HYH Results
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Ryan Mcdermott
Jul 25, 2014, 12:22:13 AM7/25/14
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com
Hey all! We hacked a hackerspace tonight!
Discussions were:
1) Remind each other to communicate about tools that have broken! If you break something, tell the mailing list.
2) Remind each other to be safe when using the tools. No flip flops in the shop area!
We voted on raising Austin's budget. (Tripling it).
This passed with 6 "yay" votes, 3 "nay" votes and 1 abstaining vote.
There was probably more that I'm missing (certainly more details that I'm not covering).
If you were attending and can add to this, do so!
-Ryan
Dan Lubrich
Jul 25, 2014, 3:44:33 AM7/25/14
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com
To add:
1) A number of people favor somewhat stronger action about tools going missing and stuff being broken, for example pointing cameras at the CNC/lathe area and at the LASER and USING these when something has been reported missing or broken by a third party (i.e. not the person who broke or took it). There has been a discussion about putting up signs on each machine with info where to report a malfunction/breakage. People against stronger action seemed to mostly cite that common sense should prevail and no further action is necessary apart form reminding everyone not to break stuff without immediately notifying somebody. At least one person noted that logically, if common sense did prevail, then things would not go walking or machines broken without notification and that this means stronger action is indeed needed.
2) I take blame for the way in which the proposal to triple Austin's budget was handled.
a) Our bylaws mention no HYH at all
b) Our bylaws give full responsibility over financial decision to the board, the members have NO say (this was mentioned during the discussion)
c) Our wiki HYH site mentions that votes on proposals should be taken quickly. Due to my failure to understand this rule, the proposal was discussed at length, with different alternative proposals being offered.
d) On particular item was NOT discussed however, which was if the lab actually has the money to triple Austin' budget for the shop.
e) It seemed a large majority recognized Austin's hard work and need to have adequate funds to do it, however, clearly the revenue side should have been looked at.
f) In any case, since the proposal is financial in nature, and finances are handled exclusively by the board, the vote is a mere petition, it is not binding (this is my opinion after having read the bylaws).
g) Board mentioned that the financial issues are being addressed in order to improve the situation (see also point 4)
My personal recommendation would be to work harder on balancing the need to maintain the shop and lab in general, as well as the stations, i.e. have a reasonably un-burocratic way to make necessary purchases, with fiscal sanity, which means not spending more than we have and properly prioritizing the limited financial resources the lab has. I personally found simply tripling a budget without knowing what the overall budget is, how much comes in, how much flows out, fiscally less than responsible (I wanted to write 'insane' instead of less than responsible, but I am not going to do it, probably because I merely abstained instead of voting nay). As a member I recognize and thank both board members and station heads for their hard work volunteering for what is often cumbersome unpaid work. This is why these people should not be needlessly burdened, either by having to handle lots of proposals from membership, or by not having funds they need and which are in fact available if they were being made available. The current efforts to streamline financial processes, which the board is undertaking, as well as the prospect of possibly having a new temporary treasurer are good signs in this direction. If it makes life easier, I would not be opposed to a group of members volunteering to an additional 10 bucks a month in order to leave the board some breathing space but still give Austin additional funds to run the shop. If enough people agree with this then I would suggest to either have a separate donation box, or use the main donation box and make shop donations in specially marked envelopes. Something along those lines was mentioned in an earlier thread was it not? Thoughts?
3) Another point that was discussed was how to do grant applications. As HSL is represented by the board, not the members, it seemed clear that any formal grant application on behalf of the lab, would have to be signed off by the board. Information requests and information gathering pre-application would not have to be signed off. It was mentioned that this may be a hurdle for those trying to apply for grants. State laws may leave no choice however, the lab, or any company or non-profit has to represented by someone who has that authority.
4) One member offered to volunteer for the position of treasurer. According to our bylaws the board has to vote on a temporary board member position to replace our previous treasurer temporarily. A board member suggested that the board is currently working to ease the load on any future treasurer by automating some things and removing others from his or her area of responsibility.
Apologize for this self-righteous message.
Cheers,
D
1) A number of people favor somewhat stronger action about tools going missing and stuff being broken, for example pointing cameras at the CNC/lathe area and at the LASER and USING these when something has been reported missing or broken by a third party (i.e. not the person who broke or took it). There has been a discussion about putting up signs on each machine with info where to report a malfunction/breakage. People against stronger action seemed to mostly cite that common sense should prevail and no further action is necessary apart form reminding everyone not to break stuff without immediately notifying somebody. At least one person noted that logically, if common sense did prevail, then things would not go walking or machines broken without notification and that this means stronger action is indeed needed.
2) I take blame for the way in which the proposal to triple Austin's budget was handled.
a) Our bylaws mention no HYH at all
b) Our bylaws give full responsibility over financial decision to the board, the members have NO say (this was mentioned during the discussion)
c) Our wiki HYH site mentions that votes on proposals should be taken quickly. Due to my failure to understand this rule, the proposal was discussed at length, with different alternative proposals being offered.
d) On particular item was NOT discussed however, which was if the lab actually has the money to triple Austin' budget for the shop.
e) It seemed a large majority recognized Austin's hard work and need to have adequate funds to do it, however, clearly the revenue side should have been looked at.
f) In any case, since the proposal is financial in nature, and finances are handled exclusively by the board, the vote is a mere petition, it is not binding (this is my opinion after having read the bylaws).
g) Board mentioned that the financial issues are being addressed in order to improve the situation (see also point 4)
My personal recommendation would be to work harder on balancing the need to maintain the shop and lab in general, as well as the stations, i.e. have a reasonably un-burocratic way to make necessary purchases, with fiscal sanity, which means not spending more than we have and properly prioritizing the limited financial resources the lab has. I personally found simply tripling a budget without knowing what the overall budget is, how much comes in, how much flows out, fiscally less than responsible (I wanted to write 'insane' instead of less than responsible, but I am not going to do it, probably because I merely abstained instead of voting nay). As a member I recognize and thank both board members and station heads for their hard work volunteering for what is often cumbersome unpaid work. This is why these people should not be needlessly burdened, either by having to handle lots of proposals from membership, or by not having funds they need and which are in fact available if they were being made available. The current efforts to streamline financial processes, which the board is undertaking, as well as the prospect of possibly having a new temporary treasurer are good signs in this direction. If it makes life easier, I would not be opposed to a group of members volunteering to an additional 10 bucks a month in order to leave the board some breathing space but still give Austin additional funds to run the shop. If enough people agree with this then I would suggest to either have a separate donation box, or use the main donation box and make shop donations in specially marked envelopes. Something along those lines was mentioned in an earlier thread was it not? Thoughts?
3) Another point that was discussed was how to do grant applications. As HSL is represented by the board, not the members, it seemed clear that any formal grant application on behalf of the lab, would have to be signed off by the board. Information requests and information gathering pre-application would not have to be signed off. It was mentioned that this may be a hurdle for those trying to apply for grants. State laws may leave no choice however, the lab, or any company or non-profit has to represented by someone who has that authority.
4) One member offered to volunteer for the position of treasurer. According to our bylaws the board has to vote on a temporary board member position to replace our previous treasurer temporarily. A board member suggested that the board is currently working to ease the load on any future treasurer by automating some things and removing others from his or her area of responsibility.
Apologize for this self-righteous message.
Cheers,
D
S.M.P. Newstead
Apr 22, 2021, 6:38:40 PM4/22/21
to HeatSync Labs
Some people at the lab think that we don't have a quarterly station budget, so I wanted to bump this to demonstrate that we do, in fact, have a station budget and it is in the amount of $450 per quarter. This is in effect until otherwise repealed or modified. If Ryan McDermott would care to clarify in this matter, that would be welcome, as I was not around until 2015.
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