BoD Candidate ?s: Curtis Baker 202007

DMS General
1

Curtis (“Curt”) Baker, @BobTheMad, here are the questions collected on-line.
Currently, 50 questions are posted. You can reference the #1 or copy the question before your answer. Feel free to answer others questions as you wish.

DMS 2020 Election Questions (Responses) - Google Sheets

2

Here are my answers to the questions posted in the spreadsheet:

  1. If we either choose not to or are not able to increase our members with social distancing requirements, what fundraising or sponsorships would you be amenable to accept in order to maintain pre-Covid-19 revenues, and under what conditions?
  • I believe that we should seek out sponsorships with companies/organizations that align with the Makerspace’s values and would not place an undue burden on our operations (i.e. asking for an automatic seat on the BOD) or has the potential to hurt us financially. For example, partnering with a specific brand of tools (someone in the meeting pitched the idea of Ryobi) makes sense to me.
  1. How will committees be funded while we have in-person class restrictions due to social distancing? Fewer classes means fewer honorarium dollars to the committees.
  • As an interim step, I would recommend that funding to the different areas of the Makerspace be frozen to pre-COVID amounts by percentage. Meaning, if the laser committee was 10% pre-COVID, then they are still 10% now. I would also recommend that we spend the COVID time seeking out alternate methods of funding the various requirements of the Space. Once we are post-COVID, we can then implement either the original system or something new.
  1. What is your vision for the MakerSpace next year? And in 5 years?
  • Year 1: Stabilization. Between the stress of the expansion project and COVID-19, we need to take the time to just get our proverbial feet back underneath us and stabilize operations.
  • Years 2-5: Smart growth and Community Engagement: Seek out partnerships with local other educational and non-profits with the goal of giving back to the community.
  1. We lost 950 members in the last year. 500 before the pandemic. What do you believe the factors were for the dramatic decline? As a director for 2020-21, what would you do to help grow the members? (or do you think we are at the right level of members?)
  • I have not seen the membership #’s that you reference. But in the end, raw numbers do not tell the whole story. Growth for growth’s sake is not the goal. We should seek to retain enough membership to cover operating costs and projected future needs, but also make sure that all our members agree with the ethos of the Makerspace.
  • Side-note: I’d be interested in seeing if anyone has done an analysis on what our theoretical maximum number of members would be.
  1. We are a volunteer organization. How do/would you promote volunteerism?
  • Find interesting opportunities for folks to use their creative talents in ways that “give back”, either to the Makerspace or the Community at large.
  1. What are you passionate about making? About learning? About teaching?

  • My non-artistic passions include:
    ** Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    ** Teaching communications
    ** Leadership theory & practice
    ** Growing teams/organizations/individuals

  • Artistically, I love working on
    ** Woodworking
    ** Medieval history
    ** Leather crafting
    ** Homebrewing
    ** Games (both modern and historical)
    ** Drumming

  1. There are a number of people who have been expelled from the makerspace in the past year. Do you intend to let any of them back into the space? If so which ones, and why?
  • This is very open-ended question that I cannot answer broadly, other than to say that any person ejected from the Makerspace for serious infractions or law-breaking (financial malfeasance, assault, theft, sexual harassment, etc.) should not be let back in.
  1. What did you do to help the space during the shutdown and reopening?
  • I was up at the space several times to help clean and/or move tools & equipment
  1. In what ways have you volunteered for the space outside of your committee in the past year?
  • I don’t have a “committee”, but I am always sure to make sure that an area is cleaner when I leave than it was before I arrived.
  1. What qualities do you think are important in a leader? What do you think leaders should NOT do?

  • For me, leadership breaks down to the following components:
    ** Mutual Respect: For a group to function, members must respect each other. We will, at times, disagree - but we must never fall to the level of disrespecting each other’s views, beliefs, opinions, and decisions
    ** Enthusiastic Support: Leadership exists to serve the organization, not the other way around. Leadership should enthusiastically support the organization to the best of their abilities
    ** Radical Honesty: This includes: being honest with each other, being honest with those outside the group, and being honest with ourselves.
    ** Audacious Optimism: We must all believe that there is a “better way”. If we are to improve, we must be willing to take an honest look at ourselves, our processes, etc. and determine if they still meet our needs. Very little should be considered sacrosanct.
    ** Grit: Sticking with things, even if the going gets tough.

  • Leaders should not believe that they are “above” or “better than” the folks they are privileged to lead. Leadership exists to serve the organization and its members, not the other way around. “Servant Leadership” is something I strongly believe in.

  1. Do you believe all members have a moral duty to report fraud/theft/violence to the leadership and/or the authorities?
  • Yes, 100%. If we do not speak up, then things will not change and likely will become worse.
  1. How do you intend to help people get along better, be less adversarial and bridge the divide between people?
  • In several ways:
    ** Complex/charged conversations should not be worked out over text-based communications channels (talk, e-mail, etc.). Those channels do not carry as much contextual information as do face-to-face or webconferencing. (See “Media richness theory” for more information).
    ** Involve mediators where appropriate
    ** Encourage folks to seek common ground where possible and spend some time looking at the situation from the other person’s perspective
  1. Is it OK to mass campaign email the membership?
  • I feel as if there is some context behind the question that I am missing. But I will say that all-membership e-mail blasts (using BCC, of course) should be rare and reserved for the most important announcements (COVID announcements, etc.)
  1. How many people have you gotten to sign up and join DMS since Jan 1st 2020?
  • Started a new job in January and already started telling folks I work with about the Makerspace. Have had 3-4 people express interest already.
  1. Is the board responsible for keeping DMS doors open whenever leagally possible?
  • “Legally possible” seems like a loaded phrase. There’s nothing that I am aware of that legally obliges the Makerspace to have any specific operating hours. I would say - Keeping the doors open whenever possible and is safe to do so.
  1. What did personal storage have to do with covid response?
  • I feel as if there is some context behind the question that I am missing. I cannot answer this question.
  1. Would you reinstate Stan Simmons’ membership?
  • Stan is on the list of Expelled and Suspended Members (Expelled and Suspended Members - Dallas Makerspace) for “Malfeasance, Abuse of administrative privileges for personal financial benefit, Unauthorized access of PII”. Given that, I would say no I would not reinstate his membership.
  1. Many instructors stopped teaching last summer for many reason. What is your plan getting the classrooms full of interesting classes once again? Will you restore honorariums to what they once were before last summer?
  • “Many reasons” isn’t enough to make an informed decision. I would like to hear specific reasons from folks.
  • I’ve heard complaints about the honorarium system as it currently exists. As stated before, I think we should use the next year to request greater feedback and explore alternatives.
  1. Do you support 3rd party monitoring of surveillance and moderation of forums to curtail miss use
  • This is an intriguing idea that I haven’t heard about before. I’d be interested in learning more about the proposal.
  1. How would you handle a conflict of interest for a director or officer during elections
  • Any Directors/officer positions should be required to announce any conflicts of interest (potential or otherwise). Failure to do so would be grounds for punishment up to and including removal from their position.
  1. Do you believe in giving the board taking more power from committees or giving more lee way
  • Again, I feel as if there is some context behind the question that I am missing. If there is a specific incident that this is in reference to, I’d like to learn more.
  1. Should there be a timeout for people who get around hidden, community-flagged posts by editing them and changing one small thing?
  • This definitely is breaking the “Be excellent to each other” ethos of the Makerspace.
  1. Do you plan on having your board meetings open to the membership with few exceptions?
  • Absolutely!
  1. How do you feel about the proposed by-law changes removing the right for members to even propose amendments even with 10% of voting member signatures
  • Again, I feel as if there is some context behind the question that I am missing. Generally speaking, membership should have some method by which they can bring proposals to the attention of the BOD and membership, whether it is this 10% rule or something else
  1. Non profits generally exist in society to provide benefit to the public. How would you further that mission?
  • Simply speaking: Seek out opportunities to partner with local non-profit and educational groups on projects that benefit the community.
  1. Do you agree with the proposed by-law changes to remove the requirement to notify members of a vote to change the by-laws.
  • Generally speaking, I prefer policies that increase transparency over those that reduce it. I’d rather see a policy that is more simple in nature that says “In the upcoming session, here are all the issues that are up for a vote.”
  1. How would you fix the fact that committees have not been receiving monthly committee end reporting and generally no one really knows what their balances are?
  • Again, transparency. Committees should be required to provide some minimum level of documentation on a defined cadence (monthly/quarterly/etc.). Financial status should be a part of that documentation.
  1. Do you believe in banning people for failure to report misconduct or just because without due process and currently outlined in the Financial Policy
  • Any ban should have all proper due process followed.
  1. There is a general belief that the personality of many members at DMS is hostile and mean, How do you plan on getting people back together and healing old wounds
  • Please see my answer to question #12
  1. How would you have handled this election process differently
  • Not sure I have any immediate suggestions. This election process, like most other things, has been thrown for a loop because of COVID-19. The current leadership, I am sure, made the best decisions possible given the circumstances and the information they had at the time.
  1. The last board spent too many man hours investigating, discussing, and holding hearings about disciplinary issues. I think they were surprised at the amount of criminal and uncivil behavior that required addressing. I would prefer my board spend their limited time on business issues. How would you reduce the number of man-hours the board spends on discipline, without ignoring the infractions?
  • Let me turn this around a little. If there was a large amount of “unethical behavior” that had gone unreported for a long time, then I have no problem with the current Board spending a more-than-usual amount of time rectifying the situation. I would hope that the majority of folks engaging in such behavior have been dealt with and we can get back to more normal operations.
  1. What have you been up to during COVID
  • Mostly:
    ** Thankfully still employed
    ** Working on my Master’s degree
    ** Knocking out home improvement projects
    ** Occasional art projects at home
  1. The current board has permanently banned 15 members and suspended many more, far greater than any other board. Should permanently banning be used more or less? Why?
  • Please see my answer to questions #7, #28, #31. But also, we must not limit ourselves to something like “only X number of bans per year are allowed” or anything like that. Any time someone breaks the defined rules, they should be held to account.
  1. What do you believe strong characteristics of leadership are and how do you think you embody them?
  • Please see my answer to question #10 for my thoughts on the essential characteristics of leadership.
  • I have been privileged enough to hold leadership positions in both my professional life and with another non-profit educational organization. I have found that I really enjoy helping people/groups grow and flourish.
  1. Do you believe in removing committee budgets & or repossessing their assets? How do you feel about reducing their autonomy in general?
  • Please see my answer to questions #21, #27
  1. As a board member, do you think its appropriate to use DMS as a signaturory on a personal LLC or other entity registered with the state? What about naming members of DMS for such things without their involvement?
  • The DMS, its name, assets, etc. should not be used in any capacity that was not previously authorized by the Board
  1. What are your actions to make DMS a community and encourage members to come back?
  • Hold more “social” events, encourage greater feedback from membership, highlight awesome things that the members are doing, find ways to partner with other community non-profits for fun & interesting projects
  1. how do you feel about using the DMS address for personal legal paperwork and address filing
  • Please see my answer to question #36
  1. what is more important to the makerspace? higher numbers of strangers as members, or lower numbers of members with better community
  • Please see my answer to question #4
  1. Do you think it’s appropriate for a committee chair or chair-elect to be able to grant themselves exemptions to committee rules?
  • Absolutely not. Leadership is beholden to the same rules as are regular members. In fact, leadership should be held to a higher standard.
  1. Our formal complaint system has gotten a lot of use lately. On May 14th, 8 complaints were dismissed. What should be the driving goals behind the design of the complaint system, and how can the system be improved to reflect those goals?
  • There absolutely should be an effective and transparent system to allow the membership to raise concerns/complaints. I am not personally aware of the specific challenges with the current system, so it’s hard for me to recommend specific changes here.
  1. Do you think it’s appropriate for committees to conceal their discussions or have “proprietary” information they can hide from other committees or the board? I’ve attended a meeting where the chair said not to talk about the committee plans and future because it was secret.
  • There are going to be situations where Board information cannot be publicly discussed, and these scenarios should be rare and the topics documented in the operating policy.
  1. Do you think committees are being asked to document too much? What about the difficulty new members have due to tribal knowledge?
  • I am a big fan of appropriate levels of documentation. At the very least, it gets information out of people’s heads and out into the open where it is available for all (see “Knowledge Management” best practices for more information). New members should have documentation available to them (Wikis are a great place to start), and then the ability to ask questions of established members if their needs were not met. And if those senior members are tired of answering the same questions over and over… then document it!
  1. One of a Chairpersons’ responsibilities is overseeing the financial health of DMS. From your current understanding, how much will it cost to complete the expansion?
  • I do not have enough information to answer this question
  1. Is DMS leadership accountable to the membership?
  • Absolutely! Please see my answer to question #10 for more information
  1. Would you prefer funds go to DMS in one account. Or to keep the funds being split by what each committee brings in.
  • I do not have enough information to answer this question. Would need clarification from our current financial leaders to make an informed decision
  1. There was at one point only 8 of 68 people that were female on the meet the candidates call. How have you increased and supported ethnic and gender diversity at DMS
  • Recently, Alexis Ohanian, the founder and former CEO of Reddit, stepped down from that company’s Board with a message that they should find a qualified person of color to replace him. I applaud his decision and would love to be able to do something similar in the future. Diversity is a strength and the DMS should actively seek to increase the level of diversity at all levels of the organization.
  1. I’ve noticed that the current membership is a group that is not very diverse. Diversity helps drive innovation. And any organization can benefit from multiple points of view. What would you do as part of outreach measures to diversify the space. Women and minorities are very underrepresented, in my opinion.
  • Absolutely! We should reach out to schools that are in underrepresented areas for opportunities to partner on projects and bring in new members. We could also look into partnering with local Girl Scout troops as well. Anything we can do to increase the diversity of the DMS membership.
  1. Do you feel that being a good leader means attacking another candidate in your response here?
  • No. Good leaders should not have to resort to personal attacks. You can debate the issues with facts, but ad hominem attacks only weaken the position of the one making the argument.
  1. What’s your favorite personal project of the past year?
  • Other than a number of home improvement projects I have completed over the COVID-19 crisis, I would say it is my Norse 6-board chest with pyrographic art. I made it to hold my historical games and supplies, and I am quite pleased with how it came together.
4 Likes