Mechanics Minutes Sep 2009

Bike Kitchen Staff Meeting Minutes, September 27, 2009, minutes taken by Tim

Introductions and Scheduling

• Brian - Thu and accounting
• Katie - WFT
• Geoffrey - Wed
• Johnny - Wed
• Angel - board and accounting
• Esther - new, trying Tue night
• John Paul - new, trying Tue nights too with Esther
• Andrew - just took bike mechanic quiz
• Geoff - Tue
• Neil - Tue
• Bric - would like to become a mechanic
• Alon - board
• Tim - IT coordinator
• Charlie - new at BK, hope to help Tue

Brian talks over the calendar. We're lean on Saturdays. He proposes we close Halloween.

Proposal: Staff "Open Hours"

Brian: We have a lot of new mechanics, the mechanic quiz, the mechanic apprentice program

We should have open hours for staff only

• staff get help on stuff
• work to be done around the shop (it's hard to complete things when shop is open)
• distribute mechanic quiz
• will help people get engaged with the organization

Proposal: Brian will run this for the first three months, every Sunday 6-9pm

Alon: the only way things happen at the BK is when someone does it. Concern: risk of poor attendance b/c people don't know about it / what it is, the weekend is tough. Suggestion: express its purpose with focus, not have the purpose spread out too much.

Andrew: what's it for?

Brian: explains that he wants feedback to help focus

Geoff: it's hard to figure out how things work, so this would be a good place to learn -- orientation

Tim: might be hard to get someone to commit to every week, so we could decide at staff meetings who is going to cover it for the next two months.

Esther: make clear it's for strengthening the volunteer base

Brian: Sounds like we're going to go for it, will send an email about it, start next Sunday. From feedback, he'll change name to "staff training open hours", should make clear minimum requirements and make purpose clear, mechanic orientation component good.

Katie: Will provide good structure for new mechanics. Maybe we should make it requirement?

John Paul: What other "projects" would happen at these hours?

Brian: working on your own bike is a great way to learn. Other "work night"-y projects -- these will not be part of the purpose.

Neil: doesn't want to drop the work night aspect of the idea

Brian: thinks that the work night aspect will just happen, without it being promoted

Alon: maybe call it "staff development hours". Becoming staff has been a little hard over the last year or so this proposal is a good middle ground between a formal and informal process for people to get involved

Vote: Yea!

Board Update

Angel: We had an election: had staff doodle, and then board voted to bring on Alon, Jordan, and Amar to board.

What is the role of the board? Board exists b/c it's required by law. Staff really run the organization

Big picture things that the board works on -- help keep the shop on track. They are setting up a meeting for October to define what the board does. Some ideas:

• addressing staffing issues on Saturday
• no class last month
• maybe the board should take on these kinds of issues?
• helping bring people on as staff
• Any thoughts on what the board should do?

Brian: Would help to have regular meetings for the year. Non-board could attend, agenda could be circulated before on email list. Grey area between board and staff is fine.

Charlie: There are a handful of projects that need to happen at the BK -- could the board have a role in defining and prioritizing these things?

Alon: Things only get done at the BK b/c people want to do them, so the board couldn't command. The board only really exists for legal reasons. Everyone knows that staff is the biggest issue -- the board needs to figure out how it can help push things along. Wants the board to do things that are more mission-oriented We had our first 3 homicides of the year in the Mission recently -- our youth program could help a lot with that, but not many people at the BK are involved. The board can look around at the City and how we can help within our mission. The board really doesn't have that much of a time commitment.

Esther: Likes the board looking at the big picture, including community. Youth program growth -- board could really help with this.

Mural Update

Brian gives background: CELLspace originally gave space to BK when it was first starting, so the BK has a long relationship with CELLspace.

Angel: Cell space is across Florida Street from the BK. They have offered us space for a mural. Angel doesn't want a BK billboard, but wants to make a cool bike mural. $600 will be donated by Rickshaw and another donor. Angel asked an artist and got an estimated cost of $3000 - $5000. We have two good proposals for muralists.

Are people excited about the mural? How much are we willing to spend?

Brian: comfortable with giving $2K or $3K

Alon: sense he got was Russel is trying to make it happen, and he was hoping to get funding

Angel: No -- Russell just said -- here's a wall, do what you want

Katie: is this where we want the mural, or do we just feel obligated b/c of our relationship with Cell Space?

Angel: no, just an opportunity if we want

John Paul: nothing is worse than a half-assed mural

Geoffrey: skeptical -- plywood over windows seems temporary

Brian overview: seems somewhat unresolved, so maybe we should bring it back to the mailing list?

Alon: should we proceed unless there is objection?

Angel: the step now to move forward would be to give a budget range that we're comfortable moving forward?

Brian: BLOCKER: is the site suitable? It's over there, not here. It's plywood, not something more permanent

Other Projects Thoughts

Neil: for months he's been requesting tools (ladder, broom, headset-facing tools, etc), and hasn't gotten them,

Geoff: We should have a process for having a flow of tools on hand for to keep us well-stocked

Brian: the squeaky wheel gets the grease -- it's a huge investment to make something like that work. Steven does a good job of announcing ahead of time the monthly order

Geoff: should have a way to communicate what new tools have been bought

John Paul: Tools are used improperly too often but both patrons and staff

Angel: this is a good topic for the staff development Sundays

John Paul: we have way too many mountain bikes, not enough road frames

Alon: We already have a process for dealing with this: bike should be tagged when they come in, and then should be thrown away if they've been here for too long.

Neil: we need clear processes for how to handle stuff in the shop (tools, parts, etc). We sign people up for earn-a-bike, but we often don't have the parts necessary on hand.

John Paul: we should improve the way we get bikes and parts, b/c a lot of the parts we have in the shop are really worn.

Alon: It may just be the nature of the Bike Kitchen for things to be informal -- if you want something done, take responsibility to get it done. If there's something you want done, get on the email list, send a proposal to the list, get feedback, then do it.

Charlie: I'll take a crack at the tool project