions about how to manage the space as a whole. Currently, those types of decisions are made by the Directors and a lot of conflict has arisen with that structure.
- At Woodbine, a spokescouncil will hopefully allow all these different working groups to make decisions together about how we organize this space and help shape a culture of accountability and conflict support. These decisions could range from how we keep the space clean to how we use the space to mobilize a response to a crisis.
- How does a spokecouncil make decisions together? First, any member of Woodbine can post a proposal over there. Ash will go into more detail about how to submit proposals, but for now, know that everyone can submit them. Then, the working groups meet independently to discuss these proposals and decide whether they support them, want to make friendly ammendments, want to block them outright or step aside and not vote. Once they’ve arrived at their decisions, they send a representative and a note taker to the Spokecouncil meeting. During the meeting, the proposals are discussed again, though this time the representatives don’t express their personal opinions, but rather their vote conveys the decisions of their working group. If a proposal achieves consensus minus 2, then it passes and goes into effect. Ash will explain consensus minus two later.
How did we decide who counts as a “Spoke”?
- Who counts as a Spoke? Any working group that actively uses Woodbine and has 5 or more members. If your working group has fewer members, you can form a coalition with a similar working group and send a representative together.

Break (5 mins)

Explanation: How to make a proposal (8 mins)

what is a proposal?
- Proposals are forms that communicate what an individual or group would like to add or change to existing Woodbine structures and culture. They should be well thought out with enough discussion happening with those who might be affected by the proposal in advance. There should be a good reason for this. Maybe it’s a fun way to fundraise for Woodbine because everyone has to pay a dollar to play. A few issues need to be considered to make this work. The people who want the pinball machine should decide where it will live. If it will live in the basement, Basement working group folks should be consulted in advance to see if they want this in their working space. Other important questions need to be asked in advance. If the pinball machine needs to be found for free online or fundraised for, who will do that labor? Who will do the heavy lifting to bring it in? Who will maintain it if it breaks? Is there anyone who is an expert in pinball machines at Woodbine to consult? Anyone expected to do labor for a proposal to come to be will have to be consulted in advance or expect your proposal to get blocked.
when do proposals need to be submitted?
- Proposals should be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting to give enough time to choose which ones to discuss at the next meeting and for working groups to discuss in advance. Urgent proposals can be submitted within 2 weeks but the folks submitting it should alter the announcement chat admins to alert the wider community to act on it. Proposals will be posted physically on a board in Woodbine and folks can individually indicate their preference for what proposals they want to see in the next meeting. You can use the printer in the space to print it out. The Spokescouncil Planning working group will tally them and add them to the meeting agenda.
  
  Remember, everything is subject to change via proposal, even how the spokescouncil is structured. If it’s not working, we are not stuck with it! We can change it to fit our needs as a collective body.
Show the board, template, remind people of explainer document
What is a decision for the spokes v. other kinds of decisions?
- Ask questions introducing each thing, and ask audience to shout out if its a proposal or not.
- Rule of thumb: if you can solve the problem with one conversation, it doesn’t need to be brought to the spokescouncil. Large decisions that would impact multiple working groups are suitable for spokescouncil meetings, while small decisions that only impact you or your working group might not make sense for them. There are certain decisions that are delegated to Woodbine’s directors for legal and liability reasons. Director’s will break these down at the first meeting. Not sure if something you want to do is appropriate for a spokescouncil meeting proposal? Ask one of the Planning crew members.
- Example 1: The roof is leaking, urgent actions need to be made to fix the immediate problem. (proposal?)
  - This should not be brought to a spokescouncil. People should just go and do what it takes to get the water leaking under control.
- Example 2: long term the roof needs renovations. This might require large amounts of Woodbine funds to be directed to this. A working group or two would like to initiate a fundraiser drive instead of using internal funds and recruit a team of people to run this fundraiser (proposal?)
  - this is a decision to bring to the spokescouncil via a proposal.
- Example 3: The reading group wants to pick a new book for the next month. (proposal?)
  - This is for the reading group only to decide, this isn’t a spokescouncil issue.
- Example 4: the reading group would like to build a wing to the current library and stock it exclusively full of copies of Stirner’s “The Ego and Its Own”
  - that would be a proposal the reading group would write.

who can help?
- Spokescouncil planning group can help answer questions you have and you can refer to the explainer document and proposal archive website we have built

Mock proposal (10 min)

Explain basic concepts of voting:
- “Friendly Amendments” are comments offered to improve a proposal before a vote. They should be quick and small in scope and can be written into a proposal after it is passed. A friendly amendment can be offered when you are in support of a proposal or have some reservations but are generally ok with it.
- “Withdrawal” is when the group who put forward the proposal decides to withdraw it or delay voting. This might happen because they realize they need to make more amendments to make the proposal better or because they realize it’s not a good moment to offer the proposal as is.
- Voting in-meeting will be conducted using “Fist to Five.” “Fist to Five” is a quick visual to see how a delegate votes on a proposal. The delegate raises their fist high in the air and when he vote begins, they can vote by keeping their first close or raising a number of number of fingers that indicates their level of agreement for the proposal:
  - Fist (0 fingers): Does not agree at all (a Block)
    - 1 finger: Hold on (a Block)
    - 2 fingers: Reservations, but could be convinced
    - 3 fingers: Okay with it
    - 4 fingers: Sounds good
    - 5 fingers: Total agreement
- After votes are counted, the proposal is then passed (or not) using “Consensus Minus 2”. This means 2 “Blocks” (a Block is shown by either a fist or holding up one finger) will keep a proposal from being passed immediately. Blocks mean you are extremely against a proposal and want to prevent it from passing if possible. Delegates who block will have to justify their block and further conversation and possibly a withdrawal or new vote with amendments may follow.
- “Stand Asides” are when delegates choose not to vote at all. This shows a neutral feeling and means the working group doesn’t care whether the proposal is passed or not.
Woodbine Pony script:
- audience roles: questioner/Friendly Ammender (?), Blocker(?), stack keeper (whoever is already doing that), facilitator (ash), introducer (briar), delegates/voters (?)
  - people to ask: shahrazad, caroline, iris, yousef, sarah, ewa, andy
  - hand out script for friendly ammendents, block, stand aside, questions
Proposal:
- Ash: "Ok, next on the agenda we have the proposal titled "Woodbine gets a Pony" submitted by the Food pantry working group."
- Briar:
  - "We in the glorious, luscious food pantry working group want Woodbine to have a pony. Why? A pony can do so many things! It can carry groceries from TJs, boost morale b/c ponies are so pretty and not last but not least, its poop can be used as fertilizer for the gardening club! We got the buy in of the gardening club on this in advance."
  - "This proposal groups this affects everyone except the Gym because pony couldn't fit through the door. "
  - "who would do the labor? The pantry would raise funds to buy the pony but anyone who smells poop has to clean it and anyone who hears the pony whining for food has to feed it"
- The money required for this is $10,000 because that is how much an award winning pure bred named Arti costs and we already love her. Here she is! (Show pic of the pony https://www.dreamhorse.com/ad/2291271.html)
Response to proposal:
- Ash: " Ok, we've heard the proposal. we have time for quick round of questions now.
- questions:
  - 1. FA asks: "so, what color is the pony?"
    1. blocker asks: "is that against sanitation regulations for the pantry to run?"
    - briar's answer: "hmmm...good question! we haven't finished our research on this yet."
  - ash: "any more questions? ok let's move onto friendly amendments. "
- call for friendly amendments:
  1. 1. FA: "my FA is I think the pony should be spotted instead of cream"
    - briar's response: "great idea! we can change her name to Chocolate Chip!"
- Ash: "any more FA? ok we will move onto a vote. Remember your vote is what your working group collectively decided in advance, not your person opinion. ok lets vote. one two three shoot" "
  - FA votes 5, blocker votes 0
- Ash (speaking to blocker): "you voted a fist, thats a blocking vote. Can you tell us why you decided to block this proposal?"
- blocker says: "I believe having a pony pooping in the space will force us to shut down the food pantry, it's not sanitary, we'll be bridled by the city!"
  - - briar's response: "fair point! maybe we didn't think about this enough. i think i should withdraw this proposal. but wait!... i thought of a friendly amendment that might help it pass.
  - Ash: "ok, what is your friendly ammendment?"
  - Briar: "what if we used those funds to commission a giant stuffed animal pony instead. It's cleaner and we can still pet it!"
- Ash: "Do any food pantry folks who worked on this have any concerns with this change to be added right now? ok great, is that enough for everyone to call a new vote? ok let's vote again. one two three shoot"
- everyone votes, above a 3
- Ash: "great, that propposal passed. Food pantry, please form your crew to get this going, we will ask for progress report at the next meeting. "

Closing: Summary + Next Steps (7 mins)

Facilitators summarize decision(s) or action items for next meeting.

Facilitators shout out what attendees can expect to happen next, for instance:

choosing delegate and note taker for next meeting
delegates getting added to the spokescouncil signal chat
writing/reading proposals (+ where to find them)
when the next Spokes meeting will be (thurs, july 10, 6-8 pm)
how to get involved with making the next Spokes meeting happen
get volunteers for various roles
offer training and collaborating in pairs to prep for those roles
make sure to sign up the announcements chat
offer proposal mentorship/help in writing
expect the invitation to the follow up meeting in the next week for the "future of the space", different than the next spokescouncil meeting

Q/A if there is time is leftover (15 min)

keep questions brief, redirect people to written materials or post meeting conversations if longer
ask everyone to clear out at 5 pm, allow next group to prep for rental

Meeting Highlights

Attendance

<spoke name + delegate: name + note-taker: name> , <spoke name + delegate: name + note-taker: name>, ...

New Action Items

action item 1 - name of individual or groups bottomlining
action item 2 - name of individual or groups bottomlining
action item 3 - name of individual or groups bottomlining

Uncompleted/ In progress Action Items from Prior Meetings

action item 1 - name of individual or groups bottomlining, notes on status (ex. stalled due to vacation, halfway done, need supplies)
action item 2 - name of individual or groups bottomlining, notes on status
action item 3 - name of individual or groups bottomlining, notes on status

Proposals Discussed

Passed

proposal name
proposal name
proposal name

Did not pass

proposal name
proposal name
proposal name

Withdrawals

proposal name
proposal name
proposal name

Proposals We Didn't Get To Discuss (will flow forward to next agenda)

proposal name
proposal name
proposal name

Detailed Meeting Notes

notes

Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 02-06-2025 6pm

Reminder: Process shape for discussing proposals

Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from “Consensus”(keep close to 33 min total):

Intro proposal (5 min)
Questions/Concerns (5 min)
Friendly ammendments (10 min)
Withdrawals (1 min)
Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min)
If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min)
Vote again (1 min)

Agenda

Notes

Attending: Frankie, Briar, Ash, Paul, LP, Natalie, Maria

Reminder: Process for discussing proposals

Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from “Consensus”(keep close to 33 min total):
- Intro proposal (5 min)
- Questions/Concerns (5 min)
- Friendly ammendments (10 min)
- Withdrawals (1 min)
- Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min)
- If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min)
- Vote again (1 min)

Roles:

Facilitator - frankie
Note-taker - ash
Stack - paul
Time-keeper - briar
Action-item-wrangler - LP

Proposal Review/Voting:

outreach (10mins) No Friendly Ammendments (FA), Vote outcome: pass

style of consensus (10mins)

FA:
- Woodbine has liability to be considered and respected, concerns were voiced that proposals must respect liability
- Proposals should include some caveat that anything regarding changes to finance structure need to include the finance team, should consult them while drafting any proposal that touches finances
- Proposals should include awareness and respect for the legacy of how things have been operating without being stuck in old ways if they are clearly not working, those drafting proposals are expected to research this and talk to people working in the areas their proposal touches
- Proposals need to be concerned with working groups being asked to do labor
- Proposals should involve awareness of/research into who at Woodbine has expertise in an area that the Proposal touches (i.e. consult dinner wg for any dinner related proposals)
- Proposals need to including an explanation/ proof of the problem it is trying to solve
Vote outcome: pass

how to post agenda items (10mins)

FA:
- Need a digital wall too
  - Why we need it: Physical space centers woodbine, announces way to participate in space, lower barrier to posting , printers at woodbine, physical way to vote
- Role to consolidate online/physical walls (TBD)
- Signal chat for discussing proposals (TBD)
- Physical process only to start, worry about digital wall later
Vote outcome: pass

how to prioritize agenda items (15mins)

FA:
Setting agenda in advance important
Debate over voting as individuals or having WG reps vote
- voting as individuals makes fewer meetings necessary for the WG reps
- Impetus for individuals to vote may force ppl to read proposals
- large WGs may have more sway
Visuals: Pins, stickers, markers on proposal to prioritize proposals
- Counting dots of everyone can be arduous v reps
Need clear description of who can vote on this at Woodbine
Vote outcome: pass

quorum (5mins)

FA:
- Take attendance, Outreach if ppl aren’t showing up
- Explain difference b/w Tabling v blocking
- Possibility of bad faith actors not showing up to keep something from moving forward
- This qourum proposal is a working rule but we can address something fishy or bad faith if we sense it
Vote: pass

how roles get decided (5mins)

FA:
- Systematize rotating roles
- Training, shadowing, collaborating to get ppl doing roles
- Not spokes planning people filling roles
- Will figure out next roles at the end of the meeting
Vote: pass

how meeting dates are decided (2mins)

FA:
- Alternate days occasionally so no one is blocked off
- Feedback mechanism to change (via proposal)
- Alternate b/w two days in a broad poll via chat
- How can we actually book up the calendar? Issues with blocking rentals? (TBD)
No vote: Withdrawal to discuss further

how long are the meetings (3mins)

FA: none
vote: pass

how spokes communicate outside of meetings (10mins)

FA:
- Worries expressed that discussion chat protocols need to be enforced
- Admins can figure out as they go, but some norms/protocols should be set in advance
- Reword so there is no confusion about the representatives inviting new ones
- suggestion that any discussion should be wirtten inside the proposals themselves
- Can the discussion chat be a free space to discuss? provides place for Working groups to discuss together
- Does it cause an issue with some admin metabolizing comments into meetings? Too much work, could be messy
- discussion chat could be a “free play space”
- Prep people for change i.e. “this is an experiment”
- What is the relationship b/w this and the coordinators chat? (TBD pending directors sit down and refining the scope of the spokescouncil)
  - Anyone can join the spokes chats v coordinators chat is currently only people who signed MOUs
- QR codes to join chats
Vote: pass

sitdown with directors (10mins)

We will have this meeting sit down meeting with the directors soon
Parallel work happening b/w spokes and directorship
Accountability, empowering people to show up and know how to be supportive - spokes can solve that
Invisibilized labor needs to be made visible, spokes can solve that
Legal, finance, liability autonomedia - structure was lacking, may come together (Maria)
Repetition of not having things be transparent, People who cant be at the space like maria rely on other people , Dont want to have to repeat across so many chats (Maria)
Lease and liability not up for debate (Maria)

first spokes council agenda (15mins)

FA:
- Needs reworking for cleaning project explanation of current cleaning situation
- Directorship intro included with time for them to speak, need to coordinate how much time they need with consideration for what spokes planning had already prioritized
- Adjust time allotted for items
Vote: pass

Action item roundup:

Digital wall for proposals (TBD)
Explainer and flyer (ash and LP)
Help briar make the physical proposal board (need volunteers)
Edit proposals with FA post meeting (All)
Meeting for spokes planning and directors to meet (Ash, Ella, Natalie)
Finalize agenda for 1st meeting (ash, frank, paul)
Proposal, "how meeting dates are decided", needs work to vote again, vote via chat asynchronously
Pick a date for first spokes meeting (TBD)
Skills training ideas (TBD)

Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 01-15-2025 6pm

Action items

Notes Summary

Soft consensus around a desire to have next mtg be the last before the Spokescouncil meets!
Some discussion about Peter Gelderloos' book Consensus, which offers food for thought on collective decisionmaking
We'll talk more next time about what consensus model we like. Consensus? Consensus minus 1? We have diverging opinions in the group.
We recapped how the fishbowl Spokescouncil format works, and folks present agreed to try that format for initial Spokes meeting
We've aligned on calling on Working Groups for proposals, but likely only discussing cleaning proposal(s) at the first Spokes meeting
There are lots of action items to complete async before the next meeting!! See above.

Agenda

eat & hang (60min)
super speedy emotional check ins + No gossip announcement, 1 min per person or less (8 min)
claim roles (2min)
- facilitator: Ashley, Ella
- note-taker: Farnk
- stack: LP
- time-keeper: Briar
action item check-ins (10min)
- (Paul) Write agenda for next time
- (LP) Set poll for next meeting time
- [ella started this ] (LP) Combine Ella and LP’s existing explainers, on LP’s wiki page and BEEF IT UP
- (Frankie) evaluate which groups would be inlcuded/excluded from spoke representation using the criteria we setlled on
  - Added column to WB chats spreadsheet.
  - (all) please help me turn Not Sures into Yes / Nos!
- (All) Reformat existing proposals into LP’s proposal template, for discussion next time
- (Ash) use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the New proposal ideas before 1st meeting section
discuss takeaways from Peter Gelderloos for our proposal process (20 min)
- Screenshots of source text here
- "WAIT - Why am I Talking?" or "How we can all make meetings less of a slog"
  - jazz hands to show agreement v commenting verbally
- Rules of Thumb for informal/formal consensus
- Vibes checker role
- Future process for feedback
- Proposal Process for Spokes Planning Meetings adapted from "Consensus"(keep close to 33 min total):
  - Conceptualizing propoals (5 min, Ella)
  - Intro proposal (5 min)
  - Questions/Concerns (5 min)
  - Friendly ammendments (10 min)
  - Withdrawals (1 min)
  - Voting/Blocks/Stand Asides (1 min)
  - If Block occcurs > discussion > ammendments offered (10 min)
  - Peter's critique of consensus minus one (5 min, Ella)
  - Vote again (1 min)
- Questions/clarity on blocks v stand asides v friendly ammendments

Section notes

how much of this do we need to decide / discuss beforehand?
we will benefit as spokescouncil council from getting better at proposals, can bring to broaders Spokes
we're less "defining the rules" and more becoming resources for process
i had a conceptual shift about proposals:
- initial idea: all the working groups would submit cleaning proposals, they would be competing
- after reading: WGs bring ideas, they are synthesized into a proposal, then agreed upon in the meeting
according to Peter G, meetings are for synthesizing proposals
"alternative voting" --> instead of deliberating too much, you have rounds of voting / ranked-choice voting
for cleaning proposals: each WG could propose cleaning that they can commit to as a distinct working group
anti-goal: we don't want WGs competing with each other over proposals
anecdote from basement: there was consensus that we wanted to make meetings decision moments more than deliberative moments
it can be good to seek input before the meeting, synthesize proposals
we'll be bad at proposals at first. good to make it easy to "fail safely". if we have guardrails on proposal discussion, bad proposals can be opportunities for learning instead of tanking the meeting
was a role of admin group at 4th street to help people who brought shitty proposals
a group that struggles to make decisions together might have non aligned values or interests. gym collective runs great because there's no inherent contention.
this (Peter G's book) doesn't have to be the only tool in the toolbox
WAIT (why am i talking?) how much space am i taking up? is this relevant?
jazz hands to show agreement
rules of thumb for formal / informal consensus:
- if decision can be made in less time than it would take for a formal process, just decide
- else, make a vote
vibescheck role: person who's just there to read the room. if someone's being a jerk or taking up time, make a note or give them feedback.
how to give people feedback, how to fail safely
blocks are taken seriously, if someone's surprised that you're blocking, that's a bad smell / bad sign for the process
if a ton of people are standing aside, that's also a bad smell
Peter's critique of consensus minus 1
- argument for: to prevent some jerk or infiltrator from blocking everything
- argument against: promotes conflict avoidance, instead of engaging the jerk, you skirt the problem. if the person is continually a jerk, you can expel them from the group
instead of expelling people, we could:
- adjust the groups decisionmaking solution space (is the minus 1 someone who has critical information or resources? what if we can't operate without them?)
conclusion: we can talk more about consensus minus 1

BREAK TIME! (8 min)

Cleaning propsals

i'd love to see folks submit proposals!
we shouldn't solicit proposals from WGs, we can synthesize ideas in the spokescouncil meeting and produce a proposal
- this would be easy for WGs to participate in
Andrew tried a cleaning party, no one showed up :(
The space is overwhelming in how dirty and disorganized it is. The space could collapse, the space could be unusable. Huge liability. If someone gets hurt, we're screwed.
alternative path of collaboration: having clearly labeled spots for cleaning. make it obvious how to clean. physical infrastructure for cleaning.
ask working groups: what parts of woodbine do you touch on a regular basis? what can you do to help clean?
- it would be useful to gather this information beforehand and share it with folks at the Spokescouncil meeting
what if people had an open-ended discussion with the topic "cleaning at woodbine"?
maybe combine these - we want to practice proposal process as well. we can have open ended chat, followed by proposal discussion
i like the idea of each group getting to share their own idea and also hearing what other groups say
the space has limitations. you can hang a broom on any given wall, probably. but there are serious physical infrastructure problems at woodbine that many people aren't aware of. if we want to do a big physical reorg of the space, we'd need some education from folks who are the most familiar with the space
we can lead by example by submitting and deciding proposals, in the open, in front of Spokes
synthesis: at the meeting, a prompt (offered ahead of time), that WGs can think about beforehand about cleaning. WGs respond to prompt, then general discussion, then proposals, then time for Spokes to caucus and talk about amendments to their own proposals, then a synth proposal can be put together in real time in the meeting, or offline before the next meeting
beforehand, we can ask for ideas from WGs. then during the spokescouncil meeting
what if we have an open ended discussion about cleanliness?
i love open ended convos, but i think we need structure! let's do spokes from the start
there are physical structural issues that will impede cleaning
how does caucusing with a WG work in a fishbowl meeting? what about the people who aren't present at the meeting?
- maybe we shouldn't make decisions at the meeting, since all relevant WG people might not be there
i think that a closed spokescouncil meeting would be good. the whole idea is that the spokesperson is representative of the group. everyone else at the WGs will be able to see what's in the notes.
initial reason for fishbowl was that there's not a ton of trust built up
recap of fishbowl format
fishbowl makes it easier for folks to learn how the process works, step forward into the Spoke and notetaker role in the future, hold Spokes accountable for whether notes diverge from what happened
cleaning project (20 min)
- flesh out the plan for soliciting cleaning project proposals

agenda for first spokescounsil meeting (20 min)

refine & vote on proposed first agenda
should we have an open proposal submission process?
is there any one person who understands the full extent of problems in the space? probably not.
- people would need a lot of information to make a reasonable proposal about fixing structural issues
if WGs are free to bring proposals, they will learn about power structures at Woodbine. for instance "i want a pony", someone will then learn that Finance has a say in that and has blocking concerns.
online and in-person fora where proposals can be posted async at any time
maybe we start with cleaning proposals, then grow into other proposals
- discussions we've had with other people about the effort to build a spokescounsel
we could let anyone submit proposals, then let WGs decide which proposals are their most favorite proposals, then proceed thru discussing priorized proposals in priority order
- dot vote on proposals in the meeting
agree, we should keep it simple.
could we encourage people to submit proposals, show them off at the first Spokes, then say that at the next spokes that we're going to prioritize proposals in that order
step back: what is the point of the first meeting? consciousness raising, getting excited. practicing proposals in a technical sense. vibing with each other, social time. make people want to come to the next one!
Assigning action items and Next meeting agenda (20 min)
- Frankie to write a proposal about prioritizing proposals

follow up on outreach

Andrew has been doing outreach! Working with Food Fight + Bikes for Migrants. However we want to go about this, as long as we're not dicks, people will receive us warmly.
we need to prioritize nailing down a page that explains what Spokes is
Proposal on how to do outreach exists here

Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 12-13-2024

Results of this meeting:

We made the following decisions:

A Spoke is:
- - a group of >5 people AND
- - the group has access to Woodbine's physical space (i.e. can unlock the door) or Woodbine's resources (e.g. website, Instagram, lease, funds) -
- What if your group is <5 people?
  - - Identify a larger working group that you can caucus with. Perhaps the group that grants you access to the Woodbine space/resources
  - - Still come to the Spokescouncil meeting to observe and recruit members
- - What if our group doesn't have the door code or its own access to Woodbine resources?
  - - Your spoke is the one that grants you access to the space.
  - - For example, if Gym people unlock the space for you, you caucus with Gym

- The proposal contains no opinion on how Spokes decide on a Spokesperson

this is how to announce a proposal 1. hang proposal physically in the space 2. post somewhere linkable 3. send to all groups via groupchats
we will use this template for proposals https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template

Agenda

Vibe check (5min - 7:05)

What version of you are we getting this evening?

Previous meeting action item check-in (10 - 7:15)

- Ella demarcate reproduction vs. project working groups (in Ella's summary of WGs) - group map added to Briar's "who is a spoke" proposal

Frankie to add chat-addition protocol to Signal group description
[someone] make the agenda for next time. topics to include: - Plan for the spokescouncil council to meet with outside groups and have a research debrief meeting
Ella to add a link to Spokes explainer to Signal description (or Lippy and Ella to collaborate)
everyone: make proposal(s) about the following things: *
Ash to make a date poll for next meeting
Frankie and LP continue research on language acessibiliy, determine spokes language needs, reach out to interpreters - https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-multilingual-research#
everyone: ask Frankie for access to the hopes and fears Mural, contribute to said Mural

Goals/Levelsetting (10)

What do we consider a good outcome for this meeting? Do we want to have another meeting before the Spokescouncil meeting?

Proposal review and discussion, 11 proposals (75 - 8:30)

Prioritize proposals via dot vote * How to decide who gets a Spoke * How to make proposals (meta!) * How to vote on them * How WGs should select spokespeople * Spokescouncil goals * Woodbine points of unity * How often should the spokescounil meet? Bi weekly? Monthly? * How to approach accountability via spokes (one idea: include spokes reps in notes to track which WGs are at meetings as part of accounatbility system, key holder access idea) * Cleaning project (what would the cleaning project be?) * Agenda of 1st spokes meeting + how it'll be run * Strategy for approaching WGs to get Spokes, craft the messaging * Spokescouncil Signal group proposal (how it will be used, who can be in it, norms/protcols, conflict culture, admin access) * Spokes/Fishbowl explainer with a decision making flow chart explainer and fist to five explainer (could be one explainer doc we hand out) * Who from the spokescouncilcouncil should attend the 1st spokes meeting? And how should they participate? * Research debrief meeting proposal * +1 proposal*
Discuss prioritized proposals
(15 mins) how to edit proposals and agree on them so we don't have to have another meeting. via chat?

New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10)

Proposal flyer for invitation and explainer
- invitation
- what is a spokescoucil?
- fishbowl format diagram and explainer
- Fist to five explainer
Proposal ideas for basic write-ups to prep for agenda for 1st meeting (Ash):
- how did we get to this point historically at wb?
- what are the basic expectations/hopes of participation (6-12 months)?
- how do proposals work?
- how did we decide on which groups to invite to the spokescouncil?
- how can more groups be represented?
- who is the spokescouncil council? what have we been working on? what is our ongoing role in the spokescouncil? how can new people get involved/what are the expectations in participation?
- how do ppl add to the agenda in advance? document?

Timeline and procedure to edit proposals and get votes from ppl not present (10)

Action item roundup (10)

(Paul) Write agenda for next time
(LP) Set poll for next meeting time
(LP) Combine Ella and LP's existing explainers, on LP's wiki page and BEEF IT UP
(Frankie) evaluate which groups would be inlcuded/excluded from spoke representation using the criteria we setlled on
(Ash) use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10) section
(All) Reformat existing proposals into LP's proposal template, for discussion next time

First spokescouncil meeting date (5)

New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10)

Notes

what are we trying to get done today?

these are the necessary decisions we have to make in order to move forward:

who are the spokes?
how are proposals made?
how do things get voted on?

do we want to have another meeting before the spokes meeting?

maybe one more to allow for outreach and smoother rollout

proposal review

we probably won't come to final decisions on these proposals today and we'll have to figure out how to do that

Proposal Group 1: who gets a spoke? (10 min)

Briar's proposal

everyone gets a spoke

Frankie's proposal

a spoke is a group of 5 or more people that has access to WB's space or resources.
if a group doesn't meet these critera they can caucus with a recognized group
these critera define what spokes will exist initially but also are applied for every meeting, such that if a group changes in a way that they no longer meet these criteria, they will not have spoke representation at the meeting.

concerns about key access

people could consolidate power by people being able to reduce the number of people who can unlock the door
the MOUs equate key access with recognized group existence? do we want to follow this example?
we could possilby just limit spokescouncil membership to groups we deem in actual need to the key code

how do we change how the spokescouncil works once we start it?

we can create a proposal just like any other

the initial groups can be decided via Frankie's criteria, but further groups would require an explicit proposal? we're starting from a place where we don't fully understand who has key access and what is going on in the space

TODO: look at which groups would be included and excluded with the current criteria

frankie's revision

removes language related to space access and allows for groups to self-identify as being woodbine-affiliated
we could ammend this to allow the council to vote on allowing new groups to get spokes
pushback on this because it puts too much responsibility on the spokesconcil in allowing them to decide who is a working group
clarification: it's not about who is a WG, it's about who gets representation in the spokescouncil. also anyone is welcome to attend as an observer (?) and they can then decide if they want to join
concerns about malicious groups created for explicitly wb-political or obstructive purposes
giving the council voting power for new spokes perpetuates the gatekeeping that already exists

voting on frankie's revision vs changing it to also require the council voting in new groups

it seems we are willing to try the former- frankie's revision

Proposal Group 2: How to make a proposal

LP's proposal

make a document for the proposal that includes:
- list groups and people it effects
- list money and resources required
- try to create variations on the proposal that anticipate likely objections

should also include who (person or group?) is creating the proposal, and the date it was submitted

having a template for this is a useful thing: https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template

blocking concern on using this template is that it should stress who will be bottom-lining the proposal (it could be everyone) because we already have a lot of problems with accountability.

a concern is that this addition will allow a group to "voluntell" someone else to do some labor.

adding a strong recommendation that any proposal that asks for labor from a particular person or group be written in consultation with them

we will use this template for proposals https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template

Violet's proposal

how to announce a proposal 1. hang proposal physically in the space 2. post on website 3. send to all groups via groupchats

should we ammend this to include advanced notice (1 week?)? no.

[discussion about how to get it to the spokescoucil in the first place for dissemination, but we can figure that out later]

TODO: use the new proposal template for the new proposals above in the `New proposal ideas before 1st meeting (10)` section

using input from the chat for quorum?

should we be getting input from people who aren't here in person when we're making decisions? the decisions we've made aren't long-lasting and are easy to change so maybe we can just go with it this time and use the new system going forward.

Spokescounsil Planning Meeting 11-20-2024

2 hours

Action Items for next meeting

Summary

Brainstormed about Spokescouncil goals. Some recurring themes:
- reproducing the space
- drawing Woodbine-related people into community + collaboration (working group members, neighbors, speakers of various languages)
- clarifying who can make decisions about what, and how
  - finances
  - appropriate use of the space
  - programming
Discussed who will constitute the spokescouncil / who gets a Spoke. Ideas coalesced around:
- Ongoing work to identify all working groups in this spreadsheet
- It may be useful to distinguish between different kinds of groups
  - groups / Spokes whose goal is solely reproducing the space, Spokes that work in the space
  - Young Lords' "ongoing projects" (long term) vs. "taskforces" (short term)
- All entities who use the space will likely care about decisions made about the space. They may or may not want to participate in making those decisions, but it would be useful to keep them informed.
- Spokescouncil may itself decide who's a Spoke.
Decided on a chat protocol, which is as follows (can also be found in Signal chat description):
- To add someone to the chat:
  1. establish that they are involved with woodbine AND
    - they care about the future of woodbine AND
    - they are interested in a spokescouncil existing OR
    - indicate another clear reason why they make sense to be added to the chat
  2. indicate in the chat that you want to add the person
  3. wait to get a cosign/vet from another member of the chat (can be an emoji thumb up)
  4. add the person to the chat
Discussed how the Spokescouncil can make decisions together.
- Proposed mechanisms:
  - Yes, Block, Stand aside model
  - “consensus when possible, consent when not” (BAM)
  - Fist to Five
  - Consensus minus 2
- Acknowledged that the Spokescoucil itself can decide how it operates. (But it's useful to bring a scaffold as a starting point)
- Next steps: bring proposals about decisionmaking to the next Meeting
Discussed what the 1st Spokescouncil meeting might look like. Some possibilities include:
- Introduce a cleaning/space maintenance proposal
- Inform groups about how Woodbine works today
- Explain Spokes
- Disseminate information about maintenance tasks (like when to take out trash)
- Next steps: bring proposals about 1st Spokescouncil agenda to next meeting
Summarized prerequisites for 1st Spokescouncil meeting, including:
- Deciding who, when, why and how for the 1st meeting
  - attendees, scheduling, goals, logistics/agenda
- Inviting all relevant stakeholders to participate
- Next steps: bring various proposals (ennumerated in action items) to resolve these prerequisites

Action item check ins from last meeting (10 min)

Language accessibility infrastructure
- LP reportback
- RTU has simultaneous translation resources we can borrow.
Link map of all working groups
- link to the resource TODO
Fears and hopes mural and access, keep it general
- The mural exists here
  - You can request access from Frankie (Frank on Signal) individually

What are our goals as a spokescouncil? doc to make sure we keep an eye on our goals? (20 min)

(ash) reproduce the space more consistently, effectively and horizontally (cleaning, fundraising)
(ash) increase individuals accountability to reproduce the space and grow involvement
(ash) create a healthy conflict culture
(ash) build capacity for resistance and develop strong community by making this a creative and experimental space to make decisions collectively
(ash) develop programming that increases our capacity to fight repression and support individuals who are the most vulnerable (pantry, solidarity fundraising)
(ash) offer space for people to organize resistance (digital security teach ins, banner making)
expand who feels welcome in the space (language support, engage with whiteness of the space, patriarchy in the space etc)
develop Woodbine's points of unity and values
- would be nice for woodbine's position to be clearer + well-defined. when people participate, they should know what framework or scope the space is operating in
- there was a points of unity experiment in Ops. but there are more people involved in a spokescouncil. there will be representation issues if we can't get key/highly active people in the room.
build assembly culture and autonomy in Ridgewood
we need to consider our relationship with our neighbors. we might not get them to like us, but we can do better at communicating with them
Alt approach: work from existing problems, brainstorm structures to address.
- Unclear on appropriate use of space
  - Can people wait for pantry indoors?
  - Who decides what / clarity
- Stop "shadow decisions", ideally. What happened at the Working Group Assembly? Why'd we propose Spokes to begin with?
  - Goal: show that we can do the thing, let the Spokes take on more responsibility as it demonstrates its capable
- finance should probably be a spoke (or something?). the finances are really frustrating. took dinner 3 weeks to figure out how to get $100 from finance. this was wrapped up with reproducing the space as a topic.
  - we had to make a serious case about those $100
- people ask about how to put together an event, sent along the google form, "no one got back to them". who has access to that form? who checks it?
what if there was clearer process for how to request funding for each group? a form that requests details around funding, how it'll be used, who will get access to the things bought? people who decide aren't there very often, involves people who do work at woodbine having to regurgitate things that are more obvious to the working groups themselves.
what gives people decisionmaking power? how does that operate today? how could that operate in the future?
- right now, Spokes don't have complete latitude. but latitude could change over time. if we can make a Spokescouncil functional, we can start making decisions. there's a lot we can probably do with the latitude we already have.
we could probably diagram what a good finance system would look like (in the abstract). getting into the specifics can be a decisionmaking trap (sometimes). but people closer to specific work areas can likely make useful concrete decisions. now, finance meetings happen monthly. they are open to anyone. i'd like to see clearer expense reporting.
if it's just us (the people in this room), people won't like that, it probably won't work well. we want to make sure we have good working group representation at the spokescouncil. + reach out to ~~stakeholders~~
can we make the spokescouncil fun? we'll need to get people in the room.
potential goal: make the structure of the space legible. often: "i want to do something. how can i make that possible?"
- structurelessness can reproduce latent oppressive structures outside of woodbine. making the space legible can combat that
programming vetting. do we do that collectively today? not really. but there could be a committee that comes out of this that decides what programming gets put on.
- Process and communication transparency and privacy in general
does woodbine have a fiscal sponsor?
- yes.
- a fiscal sponsor (e.g. OpenCollective) can oversee whether expenses are aligned with expenses
- there's an alternative to opencollective called Raft

Who is the spokescouncil? (20 min)

What are the working groups we are inviting to be part spokes?
- spreadsheet of working groups
Discuss differences in scope and involvement in reproducing the space: finance v yoga v basement v food fight as examples.
- finance -> crossfunctional, critical for the space existing
- yoga --> uses the space, people come and go. less extensive use of the space
- basement --> tons of simultaneous projects, not super cohesive, one working group probably
- food fight --> cook in the space, do distro outside of the space.
- who's in?
- basement has a different financial relationship than other working groups?
- seems like the basement is its own decisionmaking body (? maybe?). for working groups like yoga, writing group, is there a preexisting decisionmaking model in those groups?
(fgj) stewards model
- thought experiment
  - if we don't have specific people who are responsible for reproducing space
  - if you are a spoke, you're accountable as a group to be a steward in relation to the individuals you bring into the space
it's reasonable for everyone to have a hand in reproducing the space. we'd need a document or standard to help groups with less involvement understand what is expected, to address their potential frustration with being asked to do stuff for the space
basement is kind of incoherent. meets somewhat regularly, but struggles with other issues. seems like incoherence comes from the preexisting issues with woodbine. seems like pantry and kitchen are the most coherent groups.
i worry about "hey you're invited to Spokes" "now this is something you have to do". people might like to get a monthly concise thing that explains what decisions have been made. trying to make it as friendly and concise as possible. people can have a relationship to the space at the degree that they want it.
stewardship model should be the end goal. seems like the goal of woodbine. self governance can become really expansive, but starts with the space itself. yoga could get themselves together, basement can cohere. that can be what we aspire to. each group with the opportunity of a voice, and a hand in reproducing the space.
we don't want to make it feel like another chore. some folks just come through for the reading group. forcing people to do it seems like a bad idea. accessible and transparent. you don't have to come, but decisions will be made. encourage people to come.
who is not a spoke? who is not allowed?
- random people who are curious? are they a spoke?
- transparency may cover this. if we have transparent notes about meetings and stuff, if you're interested, refer to these resources, and that will get you involved
- no one has to come, but they're using the space and not cleaning? what do we do?
  - we'd need some conflict resolution around this. if you can't put in extra labor, maybe we'll ask for a financial contribution
  - lockbox code as "key" for responsibility, use to establish relationship between access and acountability, may prompt subdivision
BAM states that they are modeled on Young Lords and Rainbow coalition organizing. this is aspirational more than functional, but prompted some thought. Young Lords made a distinction between "ongoing projects" and "taskforces". Something like a strike or a direct action would be a "taskforce". Versus ongoing reproduction tasks were "ongoing projects".
it'd be nice to dig in at greater length on "what is a spoke? and how to spokes map to projects"
yoga would be interested in what's going on here. we should loop them in here.
the spokescouncil can decide itself what Spokes are. we don't have to pre-decide it now.
there are MOUs (memorandum of understanding) circulating.

What is the chat for? chat protcol and conflict culture (15 min)

what is the chat for?
who is in it?
what do we do when things get heated? Take it offline!
what sort of things do we discuss over chat v irl?
- Big issue v small issue model
  - small decisions can happen in the chat, big ones shouldn't?
  - someone can flag something as a "big decision" to move the conversation to in person
    - Adopt an emoji reply for this? (~LP)
is it cool to add someone to the chat without asking the current attendees in the chat?
a lot of groups could benefit from a parallel chat structure where there's an "announce" chat and a general (noisier) chat
collective decisionmaking, we hadn't talked about how to decide who gets added to the chat. "working groups" get bogged down with people who lurk and don't show up to meetings. i wanted to avoid that. the person who joined didn't seem invested in Woodbine.
want the chat to be a safe space to make decisions without people derailing. it's not easy to do what we're doing -- there's a big task on our hands.
it makes sense to talk about who's in the chat. locations has 200 people in it but no one's saying anything.
the chat should include people that care about the future of Woodbine / are invested in Woodbine?
it'd be helpful to have people in the future talk to us who are experts organizing in other spaces

Proposal: To add someone to the chat:

establish that they are involved with woodbine AND
- they care about the future of woodbine AND
- they are interested in a spokescouncil existing
- OR indicate another clear reason why they make sense to be added to the chat
THEN indicate in the chat that you want to add the person
THEN wait to get a cosign/vet from another member of the chat (can be an emoji thumb up)
THEN add the person to the chat

How do we make decisions together? consensus protocol and culture. This can be a work in progress but we need something to begin with (10 min)

Delegates introduce clear proposals
Yes, Block, Stand aside model (resource)
Avoid total consensus model as a blocker to anything getting done
Direct and supportive conflict culture
"consensus when possible, consent when not" -- BAM uses this
(in one model) Spokes itself isn't a decisionmaking body. they're communicating with their groups.
- a proposal is brought to the spokes
- spokes bring to working group
- each working group discusses a proposal, comes to a decision
- spoke comes back to the group, indicates the stance of their group
what happens if there's not consensus across the spokes?
- it depends. it can be a slow process. for the biggest decisions, this would likely be important. for smaller proposals, we maybe don't need to always go back to the spokes
is there a way to decide at the beginning whether consensus is needed for the proposal or not?
levels of influence within each working group? does every spoke get the same level of influence? finance? yoga?
mechanics of decisionmaking miss the part of defining who the group is. in a food coop, if you pay, you're a member. it's less clear with woodbine who's a stakeholder/who has a say.
- if subgroups are making the decisions, this mitigates issues somewhat. a transient member of a subgroup has less influence
if we're presenting a proposal at the spokescouncil, then bringing them back to the spokes, that's good for slow decisions. we might need another approach for fast decisions.
maybe spokes can do both? immediate decision: spokescouncil makes a decision. slower decision, slow process where spokes go back to the subgroups.
there's more to it than the model. there's the culture of deliberation. proposals can be hard if they're not well-written. need a process for getting the proposal out there (e.g. posting it on a pegboard in advance of a meeting).
big vs. small decisions -- will we get there? at first, spokes will likely make small decisions. if we come up with a model that is ok with making small decisions, that's ok for now. would be good to get small wins happening quickly. small decisions are good.
agree, we're not close to making big decisions
having a starting point decision making model would be a good place to start

Proposal: proposals are presented at the spokescouncil meeting. spokes bring the proposal to working groups, working groups discuss and decide, then spokes come to council, fist to five on the proposal (based on their WG opinion). We do consensus minus 2 (if everyone but 2 spokes agrees, the proposal goes through)

What can be a first project for us to tackle as spokes? cleaning project example (Ella) (10 min)

collective cleaning procedures (this has been a long Woodbine discussion, nothing comes of it)
- cleaning proposal could open the door to other conversations (like who can be in the space and how?)
(fgj) 1st spokes meeting "gather" vs. "decide" -- can we ID a concrete and attainable outcome that can come from 1st meeting?
- deciding things as as group is hard. can we instead engage spokes to go back go groups and gather information rather than come back with a decision?
- can groups come back with a summary/decision of what their existing cleaning protocols are?
- announce / inform what trash days are, ask if it's ok to take out trash?
1st meeting = onboarding to spokes
bringing people from pantry inside? is that a first discussion topic?
- potentially heavy for a first project
- different groups have a different stake in it
- can get political quickly
who will be at the spokescouncil meeting?
- what if people try to derail / don't participate in good faith?
- fishbowl -- spokes speak, but anyone can be present. if you don't trust your spoke, you can see the whole meeting go down
  - indicate visually who the spoke is
ops is a working group?
how do we communicate preemptively?
people will have questions about how woodbine runs today. can we help inform people who come to spokes? overview of decisionmaking, finance.
re: cleaning: accessible and set up cleaning supplies would be a huge win. but where'd i'd want to put that vaccuum is where the chairs are stored.
the point of the 1st spokes meeting should be to talk about how spokes should work, field questions and grievances from everybody
worried about people coming away from the first Spokes meeting being like "what was the point of that meeting?"
we could do "theory and practice" -- here's a summary, and here's the things we think we should decide first

Ella’s Explainer overview (5 min)

Plan for the spokescouncil council to meet with outside groups and have a research debrief meeting (this feels like a separate meeting than can happen alongside actual spokescouncil meetings or be part of a spokescouncil meeting) (5 min)

When is our first real spokescouncil meeting going to happen? Do we feel ready? (5 min)

(fgj) Identify spokes' language access needs + plan to have them met
figure out who from the spokescouncilcouncil will be there
strategy for approaching working groups and bringing them in
- people should come to it with an idea of what's going on
- presenting everything at the meeting is TMI
way to decide who are Spokes / who gets a Spoke
have strategies for managing who'll be there and what they say
communicate with working groups beforehand?
facilitator?
proposals for what the first meeting will look like
an explainer of how things work and how we came to Spokes. history of woodbine + how it's worked
proposal: a Signal chat for the overarching spokes
cleaning project proposal

Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 10-28-2024

present

briar, she/her
theodora, she/her
violet, she/her
ella, anything
LP, he/him
andrew, he/him
paul, anything
frankie, they/them
ash, they/she

spokecouncil def

spokecouncils are made up of representatives from each group
- maybe 2 reps, one to speak the other to take notes
- spokes are rotated in, either randomly or by voting
fishbowl: like spokecouncils, only everyone is present and sits behind their spoke
LP: should have documentation on how spokecouncils work and telemeeting hardware present to improve access
frankie: woodbine is monolingual and we should be mindful about the decision making process being bilingual
ella: childcare could also improve access
ash: what should the spokes be?
- mycology
- soccor
- research group
- screening
- locations
- finance
- communications
andrew: we can nest the spokes inside eachother, such as rats in maintenance; people should understand that if they don't participate, they won't have a say
ella: spokes could help disorganized groups to become more organized, such as yoga
frankie: what are the consequences of defining the spokes poorly?
theodora: not enough groups showing up would be worse
ella: how large do we want a meeting to be? too large could get unmanagable
andrew: in the beginning we shouldn't assume the authority to deciding who can/can't be a spoke, though it would be reasonable to suggest merging with another spoke
Briar: consensus model? Unanimous consent can be difficult in larger council

history/why are we doing this right now?

LP: notes show there have been other times where people seemed to want organizational change. To create structures that are less closed, and more defined by roles than by people.
ash: more participation at woodbine, seems like right time to start pushing for it. when there are only a couple of people responsible for decision making, they become a bottleneck and things get messed up.
LP: was depressed because he was seeing conflict and harm happening to people and concerns about this were getting ignored
ella: feel like maybe many people in ops feel weird about their own participation

spain and other models

ella: visited a couple of squats in spain over the summer. one was a squatted nunary. they have a seperate committee that handles most the day-to-day decision making, and then twice a year they have a large assembly to make decisions together. another hold biweekly assemblies to coordinate multiple squatted bank-owned buildings. they run eviction defense and a pantry. offer transition services and child support. each collective has their own room.
LP: different decision making processes: full consensus, u-1, u-2. heavy proposal basis, proposals were crafted beforehand with multiple flavors to
Briar: involved in omni commons and rhyzome collective
- Omni: Makerspace, Food not Bombs, video collective, others + ballroom space
- Discrete organizations with discrete spaces, less based on activities as woodbine is.
- Spokes consisted of group reps + fixed members such as locations, finance, permanent reps to address issue of racial reprsentation.
- Fully consensus, spokes rotated frequently

Reach out to Noisebridge/Mitch Altman

ash: wants to know how mayday are run

general discussion

LP: people may not have the capacity to participate in their projects as well as the spokescouncil
frankie: sometimes the space isn't in great shape, people will need to step up

action items

write out fears and hopes
reach out to people in other spokecouncils
- identify list of other groups in nyc
link map of all working groups
put together a timeline
- have another meeting first
language access infrastructure
proposals we need:
- how are decisions made
- what is a spoke
- an initial proposal to try to make together
collaborative space for fears/hopes
date poll (ash)

Spokescouncil Planning Meeting 09-29-2024

Brief Intros (name, pronouns, working group) (Attendance redacted as this is a publicly viewable doc without discussed norms around privacy)

Why are we here today?

Working group assembly: what is this? Why are we having one?
- Working group assembly is to get everyone in a working group together to give updates, meet irl, discuss ideas together
- Introduce agenda outline and roles

Operations update/Woodbine overall updates:

Keeping space clean
- Intro Locations chat and committee
  - Now: locations consists of ppl who are often at the space. Share alerts for issues at space (flooding, electricity…) and updates on addressing them
  - Next steps:
    - Designating actual roles for maintaining the space - potentially with someone designated to track who is doing each role and whether tasks are completed
    - Coordinating trash bags, paper towels, toilet paper etc. between Food Fight (access to Restaurant Depot) and Food Pantry (can be reimbursed through the city)
    - Collect receipts and expenses for necessary items - average how much our expenses are every month
- Rat update – “we’re on the winning side” of the Vermin War
- Electrics update - Electrical repairs are completed, but we now need to map out which circuits map to which breakers.
- Emphasize the importance, we each have a share in keeping the space clean and well functioning as much as we have a share in enjoying what the space provides for our organizing and community. Who does the dishes in the rev? We do.

Finance

Lease
Funding sources
Deficit - We operate at a deficit: Spring 2024 Finances - Monthly Deficit: -$1107
- Emphasize this deficit when/where we can - call on people in different working groups to support - many people who come thru Woodbine are surely unaware of the deficit, or of the other monetary realties of Woodbine
  - Donation jar exists, doesn’t seem to be used much
- Big sign: (fundraiser thermometer) that details the deficit, the monthly expenses, how to contribute (monetarily or in other methods)

Fundraising: events, co-working

We also all have a share in helping keep the space open by creatively finding ways to raise funds, spread the word to friends and family to donate, etc. Enlist new fundraising committee for fall subscriber campaign and related events Bake Sale - coming up soon. Very successful fund-raising effort every year. Could we sell merch or table there? Holiday Market - Dec. 15 at Banatul Folklore Club. Opportunity to raise money for the space, and to create connections with other orgs and individuals in the neighborhood. CSA Tabling - at least 200 ppl come thru every week (or every other week in Winter) to pick up CSA. Natalie estimates 20% are WB regulars, vast majority are not. Great opportunity to table about particular projects from 10 to noon with population of Ridgewood that is not generally involved with Woodbine Social activity / creative discussion idea: What brings us to woodbine specifically? We could be doing what we do in other spaces. Why do we do them at woodbine? What does woodbine offer that other spaces don't have? What is special about working on projects at woodbine? Experimenting with autonomy, non-capitalist organization in a capitalist environment Making use of non-Capitalist resources - gym, yoga, kitchen,... Transcending insularity of Woodbine’s origins A ‘filter’ for acquaintances – meeting strangers who share enough of an affinity to potentially become closer friends/comrades in arms Introduce the Spokescouncil model structure, function, delegates etc. Spoke represents interests of the group, agenda is shared in advance, spoke/delegate relays information usually (doesn't make decisions for the group unless already given that green light by the group), talk about specific issues that affect working groups, discuss solutions, attempt to gain consensus although perfect consensus may not be achieved, can experiment with consent/stand aside/block method. Multiple meetings like this may need to happen for a big issue to come to an acceptable decision fishbowl format v spokes only model Fishbowl format definition: everyone is invited to attend meetings, but only the working group representative(s) speak in the meetings Reasons voiced in favor of fishbowl format: makes process transparent, enables wider participation tho without pressure for everyone to participate, limiting speaking to representatives adds guardrails to meeting time and need for organization, open meetings allow successive representatives to be trained up for the role Reasons voiced against fishbowl: having an open meeting where only certain people are allowed to speak could be “weird” Town hall v spokescouncil v working group assembly “fast-cheap-good: pick 2” in regards to meeting size large assemblies for generating and sharing ideas, but small groups of involved committed energetic people more efficient for addresssing needs How could a spokescouncil work at woodbine? Could be a way for working groups to voice their concerns more effectively to one another, share resources, get help, build stronger inter-group relationships, foster a deeper connection as a community What would count as a spoke? only groups that organize within themselves (like gym)? uses of the space that are consumed or not ‘organized’ in the same way (like yoga, meditation, screenings)? Everything that goes on in the space? Only the most committed users of the space? What are some examples of spokes councils you have been part of? What was good about it? What difficulties did it bring? What is the function of a spokescouncil at woodbine? What do people think a spokescouncil can do for woodbine? What are the concerns people have about being part of a spokescouncil? Are they confused by the model? What questions do they have? What would it take from each of us as individuals to have a healthy, functioning spokescouncil? General vibe check: most people at this meeting are in favor of moving ahead with a spokes council - others are uncertain. What next? Convene small group to plan and organize spokes council Action items: Spokescounil planning chat - Ash is bottomlining, people volunteered to join and will add more folks who couldn't be at the assembly 4

Physical welcome board + calendar - ella, LP already on this, added more folks to the planning chat Calendar of events Deficit / thermometer How the space functions/what we are about/what we do How to get involved and pitch into the reproduction of the physical space Many languages Make kids craft a monthly event - need someone to consistently bottomline for this to happen, Lindsay was interested but didn’t say they would bottomline translations of physical flyers into spanish, polish, arabic, etc. and handing them out Way to get more long standing neighborhood community in the space Woodbine pamphlet - Violet wanted to bottomline this How the space functions/what we are about/what we do How to get involved and pitch into the reproduction of the physical space Many languages Electrical mapping project part 2: - Violet, need more electrical minded folks to help Fundraiser committee - Matt, need more folks to join this chat Working group fundraising - LP made this suggestion, need folks to brainstorm how this could work Can insert fundraising into more working group projects , internalize how they upkeep the space Recurring space supplies order/pickup process: - Maria is already working on this, finance meeting happened to discuss further Grant writers - Alex will share with the writers group to find people Space care task list document and “task tzar” (remind people to do their space cleaning /care tasks) - ella can be tzar but can’t be doing the chores always, Theodora can make the spreadsheet, can consult Aven for how they do it at the gym Programming to bring in more people who are long standing locals and don’t find easily accessible - we all should be thinking about this Kids crafts Local market event similar to what Trans pecos did to bring in folks who are street vendors and other locals, and do other things in the immediate area. Need people who speak spanish to facilitate Collab on an event with the Coptic Church Asylum seeker programming: Quiet hang out hours for asylum seeker guys during days when nothing is happening at the space or use those times to have craft days or movies in french etc. Generally inviting asylum seeker guys to movies, backgammon, dinners etc. if that feels right for them and they can decide if they want to be there or not Free store part 2? Deficit blurb to add to emails, working group chats, instagram - aven is writing one for the gym, can maybe use broadly CSA tabling - opportunity for working groups to fundraise for their expenses, woodbine overhead, and other fundraising - Natalie and Ash are discussing Working Group zines - caterina’s suggestion, we need more people working on this 9/29/24 Agenda for Working Group Assembly, 1-3 pm - 2 hrs Roles: Note taker Timer Stack taker Agenda Wrangler snacks Silly warm up game (toss ball around the room or other ideas) (5 min) Brief Intros (name, pronouns, working group) (5 min) Why are we here today? (5 min) Working group assembly: what is this? Why are we having one? Working group assembly is to get everyone in a working group together to give updates, meet irl, discuss ideas together Introduce agenda outline and roles Operations update/Woodbine overall updates: (20 min) Keeping space clean (10 min) Intro Locations chat and committee Needs: compost, garbage Rat update Electrics update Emphasize the importance, we each have a share in keeping the space clean and well functioning as much as we have a share in enjoying what the space provides for our organizing and community. Who does the dishes in the rev? We do. Ask for people to imagine future projects (i.e electrical mapping) and report them back to someone in locations (ask locations people to raise hands) > this is something we can devote more group brainstorm time to in an actual spokescouncil meeting Finance (5 min) Lease Founding sources Deficit - We operate at a deficit:Spring 2024 Finances - Monthly Deficit: -$1107 Fundraising: events, co-working (5 min)
We also all have a share in helping keep the space open by creatively finding ways to raise funds, spread the word to friends and family to donate, etc. Enlist new fundraising committee for fall subscriber campaign and related events Social activity / creative discussion idea: (10 min) Breakout into small groups: What brings us to woodbine specifically? We could be doing what we do in other spaces. Why do we do them at woodbine? What does woodbine offer that other spaces don't have? What is special about working on projects at woodbine? Report back (5 min) Brief working group updates (2 min each- one person per working group - 30 min total) Working groups: csa, pantry, ff, garden, dinners, research group, screenings, reading group, basement, mushrooms, kids tutoring, gym, library, film, calendar/blurbs, more? Brief Updates Do you need help with a project? How can people plug in to what you are doing? Short break (5 min) Introduce the Spokescouncil model: (1 hour, 15 min) structure, function, delegates etc. (5 min) Spoke represents interests of the group, agenda is shared in advance, spoke/delegate relays information usually (doesn't make decisions for the group unless already given that green light by the group), talk about specific issues that affect working groups, discuss solutions, attempt to gain consensus although perfect consensus may not be achieved, can experiment with consent/stand aside/block method. Multiple meetings like this may need to happen for a big issue to come to an acceptable decision real life examples? fishbowl format v spokes only model Town hall v spokescouncil v working group assembly How could a spokescouncil work at woodbine? Could be a way for working groups to voice their concerns more effectively to one another, share resources, get help, build stronger inter-group relationships, foster a deeper connection as a community Talk about the spokescouncil model in breakout groups of about 5-8 people or so. (20 min) Someone takes notes on the responses. Prepare flyers or big sheet of paper to list these questions. Give groups a big paper and markers to write on. What are some examples of spokes councils you have been part of? What was good about it? What difficulties did it bring? What is the function of a spokescouncil at woodbine? What do people think a spokescouncil can do for woodbine? What are the concerns people have about being part of a spokescouncil? Are they confused by the model? What questions do they have? What would it take from each of us as individuals to have a healthy, functioning spokescouncil? Groups Reportback (30 min, divide time depending on group size but could be like 6 groups, 5 min each) Do people report back by group? Or does someone write the groups thoughts, crumpled up in the middle of the room and someone reads them out loud? Freely Discuss the spokescouncil as a big group - take stack (20 min) Report back: Someone reads back the notes from breakout groups or each breakout group reports back. Big group open discussion What do we do with this spokescouncil discussion? Come back with a proposal? Ask people to prepare for the first one? Empty buffer time (10 min) Invite people to ginnys for a post meeting drink?