[sudo-discuss] Fwd: Children/Security/Janitorial issues.....

[Matthew Senate]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Laurie Cooperman Rosen <Lscoop at comcast.net>
Date: Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Subject: RE: Children/Security/Janitorial issues.....
To: Matthew Senate <mattsenate at gmail.com>


Hi Matthew…****

I think a meeting would be best because there are so many issues.  I agree
that the confrontation was bad, and that George has a problem  when
something hurts him deeply.  Hopefully those who know him understand that
he has a huge heart, and repays kindness with kindness, but has a hard time
handling any type of abuse relating to people, animals or the building, and
he simply can’t control his emotions and what he says when a violent
incident occurs that is uncalled for.  Accusations were not made at a
particular person but there was ranting about the lack of control in the
evenings and lack of responsibility/training/accountability for those using
the premises that allowed this to happen, and in that he was righteous. ****

The problem boils down to the security in the building.  Doors are being
left open in the evening and are not being monitored. People not affiliated
with the group having an event can enter, hide, and do what they want later
(which only by INCREDIBLE luck has not been grand theft thus far).  We
won’t be able to continue the late hours and will have to shut the building
down after a certain time in the evening UNLESS we have a direct
responsible person on-site that is trustworthy, has his/her own security
code, and is fully conversant with the shutting down procedures and who
also knows which doors should be shut (and when) throughout the entire 2141
floor during the evening.  It’s not ok for The Sudo Room (or the Public
School) to leave it to the last member staying late to shut down and
monitor what is happening in the building if that person is not trained and
knowledgeable and does not have his/her own security code.****

Sometimes people in 2141 leave the door from the office corridor to the
bathrooms open when they should not.  This has never been a problem until
recently, when traffic started coming in from the rear door.  In the past
all traffic came in from the front door.   The person in charge should make
sure that the rear door from the bathrooms into that corridor is always
locked throughout the evening.****

We have fixed the lock on the 22nd St. entrance so there should no longer
be a reason to keep that door open during non-business hours (during
business hours when certain hair stylists are there it might be kept open,
because the stylists can’t use your security buzz-in system….something that
should be rectified and would help building security IMMENSELY.  I have
also noticed that even when not being buzzed in the elevator is always
accessible…something that should not be the case).  ****

We are now getting calls up until as late as 3am on a fairly regular basis
(one at 3am this past weekend—usually more like until 11:30 on weekdays and
12-12:30am on weekends), and it is almost at the point where we are
throwing our hands up and saying “don’t send the police” at a time when it
is possible that a robbery COULD be in process or the building could be
open to theft in the middle of the night, because we don’t know who is in
charge or who to call at that hour.  ****

For our part, we need to put in more cameras in a couple of places,
although I will draw the line at having them in a restroom stall.  We met
the gentleman who was likely the last person there the night of the awful
event, and we believe that although his group was not directly responsible,
he did say that nobody checked the restrooms before leaving, which should
not have been the case.  For both security and for those that arrive in the
morning, we are now asking that after every evening group meets that the
restrooms be checked, excess trash disposed of and paper towels/toilet
paper replaced as needed.  We have never been responsible for cleanup after
events and since what has been happening there has been way beyond normal
usage, we ask that you get together with the Public School to purchase some
extra toilet paper/paper towels to keep on hand and to make sure that the
restrooms are clean, stocked and ready for use when folks arrive in the
a.m.  The person in charge for the evening (see more on that below) should
be in charge of that (janitorial/security) aspect as well.  We will
continue to come in late afternoons to take care of trash that builds up
during the daytime.  In order for this to happen we will ask on every
evening if your groups have people there after 9pm that we have the
name/phone number of the person on the premises who will be closing up and
whom we can contact in case of security issues.  It is possible for you
(and a couple of others from The Sudo Room & Public School as designated by
us) to be able to give people temporary codes for the security system if a
person is trained but will not have access to the building on a regular
basis.  The responsible people may give out “one time” security codes as
needed, with the ability to call those codes in directly to Sonitrol (you
would use your own passcode when  calling them, and then give them the name
of the temporary person and temporary passcode) as the responsible person
allowed to give out additional temporary codes.    ****

Also, George had me take care of the recycling on Saturday while he was
dealing with the restroom incident.  We should not have to be doing that.
It took at least an hour to sort through the massive amount of glass to
make sure that the insides of the bottles were cleaned out and that the
plastic and glass (recyclable) was separated from the cans (which are
returned for deposit).  In that mess was also a modicum of some gross
garbage that found its way into the recycling.  We ask that this be done
for us (glass-plastic separated, washed, into one set of plastic bags, and
clean rinsed aluminum cans into another) and we will be happy to continue
to haul them away, unless you prefer to haul them away yourselves—at this
time the aluminum cans bring in a small amount of money after amassed for a
month or two but the rest goes in our recycle can at home.   When unwashed
they attract all kinds of bugs and animals which is why they need to be
cleaned out if we are to take them.****

I think that this and the other message covers all of the main issues.
There is more to discuss if a related but separate group wants to be
holding some child care sessions on the premises, but I think that should
be via a conversation with all parties present to address issues of
permits, security, insurance and likely additional rent.****

I think this is a fairly thorough response to most of the items, except the
one (child care) that will require more discussion, because we don’t want
to see anybody spend money for permitting or separate child care insurance
until a more full understanding and agreement is made between all
participating parties.  Obviously, at this point in a lot of ways it would
be much easier if the Sudo Room and related parties were to expand into
some additional space so that more of our costs for that space are covered
and so that we can put some better security features in place and have less
worry about constantly having to clear out excess furnishings, objects and
garbage that do not belong in the large common space, as well as our
complete inability to rent out space to unrelated parties on any regular
basis with the way the space is being used.  At this point the headaches,
stress, lack of sleep (for us) and stress on the building contents (i.e.
walls, carpeting) and vulnerability of the building and its tenants are not
aligned with the amount of rent received from your groups.  That is not in
any way to say that we don’t support and love what your groups are
doing……just that we very much would like to have it work and be a win-win
for all of us, without putting our other tenants at risk.****

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.****

Laurie****

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*From:* Matthew Senate [mailto:mattsenate at gmail.com]
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 11, 2013 4:48 PM
*To:* Laurie Cooperman Rosen
*Subject:* Re: Children****

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Laurie,****

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Thanks for replying briefly, when do you expect you will be able to send a
full response? We also need to address the incident on this past Saturday,
which was another unacceptable confrontation and accusation.****

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Thanks,
Matt****

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On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 4:02 PM, Laurie Cooperman Rosen <Lscoop at comcast.net>
wrote:****

Hi Matt-****

I received your note and drafted a response that night, but didn’t mail it
out because I wanted to make sure George has nothing to add first.  You
will have it this weekend.  The number one concern (before even anything
else) is that WE are not insured for this and have received no evidence of
coverage from your group either.  At this point everybody who has any
visitors on a regular basis MUST have insurance coverage with us as named
insureds, and we at this point need to enforce that.  Next on the list are
permitting related issues from the City of Oakland for children to be
allowed in any kind of day care setting, and also arrangements that will
need to be made by your group (and the School too) to take care of
janitorial during and immediately after any group activities being held
there.  This is not necessarily inclusive, but a start.   We can discuss
the possibility of this happening (allowing children in eventually), but
not until these and other issues are fully addressed.  I apologize for the
miscommunications on both sides that caused George to get upset about this
and perhaps act too heated, but it was not without reason (given that he
assumed that the communications had been disbursed), and for the time being
we need to start with the insurance issue because it looks like that will
be required because of all of the traffic whether children are able to use
the space eventually or not.****

Sorry, I worked on the email and saved it and was waiting for George to
have time to look at it.  The first month always keeps us both hopping and
we only pass like ships in the night!****

Laurie****

 ****

 ****

*From:* Matthew Senate [mailto:mattsenate at gmail.com]
*Sent:* Friday, September 06, 2013 1:38 PM
*To:* Laurie Cooperman Rosen
*Subject:* Re: Children****

 ****

Laurie,****

 ****

Please let me know when you have a chance to read our note, even if you are
unable to respond immediately.****

 ****

Thanks,
Matt****

 ****

On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:23 PM, Matthew Senate <mattsenate at gmail.com>
wrote:****

Hi Laurie, ****

This week George addressed a group of folks in the common area outside of
Sudo Room and the Public School regarding the presence of minors in the
building. His behavior was confrontational, hostile, loud, and very
upsetting to many of those who were present, including some
parentally-accompanied minors. There has unfortunately been a series of
miscommunications about this issue, and we are dedicated foremost to
resolving it amicably. ****

First, thank you for communicating the building's policies on minors via
email. Unfortunately, due to a lapse in our own internal communication, the
contents of your email were not conveyed sufficiently to the relevant sudo
room members before Wednesday of this week. Please understand this was a
lapse in communication that has been rectified. ****

Secondly, since early June, every Tuesday evening parent-supervised minors
have attended sudo room. We provide no supervision services for minors. In
fact, we provide no services to customers (we don't have customers) as we
are a membership association. It was unclear that this event was
specifically of any concern since it followed the requirement of
supervision by parents. We are willing to meet the necessary requirements
to ensure that you and George are provided with the appropriate advanced
notification of any planned future sudo room events involving supervised
minors and their parents. It is relevant to note that in the past we have
allowed accompanied minors to be in the "Art Room" and not use common
space, but in recent instances the common room has been used as well.
Further, since we are interested in being as accessible as possible to
different communities and demographics, we would like to clarify what
opportunities there might be (through city services, insurance, waivers,
etc.) for minors to be in the building in ways other than those outlined in
your email. ****

Thirdly, regarding the damage to the bathroom you discuss in your email, we
understand your concerns and are sorry that it happened. We have raised
awareness in hopes of preventing instances like this from happening in the
future. While we are happy to take shared responsibility for ensuring the
bathrooms are clean and usable, we want to communicate that we are not
aware of any evidence that the minors who have been at sudo room were
responsible for the damage. We fully support your desire to keep all parts
of the space (including the bathrooms) vandalism-free, clean, and usable,
so we have made all sudo room members aware of this incident, reinforced
the expectations surrounding bathroom cleanliness, and reiterated the
policy that children should not use bathrooms unaccompanied. Please let us
know if you encounter any problems with the bathrooms in the future so that
we can take appropriate action. However, we also ask for understanding that
if there are problems with a shared space in the building, that absent
specific evidence, sudo room may not have been the source of a particular
problem. ****

Finally, we would like to share with you a few of our expectations as
lessees that we hope will help us continue to stay in this building that we
have been very happy to rent for the last 9 months: ****

Our Expectations: ****

* That issues with our use of common space or our use of our rented "Art
Room" be conveyed in writing, with disrespectful confrontations being
completely unacceptable, in any circumstances. ****

* Consistent with Sudo Room standards, that minors continue to be able to
participate at Sudo Room, provided they are accompanied by parents or a
legal guardian. ****

* To work together with you as we grow, which requires we be accessible to
more communities and demographics. ****

* To consider options for mitigating liability through additional
insurance, waivers, etc.****

Thanks,
Matt****

 ****

 ****

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