2026-06-13 Spokescouncil Meeting - Jawn

Agenda - prep, review, propose, announce

Preparations

• 10min role call (what would you like to be called, what roles are you representing)
  
• 10min Spokescouncil goal + process review + alignment
• 10min agenda additions / modifications

Review

• Check-in on past proposals (these are both short, we can read them aloud together & discuss how they've been going)
  • https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/proposal-for-bathroom-cleaning-rotation
  • https://wiki.commons.nyc/books/spokescouncil-proposals/page/physical-rc-community-calendar
• Admin group reportbacks
  • Facilities
  • Finance
  • Fundraising
  • Programming & Rentals
  • Tech
  • Outside Comms
• Working group reportbacks
  • Collective Strength
  • Food Pantry
  • Political Education
  • READgewood Youth Tutoring
  • Spokes Planning
  • Sunday Dinner
  • Tech Collective
  • Tuesday Reading Group
  • Writing Workshop
  • Yoga & Meditation
    

Proposals

• New proposals and regular process
  
• Are any working groups wiling to organize the Spokescouncil meeting next month (see work required in the draft proposal here)

Announcements

• Admin group announcements
• Working group announcements
• Any animal announcements

Meeting Notes

> Copied from this google doc on Jun 13, 2026

AGENDA

Attendance:

• Micro

• Myf

• Charli

• Shea

• Caroline

• Dora

What is the role of spokes now?

REPORT BACKS:

• Admin:

  • People a little lost on the role of spokescouncil

• Dora’s finance update:

  • Doing pretty good - Dora and Shea are going to work with Monk Works soon

  • $16.5k in the bank ($361 petty cash)

  • -$3k down because it is the middle of the month. Membership money comes in later. 

  • There is a finance proposals chat Dora made - financial consensus chat - can request up to $300 without a question, but can also ask more. 

  • The expectation is that the groups talk to each other about these expenses and people are on the same page.

    • Dora reports what is requested and spent

• Pantry:

  • Need food through July - been needing to explore other food options

• Yearbook Committee:

  • Have prom on July 24th

• Rat Report back:

  • Charli: The rat walked in here

  • LP: The rat problem was the most expensive experience this space has gone through. We could use a bleach solution. Stuff spilled off the stove.

  • Do we have a rat living in the space? No.

  • No open food or snacks

• Fundraiser update:

  • Bird walk: $690

  • Biking: $542

  • Brunchraiser for tomorrow has been postponed - because the Knicks game - but there will be a new event

• Programming Update:

  • August 22nd Block Party is a street event - not quite approved yet. Waiting on Monk Works to get a COI to get an insurance company. Lots of things…. Shea is on it….

• Basement:

  • Meeting on Tuesday of next week

  • Micro proposal upcoming about the ventilation in the basement!

  • Micro is taking the resin printers away - the tent, also. It has only been used twice.

  • The mesh is working really well - better than Verizon

  • Drop Verizon to a slow speed? So that people are encouraged to use Mesh. And then we donate to Mesh half of the money that we save.

  • Connection between the basement and main space is difficult. The real estate itself taken into thoughts of the main space. 

  • There used to be meetings weekly in the basement. 

  • Gathering area in the basement? 

  • Myf says the basement used to be very social downstairs

REVIEW

• Past proposals:

  • Bathroom cleaning:

    • Seems like it is going very well – resounding success. People autonomously pass it around

  • Cleaning station was also a past proposal

  • Library:

    • Challenging? But not a conflict.

    • Confusion about what a proposal was - early in the process of proposals. But now the dishes are there. 

• New Proposals:

  • Compost - collection of food waste

    • make a community garden partner at little or no cost. Use small, secure collection bins to drop off at sites at Ridgewood Commons members. 

    • Community gardens hours with buckets that Charli makes with detailed collection instructions.

    • Compost fairies!!

    • Should we think about BK Rot again?

      • Myf and LP: They are unreliable?

    • Charli: Wants to research BK Rot

    • LP: Shitty bathroom scale?

• Future idea of proposals:

  • LP and Caroline: doing monthly check-ins of the space - trying to move people’s personal belongings. Having a rule that every month the space is scanned.

What can we do to get more engagement? What purpose does the spokescouncil play?

• Tally report backs from the different working groups?

• Dora: BE VERY explicit about what the spokescouncil does. This is what it has done, how it can be beneficial to the space.

• LP: The spokescouncil is a reactionary response to try to make the space democratic. Misestimation of the culture here that these groups don’t want to be involved as much. 

• Doing a “why are we here” - external message to remind ourselves the importance of this. Grievances?

• Myf: What made woodbine work was that it was a doers get to do things. Causes conflict, is not scalable. Spokescouncil is very formal. How can we be playful?

• Bonding:

  • Theater of the Oppressed

  • Parties - office parties? 

  • Consistent meeting times?

  • Titles/representatives get pins or shirts

  • Problems and Solutions

  • Asynchronous report backs?

  • Points of unity - the bigger vision that is being built here through use of the space.

  • Issues of people who don’t use the space “correctly” - don’t follow collective protocols

    • Shelby: We need a conflict resolution group. This didn’t get followed through, but we need a conflict process.

WHO IS DOING THE NEXT SPOKESCOUNCIL MEETING???

Action Items:

• We need a conflict process - Shelby said this. 

• Pantry logistics meeting with drivers - Caroline

• Points of Unity. LP: The most valuable thing about the space are Safety, Welcomingness & Usability

• Shelby bringing a shitty bathroom scale