[Imc-members] Invitation to participate - IMC safety & security open discussion

[Chris Ritzo]

Dear IMC staff, board, working groups and renters:

On Saturday December 8, 2012 from 10 am-12 noon in the first floor Sun
Room, Board member Danielle Chynoweth and myself hosted the first of what
will become an at least quarterly open dialog with the community of
artists, activists, and all around amazing people doing great work in
&around the issue of our building's
safety and security.
*I encourage you to look for announcements of these discussions in the
coming weeks and to consider attending.*

Our intention is to provide a forum for anyone utilizing space at the IMC
to voice security and safety concerns, propose solutions, designs, to use
design and use to improve safety and engage with one another in restorative
dialog.

Below you'll find some notes and action items resulting from that meeting
so community members may be aware of what the IMC board, staff and
community are doing to ensure our facility is a safe space and useful for
all our endeavours.

*12/8/12 IMC Safety & Security facilitated discussion notes*
Discussion focused on both design and use of our spaces in addition to
policies as methods for encouraging legitimate use of the building and
grounds as well as discouraging non-legitimate use. For example the
question was asked: "What are the spaces within the building that have
security/safety issues, and how can we design and use these spaces
differently to have more legitimate use of that space?"

More discussion is certainly needed to identify legitimate and
non-legitimate uses, as well as spaces within the building that should be
focused on for design/use.

Ideas that staff, volunteers and the board will act on immediately:
- Improve lighting in the lower level east hall, outside Elm Street
entrance, outside South Basement entrance, outside on the east and south of
the building
- Implement stronger building signage, both indoor and outdoor, to orient
visitors, members and building users
- Establish a monthly building orientation session, to provide information
and training to keyed members.
- Form design groups of interested members & tenants around key spaces in
the building
- Decide on building zones (most likely by floor) and policy for building
access during business & non-business hours

If you would like to be involved these initiatives, please email or look
for future announcements.

Warm regards,

Chris Ritzo, outgoing chair IMC Building & Facilities committee


On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 6:53 PM, Chris Ritzo <chris.ritzo at gmail.com> wrote:

> As the outgoing chair of the IMC's Building and Facilities committee, I'm
> writing to open a dialog with the community of artists, activists, and all
> around amazing people doing great work in & around our building on
> enhancing safety and security at our center.
>
> First, I hope you will consider participating in a facilitated discussion
> on safety and security at the UC-IMC building and property, Saturday
> December 8, 2012 from 10 am-12 noon in the first floor Sun Room.
>
> Our intention is to provide a forum for anyone utilizing space at the IMC
> to voice security and safety concerns, propose solutions, designs, to use
> design and use to improve safety and engage with one another in restorative
> dialog. Information about past and planned facilities improvements will be
> provided by past & current IMC board members, and we will discuss a draft
> security plan proposed initially by IMC members and recently updated by the
> Building and Facilities committee.
>
> The ideas generated by this and future discussions will be used to refine
> and implement IMC building safety and security policies, and their
> enforcement by the IMC and the community using our building.
>
> We hope you will consider attending to contribute your ideas to this
> important dialog.
>
> Helping keep the IMC safe and secure is everyone's responsibility.
>
> Some general things you can do to help include:
>
> - Communicate with others, and with IMC staff
> If you see people in the building or outside that you are unsure of, make
> a note of the person's description and communicate with IMC staff (
> carolammons <carolammons at gmail.com>@ <carolammons at gmail.com>gmail.com<carolammons at gmail.com>).
> If you feel comfortable, ask the person if they need some assistance.
>
> - Double-check that all interior and exit doors are locked when you leave
> If you are unsure of whether a door should be locked, lock it. Don't assume
> that someone else will lock up. Those who are supposed to be in the
> building will have keys to access it.
>
> - Do not prop open interior or exterior doors.
> Many interior doors are fire rated and are required to remain closed. If a
> door has a sign on it indicating it should not be propped open, please do
> not prop it open. Exterior doors in general should also not be propped
> open, with the exception of times when materials or equipment are being
> loaded in or out of the building.
>
> - Provide a welcoming staff volunteer when leaving entrances unlocked. If
> you or your group need to have a door open to provide access for a program
> or service, please consider having a volunteer staff monitoring the door
> during the service time. If you are unable to staff the entrance, consider
> posting a note with a phone number to call for entry. Lower level programs
> may also utilize the doorbell at the south entrance.
>
> The IMC's hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm. During those
> hours, the first floor red doors are unlocked and managed by our staff.
> Currently basement exterior doors and interior doors to the 2nd floor
> should remain locked during business hours unless a tenant or group is
> hosting a service or program.
>
> Outside of business hours on the first floor, and always on the lower
> level and second floor, it is the responsibility of individual members,
> groups or tenants to ensure that exterior doors remain locked or monitored.
>
> Every space at the IMC should be safe and usable. We have a community of
> amazing people who together can design uses and solutions to make our
> spaces welcome, inviting and secure, but also to dissuade other purposes
> which are not helpful to our mission.
>
> Warm regards,
> Chris Ritzo, outgoing chair IMC Building & Facilities committee
>
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