Mechanics Minutes Mar 2010
Bike Kitchen Staff Meeting Minutes, March 28, 2010, minutes taken by Tim (start through "Bike Parking Update") and John-Paul (BK Yard Sale through end). Meeting was over 2.5 hours, including pizza break.
Contents
Introductions and Scheduling
- Brittany - float / Sat
- Evan - Thu
- Rez - Thu (leaving in a few months, Geoff will take over rag service)
- Ben - Sat
- Jeremiah - Thu
- Geoff - Tue, staff dev
- Tim - occasional Sat
- Marc - Thu
- Mundo - third week at BK, available for Saturdays
- Johan - also new, would like to do Wed + Thu
- Marshall - Sat
- John-Paul - Tue
- Esther - Tue
- Joshua - Tue greeter
- Katie - WTF, could help on Saturdays in a pinch
- Elijah - totally new, would like to help Saturdays
- Jordan - float Thu nights
- Iga - Sat
- Ilana - Wed or Sat, taking over VCC
New Volunteer Cluster Coordinator
Ilana clarifies what Cluster Coordinators are and asks if anyone else is interested in taking on the Volunteer Cluster Coordinator responsibility vacated by the Laurens. Ilana and Ami are going volunteer to do it.
Quorum
Jordan led discussion about establishing a "quorum", or minimum number of staff present at a meeting to vote on something. From discussion, we established that:
- There are about 40 current staff
- People thought that about a quarter of staff (around 10 people) would be a good quorum number, also that those 10 should include at least one representative from each "shift" -- Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, WFT, others "shifts"? Class teachers? Board? Having representatives from each shift would help with continuity across the organization.
- A number of people said we should establish a definition for important items that required a "quorum vote", leaving other things that could be voted on without a quorum. A number of other people said we should have no such distinction because it would be messy -- you can only vote on anything if you have a quorum.
- We agreed to discuss further on the email list
Policy on How to Become Staff
Jordan explained his proposal. There was consensus that we should add a notion of existing staff "vouching" for staff candidates. Jordan's revised proposal:
- Fulfill a staff requirement for three months. This means regularly teaching a class, volunteering at a shift, etc.
- After three months, email the listserv to introduce yourself and announce your request for staff status.
- Your email gets posted at the BK and you now are up for a 2 week review. During this time two people from the shift you've been volunteering must vouch for you.
- If a negative comment comes up, we hash it over at the following meeting, otherwise you become staff.
We unanimously voted to adopt this proposal.
Bike Parking Update
Marc gave us an update on plans for installing bike parking outside the shop. We've gotten permission to take up the bricks and install permanent racks. He and Kearstin feel strongly that we should install U-racks ($140 each for the rack). People gave Marc feedback on the two proposals that he have been circulated on the listserv.
We agreed that we should spend the money to have them professionally installed. There was concern about the rickshaw being able to get out of the shop, and trucks to get in (for moving, repairs). Jeremiah said that one or more racks could be temporarily removable. More people liked option 2 than option 1 (option 2 had racks encompassing our space, with more workstand space than option 1).
Jordan noted that a company will soon open shop across the alley from the BK, so we'll have to stop letting patrons work on bikes all over the alley area.
BK Yard Sale
Jeremiah explained the basic rationale: we have certain items--26" knobby tires, 27" steel rims, cruiser frames--that virtually no one who comes into the shop wants. These pile up until we recycle or landfill them, which is a shame. If we can delay that transition by getting these parts into the hands of people who want them, all the better. This could be something that we do a few times a year.
Geoff supported the idea and suggested that getting such parts to people who want them for a nominal charge does not conflict with our mission. Katie emphasized that outreach beforehand is extremely important; it would be a shame to pile such things up and have no one show up. Virtually everyone agreed with this; it was suggested that we post it on the SFBC calendar, that we email bomb our membership list, that we spread the message to groups beyond "the bike community" as we know it.
The goal, most everyone agreed, is more to get rid of these things without just throwing them out; the amount of money raised isn't that important. Whether we stress that by asking for a donation rather than a fixed price or saying something like "$5 frames, $1 tires" we hadn't decided--but all of these suggestions concurred that we don't want to spend a lot of time assigning specific prices to specific parts.
The logistics we shall sort out shortly. When we shall start tagging bikes, as well as the precise date of the yard sale, shall be determined in committee. Jeremiah and Ilana are on that; anyone who wants to jump on board, talk to them. We also agreed that we should arrange a pickup by "our scrap guy" at the end of said day or the day after, so that we can be done with whatever doesn't sell.
Space, and Growing Pains
This was unsurprisingly a rambling discussion. I will summarize the main points here. First, Ilana pointed out that we have taken renting a second space off of the table for now, in the interest of concentrating on better organizing our existing space. To that point, she suggested reviving the work nights--whether every six weeks, every month or what. These would be the classic free beer, hang out, get your hands dirty, fix up the shop affairs that they used to be, with the idea of keeping the shop from lapsing into the disorder in which it's been for the last few weeks. Several people had proposals or ideas for such reorganization:
- Ben: painting walls/bars to sort bikes
- Josh: greeter triage
- John-Paul: hanging chairs
- Evan: tool bench on wheels for outside
- Ben/Ilana: no-stand-no-wrench policy
Rather than summarize all of them here, since many require proposals or action on the part of their champions, I will simply flag that these should be arriving soon in your inboxes as either projects to start or (at worst) agenda items for the next meeting. Getting the work nights going again underlies several of these. With that in mind, we need to schedule such a night ASAP.
Old Business and Closing Points
Brittany (Sorry if I've mis-spelled) noted that while Saturday has often had four or five mechanics lately, by closing time there may only be one experienced mechanic left in the shop. Help covering the later Saturday shift from some of the more experienced wrenches would be much appreciated.
John-Paul noted that the three-month trial period for selling some "as-is" bikes that was set in December has ended, with little to show for it. Per what we agreed on in December, that program is over; the bikes that are marked for sale should be put in circulation.
Marc reminded us that Sunday Streets is still looking for mechanics volunteers and wants to know if the BK is interested; Ilana noted that such involvement requires at least four people who are willing between them to cover two shifts. Talk to Marc Caswell for more details.
