Thoughts

[Lisa Green]

Hello fellow facilitation members

I appreciate your hard work and commitment. I am glad with our progress...here are some reflections which are far better served within the facilitation team.

Last night I saw yet another challenge presented to the OV community. Boardroom Bobś alcohol proposal was a lesson. This movement is a non violent movement in solidarity with OWS which is about legalizing democracy for the people and elimination of corporate personhood. So Bob might have been well intended but his reference to a boardroom indicated to me that he was proposing yet another very unhealthy exercise that could set a precedence.
 
Last week we began developing a code of conduct (yes Chamness did post it a week ago as he and I had discussed). Why even consider some code of conduct? One reason being to foster a safe and healthy place to build a culture that is based on equality, fairness and respect for the diversity and the unity of our community. One of the consistent points of contention is people bringing alcoholic beverages to the general assembly. Another is certain individuals consistent interruption and domination of the topics, ie controlling the flow of conversation. People that do not frequently attend typically chime in like last night and initially find something formal such as this proposal not necessary. Frankly those that are not consistently involved are not the individuals keeping the group together and addressing the ¨problem children¨ so more discussion is necessary to articulate the reason why a code of conduct would benefit us. It is also not surprising that people would want more clarity about process about how the group would determine who is not upholding the code of conduct, etc.

For instance the reason I wanted Kim to review is because she is the steward of the space we are using. This space is her space based on her contracts and as such we should make sure that individual is involved in these types of proposals not to give her authority to do her own thing (that was just a silly series of comments from dudes which I will attempt forget) but to make sure we are in compliance. 

Additionally I would encourage each of us to refrain from using vulgarity as facilitators and coordinators.  I love to curse myself at times to relieve stress but feel that the general assembly is not the appropriate forum and in fact other words work equally well and are even more meaningful....

--
Lisa Green, Venice Artist
Occupy Venice volunteer
Green Party Co-Coordinator of Los Angeles County
Love is the strongest power in the universe

[mike chamness]

Lisa'a points are well stated. I'll be forwarding a new version of the Code of Conduct that is basically a simple paragraph outlining the intent and values of our movement as they relate to the GA meeting process aka 'providing a safe and civil environment for discussing ideas", etc. It is essentially a mission statement for our process. 

I'll also include a brief sentence re: suggested forum/remediation for complaints & violations. 

And no cursing, dammit. 

Mike

---

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:23:54 -0800
Subject: [ovFacilitation] Thoughts
From: lisaan...@gmail.com
To: occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com

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[William Jackson]

I agree,

 

I thought we had a great GA last night, why?

 

1. Micheal rocked it with a hard block right off and was the only person to stand his ground. Through the process he built his case and "won"  he was right, we would have been breaking our own code of conduct, looked like jackasses to the many new faces there, and given others the excuse to drink during GAs.  Good job Micheal!!

 

2. We passed our first proposal dealing with finances and it was well done.

 

3. We had lots of new and kick ass people that we impressed, and thats important to me, from other occupations, and groups that want to join forces. SO STOKED!!

 

I agree with Lisa completely and shouldn't cus myself even though I REALLY like to!  It would give others to use vulgarities to dominate and push there agenda.  It is not a nonviolent form of speech. lets talk about this next  FWG meeting.

 

Things to address next meeting:

 

I now have the GA process sheet for review to pass around and for the facilitator to follow, the book will be done today and allow better training and reference tools for us as facilitators.

 

I started off a lil loose cause i thought we would be a small crowd, Mistake!  Just as in the kitchen you can never count on a slow lazy night.  We have to understand and discuss the fact that people will trickle in and this makes alot of the Fac job of explaining process and conduct difficult as 1/3 of the people miss it. The visual reference guides will help this.

 

Observation

We jumped right into a proposal and hard block before we even explained the process.  I thought that was awesome and showed our maturity that we could handle something like that and it went very well (my opinion)

 

Matt dicussed with me his frustration at me "stepping up" lately as faciliator too often. I here that and a good point but i will say 

1. Facilitators our chosen from the working group and everyone at the group was asked first before me 
2. Matt has recently been there when i happened to be the Fac, not there when i'm not.

3. Lindsey has been the Fac as much as i have and was last night as well, she did great  as usual but we had gender balance and Molly was shadowing me.

4. The holidays have left us in short supply, i may recommend different people read different parts of the intro.

ex. Molly review the hand signals, Leia read off the code of conduct, I explain the process and flow.  it's simple on the job training and a gateway to get Molly or others to start speaking and practicing in the group. Lets discuss this.

 

Otherwise we rocked it and several people commented on the huge improvements we have made. More to come!
 

[Paul Rizzo]

Group,

 

I would love to help with the fine tuning of the code of conduct, if you guys need someone fresh to bounce things off of.

 

Personally, I would hope we all can agree that Ga's should be free from smoke (any kind) and I would support free from alcohol as well. It is becoming more and more clear that alcohol is a dangerous drug in the bodies of many of us. More and more public functions are becoming alcohol free for that very reason.

 

To put it another way, our GA's our a functioning assembly, not a social gathering. I have a lot of experience in alcohol and drug abuse, and have been clean and sober for years.If anyone would like more information on this topic, I would be more than happy to provide. 

 

Furthermore, If you don't think drugs and alcohol played a huge role in the evaporation of Occupation encampments around the country, you really need to do some re-evaluating. Pot smokers virtually took over the LA encampment; and in cases like Oakland where violence was prevalent, you can be sure that alcohol was an isotope there.

 

This is just my opinion on this one subject, I am totally open to debate on this issue. We are all in different places in our lives, and we all live by our own personal code of conduct, so coming up with one that represents all of us, should take some volleying of points of view.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Paul

[mike chamness]

So here's the new draft of our possible code:

Occupy Venice is vested in providing a safe and open environment for conducting business and discussing ideas. In keeping with the principle of honoring and encouraging responsible and civil debate, we expect attendees to conduct themselves in a respectful manner during GA and WG discussions and to refrain from engaging in disruptive, abusive or violent behavior. We also request that participants avoid using insulting, harassing, or violent language and to cooperate with the accepted meeting procedures and meeting agenda structure. In addition, GA meetings are a drug & alcohol free environment, including medical marijuana. 

Complaints or concerns regarding participant behavior can be forwarded to the Facilitation WG for consideration. If necessary, meetings between concerned members will be convened to address complaints. Remedies to reconcile conduct issues and violations will be at the discretion of the Facilitation WG. 

New comments? 

I'll send a draft to Kim as well for her input. 

Mike

---

From: m_cha...@hotmail.com
To: occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [ovFacilitation] Thoughts
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:47:14 +0000

[William Jackson]

I would like to add in no tabacco, but otherwise groovy.

[Lindsey Jurca]

Looks good to me

I agree on tobacco/smoking cigarettes

[Nestor]

I would change last sentence something along the lines of: GA meetings will always be drug, alcohol and smoke free environemnt (includimg medical cannibus, w or w/o card).

But of course, afterwards it may be okay. Depending what Kim says, what some people do after Occupy L.A. GA is head for the bars.
Nestor L.

--
Sent from my Android phone with GMX Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

mike chamness <m_cha...@hotmail.com> wrote:

So here's the new draft of our possible code: Occupy Venice is vested in providing a safe and open environment for conducting business and discussing ideas. In keeping with the principle of honoring and encouraging responsible and civil debate, we expect attendees to conduct themselves in a respectful manner during GA and WG discussions and to refrain from engaging in disruptive, abusive or violent behavior. We also request that participants avoid using insulting, harassing, or violent language and to cooperate with the accepted meeting procedures and meeting agenda structure. In addition, GA meetings are a drug & alcohol free environment, including medical marijuana. Complaints or concerns regarding participant behavior can be forwarded to the Facilitation WG for consideration. If necessary, meetings between concerned members will be convened to address complaints. Remedies to reconcile conduct issues and violations will be at the discretion of the Facilitation WG. New comments? I'll send a draft to Kim as well for her input. Mike From: m_cha...@hotmail.com To: occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: [ovFacilitation] Thoughts Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:47:14 +0000 Lisa'a points are well stated. I'll be forwarding a new version of the Code of Conduct that is basically a simple paragraph outlining the intent and values of our movement as they relate to the GA meeting process aka 'providing a safe and civil environment for discussing ideas", etc. It is essentially a mission statement for our process. I'll also include a brief sentence re: suggested forum/remediation for complaints & violations. And no cursing, dammit. Mike Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:23:54 -0800 Subject: [ovFacilitation] Thoughts From: lisaan...@gmail.com To: occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com Hello fellow facilitation members I appreciate your hard work and commitment. I am glad with our progress...here are some reflections which are far better served within the facilitation team. Last night I saw yet another challenge presented to the OV community. Boardroom Bobś alcohol proposal was a lesson. This movement is a non violent movement in solidarity with OWS which is about legalizing democracy for the people and elimination of corporate personhood. So Bob might have been well intended but his reference to a boardroom indicated to me that he was proposing yet another very unhealthy exercise that could set a precedence. Last week we began developing a code of conduct (yes Chamness did post it a week ago as he and I had discussed). Why even consider some code of conduct? One reason being to foster a safe and healthy place to build a culture that is based on equality, fairness and respect for the diversity and the unity of our community. One of the consistent points of contention is people bringing alcoholic beverages to the general assembly. Another is certain individuals consistent interruption and domination of the topics, ie controlling the flow of conversation. People that do not frequently attend typically chime in like last night and initially find something formal such as this proposal not necessary. Frankly those that are not consistently involved are not the individuals keeping the group together and addressing the ¨problem children¨ so more discussion is necessary to articulate the reason why a code of conduct would benefit us. It is also not surprising that people would want more clarity about process about how the group would determine who is not upholding the code of conduct, etc. For instance the reason I wanted Kim to review is because she is the steward of the space we are using. This space is her space based on her contracts and as such we should make sure that individual is involved in these types of proposals not to give her authority to do her own thing (that was just a silly series of comments from dudes which I will attempt forget) but to make sure we are in compliance. Additionally I would encourage each of us to refrain from using vulgarity as facilitators and coordinators. I love to curse myself at times to relieve stress but feel that the general assembly is not the appropriate forum and in fact other words work equally well and are even more meaningful.... -- Lisa Green, Venice Artist Occupy Venice volunteer Green Party Co-Coordinator of Los Angeles County Love is the strongest power in the universe -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "occupyveniceFacilitation" group. To post to this group, send email to occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to occupyveniceFacili...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/occupyveniceFacilitation?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "occupyveniceFacilitation" group. To post to this group, send email to occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to occupyveniceFacili...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/occupyveniceFacilitation?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "occupyveniceFacilitation" group. To post to this group, send email to occupyvenice...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to occupyveniceFacili...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/occupyveniceFacilitation?hl=en.

[Paul Rizzo]

Mike,

 

That code of conduct looks great to me. I was wondering why the message that I posted was deleted?

 

Thanks,

 

Paul

2011/12/14 Nestor <nestor...@gmx.com>