Willits Economic Localization/Steering Committee Minutes

From CFI

pasoloacchia Willits Economic LocaLization Steering Committee Meeting 5/9/05

Members present: Sumo (facilitator), Mair Alight, Indigo Donaldson, AJ Barrett, Richard Jergenson, Jason Bradford, Jenny Burnstad, Annie Weller, Diane Smalley, Ree Slocum, Larry Desmond, Lanny Cotler, Kristin Bradford.

Meeting began at 7:25. timekeeper - AJ, stack keeper - no one.

Agenda: Introductions and procedures (Sumo) 15 minutes

Consent items: 1. Permit $30 for childcare at any event where it is needed. (Jason) 5 minutes 2. Permit $80 for publicity related to each special event, such as a speaker. (Jason) 5 minutes

Proposals: 1. The steering committee decision making process (Ree) 20 minutes.

2. Opportunity to resolve personality/relationship conflicts (Annie/Brian) 5 minutes - Study Group Management and Project Team Assessment using KAI analysis (Brian) 20 minutes - A check-in about what happened at the WELL meeting on April 25th in the energy group. There was loud and disruptive yelling by the facilitator. Has there been resolution? How can we prevent something like this from disrupting the rest of the groups in the future? (Ree) 20 minutes

3. Review of our last community meeting and the guestspeaker. (AJ) 10 minutes

4. Establish an Executive Committee to make quick decisions without having to get a vote from the Steering Committee. We would need to decide what the scope of those powers are, of course. (Jason) 20 minutes

5. Possibilities for the Spring Grove Creamery. (Jenny) 20 minutes

6. Web site status (Jenny) 5 minutes

7. A WELL visioning process. (AJ) 20 minutes

To the Steering Committee I think that WEL needs to have a core group of advisors available to assist all of the groups while they're going through their process. Already, a gleaning group of the food group (with encouragement from one of the Food Bank's board members) needs to have legal advice for creating a liability form for property owners who may allow group members to pick fruit from their trees. I think instead of doing this piecemeal, it's important to have a core of advisors available for all of the subgroups. Laura has ideas for other consultants the food group (community farm) is going to need, and obviously, we need insurance. I think if it were put out to the other groups they would have ideas what other kind of consultants they may need. In fact, at one of the next general meetings it might be a good idea to ask if people have ideas who these advisors might be, or where we might find them. I'd also like to see a general meeting where instead of having a leader we have general discussion about our thoughts and needs. Also....you may have already received this idea from me....I think it would be good to have a general event for WEL members for community building and keeping momentum going. Something like a picnic, etc. (Mary Z) 15 minutes

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee minutes, continued 5/9/05

1. Proposal by Ree: THE ASPECTS OF WELL STEERING COMMITTEE DECISION MAKING THAT WE HAVE (mostly) BEEN USING AND ARE WORKING WELL:

• Greater than 80% consensus of those present decides a positive vote outcome. • Whoever shows up makes the decisions.

• Roles for each meeting, these are rotated for each meeting:

• Facilitator, runs meetings, assigns roles of timekeeper, stack manager & board scribe. Facilitator is chosen at the end of each meeting so they can receive agenda items for the next meeting (see below) Feedback is solicited for facilitator at the end of the meeting, so that all can learn how to facilitate. • Timekeeper, uses a clock to keep track of the time limit on agenda items, announcing time checks at the half time of each agenda item and at 3-5 minutes before the time is up. Time speakers - three minutes. • Stack manager, for each proposal, notes the hands raised as discussion occurs and calls on the next person in the stack. Alternative - go around the circle. Notes vote outcomes in Level Two. • Board scribe, during the discussion phase (Level Two, see over), notes the concerns about the proposal on the board so that they can be addressed one at a time or as grouped.

• Agenda items are clearly stated in proposal form IF POSSIBLE, with a time limit. • Agenda items are reported to and gathered by the facilitator, to be posted by the Thursday prior to Steering Committee meeting. • Facilitator posts agenda and proposals on web site to let the community know when the meetings are, that they are open to all and what the agenda is. There is a place for Steering Committee minutes on the website. Agenda goes there. • Agenda items may be added to a “consent calender”. These are items that have been recommended by a committee that don’t necessarily need lots of consideration. Any one may ask for an item to be taken from the consent calender and moved to the agenda for consideration.

• Proposals are ideally written out so we can see it in advance and/or are brought to the meeting. • When the proposal involves allocation of money - have a firm proposal based on research with actual money amounts. Any time we make a decision about money - let greater community know, so there is feedback process. • Time for comments from public. Put guests at the beginning of the meeting.

passed with concerns by Mair - would like more than 80%, feedback, agenda posting by Thurs.

2. Proposal by Diane: PROPOSAL – THAT WE ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING PROCESS FOR PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT:

INTRODUCTION OF PROPOSAL The writer(s) of the proposal states/reads the proposal. It is ideally as clear as possible, anticipating concerns with ideas for resolution. Questions regarding clarification of the proposal may be asked.

LEVEL ONE - “LET’S PROCEED TO GROUP DISCUSSION” (INCLUDES A VOTE) This is where the facilitator manages the discussion, the stack manager keeps track of participants. The facilitator notes the time and readiness and calls for a vote with acceptable additions and subtractions to the proposal. Modifications to a proposal may happen at any level except Level Two. The vote is responded to in the following manner: Thumb up means ‘I support the proposal’ Thumb to the side means ‘Before I can support the proposal, I need the following information...’ Thumb down means ‘I don’t support the proposal, because...’ The stack manager notes those with thumbs to the side and down. If there is less than 100% consensus, proceed to Level Two.

LEVEL TWO - “LET’S LIST CONCERNS” Those who didn’t support the proposal CONCISELY state their CONCERNS regarding the proposal. The discussion about concerns has not begun, that is Level Three. The board scribe springs into action at the board to Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee minutes, continued 5/9/05

note the concerns, grouping them with the help of the facilitator.

LEVEL THREE - “LET’S DISCUSS AND RESOLVE THESE CONCERNS” (INCLUDES A VOTE) The writer(s) of the proposal now have an opportunity to modify the proposal to address the concerns or discuss the noted concerns (one at a time) with the goal of resolving them. The proposal is restated at the end of this discussion (the facilitator is relying on the timekeeper to let the group know that time is drawing to a close - this needs to happen before the time runs out). If time runs out before decision is reached, adding time can be proposed and voted on, if it passes, discussion continues, if it doesn’t pass, the proposal is not passed. The facilitator calls for a second and final vote, in the same manner as Level One. If there is less than 80% consensus, the proposal has not passed. The proposal may return to the drawing board, to be brought to a subsequent meeting. The writer may note the thumbs side and down and speak with them after the meeting or, time permitting, the concerns may be heard. _______________________________________________________________________________________ • There may be bugs to work out with this plan. See Ree or Diane with concerns and suggestions. • Seek out training for consensus and facilitation. Re-write and re-submit as modified. Ran out of time, spent 40 min.

3. Jason: Quick decisions between SC meetings. Example: babysitter. Petty cash. projects. Mair suggested a quorum of 5 - 7 people - phone call or email connection. 7 people be on a rotating get 80%. Keep calling til you have 3 positive. Ree - executive co mmittee could make the call about the scope of each item. Jenny - money or details? Petty cash limit. Proposal - any expenditure of under $100 could be an executive committee decision. Full consensus. Jason - call it the executive committee for WEL so it is not always focused to Jason. Spread the Joy. Sumo - The SC could be the executive committee. Annie made a Proposal: Create an executive committee of seven people for low level decisions. The committee is contacted by phone or email, four yes votes (including the proposer) with no non-support is considered a passage. Report all decisions to the next SC meeting to the consent calender. The SC needs to approve the item, ultimately. Lanny - concern - Who is accountable? - We could have an Executive Director for WELL AJ responds - the SC is the accountable entity. Diane, Annie Weller, Ree, Larry, Mair, Jason, Richard volunteered.

4. Consent items: 1. Permit $30 for childcare at any event where it is needed. (Jason) 5 minutes 2. Permit $80 for publicity related to each special event, such as a speaker. (Jason) 5 minutes (poster - layout and copying) Passed by 100% consensus.

5. Web site status report (Jenny) Server will be moved to MEC, hopefully less down time. Brian Corzelius website is great and will be linked to Cloudforest: greentransitions.org. There will be two afternoon workshops on how to use the wiki. Keep up the enthusiasm for posting things to the website. Lanny - work toward an engaging website.

6. -Opportunity to resolve personality/relationship conflicts (Annie/Brian) 5 minutes - Study Group Management and Project Team Assessment using KAI analysis (Brian) 20 minutes - A check-in about what happened at the WELL meeting on April 25th in the energy group. there was loud and disruptive yelling by the facilitator. has there been resolution? how can we prevent something like this from disrupting the rest of the groups in the future? (Ree) 20 minutes

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee minutes, continued 5/9/05

Annie: We are moving into a storming period. Brian can do a KAI process with the steering committee. A team should be made of a blend of people with different styles. When there is a breakdown, it is an opportunity to become aware of our different styles. Helps to change leadership - becomes situational. Helps to achieve goals. Collaboration. Get into a positive position before crisis. Annie did the process at work - helped her to appreciate a person at work. Richard - Blown out of proportion. David got frustrated with Claudia. Ron’s project is going well - the first project out of the gate. The room has horrible acoustics. Ree - 2 people did leave the room, unhappy. Can’t turn people off! Proposal - use the KAI process and NVC to build our team. AJ concern - some dynamics in the Food committee that are similar. KAI may fix something that is not broken. The actual people need to work on the problem. It is a normal process. Much support of the idea.

7. - Review of our last community meeting and the guestspeaker. (AJ) 5 out of 220 people said they didn’t know anything about peak oil. We need to know what is the purpose of speakers. Sumo - Julian had 2 problems - computer down and untypical audience. Jason - spent time with Julian asking him to focus on relocalization. Didn’t sink in. It is new to him. He wasn’t ready to give the talk that he said he could give. He apologized. Wants to give $1000 to WELL for a proposal for an integrated program of agriculture, energy, manufacturing and money. Mair - made suggestions to Julian after, such as check in with the group. Not having the projector threw him off. Mourning the loss of opportunity of interaction between him and our group. Lanny - interviewed John Jeavons with Julian. The meeting on Sunday was exclusive. Need a retreat for the SC to review goals and relationships. AJ - all this might be symptoms of lack of visioning...

8. A WELL visioning process. As Jason laid out so WELL there were four stages. The second one was visioning ( I think). It seems that we have moved on to planning projects (community garden project vs. the community farms project, city solar energy project) without a vision. This lack of vision may be the source of some of the confusion about the role of the work groups and the role of the larger community meetings. In addition, without a vision we are having a hard time with defining leadership. A vision will help us define our purpose and point us all in the same direction. (AJ)

Patrick - What do you think would make a good visioning process? Ideas: Community process, well-facilitated, designed and not a time limit. More than breaking into study groups. Target - September fair WillitsFest. SC, key members of each group. Present it to the larger community. Patrick - Stage one - Should active subgroups go explicitly into vision stage? AJ - Key reps from each group meet together in the same room - 40-50 people. Comes up with a draft that is visualized in posters & art. Annie - each group should bring the groups individual visions together to a larger group. AJ - For example: feeding people - all groups should have input into that. After that process, an image is made that we can hold in mind and fall back on when we lose focus. Our positive vision will guide us. Indigo - also with the ideal visions, also list the fears - reframe to opportunities. Larry - we are all in different levels of denial - doesn’t feel ready to visualize. Lanny - the vision bonds people - creates an investment. Ree - proposal that a committee explore creating a visioning process. Mair - it is the process that is important. Willing to chair a committee to work on a visioning that includes how and where we are going. Bring it to the SC. Mair will think about it and get together with us in July. Put out to the larger group. Ree - Proposal: address the visioning process later in June. Full consensus.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee minutes, continued 5/9/05

9. Morris Kaplan is selling the Spring Grove Creamery. Jenny visited it. Buildings, gardens, greenhouses. Annie - it has been a healing art center. Re-zoned residential. Was commercial. Asking around $500 K willing to carry a note. $200K down. 3 acres. flood plain - back half. Has water. Huge barn that could be made into a meeting room. Creamery could be a food prep area. has a duplex, ranch house. Enter East, exit West. As it sits it is not a food production place. Three adjoining lots for sale for $180K. Most likely buyer would be the creamery. Can WELL see it as a facility as a center? Jenny’s plan is to ask to have it for 2 years. There is a lease option. Who in this group feels like working on Spring Grove? Annie, Jenny, Sumo. Jason wants a tour - set one up for everyone. AJ questions the timing of this project. Is this the right project - does fit in with our vision? Fits in with the gleaning project. Kristin - likes the food preparation idea. Jenny - Ukiah Conference Center has a certified kitchen - would like to create one in Willits. Richard - WAG, Grange are other certified kitchens.

10. Table insurance question to next time. Will go to REDI BOD. A champion should speak up.

11. Announcements Richard likes the name SWELL - Sustainable Willits Economic LocaLization World environment day www.wed2005.org 5/31 - 6/5 Green cities day. Scottish Rite center - ecocitybuilders.org

Mair - Compassionate Communication - 5/20 & 21 Y’all come!

Annie - Barter market -OK to tag on to the Farmer’s market, no insurance needed if on park property.

Jason - Caspar talk went well, Laytonville had 70 people, Gualala this weekend.

Lanny - The Decaturs - filmed with 2 cameras, is now an edited DVD. Can we make use of it? Copies are available for a small fee, Will donate half of fees to WELL. Media group needs info about what each group is doing. Jason - Postcarbon institute would sell the DVD.

12. Determine next meeting's facilitator and food preparers. 5 min. Mair will facilitate. Food - Mair bread, Indigo maindish, Jason salad

Meeting closed at 9:56.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee Meeting 4/18/05

Members present: Brian Weller (facilitator for Annie), AJ Barrett, Mair Alight, Richard Jergenson, Laura Liska, Patrick Burnstad, Diane Smalley, David Drell, Ree Slocum, Jason Bradford, Kristin Bradford, Lanny Cotler Guest present: Erica Bruce. Meeting began at 7:20 pm

Agenda: (actual order numbers in parentheses, below) Old items: 1. Facilitation Procedures future agenda = didn’t complete tonight 2. Facilitation of Study Groups/Rules for newcomers 3. Structure of WELL meetings future agenda 4. Outreach: how to approach those not included 5. Update on all WELL projects 6. Name of WELL - spelling,definitions future agenda New Items: 7. The Grange 8. Debrief RE Decatur and speakers in general (AJ) 9. Water group proposal future agenda 10. Newcomers template outline future agenda 11. Film series update 12. Media Outreach/Template for work group outlines 13. Cloud forest summer school

(1) 1. Facilitation Procedures future agenda Ree, Diane & Mair will meet to further work on the facilitation process.

(2) 2. Facilitation of Study Groups/Rules for newcomers Mair: Soc org will have papers on all groups that will help people be brought up to speed. Laura: Need to have structure and facilitators that are able to enroll people without turning off newbies. Part of the problem is internal px in the group and frustration. Brian: Have productive fun. Soc. org. & shelter groups seem to be bogged down. Richard: grants may pay for facilitation training David: people will come to the WELL of all kinds all backgrounds - some with group experience and some without, who may cause some problems, different tolerance levels. We just have to do the best we can. Diane made copies of how to facilitate a meeting from a book called Resource Manual for a Living Revolution. WE NEED FACILITATION TRAINING. Brian available to floating facilitation Proposal: Brian, Jackie* & George* become facilitator trainers if needed and can float to observe. *If they are willing. Full Consensus Ree: some groups may not know if they need help. Mair: one of the problems is when the participants change at each meeting. 2 maybe’s: David has questions about someone coming in to a group to take over and fix it. AJ: voting on a solution when we don’tknow what the problem is. Purposes of the WELL and all groups are unclear.

(3) 4. Outreach: how to approach those not included WEL flyer: Laura & Jason wrote it. Laura rewrote it to remove loaded words. Economics: a branch of knowledge dealing with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. oikos = house, nemein = manage WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 4/18/05

Ideas for improvement: focus on benefits, gear to the 5th to 7th grade reading level, picture on half of the page that says it all; simple words; details on the back; bullets with examples of what WEL will look like; Change: ‘What is that’ to ‘What is economic localization’; Change ‘how can this be done’ to ‘What can be done’

David: has ideas of what a local economy looks like - may cause people to flee! It’s a subtle idea - reorganizing Western civilization. Note: Vision for Willits is on the website, by Jason & Kristin. Diane will work on the 5th grade version with Laura Bring the next version back to the steering committee. Bring to the media group to add bells & whistles.

(4) 5. Update on all WELL projects a. Diane: Wellness Network we have a two page outline with a purpose statement, our original research question and 6 projects. Jason: What keeps people alive, are we thinking about acute trauma, antibiotics & vaccines - locally produced?

b.Ree: Water met as an ad hoc committee, created a mission statement, addressing the needs in the Willits watershed - meet those needs, recycling, reuse, storage. They want to do informational presentations, eg water purification, problems & solutions, at the WEL meeting for whole community.

c. Laura: Food we have a mission statement, set agenda for meetings, updates on projects. 6 projects. New people on a list for future projects. Garden tour last Saturday, 15 people attended and felt like a success. Community gardening has moved over to the hospital garden, some interface with WAG. Laura working on community forum. 12 new people at Decaturs. Doesn’t seem to focus on localization, more on gardens. (Brian will help with that focus at next weeks big meeting.) AJ: community garden doesn’t feel like part of food group. Farm group has split off, it is a huge project, each facet needing more structure. Ridgewood ranch had lots of specific information about what to grow. Food group needs structure and organization.

d. David: Energy has split itself into 8 groups, each with a lone facilitator. Each subcommittee leader has been given a task of finding off-the-shelf solutions, list of questions for suppliers, technology; no R&D. Will report back on 4/25. Brian Corzelius has produced a 30+ page document on how Willits can localize its energy. Richard: on City ad hoc with Ron Ornstein. challenging group, complicated mechanism, so far.

e. Mair: Social Organization rotating facilitators has made it unclear of the mission and purpose. Subcomittee will come up with mission statement. PEMS physical emotional mental spiritual. Diane suggested that a project would be to facilitate human resources for the future farm economy. Patrick suggested inviting the public safety personnel to make certain WELL governance promotes safety & security. Bring in local law enforcement so that they see we are not a threat. Meeting & planning around a table will help our dealings with them should the need arise. David: Extremely critical as to how we frame our process to the local law enforcement. AJ: this discussion is going past the stated purpose of updating.

f. Lanny: Media: Jeff Smith, Richard J., Lanny met. 2 aspects were identified - public outreach/PR, how Willits gets its news. Projects: Template for work groups outlines, overview flyer, SueEllen Parkinson, helping with the newsletter/mailer; having a unified look graphically, logo for WELL. Richard: Films update - 15 people there. 10 minute film on SEER - local, upbeat. Ecological design - Brian feels that this would be a good followup film to End of Suburbia - replace it even. Each work should go to the media group with their information. Ree: if your group is doing something photogenic, let her know and she will capture it.

WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 4/18/05

(5) 7. The Grange Erika Bruce: Grange is a national family oriented community services organization. Fundraisers, eg, rice cookers, bowls for Bread for Life. She asked if our purpose was ‘Providing for man’s continued existence after some calamity?’ She would like to be involved if so. The Grange is a lobbying organization. water, environment, agriculture to the point that it doesn’t impinge on “man’s progress”, i.e., Put ag before environmental laws; legislative, conservative, NRA, etc. Grange hall is available to participants in the Grange. Could use the grange to show the movie. We let her know that babysitting can be available.

(6) 12. Media Outreach/Template for work group outlines Lanny: Table media needs until Lanny comes up with some budget expenses. Soon, we need to address money and budget items. FUTURE AGENDA Sue Ellen needs to be reimbursed. Sue Ellen is a fabulous resource. Can’t afford to donate time. Jason made a Proposal: Pay Sue Ellen $100 for work done so far. Full consensus.

(7) 8. Debrief RE Decatur and speakers in general (AJ) AJ: The purpose of our steering committee is not clear, work groups are not clear, need to tackle the differences. Monday attendance is dwindling some. We need some outside facilitators training. Don’t know how to jump in & help. Darley might be too valuable for the Monday night meeting - better use with facilitators of groups to learn more detail. future agenda Jason: gave a talk to the Rotary. Ed Burton loved it. The challenge is organizing and mobilizing the community. Theoretically can solve it. Not a math/engineer solution. The vast majority of people may not ever understand it. Have to begin creating working models. Wants to have in-house speakers from now on. AJ: Jason should be talking more, he’s been holding back. AJ knows how to lead, work with groups. Need a group to put forward the vision. Don’t have critical mass of people yet. Lanny: need help with facilitation but not visioning...outside help (those who don’t know us) is not all its cracked up to be. David: get a crash course in the state of the planet, so we know what we are facing and what our options are. The time frame is not under our control. Feels urgency. Laura: resist the need for everyone to understand it all. Believe that people will become interested when they see examples of better lives. It takes a lot of energy to get people up to speed, need to find balance of that within the steering committee. It’s a creative process, without guidelines. OK to be uncomfortable. Ree: it is going to take all of us to clean up our act. Brian: what we have done at WELL so far is incredible. We are learning to work to gether, reach out. It is an organic process that we’re learning how to model. Mair: there are 5 different ecovillages in US, problem is not ‘what we know’ but the will of people to change. Her impetus is to ‘do it’ and show that it can be done.

(8) Announcements: Mair 5/1 and 5/20 intro to NVC, 5/21 9-4 workshop. (9) Determine next facilitator and food preparers. Sumo will facilitate 5/9. Food: Sumo - chili, Brian - Soup, Jason - salad, Lanny - Dessert, Mair - Bread. Meeting closed at 9:52

Feedback from Diane on this meeting: Focus was lost, lots of repetition. Time got way out of hand. Didn’t use speaker stack. Facilitator should not be timekeeper.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee Meeting 4-4-05

Members present: Ree Slocum (facilitator), Tim Gregory, David Drell, Jason Bradford, Mair Alight, Larry Desmond, Richard Jergenson, Diane Smalley, AJ Barrett, Annie Weller, Laura Liska, Brian Weller, Kristin Bradford, Lanny Cotler. Meeting began at 7:08pm.

Agenda: (actual order numbers are in parentheses) Old items: 1. Facilitation proceedures proposed at the 2/21 meeting (Diane). 15 min. future agenda = not complete 2. Study Group rules: if someone is new they're encouraged to introduce themselves and listen at the first meeting (Spring). 5 min. future agenda 3. Speaker Meetings: resolve whether to schedule them at regular Monday night meetings or another night. 15 min.

New Items: 4. Non-violent communication presentation at a Monday night WELL meeting with a Saturday workshop follow-up (Mair). 15 min. 5. Structure of WELL meetings: rotating facilitators, purpose of work groups (Laura). 20 min. 6. Outreach: how to approach those not included by localization (ie safeway store manager) (Laura).15 min. 7. Update on all projects going on with WELL (Larry). 20 min. (I suggest we get reports from each Study Group representative.) 8. Update on what's happening with the community garden project (Larry). 10 min. 9. Decide on next meeting's facilitator and food preparers. 5 min. 10. Announcements 9:00 Close

(1) 3. Speaker Meetings: resolve whether to schedule them at regular Monday night meetings or another night.15 min. a. Speakers at meetings in general Comments: Communicate to speakers to end on a positive note. Develop a plan to enroll new people who attend the speakers meetings. Mondays are a good night for people. Encourage groups to meet on their own. Predictability- not always easy to book a speaker on the day we desire. Laura: Proposal one speaker per month, one study group per month. Mostly consensus with one block. David D. block: It slows down process to have speakers at the meetings. Brian: what is the purpose of having speakers? Draw people, inspiration, information, community building, grounding AJ: we won’t be having speakers forever - adapt to changes as we grow and expand. Laura: coach speakers to speak about Economic Localization, too many nights of meetings if it is on a different night. Check in with small groups about speakers. If it is not working, bring it back to the group. b. Actual future speakers and meetings Speaker for May 2: Julian Darley, Post Carbon Institute, wrote High Noon for Natural Gas, other groups that are like us, on a world tour, first stop Willits. Laura: Proposal - Do we want to invite Julian? Full Consensus Richard: flexibility is key. Mair: will he speak about the problem or the solution? Jason: we will ask him to focus on the solution AJ: need to have planned growth and work time. May 2 would have been a steering committee. How to we adjust the calendar? 4/11 Decaturs 4/18 Steering 4/25 Brian leads Big study group meeting WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 4/4/05

5/2 Post carbon Instutute 5/9 Steering 5/16 Big Meeting 5/23 Steering 5/30 Big Meeting Came to an impasse...defer to next item...

(2) 5. Structure of WELL meetings: rotating facilitators, purpose of work groups (Laura).20 min. Currently, meetings include: Intro, Movie, Q&A, Study group intro, Study groups meet & Report, General announcements, Close & Mingle. What role to we want study groups to play in the future? AJ: need to facilitate their purposes and integrate them together. Should Monday be for bringing in more people? eg, Food group could be the size of the whole meeting eventually it is so huge. Tim: can have both Process & Product, have to know what you are working toward. Groups may meet together. David: the last meeting was effective - split into 8 different subcommittees with people heading them up. Use the Big meetings as a time to check in with outside? Laura: Food group met outside and came up with mission statement, projects. Most talk is not about localization, rather on projects. AJ: Groups are growing and going through a natural process. We should have a clear facilitator for each group & subcommittees, structure & design. The steering comittee needs to steer the groups. Richard: Energy is a big umbrella. Ron Ornstein proposed an ad hoc city group. Groups will splinter off. AJ: we should facilitate that! Encourage groups to come up with their own personality. Social Org hasn’t come up with what they are going to do. Each group will have their own flavor. Can’t follow a model. Every group needs to plan for meetings to avoid burnout due to lack of focus. Larry: Rotate facilitation - prevents the others from falling off and defering. Jason: a strategic planning method was proposed. The only group that followed it was the energy group. Have to pick something to focus on. Problems arise with lack of follow through and inability to choose a process. Lanny: How are the groups the same? Laura: Energy group has a natural inclination to the inventory model. Food group is doing well. Help the groups stick to the main purpose of economic localization. Flavor is ok. Can’t get people to follow the plan. David D.: Inventory the big picture and envision future are necessary steps. Tim: see what we have in common. Ree: recommended to bring specific problems from the groups to the steering committee.

(3) WELL spelling/definition...not on agenda Jason: What do we do with the other “L”: Proposal: LocaLization Lanny: trips over it, not defined. Prefer a name that doesn’t have a local name - become generic. Other towns can’t latch onto WELL. CELL Coastal Economic Localization is developing. David: Need to flesh out what Economic Localization is and how it will happen Mair: suggested ‘SUM’ Sustainability Movement definition re-visited next meeting

(4) 4. Nonviolent communication (NVC) presentation at a Monday night WELL meeting with a Saturday workshop follow-up (Mair). 15 min. Mair: Ann Hancock gave a good review of NVC so she proposes Mair & Fred do a NVC intro for the big group. One to two hours needed. Would help small groups be more effective. Spark interest for a WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 4/4/05

Saturday workshop. Moving into the world of circles from the hierarchy. Communication skills for groups. AJ: advocate of NVC. It is a huge process. He is working to incorporate it in his personal life. Laura: hard to fit in to schedule. David: donation requested? advertising? uncomfortable with commercial venture being promoted. Jason: uncomfortable with the presentation in new age terms. Annie: focus on a process such as consensus. John J sold a lot of books and signed people up for workshops. Diane: the whole group does need this skill. Bring a proposal to the speakers group. Mair: Proposal: on 5/16, Mair & Fred introduce NVC to the big group. No consensus Straw poll: Do we want to have the NVC skill, just not on 5/16? Full Consensus.

(5) 6. Outreach: how to approach those not included by localization (ie safeway store manager) (Laura).15 min. AND 7. Update on all projects going on with WELL (Larry). 20 min. (I suggest we get reports from each Study Group representative.) Jason: has been acting as a spokesperson, wants to know where he stands. Will be visiting many counties soon. He is saying that it is his personal opinion. Laura: 1) some people in the food group want to speak with Ray’s and Safeway. They need to know how to make it a team effort as we reach out, how to present ourselves. 2) grant written, people were included without their permission... There are still differences of opinion about how we reach out and what our perspective is. How should WELL be represented? Lanny: consensus on a mission statement, then say, “from here on out this is my opinion.” No head, no hierarchy. Jason: flyer already contains a mission statement but is was a small group that wrote it. Ree: read flyer Annie: need official updates of nuts and bolts of what is happening in the groups to add to the flyer. Richard: time to redo schedule on flyer. 11X17 each group, new members are encouraged to observe at their first meeting. Tim: every one speaks from their own experience. Vetting (pre-approved) by a central group can go on to more active speaking engagements, films. David D: has confidence that Jason will represent our mission and process, based on what he’s heard so far. Laura: Jason says things that don’t necessarily represent the group. 1. Be truthful. (no projects are on board yet) don’t want people to say oh you did that. 2. Vetting 3. Do all projects come under the umbrella of WELL? Brian: Honesty is separate from control. Can’t control the process. Create a crib sheet for speakers. AJ: Basic outline, follow with personal opinion. When we add money/grants to our process - have to have more skills as a community, then we need to be clear on presentation. Mair: clarify the mission. Identify the people who have specific foci, speak for those areas. Lanny: has offered to create a series of similar graphic pages for each work group. Updated 4 times a year. David D: Propose that Jason has a vote of confidence for being a spokesperson for WELL. He will be honest & clear and ultimately represent us whether he is speaking personally or not. More speakers to come. Vote: Full consensus. Jason: Until the group comes up with more clarity of themselves, he will speak for himself. We are not there yet, it is a long process. Laura: concerns 1) grant - WELL was not represented fully. Food group was said to be involved in something they weren’t, caused some disharmony. Been corrected. Learned from the experience. 2) Peak oil concept does not motivate our group’s purpose entirely. 3) Want to rotate the leadership. WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 4/4/05

When only Jason speaks, he is seen as the leader. AJ: This is going faster than we know how to follow. Grant writing changes the dynamics. Paid positions don’t feel fair. People felt used.

(6) 8. Update on what's happening with the community garden project (Larry). 10 min. WAG meetings have been starting when WELL began. Mary Zellachild is the only person who has consistently shown up and is relating to Ecology Action. Location: WISC site. Ellen Bartholomew, Gauthier, soil samples taken. Hospital also wants a community garden. USDA grant deadline came up. Jason made an assumption that Food Group was working on planning community gardens. Did not check in with the Food Group. Timing was tight. Met with Margie Handley and Christine McConnell. Wanted to make it a mini farm at the hospital - 3 acres. presented to Margie, who can’t guarantee 3 acres. They wanted an administrator, looked to Jason, he agreed. Asked for a signature. There were major stakeholders who were not part of the process. Pays people to run gardens, evaluator. Not everyone was involved who wanted to be. Hospital was removed from the grant due to time crunch. Now the hospital is working with the food group on the community garden. (alan falari, jim, patty bruder) AJ: only missed one meeting and got left out of the loop. Grants are a crass business that ruffles feathers. Steering committee didn’t know anything. Laura: People in the food group have to check with the group before representing the group. When is it a WELL item/personal item/group item?

(7) 11. Announcements AJ: Men’s health is key for the community 4/20 Men’s circle meets at Perko’s 6:40 pm to go somewhere 459-3857 - AJ; 459-2681 - Larry. Larry: Ron Sundergil - Water workshop in Sonoma County. $10 at JC 4/9 Annie: Barter market experiment. Thursday at Farmer’s Market. To see what we are made of in this area. Richard: Kick-off the sustainable film series this Friday.

(8) 9. Decide on next meeting's facilitator and food preparers. 5 min. Next meeting facilitator 4/18: Annie Weller food prep: Mair bread; Laura, soup; Madge, veg maindish

Meeting closed at 9:33.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee Meeting 3/7/05

Members present: Ree Slocum, Spring Senerchia, AJ Barrett, David Drell, Laura Liska, Jason Bradford, Kristin Bradford, Lanny Cotler, Larry Desmond, Mair Alight, Cyndee Logan (guest), Tim Gregory.

Meeting began at 7:15.

Agenda and time limits: 1. Proposals to be presented for consensus a. Food Item (Laura)...5 min b. Media Group (Lanny)...10 min c. Film Series (Richard)...10 min d. Speaker Group (Laura/Jason)...10 min

2. Presentation on grant opportunity (Cyndee Logan)...20 min

8:00 BREAK

3. Discussion on larger group meeting structure and study groups' ongoing purpose...30 min

4. Format for next 2 meetings (Hancock, Jeavons), and proposal for having different facilitators (to relieve Jason)...10 min

5. Vote on facilitation procedures proposed at last steering committee meeting and choose facilitator for next meeting...10 min future agenda item

1. Proposals to be presented for consensus a. Food Item Laura: To inspire us to begin “leading by example”, I invite you to join me in increasing our awareness of local food practices through our tradition of breaking bread together before our meetings. I propose a simple, wholesome, healthy meal, prepared by those of us who love to cook, using as much locally grown food as we can find. The meal will consist of: two soups/stews (one vegetarian), a salad, bread, tea and a light dessert. Each meeting, after acknowledging the cooks and the meal, I will solicit volunteers to bring a part of the meal for the next meeting, Those who can’t or don’t wish to cook should never feel obligated, because they can help with cleanup! Each meeting, everyone in the group will donate $4 (agreed by group) to the meal pot, to be used by the cooks to pay for ingredients. Volunteers for next week: Ree, Laura: soup, Mair: Bread, Jason: salad, dessert: Larry. Full Consensus.

b. Media Group Lanny: Sent out press release, read a letter to the editor that he wrote. The function of the media group is to show sources of information and as we receive them, reach out to the community, describe what we do at WELL meetings. Requested feedback on what the media outreach group can do for the group. Tim: Community building is a function of the media group. Larry: Keep the public aware of what is going on, pique their interest Ree: Offered to take pictures. Richard: Will need the media group to promote film showings. Laura: 1) Define the media group 2) Use each other as a reality check, for example, approach school kids would need lots of discussion to come to a consensus of the presentation. Mutual agreements. Tim: Maybe we need an “official spokesperson”. Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 3/7/05

Jason: When giving presentations to different service groups, we will need help from the media group for photos and feedback on presentations. Lanny: Reality checks are good. David: Proposal: We should have a spokesperson who vets the information. Most agreed. Mair: When we speak off the “official line”, we can give a disclaimer, saying that ‘this is my personal opinion’.

c. Film series Richard: Met with Brian Weller to discuss the Sustainable film series for Willits today. No response to the bulletin board meeting. He has many films and videos on alternative energy & building, intentional communities, food generation, etc. Do others have films? Could be at the event room at the Library, WEC. He has connected with Bob Banner in SLO, Hopedance.org for cooperation. Have a video projector, sound system, looking for a screen. Look to acquire a glass beaded screen. www.sustainablepetaluma.net/filmseries.html Cyndee: This could be incorporated into the summer films in the park. They have a power point projector. Laura: Hope Richard is willing to run it. List of movies and calendar, please. Richard: I am committed to running the film series. Full support

d. Speaker Engagement Group Laura: This group will handle speakers for WELL as follows: BOOKING AND TIMELINE 1. Make a list of potential speakers (approved by SC) 2. Develop a protocol for paying speakers 3. Design WELL handout to give potential speakers 4. Contact and book speakers 5. Maintain calendar of speaking dates MARKETING 1. Create a list of media to contact 2. Create a list of locations to post flyers 3. Write and distribute press release, PSA, personal contact 4. Design and distribute flyers 5. Send group email HOSTING 1. Contact speaker for list of materials required for presentation. 2. Arrange as needed: transportation, lodging, meals, materials 3. Ensure meeting room is set up and equipped 4. Meet speaker before meeting FOLLOW-UP 1. Payment 2. Thank you note 3. Take down flyers 4. Letter to the editor thanking all involved

Laura: Does the SC think this is a good idea? She is willing to head group. Mair: Add a step of writing a letter to editor, thanking all involved; timeline recommendations. Spring: Speakers take up meeting time on Monday nights. Ree: How many speakers needed? Don’t know. Lanny - list of media. David: a rotating responsibility. Larry: a simple outline to plug into that can be refined as we go along. Use this guideline for Hancock presentation.

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 3/7/05

David: E-mailing a PSA to a newspaper is not adequate. Follow-up and personal contact are still important. Full Support. Any volunteers? Contact: lauraliska@cs.com

2. Presentation on grant opportunity by Cyndee Logan Cyndee Logan from WAG (Willits Action Group), a grassroots group including input from the Health clinic, County offices, Kids video project, community gardens, volunteer network at teen center (teen construction included) partner to Policy Council on Youth, MC, HMH, MCYP, community care, etc. (These organizations are board members) enhancing collaboration. She discovered that WELL, being a grassroots community health project, fits in with the criteria for the Mendocino Tobacco SAT grant. $25,000 grant amount. Grant application is due 4/1, results by 5/31. Patty Gruder is willing to write the grant. This is a DEVELOPMENT GRANT: Laptop, projector, DVD player. Also help with costs for grant writing, and project development. Seed money. Professional research to back up projects. Media, fundraising, design capital project, board/staff training, leveraged funding, data collection, organizing, needs assessments, other training & education. Each subgroup should put together ideas of types of projects that we are looking at, grants. Laura: Are we accountable for the money? Budget specifies hard costs. AJ: We are fully able to find projects that fit into this grant. David: Proposed that a subcommittee get this info together, suggest Jason head it up. Specific tasks, hiring professionals. Development project. Cyndee: Collection of past newspaper articles is helpful. Volunteers: Lanny, Mair, David. Richard: Offered to be a liaison for Energy group. Mair: Will attend the first meeting. Cyndee: 1) youth retention, 2) leadership, 3) existing businesses, 4) community funded & run endowment. 95490 are locally run. Mendo County coming to help set up. Laura: We need a democratic money spending process. AJ: Confident in the group to handle it well. The problem is more to keep up with the changes that are coming; we will make good choices. More responsibility.

3. Discussion on larger group meeting structure and study groups' ongoing purpose Currently, meetings include: Intro, Movie, Q&A, Study group intro, Study groups meet & Report, General announcements, Close & Mingle.

What role to we want study groups to play in the future?

Ree: Suggested beginning with discussing having speakers at main group meetings. Diane: Some disappointment has been expressed in study groups that there is not enough time. Spring: Transitions from large meeting takes up a lot of time in the main meetings; what is the point of study groups, Social organization group is not cohesive enough to meet outside. Larry: Study groups need a theme. Just get going when we have to stop. Don’t try to meet as groups and have a speaker. Lanny: We could practice speeding up transitions. Laura: Purpose of the Study Groups: cohesion leads to self-motivating action by members. Large meetings should be for reporting on what projects. Newcomers may make the group less cohesive for new work. Maybe one night is study group, one night is speaker night. Jason: Enrollment with movie and orienting to group. Core people have to repeat lots. Big meetings builds community. Report on projects. Interacting with other groups, cross-pollination. Spring: Study Group rules: if new, introduce & listen. Social Organization group: 2 things - need time to cohere. Is it just taking time or is the stated purpose not developed yet? Future agenda item Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 3/7/05

Richard: Need paperwork/flyer with guidelines, calendar to help bring new members up to speed. Energy group has an ad hoc city group that met tonight. Save the dynamics of the larger group meeting for integrating new members. David: Let’s stay with Jason’s original vision. Project groups will spin off. Now that we have done our inventory. Now, to visioning process! Need a unified/big picture plan so we can check in to see with how we are filling in our plan. Jason’s vision is what makes us different from other groups. We are looking at the ‘whole elephant’. Don’t want new people to hold us back, they have to bring themselves up to speed. Laura: Groups are not susceptible to the model. Groups must have projects to work on together. Food group core is going to develop the mission and action. Larry: We are evolving. Don’t want to keep multiplying the meetings. Make best use of Monday nights. All groups are different and will move in their own way. Water group is small. Lanny: Solution - if every group keeps quarterly gist of where they are, a written summary, which could include boilerplate recommendations for newcomers, e.g. if you are new, listen first. Mair: Core group meeting should meet once to develop direction of group and a summary sheet. Doesn’t like the idea of asking newcomers to be quiet. AJ: Walking the balance between using energy of people and staying true to the vision. In order to succeed, we have to have a unified vision. How we diversify. Take what isn’t working for social organization and come to Food group - potluck, song and talking about food. Harvest what will be grown this year - start now. Ree: Newcomers take observation role. Read the summary sheet out loud in group. Each group defines its own agenda & life. Have the envisioning be part of the larger meeting. Spring: Brian could read the summaries at orientation. Richard: Workshops on canning for harvest time.

SPEAKERS AT MEETINGS future agenda item

4. Format for next 2 meetings (Hancock, Jeavons), and proposal for having different facilitators (to relieve Jason) Current schedule: 3/14 Ann Hancock 3/21 John Jeavons 3/28 Regular large meeting? = This means 3 large meetings in a row... 4/4 Steering Committee 4/11 Decaturs 4/18 ? Spring: Frustrated that meeting sequence has been derailed without following group process. What kind of leeway do we have for rescheduling? Laura: Planning seems unilateral. These speakers were scheduled before we made group process decisions. Need to chose an alternate for Jason for large meetings Ree: Large group structure not working. Speaker/transition to group. David: Speakers should be scheduled on a night other than Monday night. Can’t get anything done on the same night - sabotages large meetings. Will need to meet outside of Monday night any way. Laura: Attendance may be low for speakers. Monday for meeting or speakers? Mair: Assumption is that people show up on Monday because? Have choice to change speakers. Diane: Don’t schedule too much in one week, although we had good turnout for the Heinberg. Lanny: Process the information from speakers to integrate the info. keep the schedule. AJ: Stick with one meeting every other week. Guest speakers help with momentum. Stay with the planned schedule because it is on the books. Spring: People come because of what we are doing. Ree: Since John will be shorter, we could try to have small groups discuss his information afterward.

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 3/7/05

Proposal: The current schedule (see above) remains and study groups will not meet those nights. Not full consensus - 3 blocks: Spring: It takes the wind out of our sails to change the process David: Study groups are doing the real work that will make or break the effort. Derailing the real work of study groups. Laura: We are only missing one large group meeting. Mair: Proposal: that study groups could still meet in a different room from speaker. No consensus. Laura: Proposal: Stick with invited guests, with no unilateral inviting of guests in the future, work out acceptable structure for planning speakers. We learned a lesson. Mostly Consensus. Jason: People are asking for speakers.

Facilitator for next large meeting: Laura, 3/28

Facilitator for next steering committee/date: Ree, 4/11

Announcements: Mark Lakeman Slide Show, Anderson Valley, Philo Grange Fri 3/11, 7pm KZYX Board Meeting Library 3/8 6 pm

Meeting closed at 9:32 pm.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee Meeting 2-21-05

Members present: Jason Bradford, Jenny Burnstad, Larry Desmond, David Drell, AJ Barrett, Laura Liska, Spring Senerchia, Ree Slocum, Diane Smalley, Annie Weller, George Cottrell, Brian Weller, Kristin Bradford, Lanny Cotler Meeting began at 7:16. Agenda: Recap Heinberg - Fear & Hope Name Governance Proposed change of structure for larger meetings and steering committee

Treasurer’s report : approx. $700.

1. Recap Heinberg event of 2/17- Fear & Hope Jason: Richard was amazed by the size of the group. “Maybe I should move to Mendo”, Heinberg. Annie: Fear message was strong - concerned about people getting that message. Helps to have places to get involved with familiar faces. Not in resignation - motivated to act. Feels some time stress. AJ: Went through changes, shock to denial. Noticed that there was emphasis on invasion of Iran, questions from audience about the governments ability to seize land, FEMA. Need to address these questions. Felt hopeful because of comments such as “This transcends political parties. History of industrial revolution - long buildup.” Struggle: life is out of balance, manic, not enough time to pause, poor sleep. Steering committee’s job is to bring balance, music, energy, hope. Diane: Hope is a longing for an outcome over which we have no agency, -Derek Jensen There’s no enemy/opposition!! No Monsanto!! We have some agency in this issue. Don’t focus on the mistakes of the culture, step out of the larger economy to create our own economy here in Willits. Jenny: Rick Page is the director of FEMA in Ukiah - give him a copy of End of Suburbia. This issue gives hope. Challenge is to promote the issue as a hopeful one, rather than scaring people away. It is about being prepared. Ree: Everyone will go through their own process depending on what we are exposed to. WELL provides a great deal of hope. To reach across party lines, keep the national politics out of it. If you want people to join you, have more fun. Spring: Shocked by the update of numbers. We need to realize that this is ‘Transition’. Brian: Fear is a natural response to a perceived threat. Deal with fear separate from the “threat”. As new people come in, have a place for them to express their feelings. Jason: Studying this issue causes one to question their security. He has been studying this issue long enough to have gone through the e stages of grief and is now at acceptance. Doing something about it will make the crash less severe. Not numb but dispassionate. Laura: ‘Hitting bottom’ is when you realize that you don’t know anything and don’t know whose voice is right. This is the place for finding faith and working on your own life. Animals live in a dream all their lives - why don’t we make it a good dream? (Anthroposophic) David: Fear is the motivator - transform it into positive work and community. Whether peak oil hits in 2 years or 5. Mainstream is beginning to cover the subject. It’s what we’ve always want to do. George: Desire is the other side of the fear ‘coin’. Lead the fearful to desire, where we have agency, can be pro-active. We are becoming a public entity. Laura: Let’s lead by example. Kristin’s coworker is picking up on it. David: It was the choir at the talk. Our responsibility is to set up the template, get lifeboats built. Others will see it later. Don’t have to spend energy bringing them along. Brian: Outreach is important. Plans to enroll in the local school.

WELL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 2-21-05

2. Governance: Brian: We have an ‘Ad Hocracy’. As rules emerge, they stand until they don’t work. Not laissez-faire. Jason: We do need a style of decision making, for example: we need to buy a power point projector. How do we decide to spend the money? DECISION MAKING ‘RULES’ EMERGING: -Make a distinction between what Steering Committee decides and what ought to be put to the larger group for deciding. -Let’s develop decision making styles that can be part of a tool kit. -Propose using consensus. -Need training for consensus to work well. -Consensus does not mean all in agreement -Use a style that has a history. “80% consensus” is similar to what we are saying. -Whoever shows up makes the decisions - no ‘quorum’ idea. -Rotate facilitator role. -Facilitator is picked at the end of each meeting so they can receive agenda items for the next meeting. Agenda items need to be reported to and gathered by the facilitator. -By the Thursday prior to Steering Committee meeting, post agenda. -Facilitator posts agenda and proposals on web site to let the community know when the meetings are, that they are open to all and what the agenda is. -Time for comments from public. -Feedback for facilitator at the end so that all can learn how to facilitate. -Proposals should be written out so we can see it in advance and/or brought to the meeting. -Have time limits on agenda items. -Times for agenda items suggested to the facilitator by the person making the proposal/agenda item. If time runs out before decision is reached, adding time can be proposed, if it passes, discussion continues, if it doesn’t pass, the item is shelved. -Use a white board or flip charts to note agenda items, time limits, announcements. -When money is spent - have a firm proposal based on research with actual money amounts. In a businesslike fashion. -Any time we make a decision about money - let greater community know, so there is feedback process. -When a vote is taken, thumb up means ‘I support the proposal’, thumb to the side means ‘I need more information before I can support the proposal’, thumb down means ‘I don’t support the proposal, because...’ - hear from thumbs to side and down. All are heard this way. -Nontoxic pens for dry erase board. Flip charts better? Proposal: type this up and decide next time. Supported.

3. Proposal: Purchase a Power Point Projector Explanation - We have speakers coming such as Ann Hancock - global footprint - 3/14; proposed Film series; Jason, Brian and others may need power point projector. Expected cost is $500. A sliding scale donation at events of $5-10 could help pay for it. Has asked around but haven’t found one. MEC has one that we can borrow in an emergency. Bulbs are expensive which makes people reluctant to loan them out. AJ: Proposal: $500 to purchase. Discussion: Laura: Is there a better use of our money? Ree: Are there any other needs that cost money? Buy it locally? Brian: This is an outreach tool, gives more access, generates funds. Should approve due to the short time frame. David: When money is spent, we should have a firm proposal based on research with actual money amounts in a more businesslike fashion. Urgency for this item isn’t clear. Jason: Proposal: Do price/availability research and email written proposal to Steering Committee members. Supported WELL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 2-21-05

4. Name Some community members have given feedback that Willits Economic Localization is to hard to say. Make it spell WELL Proposal: Use the name WELL or WELL. 80% support. Use the word local instead. Don’t dumb it down. Is it just about economy? Willits Energy Ecology Environment Localization Local Like Life Livelihood Link Linkage It is about the Source. Economy - redefining, re-creating, reframing remodeling. Economy is about following natural law, akin to the concept of dharma; getting re-connected to natural cycles. Elegance = many variables from the simplest elements. Economics, environment, equity = a system that works. It’s about an alternative to global economics! We need a byline that also explains it. Proposal: To accept the acronym WELL and bring recommended word use and possible bylines to the next Steering Committee meeting. Full consensus!

5. Change of meeting structure Jason: Proposal: Suggest three new groupings for the Community meetings which are 1) Projects group, 2) Research group that would accept questions (finish inventory), 3) Outreach/Media group. Laura: Felt like “Jason’s group”; come to find out Jason wants to open up leadership. The inventory process feels like homework, not fun, so people are not coming back. She proposed changes reflected in above groupings. Annie: Chomping at the bit happening organically, e.g., City council proposal this week for solarizing the town. Came out of Energy group. David: If we can persevere, inventory gives us a reality check for the magnitude of the infrastructure we are proposing to replace. Projects subcommittees should be allowed. Helps our efforts to be based on honest facts. Inventory never stops. Brian: Got to give people their heads. Spring: If the projects are not centrally controlled, they need to be connected. Even though they may be great, separate ideas limp along. The job of WELL is to connect. Create network before we begin action groups. Lanny: Tie together inventory, ideas & implementation. Jason: Options close as time passes and resources are used up. Inventory needs to go far enough to show people where we are. When oil runs out, time will be of the essence - no time to plan, just do. Brian: Mission needs to be compatible with vision and inventory. Vision: shared future we create, collective picture that emerges. Inventory: current reality Mission: specific-what-by-when, defined by groups. People have different styles - such as pioneers, base camp, thinkers, AJ: One comment was “The problem is going to be getting along, being community.” Spring is here, gardens should begin. Hold questions as you garden - answers will come. Annie: Many questions will be answered intuitively. George: As research continues it will inform the process. Ree: Remember the Mystery: people who act will come up with ideas we can’t think of . David: Energy group has basically completed inventory, thanks to Brian Corzelius. Brian: Pinpoint key researchers who keep in touch with the action groups. Jason: Know who people are in groups who can find cross-group answers. Laura: Group feedback/visioning/purpose, more reporting, group visioning. Lanny: Make reports interesting!! Diane: Suggestion for next Community meeting: Groups can identify and present glitches/obstacles they have encountered, needs from the greater group - more of a discussion.

WELL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 2-21-05

Jason, Laura, Spring, Brian, Lanny, David, will work on format for the next Community meeting. Next facilitator: David, 459-2643. Laura will be the email liaison. Agenda items, next meeting Treasurer report at big meeting Are all the subgroups represented? Later agenda item: Use of REDI house. Meeting closed at 9:51.

Willits Economic Localization Steering Committee Meeting 2-7-05

Members present: Jenny Burnstad, Patrick Burnstad, Tim Gregory, George Cottrell, Brian Weller, AJ Barrett, Kevin Rowell, Spring Senerchia, Ron Charles (?), Diane Smalley, Ree Slocum, Kristin Bradford, Jason Bradford, Richard Jergeson, Lanny Cotler (filming). Meeting began at 7:05.

Agenda: Recap meeting Name Visualization

Tony Orth let us know that the Democratic Committee is putting forth a Draft Resolution based on post-peak oil issues. Question from Brian: How can we mesh with the formal government processes? Answer: Educate, invite the staff of politicians, keep them posted. Mature our process with short term & long term activities - We have a few years.

Review of Monday’s meeting: Ron: group is meshing, visioning at the end gave people a purpose Spring: did some pre-planning before the meeting Richard: data of consumptive lifestyle will be numbing AJ: inventory process has been unsuccessful, meet outside of the regular meeting; 5 new members that knew alot; food group took its first big step Ree: water group felt cohesive, trouble with research questions, energy more directed Patrick: visioning process changed energy Lanny: met someone who was unhappy and not trusting the process at a previous meeting, she had a shift at the last meeting and is now very happy! Spring: meeting time too short, reports had too many details. Jason: forgot the 3-minute rule for the final reports. George: some division happening in the shelter group, existing housing stock, alternative builder. Patrick: reporters should be neutral and stay within time. Diane: I will watch the reporting more closely. Brian: Tension always seeks resolution. The visioning creates tension and pulls us toward our goal. The gap between now and the future is where we focus. Building the specifics within the vision - then inventory those areas. Inchworm-style progress. Wrap the whole center with paper and write the visions on it. Display surfaces are needed. We should buy some cork boards for each group that can be stored at the community center. Spring will ask at printing express for paper. Seek in-kind donations from businesses. Ask for specific items for practical donations. Richard: Newsletter would be good, can mention businesses who have donated. Tim: If the purpose is understood - community goal, language change, frame change, needs to precede a media collective. How close are we to crystallization? Kevin: 6 lifetimes - open-ended; conversation leads away from the point - personal stories dialog is the creation of our life together. AJ: it’s a moving image. Keep the name Willits Economic Localization...

WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 2-7-05

The Name N+1 ... The obvious emerges The vibe I feel from talking about this over the last few months is... Create a display of what is going on within our hearts & minds. Tim: In the spirit of a meme - shocking and confusing. Letting go of a structure that is killing you. What are the characteristics of a well? Deep, clean, community centered, garden nearby, laundry nearby, water table, sweet, water, Mentoring of the youth. WEL. Go WEL. Be WEL. Willits identity. Helps cohesiveness.

Governance What is this group going to provide that we need to make decisions about? Empowered meeting where decisions are made. That meeting can be formal. Published. Discussion meetings can post their results and let the decisions stand if not challenged. All different types of governance may be needed at different times, use variations of consensus. The spirit of consensus - meeting for a common purpose. Why are the youth not showing up? Spring: They are not ready to call Willits home. Jason: Message to youth: we want you to stay, what would you need to be able to stay? Kevin: You can’t hold young people. Offer an opportunity to be involved. Plant seeds at 12-14 y.o. Better interface. George: Go to the social events. Tim: Dolphins image - pool of sanity for a period of time. Ron: the kids want to be involved! Go to schools and speak about this. Ree: talk to David Hulse-Stevens. Richard: 35th anniversary of Earth Day coming up. Brian: We are in process like a River. Moving. Organic magnetic process. AJ: Hiring the youth for projects. Eonomics is key for youth. Kids will pull parents in. Jason: Human labor is going to be our main force. If you are physically capable, you will be in huge demand. Looking for small plots of land for professionally run farms George: Weatherize homes in stages. Richard: Business incubator run by City. Biomass energy. Share tool bases. Teach young people how to run machinery. Kevin: Money is a tool that we use to draw Youth to this process.

Heinberg & Decatur talks Richard Heinberg 2/17 Steve Decatur 2/18, 7pm Doug Mosel is sponsoring Heinberg event. Brian will contact him re: putting up images. Groups could meet early and after. The posters by Linda MacDonald put together alot of concepts. Invite artists, bring images from magazines. Science project displays - from Mendo Lake.

WEL Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, continued 2-7-05

Jason has proposed having tables: We want to be prepared with a mission statement and a flyer for Heinberg. Review and feeback by Friday. AJ: Different paper, how many? Ree: photos? Brian: commit to being there on Thursday morning to “decorate” the place with paper. Spring: Something that looks good. AJ: do a follow-up. Richard: Maybe Heinberg has visual aids or recommended activities. Talk to Claudia about WN article. Sound is a problem. We need buffers. Jenny: he does a powerpoint presentation with a book table. Hall should be warm. Invite everybody. Ree: keep it simple in respect. Spring will invite Rotary Club. Government people are invited to Brew Pub with Heinberg. City Council announcement: Brian & Annie High School: Environmental group, Tobias, Ken Rich, David Hulse-Stevens, peer counselors.

Announcements: Natural Building Forum, 2/13 Tryouts for the WELLIES, the cheerleading squad, soon. Jenny & Patrick met with the Coorperriders, Laura Hamberg. Grant process for whole County with reference to Post-Carbon. Builders are planning a small (50) convergence in May to plan a bigger one for next year. Looking for projects. Next meeting 2/11. Berkeley Community Center will post our events on their calender. Meeting closed at 9:17.