[Fg-general] Changes in the Warehouse

[Ryan Yeske]

Hi Geeks,

> Our Warehouse Coordinator Adam has given his notice for April 23rd
> 2009.
>
> Together, the Free Geek Directors came to consensus and decided
> to offer paid leave to Adam for the remainder of his term,
> which he accepted, effective today.

I met Adam when he began volunteering at the 2nd Ave space in 2007 and
have since always enjoyed working with him. I'm sure his sense of humour
and bellowing laugh will be missed. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Adam for his contribution to Free Geek, and wish
him good luck.
 
> This decision was made based on information received from
> several sources. The directors weighed the options, and came to
> the conclusion that this course of action was best for Free
> Geek.
> 
> Our goal in this decision is to allow Free Geek to organize the
> warehouse, codify procedures and policy for the warehouse and
> facilitate the transition to a new employee while being fair and
> respectful to both Adam and Free Geek. To ensure Free Geek continues
> to be a safe and healthy space.

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding this. Does this mean that it
was felt that organizing the warehouse, codifying procedures and policy
for the warehouse and training a new employee could not have been done
with Adam staying on until the 23rd? And so the motivation to do these
things informed the decision to pay Adam out? Or this was a secondary
goal?

> This was not an easy decision to come to, and we, as directors, feel
> that this illustrates a shortcoming of the organization: There are no
> policies and procedures to guide staff, directors and the membership
> in making decisions like this one.

When we find a lack of policy and procedure, we should go back to our
principles.

Down at the bottom of the "Our Principles" webpage [1] there is the
"additional" text:

    Free Geeks are democratically run in a non-hierarchical way that is
    open and transparent to all participants in its programs. Our
    volunteers help shape Free Geek and determine our priorities and
    practices. We operate using a form of consensus, and we are
    currently developing our governance structure. Our meetings and
    mailing list archives are open to the public. Our staff is a
    collective -- there's no boss.

> Some work has recently been done drafting procedures and a staff
> handbook. We strongly encourage this.
> 
> Thank you to those who have participated in this work.
>
> David Repa has stepped up to help with training the new Warehouse
> Coordinator (once hired) and will ensure that operations continue
> without interruption in the interim. David has already contributed
> work towards the much needed staff policies.

Much appreciated David.

A few questions about this:

1) What exactly are the terms of this arrangement? Duration,
compensation, expectations, participation in staff meetings, etc.

2) Was David solicited by the directors and/or the staff to fill this
role?

3) Were other candidates considered?

4) How will this arrangement affect other staff and volunteers?

5) Has thought been given to potential conflict of interest issues,
considering that the wholesale purchases of David's company made up
approximately 1/3 of the Free Geek's store revenue last month [2]?
 
> We urge those who have opinions and ideas to get involved in the
> process of documenting and organizing Free Geek.

Additionally, we need to respect the structure of the organization that
we have developed and that does exist. For example, there is a staff
review policy and as I understand it, there are outstanding staff
reviews pending. Adam's second review was one of them.


I acknowledge the efforts of the members of the board of directors, who
freely give their time to this organization. Thank you.

Ryan

1. http://freegeekvancouver.org/en/computer_recycling_principles
2. http://puddle.ca/pipermail/fg-operations/2009-March/000072.html