Present: Graham(minutes), Russ, Josh, Leo, Kate, Cory, Bernard, Nynka, Phil, Quinn, Radish, Logan, Jill, Chinhae, Lorenzo, Later Alicia, Leah, Zandria, Jose

None

October 15th meeting minutes pass

Josh: is trying to get ubuntu on the computer in the commons. If you can help please do.

Kate: 205’s bathroom is getting fixed, working on getting a knob and cold water working. We are getting new mailboxes. They are ordered and the post office gave verbal okay to install them

(Logan) Membership review for Leonardo Solorio Leonardo, known as Leo, has been in breach of our harassment policy in many ways. This includes spreading rumors, creating an unsafe living environment for multiple members and stalking. Leo has spread inappropriate rumors about fellow tenants that will affect their quality of life and reputation. Leo has both defended and continued to bring in close proximity to the co-op. His friend who has been banned from the property for sexual assault of a member. He was approached for a mediated meeting for this behavior, in which he harassed the mediator and attempted to intimidate and silence the victim this behavior is especially concerning, considering Leo has admitted to be multiple times accused of sexual assault himself. Multiple members of the co-op have witness Leo inappropriately, peering into their windows, making them incredibly uncomfortable. There are concerns with regards to Leo, signing off of fraudulent labor credits. He has created a tumultuous living environment for his roommate, and which he sows distrust in his household, and has caused psychological harm to his roommate. He also has crossed his roommates boundaries and taken his things that his roommate has voiced are not his to take.

Logan: -reads member review

Cory: lets start with first topic regarding spreading inappropriate rumor

Leo: It was one tenant and I told one person in a one on one conversation, I’m not at liberty to discuss what was said

Logan: I want to not continue spreading the rumor, I put this on here because it was similar to something that got someone else removed, felt this should be taken seriously

Josh: as someone who spent the most time with Leo, he doesn’t say negative things ever about anyone. In addition, I am the one who told them about that stuff. The person that was removed was very malicious with their allegations, so that should be considered. This one is a stretch, its not the same as the last

Quinn: I’m uncomfortable that he said the name of the person when saying the didn’t want to spread rumors

Chinhae: we are discussing how someone has been pushing the policy in the past, that is very relevant.

Bernard: this issue has been discussed with stormy and Leo, it wasn’t Leo who started the rumor. We can’t use people past to judge them, that is not what the coop is designed for. Stuff that happens now can be dealt with. I’ve talked to Leo and I’m fine with him, I don’t see how someones past is being discussed

Jill: Leo established being vague about this, now you have brought this up. I’m upset about this. If the person being discussed want to be vague please respect that.

Josh: I'm sorry about that. A one on one conversations isn’t a rumor. That is fine. It's been said that it's not against the rules to be an asshole.

Cory: it seems like we’ve gone over the point

Chinhae: For all intents and purposes Leo has been letting someone over who is banned for sexual abuse. He has also been accused of sexual abuse.

Phil: we can’t dictate someone who is not part of CHEA, only people who are. My roommate and I are getting along, he is washing dishes and paying the bills. Leo is one of the best roommates I’ve had

Don: for people who have been banned, you can’t stop people from talking to someone off the property. You shouldn’t spread rumors about peoples past all aver the coop. If you have a question about someones past talk to them about it

Cory: -reads part about Leo bringing over a banned person

Leo: I was hanging out with a girl and she asked her not to kiss her and I kissed her, we amended that and are hanging out

Leo: I see Will about once a month

Logan: the people that wrote this didn’t want to have this be a removable item, it was to comment on character. The fact that he continues to be around a person that has done stuff that got them banned. Will is around more than once a month. People come tell me when they see him. This isn’t bannable, but it shows that Leo is making no attempt to make things right

Quinn: we know Leo has sexual assaults allegations right before coming here. It is concerning that someone like that is here, we should look at their actions while here. I’d consider it a red flag that he would hang out with someone who also has sexually assaulted people

Dom: if someone has been accused of something that is a very serious allegations, but people go to prison for that kind of stuff. Leo should take it upon himself to not have that type of stuff going on. Anyone doing stuff like that need to stop

Bernard: people said we know for a fact that he was accused of sexual assault, but no-one has brought up evidence, people say he’s hanging out with someone that he shouldn’t

Quinn: Leo told me and someone else that he had these allegations, Leo also told Josh about a different person. Josh: we have had people traumatized about a situation that they can’t control. We can’t govern what people do outside the coop. I felt we could have done this in community discussion.

Leo: the multiple times thing, it’s talking about one incident that happened a year ago that has been amended. I still don’t know what the mediated meeting is talking about

Quinn: I can’t speak to other allegations, but there is the one

Josh: in a private conversation he brought up an incident form several years ago that is different, I told him I had to bring it up

Cory: ‘reads part about the mediated meeting’

Quinn: this was the meeting in the commons with me, Juan, Phoenix

Bernard: Who mediated?

Chinhae: I did

Bernard: A mediated meeting should be an appointed person

Kate: a mediator doesn’t have to be an officer

Cory: in the past there has been a mediator position, but it got dropped because there were problems, anyone can serve as a mediator

Bernard: its fishy that the people with issues before were the ones mediating

Leo: before this I didn’t know it was an official meeting, I was asked to got to the commons and you said you were taking action against Will

Chinhae: Leo said my presence wasn’t wanted or appreciated and asked me to leave to talk to Quinn, when Quinn asked me to be there. I thought Leo was a friend before this

Leo: I said that because I was talking about my friend and wanted to talk to Quinn about it

Quinn: I told you that I wanted Juan here for support

Kate: so to establish. a timeline, the meeting happened, then Will was banned, then later, allegations mentioned in the meeting were brought up, so what was the impetus for this member review? was there a tipping point that cause this member review to happen now

Logan: I don’t thing there was a specific thing, its ongoing, the stuff back then is still relevant

Bernard: this has been going on for a long time, they have been keeping track of everything

Logan: the mediated meeting was supposed to be between friends, there was no prior problems, we didn’t want to back him into a corner

Josh: they came to me shortly after the mediated meeting. This was shortly after the labor holiday, they came to me because they wanted input. People felt that there was issues after the meeting, there were only problems after.

Leo: Intimidating and harassing seems different from what happened.

Chinhae: you said to leave and that I was not wanted or appreciated. I was there to let you know that someone who is dangerous is around, and I wanted to discuss that. I was rebuked because You didn’t want me at a private conversation between friends

Quinn: Intimidation and harassment was trying to get the mediator gone and at the time it was not a confrontation. I had also hung out with Leo with intention to let him know about his friend. Leo made inappropriate remarks. I let Leo know what his friend did. Leo said “is this the only time he’s sexually assaulted you?” “He was probably just drunk” “I empathize with him” That stung to hear someone defend that behavior. I wasn’t distraught at the start of the meeting but by the end his comments made me cry and was inappropriate.

Leo: I don’t remember moments bout whether or not he was intoxicated. I don’t see how that’s intimidation

Logan: it doesn’t seem as lighthearted as Leo is describing. I was told there was yelling. He was passionately defending Will. Yelling is where the intimidation comes in.

Chinhae: Leo’s voice was loud and forceful commanding me to leave

Leo: there was no shouting

Quinn: there was raising of voices for sure

Bernard: there was said there was intimidation. No-one said there was yelling before this. They said he was trying to force someone, that’s what intimidation is. Saying something that makes someone cry isn’t intimidation. The whole intimidation thing is there to make things seem worse

Bernard: who did you talk to about it? Chinhae, Logan have both spoken about it neither said there was screaming there. No indication of intimidation.

Kate: what was said was fucked up and it doesn’t matter if its intimidation of not, he said incredibly bad stuff

Russ: its clear emotions were pretty high and they never came down, nobody came together afterwards. Its okay to get emotional about stuff, but there are a lot of different emotions around. The path to growth can be to go toward or away from those emotions, it seems people did not get past them

Quinn: just incase it wasn’t clear, I said to Leo that if his behavior continues my blood will run cold and I’ve been inside because I don’t feel safe.

Russ: maybe Leo didn’t pick up clearly, I don’t think Leo was intentionally intimidating

Dom: as far as yelling and screaming who was there

Logan: Quinn, Phoenix, chinhae and I was outside

Dom: I can’t say what happened, but if that went on and there is proof, then vote them out. No-one needs to do that period.

Radish: people have said he may not have tried to have been hurtful, if he violated the harassment policy, than intention shouldn’t matter

Bernard: I don’t see how this fits the harassment policy, Quinn said he didn’t take take her seriously, is that a harassment policy violation? Im wondering how this fits the harassment problem

Quinn: it's not whether he empathizes, it's like”Leo you friend sexually assaulted me” Leo said “just the once?”

Bernard: a person can have an opinion, and that’s not harassment, Making statements is not harassment

Chinhae: the fact that he’s around is a problem. We banned a person for sexual assault and the still bring them around

Logan: he created an unsafe living environment. It's a dangerous precedent to say it was only an opinion. We try to act with empathy, but being able to dodge responsibility is not a good look

Cory: - reads policy of hostile environment harassment

Russ: I don’t think it does. I can see how Quinn seeing this guy across the street s distressing, but she still has the choice to go about your business. I feel as a coop we have no control over who Leo sees outside the coop. Don’t feel like there is real danger

Cory: we are getting into whether or not his thing is a violation, we should bring up the topics fist. We have peering in windows, and Phil’s thing, which is resolved

Chinhae: we were informed privately by a person that they had noticed Leo looming outside window staring intently into room. This made the very uncomfortable. Was informed about this.

Logan: I had heard this from a few people. Two people have said they’ve seen him peeking into their windows or other peoples' windows

Bernard: why didn’t the person bring it up? If you have your windows open, people will see in. Standing and staring is different, but we should have some proof or facts

Cory: maybe we can ask if applicable persons are present tonight?

Quinn: they were involved in the writing of the review

Leo: I always try and walk normally, I have no reason to look into people windows, if I looked at people I will try to not do that

Logan: in regards to tumultuous roommate situation, I don’t thing that is resolved, he has said stuff about his roommate. Telling him people don’t want him here, people don’t like him. He has brought this up often. Phil said he was saying things, then later doesn’t. There has been lots of discussion about this.

Leo: did he punch the wall or pee in the sink?

Phil: how are you gonna bring this up, you’re railroading this

Leah: that is inappropriate, you shouldn’t bring that up

Logan: it is not relevant to Leo’s behavior

Russ: Phil isn’t by himself, Phil has a case worker that has talked to Leo about this

Leo: Phil talks to me a lot, I never try to cause any harm, I have some difficulty communicating with him, but Phil and I resolve the stuff that happens.

Chinhae: I've been informed you’ve taken his food, that you’ve told Phil he isn’t wanted here. This whole thing is making me freak out. You have been asked not to take his food.

Phil: He been buying his food now.

Loe: in regards to food, when I moved in I was eating a lot of food, there is a lot of surplus food

Logan: I heard there was going into Phils room for stuff. This has been reported that Phil has to lock his door.

Leo: sometimes he leaves his music too loud and I turn it off

Don: what exactly are we voting on?

Cory: we are winding down with input, Leo has to leave while we discuss and have a straw pole, no new topics will be discussed

Cory: vote to extend meeting by 15 minutes

Further discussion takes place.

Cory: vote to extend by another 15 minutes

Further discussion takes place

Cory: we have a straw pole, you can raise hand for as many as app

Eviction: 6
Behavior contract: 5
No action 6

Cory: we will do a paper ballot, write YES to evict, NO to not evict, A to abstain

Cory: vote to extend meeting to 9:45

Cory and Bernard count ballots

8 votes no
6 votes yes
1 abstain

Cory: we will do a straw pole for a behavior contract

Behavior contract: 6 votes
No action: 8 votes

Bernard: I’m fed up with some stuff. Been here since 2018, please stop bringing up my shit and spreading it around the community. Its not your place to spread rumors about me. Come to me if you have an issue. My business is my own, I’ve done nothing to anybody here. You don’t know my situation, so leave it alone.

Cory: we should go through the proper Chanels we have set up to deal with stuff like this like member reviews.