Spokescouncil Proposals


Pending Proposals

Proposals that have not been voted upon yet

Accepted Proposals

Proposals that have been voted on and have passed

Accepted Proposals

05/11/2025: Cleaning Proposal for First Meeting

Cleaning Proposal for First Meeting

Ash

Proposal History

Motivation

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Details

Background info

We need a cleaning proposal prompt to send out prior to the first meeting so working groups can practice engaging with crafting proposals in their working groups. I would like to propose we send the proposal prompt only a few larger working groups (that have more impact on the cleanliness of the space) get this proposal to work on in advance

Groups this affects

-working groups to get the cleaning proposal prompt to write their own proposals:

-All working groups will vote on the proposals for first meeting

Work required

Labor that will be needed, initial and ongoing

Individual or group doing labor

-working groups to get the cleaning proposal prompt to write their own proposals:

Money required

none

Accepted Proposals

05/06/2025: Protocols for how new people can join the Woodbine Spokescouncil Planning Working Group

Protocols for how new people can join the Woodbine Spokescouncil Planning Working Group

Person or group submitting

Ash

Proposal History

Motivation

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Details

Background info

Any background info needed to understand function of proposal.

Groups this affects

Working groups

Work required

Showing up to meetings, etc. details outlined in the proposal

Individual or group doing labor

New members if they want to join up

Money required

None

Proposal

A) Protcols for how new people can join the Woodbine Spokescouncil Planning Working Group

Comments

Accepted Proposals

03/01/2025: How meetings are scheduled

How meeting dates are determined

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments

Motivation

To provide the spokes council with a mechanism for determining their next meeting date

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Spokes council meetings will be monthly, at 7pm on the first available Thursday of each month.

Details

Background info

Having meetings at a regular interval will help spokes representatives plan their calendar accordingly.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Ensure that the council is aware of the meeting frequency by announcing it during the first meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting.

Money required

None

Proposals

I propose that spokes council meetings happen every month on the first available Thursday at 7pm.

Update from chat: dates will alternate between first Thursday and first Sat of every month (passed in chat vote)

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

LP: 4/5 FOF - I'd maybe like to see alternation between two days based on a broad poll, in order that nobody is permanently blocked from attending. Could also just make a note to try and have a feedback mechanism such that ppl can let us know it's blocking them.

p: 2025 april 7 - here is a rephrasing of the friendly ammendments:

Accepted Proposals

02/26/2025: How to reach out to/invite Spokes to the 1st meeting

How to reach out to/invite Spokes to the 1st meeting

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments: None

Follow up Notes: Revised after January meeting.

Motivation

For a 1st Spokescouncil meeting to happen, we've gotta let the diffuse Working Groups of Woodbine know that it's happening, and get them to send someone(s) to it.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

A subset of the Spokescouncilcouncil should reach out to all of the relevant Working Groups (i.e. groups that meet the "What is a Spoke?" criteria), let them know that a meeting will happen, ask them to send people, and ask them what they'll need to participate.

Details

Background info

Our working list of the Working Groups is here. Not all of these will need a Spoke, based on the approved "Who is a Spoke?" proposal. There is a column in the spreadsheet to indicate which will need a Spoke.

Groups this affects

Spokescouncilcouncil, Working Groups

Work required

  1. Identify whether WGs marked "Not Sure" in the spreadsheet need a Spoke
  2. Set a date for 1st Spokescouncil meeting
  3. Solidify our "What is Spokescouncil" explainer doc + translate it into Spanish (at least)
  4. Prep a set of questions / statements about Spokescouncil to send to all Spokes
  5. Split up the Spokes among Spokescouncilcouncil, and a. For each Spoke, send prepped materials + questions in relevant Signal chat(s) at least 2 weeks before the meeting b. For Spokes without representation in the Spokescouncilcouncil, connect with the Spoke IRL. c. Remind all spokes 1 week before and 1 day before the Spokescouncil meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Frankie + seeking volunteers from Spokescouncilcouncil

Money required

None

Proposals

Part 1: Process

I propose that we follow the steps in the "Work Required" section. In particular, I think it'll be useful to prep uniform comms to send to all Spokes, then divy up the work of reaching out.

Part 2: Key aspects of comms

  1. Comms should be sent to working groups well in advance of proposed spokes date (min 2 weeks)
  2. Comms should tell Spokes a. When meeting will be b. What a Spokescouncil is (or link to an explanation) c. That any members of WG are welcome to attend, in the fishbowl d. What proposal(s) will be discussed at the 1st Spokescouncil e. How to submit proposals to future Spokescouncils
  3. Comms should ask Spokes a. To send 2 Spokespeople (one talking, one listening) to the Spokescouncil meeting b. To identify 2 backup Spokespeople (in case either of 1st two cannot show up) c. What language(s) their WG members are most comfortable speaking, reading, listening? d. Are there members of your WG who would feel comfortable translating between English and another language at a Spokescouncil meeting?
comments (format: commenter name: comment)
Accepted Proposals

02/26/2025: How to reach out to/invite Spokes to the 1st meeting

How to reach out to/invite Spokes to the 1st meeting

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments: None

Follow up Notes: Revised after January meeting.

Motivation

For a 1st Spokescouncil meeting to happen, we've gotta let the diffuse Working Groups of Woodbine know that it's happening, and get them to send someone(s) to it.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

A subset of the Spokescouncilcouncil should reach out to all of the relevant Working Groups (i.e. groups that meet the "What is a Spoke?" criteria), let them know that a meeting will happen, ask them to send people, and ask them what they'll need to participate.

Details

Background info

Our working list of the Working Groups is here. Not all of these will need a Spoke, based on the approved "Who is a Spoke?" proposal. There is a column in the spreadsheet to indicate which will need a Spoke.

Groups this affects

Spokescouncilcouncil, Working Groups

Work required

  1. Identify whether WGs marked "Not Sure" in the spreadsheet need a Spoke
  2. Set a date for 1st Spokescouncil meeting
  3. Solidify our "What is Spokescouncil" explainer doc + translate it into Spanish (at least)
  4. Prep a set of questions / statements about Spokescouncil to send to all Spokes
  5. Split up the Spokes among Spokescouncilcouncil, and a. For each Spoke, send prepped materials + questions in relevant Signal chat(s) at least 2 weeks before the meeting b. For Spokes without representation in the Spokescouncilcouncil, connect with the Spoke IRL. c. Remind all spokes 1 week before and 1 day before the Spokescouncil meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Frankie + seeking volunteers from Spokescouncilcouncil

Money required

None

Proposals

Part 1: Process

I propose that we follow the steps in the "Work Required" section. In particular, I think it'll be useful to prep uniform comms to send to all Spokes, then divy up the work of reaching out.

Part 2: Key aspects of comms

  1. Comms should be sent to working groups well in advance of proposed spokes date (min 2 weeks)
  2. Comms should tell Spokes a. When meeting will be b. What a Spokescouncil is (or link to an explanation) c. That any members of WG are welcome to attend, in the fishbowl d. What proposal(s) will be discussed at the 1st Spokescouncil e. How to submit proposals to future Spokescouncils
  3. Comms should ask Spokes a. To send 2 Spokespeople (one talking, one listening) to the Spokescouncil meeting b. To identify 2 backup Spokespeople (in case either of 1st two cannot show up) c. What language(s) their WG members are most comfortable speaking, reading, listening? d. Are there members of your WG who would feel comfortable translating between English and another language at a Spokescouncil meeting?
comments (format: commenter name: comment)
Accepted Proposals

2/6/2025: First Spokescouncil Agenda

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Friendly ammendments:

Motivation

I believe that an effective Spokescouncil meeting must have an agenda that creates a container for great conversations to happen.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Details

Background info

Groups this affects

All Spokescouncil attendees, WGs.

Work required

  1. This agenda assumes that Facilitator(s) exist who are not functioning as spokes. They will help keep time and steer the conversation
  2. Some agenda items assume that Greeter(s) exist who help people get settled in the meeting and ask/answer questions.
  3. The agenda also presumes that some materials exist and are distributed. We'll need to get these:
    • paper for exit slips
    • name tags
    • printed versions of the agenda (ideally, translated)

Individual or group doing labor

Frankie + seeking volunteers

Money required

Does it cost anything? TODO: come back once costs are established

Proposals

The following is a proposed agenda. Each item functions somewhat independently. We can discuss re-ordering or adding/dropping chunks. I propose that the whole thing last no more than 1.5 hours, including breaks. So the group can discuss how to form an agenda from these building blocks.

Agenda (~90 mins)

Greeting

When folks arrive, they should be received by greeters who will:

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

All attendees form small groups of N (maybe 4?), ideally with people they don't know. In small groups, attendees:

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

This agenda item provides the opportunity for everyone at the meeting to speak, not just Spokespeople. This gives non-Spokespeople a way to make themselves heard as individuals. Builds relationships across individuals in different Spokes, and hopefully reveals some common values/motivations across Spokes.

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.

I think this would be a good way to start the meeting, since it creates a "soft start" if people show up late. They can arrive and find a small group, rather than disrupting a meaty topic.

Working Groups Assemble (10 mins)

Attendees gather with their working groups to say hi to each other, review the proposals that will be discussed at the spokescouncil meeting, make sure that speaking delegate and notetaking delegate are selected and up to speed.

Gathering Paradise (2 mins)

During check in, Greeters ask attendees whether the WG(s) they represent have upcoming events, requests for help, or offers of resources to shout out (e.g. "On Wedneday Feb 5 at 3pm, Food Pantry is giving away bonbons.") Greeters coallate these into a list.

During the meeting, of the Facilitators reads off these shout-outs in chronological order, pointing out the relevant Spoke/WG with whom people can follow up if interested. To keep it tight, Facilitators limit this to 2 minutes at most. Events that come later chronologically may not be mentioned aloud. The list of gathered items can be posted after the meeting for folks to peruse asynchronously.

While this arguably isn't the most "efficient" way to disseminate information about upcoming events, the goal is to create a felt sense of all of the cool things that happen at Woodbine, and help people see that Woodbine is many things / groups have lots of orthogonal stuff going on.

Having events gathered by Greeters and all read off by one Facilitator helps limit excessive yapping by eager WG participants. Everybody wants to talk for 5 minutes about their own event. The goal is instead to quickly summarize a bunch of events.

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)

Facilitators explain what a Spokescouncil is in concept.

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

Facilitators explain useful hand signals:

Facilitators take questions from all attendees about how the meeting will work.

Directorship Speaks! (10mins)

Directors introduce themselves, talk about how they relate to Woodbine.

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

The Spokesperson of the Spokescouncil Planning Spoke shares information about how and why the Spokescouncil has formed, addressing the questions:

Break (5 mins)

Discussion: Cleaning Project Proposal (30 mins)

TODO --> FILL IN DETAILS FOR CLEANING PROPOSAL HERE

Explanation: How to make a proposal (10 mins)

Someone explains how to make proposals. The most important thing to communicate is:

The goal is not to clear up everyone's questions about how to write proposals, but rather introduce the idea that people can write proposals, and provoke questions that can be answered outside the Spokecouncil meeting itself.

Closing: Summary + Next Steps (10 mins)

Facilitators summarize decision(s) or action items from the Cleaning Proposal. They shout out what attendees can expect to happen next, for instance:

Exit tickets

Facilitators encourage attendees to fill in their exit ticket (given to them by greeters on entry) and put them in a box by the door as they leave.

Exit ticket questions

On a scale 1-5 where 1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree:

What did you like about this Spokescouncil meeting?

What can be improved for the next Spokescouncil meeting?

Anything else you want the Spokescouncil Planning WG to know?

Comments

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: How to prioritize submitted proposals

Post-Vote Overview

 Proposals are submitted by some deadline before a given Spokescouncil meeting. Between that deadline and the Spokescouncil meeting, Spokes review proposals and indicate which ones they think are the most important to discuss.

How to Prioritize Submitted Proposals

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments:

Motivation

To make the Spokescouncil truly participatory, Spokes must have a way to introduce proposals and prioritize which proposals get discussed. Creating a structured and transparent process for prioritizing proposals will help the Spokescouncil discuss the things most important to the various Spokes.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Proposals are submitted by some deadline before a given Spokescouncil meeting. Between that deadline and the Spokescouncil meeting, Spokes review proposals and indicate which ones they think are the most important to discuss.

Details

Background info

Groups this affects

All Spokescouncil participants

Work required

  1. Set a clear deadline for proposals to be submitted
  2. Create + maintain a way for Spokes to indicate their priorities
  3. Ask + remind Spokes to indicate their priorities
  4. Announce the selected proposals

Some work will vary depending on which flavor of proposal is selected below.

Individual or group doing labor

Volunteers from Spokescouncil Planning group

Money required

Probably free (?)

Proposals

First, I'll propose the outline of the process. Then there are different flavors below suggesting different methods for carrying out the process. We can choose between flavors, or combine them.

The process:

  1. People submit proposals for a given Spokescouncil meeting before a deadline
  2. Once the deadline arrives, Spokes review proposals and decide which N (probably 3) proposals they want to prioritize discussing
    • Note: The Spoke is not deciding which N proposals they support. They are deciding which they want to discuss.
  3. Spokes share their priorities with the broader Spokescouncil
  4. The top N most prioritized proposals are the ones that will be discussed at the next Spokescouncil meeting. These are announced to all Spokes before the meeting.
  5. Between announcement and the meeting, Spokes can discuss the prioritized proposals among themselves. Spokespeople can come to the next meeting with synthetized decisions or questions from their Spokes.

A) Spokes submit preferences via Google Form (or equivalent non-Google form)

  1. Spokes submit the form, indicating which Spoke they are and which proposals they are prioritizing.
    • Proposals are listed in a multi-select in the form; submitter can only choose N
    • If two people independently submit for the same Spoke, Spokescouncil Planning Group reaches out to the Spoke, sorts it out.
  2. Results are visible to any / all participants (not just Spokespeople or the Spokescouncil Planning Group)
  3. After the prioritization period ends, Spokescouncil Planning Group announces the proposals that will be discussed in the Signal group for Spokescouncil stuff

B) Spokescouncil Planning Group solicits preferences via Signal

Members of Spokescouncil Planning Group ask individual Spokes for their preferences. They tabulate most-prioritized proposals privately, then announce the results in the Signal group for Spokescouncil stuff

C) Spokes submit preferences in person at Woodbine before Spokescouncil meeting

We have some sort of ballot box where Spokes can submit paper slips indicating their Spoke + preferences. Spokescouncil planning group looks through the results after the prioritization deadline and announces the selected proposals before the next Spokescouncil meeting.

D) Spokes submit preferences in person at the beginning of the Spokescouncil meeting

Spokespeople come to the Spokescouncil meeting ready to relay which proposals their Spoke selected. During the Spokescouncil meeting, facilitators count up the votes and then move to discussion of the most-prioritized proposals.

Comments

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: How to post agenda items

Post-Vote Overview

A wall of woodbine will be dedicated to posting proposals. Any member of woodbine may post a proposal following the proposal template. (Printers are available on site.) The proposal remains on the wall for up to three months, at which point it is taken down. If it is elevated to being an agenda item, it is also taken down after the meeting.

How to post a Proposal

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments:

Motivation

To provide the woodbine membership with a mechanism for posting proposals

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

A wall of woodbine will be dedicated to posting proposals. Any member of woodbine may post a proposal following the proposal template. (Printers are available on site.) The proposal remains on the wall for up to three months, at which point it is taken down. If it is elevated to being an agenda item, it is also taken down after the meeting.

Details

Background info

We need a centralized place for woodbine membership to find and review proposals. Since participation at woodbine necessitates being physically present on occasion, having proposals on a highly visible wall will give all members an opportunity to encounter the proposals. By physically displaying them, we also make the participatory nature of the spokes council visible to anyone walking by. Beyond these reasons, I was unable to find an online platform that both allowed users to post proposals and prioritize them.

Groups this affects

Woodbine membership

Work required

  1. Find an appropriate wall for the proposals
  2. Create and post a banner over the wall proclaiming "Spokes Council Proposals"
  3. Create and post an explainer sheet beside the wall. The explainer should briefly summarize how proposals are made, link users to the proposal template, and provide instructions for connecting to the printer
  4. Demarcate the wall with tape (or something similar)
  5. Hang a pen and some take from a string beside the wall
  6. Ongoing: take down proposals that are 3+ months old or have already been elevated to agenda items

Individual or group doing labor

briar will prepare the wall and table, though if anyone has graphic design experience, your help would make the banner and explainer sheet more visually appealing. all members have the authority to remove outdated proposals.

Money required

minimal money for supplies. briar will cover those costs

Proposals

I propose that we designate highly visible wall space at woodbine to post proposals. Anyone who is a member of a woodbine working group may post a proposal. Proposals must adhere to the proposal template. The proposal remains on the wall for up to three months, at which point it is taken down. If it is elevated to being an agenda item, it is also taken down after the meeting.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)
Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: Communicating outside of meetings

How spokes communicate outside of meetings

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments:

Motivation

To provide the spokes council with a means to discuss proposals outside of meetings, as well as to disseminate announcements to the larger body of the Woodbine membership.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Two Signal chats will be created: 1) Woodbine Spokes Council Announcements, 2) Woodbine Spokes Council Chat. The first is purely for announcements (such as which proposals passed) and meant to be consumed by the entirety of the Woodbine membership. The latter is a chat for freeform discussion about upcoming proposals.

Details

Background info

To keep meetings moving quickly, we need a place for spokes representatives to discuss proposals before the meeting even starts. In addition, we need a way to keep the entirety of the Woodbine membership on the same page. These two chats will fulfill those functions.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Create the 'Woodbine Spokes Council Announcements' Signal group and assign several members to administer it. Restrict messages to only the administrators.
  2. Create the 'Woodbine Spokes Council Chat' Signal group and assign several members to administer it. Anyone can post in this chat.
  3. Ongoing: Announcements chat administrators must follow up after meetings by consulting the meeting notes and share with the chat the outcome of the various agenda items.
  4. Ongoing: people in the Announcements chat should invite new Woodbine members to join the chat.
  5. Ongoing: after a spokes rep completes their term, they must invite the next rep to the Council Chat. They may choose to exit the chat at this point, though that is not required.

Individual or group doing labor

  1. I will create both chats and invite Ash, Frank, Paul, Ella, LP, Andrew, and Iris to be admins
  2. Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting should announce the two chats at the first council and get everyone present to join the two chats.
  3. The note-taker at each council meeting should message one of the Announcements administrators and send them the notes.
  4. The Announcements administrator must forward the outcome of all agenda items to the Announcements group.
  5. Spokes representatives must invite the incoming reps to the Chat group and invite new members of their working group to the Announcements chat

Money required

None

Proposals

Proposal #1: The Woodbine Spokes Council Announcements group

I propose that we form a Signal group called 'Woodbine Spokes Council Announcements,' which will be a platform through which the spokes council can communicate with the entirety of the Woodbine body. While everyone will have view access, only administrators will be allowed to send messages. New administrators can be voted in during a spokes council following the standard proposal process, and initial admins will include Ash, Frank, Paul, Ella, LP, Andrew, and Iris. Council note-takers are responsible for sending a link to the notes to one of the administrators, and that admin is responsible for forwarding the outcome of all agenda items to the group. Spokes representatives are responsible for inviting new working group members into the chat.

Proposal #2: The Woodbine Spokes Council Chat'group

I propose that we form a Signal group called 'Woodbine Spokes Council Chat',' which will be a platform through which the spokes reps can communicate prior to a meeting. Everyone will have both view access and the ability to send messages. Initial admins will include Ash, Frank, Paul, Ella, LP, Andrew, and Iris, though additional admins can be voted in via the group chat with 5+ thumbs up. After their terms, spokes representatives are responsible for inviting the new rep into the chat. Any member of a woodbine working group can join the chat, regardless of whether they are, have been, or will be a rep.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Ash: I like this idea. Seems a very simple and robust way to begin. To make sure we are embodying non-hiearchical values, we can caveat when we introduce the chats and the protocols to the wider group that the chats and their administration are open to changes via proposals, as anything else would be.

I have a question about this part: "After their terms, spokes representatives are responsible for inviting the new rep into the chat." Are we, as admin, only inviting the first round of delegates? Or are we adding everyone who is invited to the spokescouncil via a flyer?

briar: as admins, we need to ensure that the first round of delegates join, but anyone else is welcome to join too.

frankie: i like the idea of these chats! perhpas QR codes to join them can be posted in our glorious proposals area in Woodbine (as suggested in the other proposal)

LP: I'd like to consider condensing some of these various roles we're developing if possible? Again, in basement we had: Agenda wrangling, Meeting page posting, and Invites were one person, like "Convener." Might be

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: Meeting Length

How long are meetings

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Motivation

To provide the spokes council with consistent and sustainable time constraints for their meeting

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Spokes council meetings will be capped at 2.5 hours, with the option to extend them through full consensus. The first half hour is non-mandatory social time.

Details

Background info

Meetings can be exhuasting and people's lives are often tightly scheduled. By capping the meeting time, we can help protect spoke representatives' time.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Ensure that the council is aware of the meeting time limit by announcing it during the first meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting.

Money required

None

Proposals

I propose that spokes council meetings are capped at 2.5 hours, with the option to extend them through full consensus. Even with consensus, if reps leave and the council falls below quorom, further proposals cannot be voted on. The first half hour is non-mandatory social time, but the main part of the meeting starts promptly afterwards regardless of if attendees are late.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Ash: Yes! Meeting harm reduction. We can always have a folow up meeting before one month elapses if we need to.

Might be nice to have 30 min prior to the start of the meeting for people to mingle and the hard start and end of the meeting is 2 hrs long, if you aren't there on time, we start without you.

briar: addressed

frankie: i propose a 1.5 hour long meeting agenda with a soft start in the 1st agenda proposal. i'm open to extending the meeting to 2 hours with a soft start, if we think that much time is needed/beneficial for the first meeting. all in all, i strongly agree that pre-deciding a meeting length cap is helpful for managing burnout and wrangling agenda items.

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: Deciding Meeting Roles

Post-Vote Overview

At the beginning of the meeting, spokes representatives can volunteer to fill a meeting role. Any other spokes representative has the power to veto someone taking a role, though that can be overturned with consensus - 2.

How meeting roles get decided

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments

Motivation

To provide the spokes council with a mechanism for deciding on meeting roles

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

Spokes representatives can fill roles by volunteering for them at the start of a meeting. Suggested roles include facilitator, note-taker, stack, vibes, and time-keeper.

Details

Background info

Meeting roles can help provide structure to the meeting, ensuring that someone present is attending to important tasks such taking notes.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Ensure that the council is aware of the role-taking process by announcing and then demonstrating it during the first meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting.

Money required

None

Proposals

I propose that at the beginning of a spokes council meeting, spokes representatives can volunteer to fill a meeting role. Any other spokes representative has the power to veto someone taking a role, though that can be overturned with consensus - 2.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Ash: seems good to me. If the roles are always being filled by the usual suspects, we will have to address that via training people to get them more confident (esp facilitation) and encouraging people to sign up and even collaborate on a role if it's intimidating.

briar: definitely agree, though i don't think we need to outline that in the proposal itself so much encourage that as a culture

frankie: i have a blocking concern with this proposal: i think that for a meeting of this size, we'd benefit from folks attending solely to fulfill these roles. that is, members of the Woodbine community who come to the meeting not as Spokes, but just as facilitator, timekeeper, etc. this way, folks don't have to juggle representing their Spoke with wrangling a potentially very large meeting. we can call for volunteers for the next meeting at the end of the current meeting

LP: 3/5 fist-to-five/non-blocking - I think before is good, just to be prepped. In basement, we experimented with one person being a role for a month of weekly meetings. Seemed to work ok-ish. Not sure how that works with spokes sched.

LP: If we like the idea of action-item wrangling, that could serve also as a note-taking shadower. I like the idea of a "skill development pipeline."

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: Style of Consensus

Post-Vote Overview

Consensus - 2, with the exception of liability concerns, voluntasking individuals or groups, and telling groups how to perform their roles which have the power to block proposals

Style of consensus

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly ammendments:

Motivation

To provide the spokes council with a mechanism for making decisions together

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

In order for a proposal to pass, it must reach consensus minus two. In other words, all spokes representatives present at the meeting must agree, with the exception of up to two dissenters.

Details

Background info

To learn more about consensus, read this book.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Ensure that the council is aware of the consensus -2 process by announcing it during the first meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting.

Money required

None

Proposals

I propose that the spokes council has the authority to make decisions if the proposal can achieve consensus - 2, with the exception of liability concerns, voluntasking individuals or groups, and telling groups how to perform their roles which have the power to block proposals

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Ash: Lol, i'm being pedantic but PG's book is only 75 pages long including appendix. That is not long for a book. It's easy to read and calling it long may discourage people from reading!

Ash: We can also refer to PG's "Consensus" book and use it as a reference to present a basic pros and cons overview of consenus minus two and why we are going with it. the main con is that it can be a fall back rule that allows people to avoid conflict. We can use consensus minus two but with the understanding that blocks warrant dicussion and people should feel encouraged to engage in conflictual discussion. if it comes up over and over this needs to be addressed by the spokes council.

Briar: fair lol i was definitely being a bit of a troll. i removed the "very long"

Frankie: ✅ I think consensus minus 2 is a decent place to start. "Good enough for now, safe enough to try". I don't have strong opinions about whether it'll be the best approach long term. Honestly, I think seeing the Spokescouncil operate will inform my opinion on it (and probably others' too). This can always be revisited in a subsequent proposal as needed.

Accepted Proposals

02/06/2025: Quorum

Person or group submitting

Briar

Proposal History

Friendly Ammendments

Motivation

To ensure that enough spokes representatives are present to avoid decisions being made that do not reflect the overall interests of the council and its spokes

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

At least 5 spokes representatives must be present at a council meeting in order for the council to make decisions. If fewer than 5 are present, the council can still convene to discuss matters, but cannot make decisions.

Details

Background info

According to initial research by Frank, we have 12 initial spokes with another 15 potentially meeting spoke criteria.

Groups this affects

Spokes council

Work required

  1. Ensure that the council is aware of quorum by announcing it during the first meeting

Individual or group doing labor

Whoever is representing the spokecouncilcouncil at the first meeting.

Money required

None

Proposals

I propose that spokes council meetings require a quorum of at least 5 spokes representatives to have the authority to vote on proposals. If a working group cannot send a representative to the meeting but an agenda item will heavily effect their group, they can postpone it to the next meeting.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Ash: this makes sense in general. one catch i see is, if there is a proposal that affects heavily or is put forward by a specific WG that isn't present, it makes less sense to push it through or reject it even if we have quorum. if that WG's reps arent there that meeting, imo, that should warrant pushing the passing of the proposal back until that WG can be represented at the spokescouncil or finding an asynchronous way to move it along.

briar: makes sense. i revised the proposal to giving absentee wgs the choice to block proposals that effect them

frankie: this seems to me like a reasonable place to start. quorum might get reevaluated as the Spokescouncil meets and takes on more consequential decisions, and i think that's ok.

Accepted Proposals

01/13/2024: How to format a Proposal

Person or group submitting

LP

Proposal History

Motivation

A template prompts the writer to answer some baseline questions.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

This template appears to cover some good basic points.

Details

Background info

I'm bureacratic and like organization I guess.

Groups this affects

All

Work required

Template has been created. Could be made easier to use.

Individual or group doing labor

LP+?

Money required

No

Proposals

See template here: https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template

Accepted Proposals

01/13/2024: Who is a Spoke?

A Spoke is a group of 5 or more people who self-identify as having a stake in Woodbine (the space) or Woodbine (the concept) and a common goal/reason to collaborate amongst themselves

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Motivation

We need to figure out what the spokes are.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

This describes and defines a spoke based on member participation.

Details

Background info

We need to determine what a spoke is.

Groups this affects

All

Work required

Documentation

Individual or group doing labor

LP?

Money required

No

Proposals

Accepted Proposals

01/13/2024: How to Announce a Proposal

How to Announce a Proposal

  1. hang proposal physically in the space
  2. post somewhere linkable
  3. send to all groups via groupchats

Accepted Proposals

12/13/2024: Who from the spokescouncilcouncil should attend the 1st spokes meeting? And how should they participate?

Who from the spokescouncilcouncil should attend the 1st spokes meeting? And how should they participate? Paul, created 12/13/24, date approved/rejected/edited: TBD

Proposal is that the meeting should be open to all to observe. People who have been involved with the spokescouncil planning group are encouraged to attend-- especially if they plan to stick around in the possible "spokes research group" that could keep meeting as the council actually comes into being, but they should not have any special role in the spokescouncil meeting and should participate as any other member of a working group. I feel like there's still some confusion about what we've been doing as a planning group, especially since the MOUs popped up. I think showing that we don't hold privileged positions in this new structure would help build trust.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Accepted Proposals

12/13/2024: How often should the spokescouncil meet?

How often should the spokescouncil meet?

Proposal is to meet monthly. Meeing biweekly may lead to burnout. We could send out one poll to the spokes signal group to set rotating monthly meetings for the first round to minimize the time spent on creating and filling out polls.

Accepted Proposals

12/08/2024: Spokescouncil Signal Group Policy

Spokescouncil Signal Group Policy

Person or group submitting

Frankie

Proposal History

Motivation

Once the Spokescouncil meets for the 1st time, things will probably come up that need to be circulated among Spokes. For example, circulating a link to some resource that a Spoke agrees to provide during the meeting. We should have a plan for setting up this type of Signal chat.

Proposal overview slightly less tiny summary here

I propose that the Woodbine Spokescouncil itself should decide on an initial Signal group structure. The Spokescouncil Working Group can use existing Signal chats to contact Working Groups and initiate the first Spokescouncil meeting. During the meeting, the Spokescouncil can identify a way of maintaining async communication, if one is necessary. I don't think deciding this in advance is a precondition for a successful 1st Spokescouncil meeting.

Details

Background info

Woodbine primarily uses Signal to async organize today. It seems like folks are largely comfortable using the platform.

Groups this affects

All

Work required

1.None right now 2. Submit a proposal to the 1st Spokescouncil meeting about forming a Signal chat version of the Spokescouncil 3. Create a Signal chat that includes the Spokesperson(s) from each Spoke who attend

Individual or group doing labor

Money required

None

Proposals

Defer decision on chat policy for the Spokes

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

== Proposal for the "Spokescouncil Fishbowl Chat" == This chat exists in order to facilitate inter-WG communication between all the various working groups at WB, while keeping intra-WG conversation to other channels. Anyone is free to join and view, but only the designated spokesperson(s?) for each working group is able to post.

Things that make sense to post in this chat:

  1. Working out when the next meeting should be
  2. Announcing that you are proposing something for discussion at the next council meeting, ideally with a link to the proposal write up
  3. Announcements that potentially affect all WGs: "there will be no power in the building until tomorrow afternoon", "the door code is about to change".
  4. A question that a working group has where it's unclear who to direct the question to.
  5. ... ?
Accepted Proposals

12/8/2024: Woodbine Points of Unity

Woodbine Points of Unity

I propose that the Woodbine Spokescouncil itself should decide on points of unity, if or when the Spokes think it's relevant and necesssary. I don't think it's a precondition for the existence of a functional Spokescouncil. And I think it would benefit the Working Groups of Woodbine to come to this understanding together as a larger body, rather than deciding this as the Spokescouncil Working Group ourselves.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Accepted Proposals

12/08/2024: Spokescouncil Goals

Spokescouncil Goals

I propose that the goals of the Woodbine Spokescouncil should be decided by the Spokescouncil (i.e. by the Working Groups of Woodbine) themselves. The Spokescouncil, as I understand it, is meant to be a mechanism that serves the needs and goals of the various Working Groups. By setting an agenda for a 1st Spokescouncil meeting that helps groups come together and identify what's working and not working at Woodbine today, I believe that appropriate Spokescouncil goals can emerge. I don't think an established set of goals is a precondition for a successful 1st Spokescouncil meeting.

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Proposals That Did Not Pass

Proposals that were voted on but did not pass

Proposals That Did Not Pass

12/8/204: Who is a Spoke?

Who is a Spoke?, Frankie, created: 12/8/24

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Proposals That Did Not Pass

12/04/2025: How to make a proposal

“How to make a proposal”, Violet, 12/4/25

Found some good language on how to make a proposal. Am proposing this as an answer to how to make a proposal, which can come from anyone:

Present Proposal or Issue
When possible and appropriate, proposals ought to be prepared in writing and distributed well in advance of the meeting in which a decision is required. This encourages prior discussion and consideration, helps the presenter anticipate concerns, minimizes surprises, and involves everyone in creating the proposal. (If the necessary groundwork has not been done, the wisest choice might be to send the proposal to committee. Proposal writing is difficult to accomplish in a large group. The committee would develop the proposal for consideration at a later time.) The presenter reads the written proposal aloud, provides background information, and states clearly its benefits and reasons for adoption, including addressing any existing concerns. (basically the food co-op method LP shared

Currently I’m thinking the express purpose/method of the spokescouncil should be to create cohesion between all of the working groups within the space and to be a means of facilitating decision-making being made by the “at-large membership” of Woodbine.

I found this to be a compelling argument against consensus, addresses a lot of concerns people have of small influences blocking functioning of the council. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/andrew-flood-a-practical-guide-to-anarchist-organisation#toc61

Two quotes from above in the text that support this argument “In working out a libertarian concept of organization, we need to remember that the individual members not only have rights that must be respected by the organization, they also have obligations to the rest of the membership. Since the majority have the right to control their own organization, individuals must conduct themselves so as to respect this right of the majority.”

“The idea is that the main decision-making responsibility of the organization is not to be delegated to some “steering committee” or executive but is conducted directly by the membership through their own discussions and votes; this is the heart of the libertarian concept of organization.”

I think a sort of synthesis of consensus and voting could work well. Consensus works well for small groups with a cohesive purpose; the working groups of woodbine have many purposes but possibility of common ideals. if we take the elements of proposal making and reworking from the consensus process, i.e. giving everyone an opportunity to have input but removing blocking power and even the potential for a small united minority to sabotage decision-making. after an established time period the spokescouncil will take proposal with suggestions and rework into a new coherent proposal to be voted on by everyone. votes can be tallied in a transparent manner through thumbs up/thumbs down reacts in group chats and then added to a google sheet accessible by all but only editable by spokescouncil. in the case of urgent issues the spokescouncil should be empowered to decide within group chat or emergency meeting with availability for feedback from wider membership later.

So for example:

Non-urgent: there is a proposal that any group that eats food during their meeting must clean the area when their meeting is finished. if you sit on couches then vacuum couches and rug. if you sit at tables then wipe down tables and sweep underneath them. make sure all food waste and other waste go into proper receptacles. if it is a trash night please help take out trash. > two weeks have gone by and suggestions are made > spokescouncil disseminates to their working groups > groups vote > votes are tallied and proposal is implemented if passed or retooled and re-presented if failed

Urgent: refrigerator stops working and an obvious fix can’t be determined by folks on site> spokescouncil votes to call electrician > after the fact there is feedback that skilled individuals in working groups could have fixed instead > proposal is made to form a repairs working group that can be tapped in case of future technical issues to save money

people would have to declare what group they vote in or something like that to not have redundant/extra votes. it might be more efficient to put decision making power more firmly in the hands of the council with the possibility for feedback from wb at large. proposal posting ahead of spokes meetings would ensure transparency and allow time for feedback. it depends on how much we want to empower individuals and how much we think the people who show up to woodbine want to run it. concentric circle structure can mitigate some of that, for example the strength collective votes on space proposals rather than the whole strength community, but that isn’t moving toward the broadest sense of autonomy and community involvement imo

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

  • Ash: I agree with non-consenus model. From the linked text “The structural requirement of unanimity puts pressure on the majority to placate small minorities in order to accomplish something. Often this leads to decisions that paper over disagreements and leave everyone dissatisfied.” This is super important to remember imo. Even in smaller group interactions in the space, we are ideally striking a balance b/w supporting minority voices that are valid (especially when we are attempting to correct structural bias like racism and misoginy) but also to make sure we are not being hamstrung by a small group or even one person’s voice overriding the group moving forward. anarchists are often way too nice (because we want to see everyone as acting in good faith and want to be sensitive to our own biases)! sometimes people are assholes and bad faith actors and no one has a right to take over a discussion and it’s ok for people to call that out. Something to consider as a group is we can ask ourselves if

    1. if the minority voice is bringing up something the rest didn’t consider but most people see as needing to be adressed
    2. the minority voice is representing bad faith intentions to stall or distract people from moving forward
    3. it’s a good faith disagreement that most of the group doesn’t concur with.

    The response to

    1. is to reconsider the issue and draft a new proposal.
    2. there should be some way to publicly call this bad faith or distraction out and move forward. if
    3. ackowledge and reiterate the shared value of non-consensus and why we have that value and move forward with respect for that person’s dissent. Conflict support skills might become very important in the case of 2. and 3. and we should be ready to offer that pro-actively.

  • Ash: I am a little confused about how the mixture of consensus and voting ideas would happen in reality and how the signal chat would be involved. This feels like we need to dig into this irl in the meeting and talk through how this would work and weigh it against other methods including the “Proposal is passed if consensus minus 2”. is this the very basic method we use to pass a proposal to start? I wonder if we can develop more complex systems as we go along and face the problems this will bring up v. overwhelming ppl with a complex process



Proposals That Did Not Pass

12/2/2025: Who is a Spoke

“Who is a Spoke”, Briar, 12/2/25

This is based on what I heard people saying during our last meeting. If you have amendments you’d like to make, please feel free to do so in the chat prior to the meeting.

I propose that all current working groups at Woodbine become spokes. If new working groups are formed, they can become spokes with the approval of the spokes council. The current working groups include: operations, location, programming, finance, gym, mycology, basement, pantry, research group, yoga, film screening, meditation, dinner, gardening, fundraising, writers workshop, food fight, Tuesday night reading group, and screen printing.

We may want to add something about how each spoke representative must be voted into that position by their respective group

We may also want to consider the amount of influence that any given individual could exercise with the proposed spokes. We need consensus minus 2 to pass proposals. Is there any concern that with the listed working groups, a highly involved individual might be able to influence 3 or more spokes

comments (format: commenter name: comment)

Proposals That Did Not Pass

Spokes proposal - meeting schedule

Spokes proposal - meeting schedule - LP

Motivation

Proposal: Change spokes meeting schedule to one of the following processes, or don’t, and stay with what we have.

Details

Plenum vs klatch

Plenum: An assembly or meeting with all members present.
Could just call a general meeting, all-hands meeting, full meeting.

Klatch: An informal group that gathers more or less frequently, especially for conversation.
Could just call a get together, meetup…

Groups this affects

Everyone

Work required

General survey, or compiling data from previous surveys
Noting selected day/times in a doc somewhere

Money required

None

Proposals

A, B, C, or none.

A) 1-2-GM bounce

Identify two broadly available time/days in a general survey.
Alternate meetings between those day/times.
Do full surveys for GMs.

A) 1-2-3-GM bounce

Identify three broadly available time/days in a general survey.
Alternate meetings between those day/times.
Do full surveys for GMs.

B) Alternate GMs between survey day/times on a set timing

https://basement.woodbine.nyc/spokes-proposal-template#