Present: leah, corey, kate, Chinhae, phoenix, logan (via phone), amelia, quinn, russ, graham, stormie, bernard, lorenzo, beryl, ivy, xandria, david
Tiff (pronouns:??), 2nd meeting, very disabled, willing to make effort to meet labor requirements as able
wasnt really a meeting, there was a holiday party that went well, minutes approved
Beryl has officially taken over as bookkeeper, they are the quarters guy now!
Logan may be moving to canada in march for a while to work on legal matters,
(The Gash, Phoenix, Ivy, Beryl) Member review for Josh Pineda
This is a member review for Joshua Pineda.
They have been found to be in violation of the harassment policy on multiplications, villainizing a disabled racialized member of our community and multiple emails both to the house as a whole, and to officers individually.
They have made jabs at The Gash for its dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia, and treating this as a reason to see it as a threat and dehumanize it.
Josh has multiple times referred to The Gash as “Chinhae and it’s personalities” and “Chinhae, the gash, etc. etc.”, which serves as a means to legitimize its condition and treat it as “the real one “and “the rest. “
They have also been known to abuse the conflict resolution system, in order to make those enemies look hostile and unreasonable.
Josh's defense letter was read and addressed in full and is below:
“Well, I'm quite disappointed in thesituation. IfeelI wasthe onewho was harassed. Instead of trying to make a pleatowards youto believemy side,I'llmake documentationtransparent. Fortunatelyanyconversation regardingtensionwithChinhaeisdocumented goingall the way back to June. I'll begin my statementwithmyfirstletter to Stormie.
It was within the first few weeks following my officer review. Mostpeople wereavoiding meand keepingspace. I didn't pick up any negativevibesdirectedtowards mefrom anyone but Chinhae.Orat least that ishow it felt to me. Theonly personIspoketowas the Steward. Not just becauseof the situationI feltwas going on.Butto try andbuildtrust withthemthatIcouldreach out and bevalidated. A painful struggle StormieandIwent through for months. Stormiewaspatient withme and wedid indeed build thattrust.
One thing thatisreferenced in myletterto Stormieis theincidentwithPhoenixhaving made a false statement aboutme while Iwas at Sasona.There were actually twofalse statements with only one being somewhat critical. Butthisis importanttounderstandmyfear.
Thefirststatementas was reportedto me by another memberwas thatI got inPhillip'sface and screamedhe was goingtobeevicted. Thisstatementwas arealfactorintheearlystagesof building a reviewtowards me.Thisnever happenedthatnight. But Phoenixissueda testimony of it happening and from what Iwasinformed ofCoreybegan toread itto everyone. ButthismemberI amreferencing told metheysteppedinand told Corey thatwas ano go. Thatstatement then vanished.But itwas intended to be used to also do a member reviewonme atthattime. Thisis as wastold to me by othersatthe time.
Then there'sa second statement that was false.Phoenix hadtold anothermemberthat Iwalkedbythem, kickedtheground and said fuck you under mybreathe.I was atSasonawhenthis wassaidto have supposedly happened.
Thesetwostatements terrified meintheweeksfollowingmy officerreview. I wasscared to the point I hadto film when Iwould go outsideto smoke out of fear someonewouldmakeupsomethingabout me.
Insteadof stayinglikethis,Ireachedoutto Stormie.Mystate of mindatthetimecan bebroughtintoquestion. Butthisletteris from when I was atthatpoint.
TheincidentIreference fromthebreezeway? Thatis howthatsituationfelttome. I didnot try to sellit to other peopleor spreadit. But Idid need tobring it upwith Stormieincaseitfurtherescalated.Asit did.
For the timebeing Igot overit andmoved on.
My secondtimetospeakaboutChinhae was again totheSteward, as I continued tryingto trusther,and the membership coordinator. Itwas apretty seriousletter andwasa really bigescalation for me. Ifeelthis event wentunderestimatedin factoringinto how I endedupwith
theco-opthe monthsafterwards.Astronglevelof trust insafety wasbroken. I didn'tgetoverthis.If youwould allow it to happen toLeothen to me that meansyou'dallowit withanyone.It'dhappen again.SoI spoke up formyfriend, Leo. Leowasthemain friendwho stuck withmewithoutjudgmentinthemonths followingmyofficer review.Wehung out a good bit and got to know eachother. ItalkedtoLeo morethan anyoneelse atthe co-op, Igottoknowhispassions,histalents and his level ofdevotionto them. I am gratefultohave been able to have that kind of timewith someone in those earlyweeks aftermy review.
Sotohearthat someonewanted to “Peelhis skinoff and pin it to thewall”that just happensto be the partnerof the person that made falsestatementsaboutme…. Itmade mereally scared.
I alsoreference thatChinhaehas erupted before. While Iwas StewardChinhaeeruptedontwopeople. Onewas in the commons.There was a debate going on betweentwomembersand Chinhae gotaggressiveabouttheirstance. Itried talking to both sides. It was shocking tome honestly becauseatthat point Ithought very well of Chinhae.ButI noted the red flag.Duetocommentsand accusationsmadein this argument I am intentionally being vague.
The second incidentI was present for. It was daytime and severalofus, includingDwayneandTracy,werestandingoutside. WhenDwaynewalked up he said “Are y'all having apow wow?” A fewmoments went by andChinhaegot very upsetat thatcommentanditwas abitof ascene.Iwanted a conflict resolution meetingoverthis incidentsoI could finally address that Chinhae hadgone off twice now.But Tracyand Chinhae settled it later before thathappened.
After I sentthisletterI showed ittoLogan,thenow membershipcoordinator.We wereon thebreezeway and I hadLoganread it.Logan'sonly reactionwasconcernfor whatwas said about Chinhaeandthat I shouldremoveit. That seemed strange tome.
The next escalation comesmonthslater during Leo's member review in October.Tensions inthe housewerereally boilingover andIwanted communitydiscussion. Something Ilearned about fromGracie. Iwanted an openconversationbetween the house and Leo. I brokewithmyloyalty toLeo andworked withChinhaetomakethishappen.Iwas very confused at thetime.
Chinhae, Radish, Quinn,Logan asthenowmembership coordinator,Lorenzoandmyself gatheredfora private meetingtodrafta memberreviewonLeo.I was veryuncomfortable abouta memberreview.None ofthemhad even tried officialmediation withLeoor holdanydialogue. Iwantedthat first. Never theless Iwent to themeetingto givetestimony of something I wastoldin confidence.There'svery complicated reasons forthisI won'tgointo. I said whatIhad to sayandstuck aroundfora fewminutes. The meeting spiraled out into purefantasy.
I won'tspendtimehere re-hashing Leo's member review.I willjust say due to howoutof touch itwas Ihad toflip scriptandspeak upforLeo.Ihadspentthemost time withhim. So Ineeded to share whatIknew about him.
His review came down to a dead lock tie with eviction andnoaction.I was the first tobring up noactioninfavor of furtheroneon one discussionmuch earlier. At least thatwas myreasoning. Then laterstatedIwould support abehavioral contract. When it came time tothevote I was worriedthey'dusea behavior contractfor somethingevenmore absurd. SoIwasthetie breakerwitha behavior contract and no action.
But outof nowhereat leastsixpeople voted for eviction.I was scared.My god ifIhadn'ttaken this kid's back.
That memberreview wasanasty battle.But we gotLeo outof therewithnoaction.I wasthe one toinformhim.Then Ihad him come out andweall had agreat nightto celebrate. Italked to himinmore detail as well.
Thisreally,reallyupset Chinhae.ShortlyafterthereviewI receivedabarrage of discord messagesfromChinhae harassingmeabout taking Leo'sside. Chinhae blocked me after themessages. Iwant to showthisexchange but information about a memberisshared that can not bepublic. This messagewassentto otherswho need toseethemforcriticalreasonsand theSteward.
Anhourwent by and then I began receiving harassingtxt messages. I finally blockedhimprettymuch sending themessage I wantno further contact.Thetxt messagescanbeshared.
My nextlettercameweekslaterinNovember.This isthe point where Iwasreadytopush foran open discussion about it. Priortothat I may have been incorrect about an incidentinan email. Mostwill remember I sentouta panicked emailabout a blackvehiclethatpulleduponme.Aftersending it I receivedresponses fromanaddressI didn'trecognize withalongname. Chinhaehas usedmultiple screen names on discordand different emails, at least in my understanding.This may nothave been Chinhae.Itcould have been BerylorViolet as the emailaddress has each oftheirnamesin it.Two I hadnot metwell or interacted with much at all. SoIdid notregisterthe namesatthe time. Iended the conversationwith a door slam that I would onlycontinue discussing in mediation.Ithought itwasChinhae and had already blocked them ontwo platforms.
Butaninappropriate comment was madefirst. It saidthatI didn't take my copwatchingseriously.It'sbeen the biggestpart of my life for overa decade.I am so grateful tofinally begetting closer backto filming. Myachievementsheredon't need tobespelled out.
Thatsetthe vibefor meandaftera few exchanges Iwasuninterested.ButI thought itwas a continuation of jabs towards me. Astheydid begin bytakingajab at me. A very personal
one.
I saton this for a week and worried itwouldjust keep going. That's beenmyobservationofChinhae. Theydon'tstop. Especiallywhen it'ssomeone isolatedand unfavored.Afterthinking it through I messaged the Steward about community discussion for the first time.Ascan be seen it'stheunequal enforcement of principlesthatwasalsoupsetting me.Thiswasaninappropriate messagethatdidn't takeinto account thatthanksgiving was thatweekend. I immediately pulledit andbegan further discussion followingthe holiday. Iwas very embarrassedaboutthismessage. But notits contents.
My next message comesaweek later. I sentouta jokingmessage for afriendlyThanksgivingpartyinthecommons.I jokedthatthe Stewardwas out oftownand now there'snoonetostop us fromgoingwild! Stormiefoundthis asfunnyasI did.Almostimmediately I received another negative responsefromChinhae.I wasalready avoiding them in commonspaces,blockedthem on two platformsand yettheystillfound awaytobe negativetowardsme.Itwas upsetting. I immediatelyresponded requestingChinhae andhis personalitiesnolonger consultwith me. Atall. Ineeded to be clear that I meant ALL ofthem.
I donot knowhow many or allthenames ofChinhae's personalities. Ido not want to.Igot to know one ofthem well enough toknow they aren't safe or healthy for me.Theythreatened to rip the skinoffmy friend afterall. It is no one else's right to judge what I requiretohave a healthyenvironmentandtakecareof myownmentalhealth.If somethingisn't healthyforme then that's the end of it.I wantno part of Chinhae.Myonly interest wasconflictresolutionto avoid any escalationandbeclear that ahealthyenvironmentforeveryone else isthe mostimportantthing.
Chinhaedid notstopwhen Iaskedthemto. They insulted me and degraded me bycalling me anableist. Thiswas very upsetting. I'm anaccessibility rightsadvocate. This can beconfirmedby theboard members from SasonawhenI stayed with them during my review.Wetalked thefirstnight and I glowinglytalkedabout what I wanted in my third Steward term. Iwantedtofocusonaccessibility asmy personal main goal andconsult withNolan. Nolandchanged mylife intermsofaccessibility awareness andculture.From a distanceIlet Nolan'sfightchange me. He foughtus so hard and committed.I decidedI'd lethimwinthefight with meand completelychanged myviews for hisefforts.
Justa fewweeksago everyone ignored Nolan's message about needingassistancelearningthebutton layoutof the new washingmachines. Afewdaysafter his message I sawhim sitting outside and asked if anyone ever helped.I wasshocked and upset when he told me no. So I immediately helpedNolan.Afterwewere done he thanked me and I told him“Accessibilityisa human right.”
I blockedChinhae'semail.I saw one replyfrom Ivy andwasn'tinterested indeepdiscussion with someone I'venever hada full conversationwith. IblockedIvyas well. Thiswasthe endofthat exchange for me.
Ifollowedthroughwith what I said to Chinhae and a few dayslater Isubmitted a requestwiththeStewardfor conflictresolution. Thisisthefirsttime Iuse“Chinhae, theGashetc. etc.” BecauseI mean allofthem andI don'tknow all of them. Ijustwant it to be blatantlyclear. Imeaneveryone ofthem. Idon't knowwhichones arein control whentheydotheseaggressivethingsand botherme.
Chinhaewoulddecline thisinvitation. Which putusback into messages about communitydiscussion orreview.The Steward and I met as wefrequentlydoanddiscussed the situation at length.I wasinformed of incidents I didn't know about and factoring that into otherdiscussions I had with othermembers it wasthought bestto move forward withmembershipreview.But I wanted no action as the result.
I announced at the generalmeetingafter thatto be on the lookout foranupcomingmemberreview.That Ididn't wantto but I just couldn'ttrustthe other person to keeptothemselves.
Then something very bad happenedin the worldthat affected both Chinhae and I. Theendoftheceasefire. I was inno place to doa member review onsomeone andthoughtit cruelto putChinhae through thatduringthis crisis. So Iended itthere.
Thenweeks goby. I still feel thingsbeingtense. Butnothinghappened.Ihadthemblocked on three platformsat thispoint.
Then Christmas happens.Iwas doing DCU in the commons for theChristmasdinner.Therehadjustbeen a majordiscussion at the generalmeeting about DCUnotbeingcleaningpeople's individual dishes. It's for majorclean up. Doyourowndishes.You're an adult.
WhiledoingDCU I cameacross alot of dishes in the sink of people'spersonal dishes.I gathered them all together, sat them on a table,wrote anotesayingto cleanyour dishes,you'rean adult. I took a photo of it andsentit out to thepublicco-opdiscussiongroup.
Phil andLorenzocamedown first.Lorenzo asked ”You got fingerprintevidence onthosedishes?“orsomewordingtothe exact samehilariouseffect. Phil hada verycomical exchangewith Lorenzoaboutresponsibilities with dishes.
Next Barryland Chinhaecame down.I sawthemdownthere earlier andassumedsomeof the dishes weretheirs.Ifeltsomereally angry energy as usualfrom Chinhae thatmademeuncomfortable.ButI had very advanced noise canceling headphoneson.If they said anythingthere'sa zeropercent chance Icouldhear it and that was thepoint.
Chinhae cameinto the kitchenarea whileIwasdoingdishes.Chinhaedid thisa few timesgoingthroughtherefrigerator whereI had put upthefood. It's obvious theirpointis tojustgetfood. Butat one point Chinhaehit my backabit. Ifeltitwas intentionalbutthat's just me. Iam nottrying toget youtobelieve that.It's just how it felt to me and my own frail safe space.
AfterIfinished DCU I walked outof the commons,my headphoneswere somewhat off andChinhaetriedtoconfront me asking ifthey could get thegravynow.Ididn't feel theyneeded toask methat and felt theypossiblywantedsomething more?This whole incident wasstrange. I moved on.
A few dayslaterIread a horrifying article in theWSJthatsaid“Israel increases attacksonrefugee camps.” Apparentlyyoucan justsay youare doing thatnow.It horrified me. I knewChinhaeisreading the same shit I am.
Itprovokedme to send amessage outtotheStewardand Membershipcoordinator.Ihad already informed the membership coordinator,Chinhae's friend who initially had him movedin,Logan.I sent atxtpriortothis abouta buildingreviewon Chinhae.
But in this email exchangeI wasvery distraught. WhatI reallywantedwasto fizzleanythingbetween usinfavor of what'shappeningin Palestine. Ihadresources to fight thatI hadbeenbuildingup,weeach have theresources ofthe co-op and we're the twofightingforPalestinethemost attheco-op.It felt likesucha waste. Oh,Iknew this wasn'tgoing to happen. I just wanted it to besaid.
Inthismessage Iagain say “Chinhae, the Gash etc. etc.”I've alreadyexplained whyIusethis. Butthemembershipcoordinatordidnot tryto de-escalate like I asked. They took theemail to Chinhae and assistedin drafting amembership review ofmeinstead withfull intent toevict.
You areallintelligent.Ican leave it hereforyou to decideon your ownwho has beenharassingwho. I'veprovidedall thedocumentation dating backtoJune.It'suptoyou fromhere,not my words. ”
Chinhae: i drafted this member review with the help of others due to the consistent harassment regarding my schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorder, both in person and in emails, and treating me like a monster with evil intent. i made various efforts to extend an olive branch and it was rejected
Phoenix: its not hard to not isolate someone because of something you don't understand?
kate: it's not hard to let a situation go…
paul: there was no apology, just an cknowledgement, its written as if its a member review of chinhae and not josh
phil: folks should just keep to themselves
stormie: everyone can decline conflict resolution, but you (chinhae) declined conflict resolutions with josh before this, why is that?
Chinhae: i declined the resolution because i didnt know what it was for.
stormie clarifies the reasoning, chinhae acknowledged understanding
stormie: raised concern that email to memco was shared with a member
quinn: want to remind; no matter what way you look at it, this is cut and dry harassment based on Chinhae's disabilities, and the complaints are very much accusing Chinhae of reactive abuse.
Phoenix also notes (confirmed by Stormie) that Chinhae did reach out to Stormie about a conflict resolution month before things escalated to the current state, but josh declined.
Beryl and Ivy both give insight+context to incidents of alleged harassment cited by josh in their defense letter, and logan also explained in detail why the things that Josh was doing is ableist and constitutes as harassment.
kate explained the details of a behavior contract with suggestions of possible conditions of said contract (no contact/boundaries around egaging with certain folks, etc), Stormie agreed and explained why one could be helpful
Chinhae shared that it has been doing everything it can to avoid josh and keep from interacting with them, and josh's behavior has made it feel unsafe living here with josh.
quinn emphasized that josh's actions are having a real, serious impact on people living here, and that it would be a disservice to respond in any way that doesnt honor that severity
all members voted to move on to discussing resolution.
straw poll occurred:
do nothing- 0
behavior contract- 9
member termination- 13
paper poll occurred for member termination
yes- 14
no- 3
abstain- 1
stormie will post notice to vacate in the next 5 days, and will send an email out as well, josh will have a minimum of 30 days afterwards to move out.
Logan: some folks' leases are up because of the new year, an email will be sent to folks who need to resign/renew their leases.
Paul: as designated by various rules and regulations including our 501c3 status, the coop is supposed to be apolitical, so no more politics in the email thread!