CIP-112: Parcel Zero Autonomization

Proposals (CIPs)
1

CIP 112 is now LIVE on Snapshot!
VOTE HERE

Parcel Zero is CityDAO’s largest and most significant effort to date. It is a Wyoming DAO’s first land purchase. The NFT project was a monumental step towards putting land on chain. Of all our existing guilds/efforts/projects/etc. this is the only other one that has a separate NFT which controls access/governance/etc… Parcel Zero is our only project that has a separate entity which holds the land and through which Parcel Zero NFT holders interact, and “Parcel Zero, LLC” merits an arms length relationship.

The possibilities for Parcel Zero have not been fully realized. While there are significant limitations for what can be done with the land, there remains a great deal of potential within the related Parcel Zero effort. Which direction we go needs to be determined by Parcel Zero NFT holders through the governance granted to them. However, very little is possible with no funding available. Additionally, we have known expenses which will exist, and past expenses which have yet to be paid.

Taking all of this into consideration, it is important that we recognize the Parcel Zero effort for the significance that it holds, and grant Parcel Zero NFT holders enough autonomy and funding to govern meaningfully. Without this a not insignificant amount of energy will be consumed making small asks along the way, and it will be that much more difficult to fully realize the value of holding a Parcel Zero NFT. This proposal provides a baseline foundation intended to prevent the project from languishing and maintain the current momentum.

FUNDING
This CIP requests $73k for the following:

~$5k (estimate) to support the Parcel Zero development team at the desired level. As part of the final monumental push to get the Parcel Zero Reveal across the line, many team members made contributions beyond what was expected to make the reveal and app amazing. The rollout was better than many professional organizations, and the near complete lack of concerns/issues post reveal is a testament to success of their efforts. This is a small buffer that grants the development team the ability to retroactively compensate those people for additional work performed. Distribution to be determined by the team who was responsible for delivering the Parcel Viewer app & Metadata Reveal.

~$15k (estimate) to cover costs of minting and distributing the remaining ~900 unminted Parcel Zero NFT’s. Note that the entirety of these would be exclusively for Parcel Zero NFT holders to allocate (CityDAO has already been granted their share of 100), but in order to save on costs of a second transfer CityDAO will hold these in trust and distribute them as instructed by Parcel Zero governance. This is only to earmark the cash; there is no distribution schedule at this time. Parcel Zero NFT holders will determine how these are distributed through separate Parcel Zero Improvement Proposal(s) or similar governance process.

~$20k (estimate per @fugyeah) to cover essential costs on the parcel for 10 years (taxes, insurance, and basic maintenance). Intended to remain in trust and cover expenses as incurred.

~$33k to continue development and experiment with what is possible. This small seed would unburden Parcel Zero NFT holders from the need to justify spend from a separate entity. This commitment from the CityDAO community will create opportunity to explore what is possible related to Parcel Zero, at the discretion of Parcel Zero NFT holders.

Note that many of these items are approximations. Although these best estimates are believed to be reasonable, some of the monies from the general fund may be necessary to cover under-estimated amounts, and for any category which is under-utilized, any remaining funds will become available for general development and experimentation related to Parcel Zero (i.e., contributing to or taking from the bucket above).

DISCORD COMMUNITY
A Parcel Zero NFT holder is deserving of the same rights and privilege that we grant to Citizenship holders, albeit through separate mechanisms. Additionally, we will have Parcel Zero NFT holders who do not hold a citizenship nor have interest in existing CityDAO activities.

Proposal is for a structure that looks very similar to the current guild approach. This provides continuity for the look and feel that citizens have come to expect over the last year, and creates a space which makes it easy for Parcel Zero NFT holders to focus time and attention in a familiar way:

  • A new Discord Category for Parcel Zero similar to what we have for current guilds.
  • A new self-selected Discord role for Parcel Zero, allowing users to self-select into discussions in #unlock-channels
  • A new verification process for Parcel Zero NFT holders, similar to what we have for the current Citizenship NFT for locked channels

Within the new Discord category, we would expect to create access similar to what we have for our current guilds, including:

  • General Public
  • CityDAO Citizenship NFT only
  • Parcel Zero NFT only
  • Both CityDAO Citizenship NFT and Parcel Zero NFT
    etc.

It is initially proposed that DenverCitizen9 be granted full authority over the new Parcel Zero Discord category to set up, manage, and experiment with the layout of the channels, similar to the local authority that we currently grant to existing guilds. Note that this is in addition to, not in lieu of existing admin control, and there is no expectation that DenverCitizen9 will gain any type of facilitator role or additional privilege or recognition related to the Parcel Zero effort; the purpose is to unburden the current CityDAO team.

GOVERNANCE
While it may be reasonable to expect Parcel Zero NFT holders to initially follow a process similar to what was established for CityDAO, a separate Snapshot category will be necessary as governance rights are unrelated to the existing CityDAO citizenship. This may need to be tied to the Parcel Zero ENS (though it is not known who currently holds that).

TREASURY MANAGEMENT
If this CIP passes, NFT holders are expected to voice opinions and make a determination for who has the ability to distribute related Parcel Zero funds. Ideally this would happen after a selection process and Parcel Zero NFT holder vote. A review of the LLC documentation would likely be necessary to understand what is possible and/or expected.

CIP 112 is now LIVE on Snapshot!
VOTE HERE

33 Likes
2

this should be in #parcel-0 #cips

2 Likes
3

This is a CIP for CityDAO citizens, not a parcel zero proposal (a PIP?)

Much like previous CIPs related to parcel zero, this will need to be voted on by CityDAO Citizens.

1 Like
4

Its actually both: Unless you are an elected member of Parcel 0, it should go through there to see if anyone other than you supports this idea

3 Likes
5

Adding to a concern that @will raised regarding being against the $30k discretionary fund, I have asked legal if there is a minimum amount that we must fund to avoid undercapitalization

UPDATE: doesn’t seem like a related concern

6

@DenverCitizen9 I generally support this proposal though have some concerns about the governance questions you’re raising:

  1. The implication here is that you will be (or potentially already are?) the facilitator for Parcel 0 and will drive governance questions.
  2. How are you proposing to handle questions of parcel 0 governance going forward? Is the idea that there will be a specific forum category for CIPs and then a sub-category of CityDAO for parcel 0 CIPs to use the Parcel 0 treasury? Or would you propose that there is more autonomy than that?
  3. On discord, We’re trying to:
    1. Simplify # of channels that appear in the sidebar as top level channels as it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out where conversations should happen and how to participate. Even with Lyons’ simplification, we have 33 channels without including Guilds which adds another 20. I am proposing that each guild gets collapsed into each own channel with sub-threads as well.
    2. I’m trying to consider a solution that will work as we add more projects that may need more spaces to communicate and discuss. We already have a few more projects with funding approved and there will only be more in the future. If each project has its own full section in the discord, it will get quickly buried in channels.
    3. To your point of issues with the threads system:
      1. Limited control/access/visibility → there are roles that are not currently being handed out that could solve some of this for people who have the parcel 0 NFT and for the facilitator. Namely, ability to create private threads. In addition, there is a feature to pin messages to the bottom of a channel that is not in use that can take the role of the “informational” channels.
      2. auto archival → All threads are visible, even archived ones, if you go into the channel and click the “threads” button.

Curious to hear your thoughts on the above, I could be convinced either way though leaning towards the thread system being a better one for the whole Discord going forward.

To add context, I’m considering not just about discord but also forum, snapshot, notion, and any other infrastructure that will be required for projects.

7

@kkopczyn appreciate the thoughts and the detailed response. There’s a lot here so I’ll cover it in a few responses.

Short version: for all the known things that are already in place that we want to change, and all of the changes that have been made without resistance, it has been surprising to me that it is only this project that we are choosing to enforce a proposed structure.

The current layout is what we know and what has served us thus far, and we are at a critical time for this fledgling effort. A pause to sort out greater/unrelated concerns seems like a distraction from the greater Parcel Zero goals.

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Not at all. Noone else has stepped up or expressed interest in driving this forward, and I don’t want to see us loose the once-in-a-project early momentum that exists when it comes out of the gate. My interest here is to break down the overhead and red tape that a noob who only owns a Parcel Zero NFT, or even someone experienced who wanted to seek funding related to the effort.

We have no leadership, no funding, no structure, and no plans to put any of that in place. Could a future citizen change that? Sure, but it’s not really reasonable to expect that CityDAO would bother doing that given that we’re dealing with a separate entity at this point, and it would be a lot for a Parcel Zero only holder to come up to speed (and they wouldn’t even be able to submit a CIP, so they might be deadlocked anyways).

NFT Metadata was revealed 9+ days ago (July 15th). The Parcel Viewer App was launched 8+ days ago (July 14th). We have interviews and additional announcements coming up around this (week of July 25th). We have developers who are currently engaged with this project holding fresh attention. We have ideas that we want to put in place. Capturing that excitement is a time-restricted opportunity, and motivating people to create tangible results is exactly what the project needs if it has a chance to become something more.

My interest is in putting together a foundation that provides for these wheels to be greased. Beyond that, Parcel Zero NFT holders will have to choose where to go with this.
This proposal is necessary to provide at least some funding for whatever Parcel Zero NFT holders would like to accomplish.

2 Likes
9

I believe a #pzero-governance channel would be an excellent place to hold governance related discussions, and answer questions such as this.

The Parcel Zero subsidiary treasury currently holds $2,700. Depending on whose estimate you follow, that is between roughly 2 and 15 months of carrying costs for Parcel Zero. We’re going to need more funds one way or another, and I would expect Parcel Zero NFT holders to be able to independently determine how those funds are spent without having to go back to the CityDAO well for each separate request.

It will become exhausting to have to put up two proposals for every vote (one PIP to decide what to do, and a second CIP to hopefully get funded).

This simplifies things by having enough in the kitty to function on the most basic of levels, laying a foundation which allows for the possibility of continued momentum.

1 Like
10

Even this simplified proposal gives outsized favor to guilds. Parcel Zero has more members than all of the guilds combined, yet would be given only 1 channel while they get 7?

Raw numbers aside, the scope is also much broader. Parcel Zero is our largest and longest running project to date. I may argue that it is the defining of the DAO. It covers IRL land, On and Off chain technologies including a novel App, a PFP-like NFT project, Project-specific Voting, and all of the unique concerns and considerations related to holding/managing/interacting with IRL land.

Aside from permissions and access management (related to which NFT you own, or both, or neither) there’s also the concern of threads archiving automatically. I expect this to be a relatively low touch Discord for which a few permanent channels would be ideal for someone to drop in and interact with sporadically, while also being able to get caught up quickly.

1 Like
11

Respectfully, all of those are speculative and future efforts which may or may not happen and will have their own unique consideration. After a year of existence this has become THE project that we have delivered on and many of the proposals are likely to take months to implement.

We have an immediate need for something significant that is currently in place; let’s not hinder what we have for what may be.

We can always revisit if it becomes a problem.

1 Like
12

If it were standard that this was how things worked sure, but I am surprised to have encountered resistence to this in the first place. I don’t understand why we want to make these new people guinea pigs for this new process (which let’s be honest, is still open for change). Ironically, I haven’t seen a CIP for the changes which were previously made, or for the current ones which are being proposed, but a CIP was requested here. Speaking frankly, it seems like a double standard for:

  1. This effort
  2. Literally everything else the DAO has done to date

At a minimum I’m asking for consistency so that others don’t need to learn a new process on a new project.

Ideally, I’m asking for a category to isolate what is unquestionably our largest and most complex effort to date.

My request to grant some autonomy affords us an opportunity for experimentation, so we can focus on the task at hand instead of having to battle for basics (as we are here). After we have a better idea about what is needed we can circle back to polish it.

1 Like
13

FYI - made some updates to the CIP. Mostly clarification based on early feedback, and $5k reduction in minting costs due to current conditions and final # of available NFTs.

2 Likes
14

In order to keep my response a bit easier to go through I’m going to put it in one message:

  1. Re facilitator for Parcel 0, my intent in asking the question if you are the implied facilitator is that there SHOULD be one person who drives it forward for at least a certain time period. If you’re comfortable being that person, please make that explicit and make the term of time you will do that for (as well as any compensation for that) explicit. In addition, what do you envision as the mechanism to proposing and creating a more permanent governance structure?
  2. Agreed that Parcel 0 needs its own governance. Part of that is also going to be self sustaining funding to keep the project going so that parcel 0 holders do not need to come back to CityDAO for funding. What are your thoughts on how parcel 0 can move towards that goal?
  3. Re discord channels and sections, I can get behind giving parcel 0 its own section as an experiment with the understanding that we need to iron out two questions:
    1. What is the threshold for a snapshot funded CIP project to go from 1 channel with threads to its own section? (I think your implication is that parcel 0 is above other snapshot projects given its longevity and importance to the DAO, is that correct?)
    2. When will parcel 0 (or other snapshot funded projects in the future) graduate to a structure outside of the CityDAO discord? e.g. would parcel 0 ever create its own discord, and if so what is the threshold where that makes sense?

Curious to hear your input on those questions. That said, at this point it’s also past the 20 like mark so it will make its way to snapshot.

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I think these are good discussion items. I posted responses and tagged you in Discord.

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Removed 16k @alexthims request b/c the mission guild fast tracked those funds directly

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CIP 112 is now LIVE on Snapshot!
VOTE HERE

18

  1. The dev team to the best of my knowledge has had every request granted. If retro-active comp is being requested, then it should not be bundled into a proposal like this.

  2. Parcel 0 NFTs mint is done, there is no bounties necessary to develop Parcel 0 further, lets give the 15k towards development bounties for the next project, Also bundled into a proposal with indirectly related items.

  3. 20k to cover for 10 years. ?? Why on earth do we need to up front fund a massive (over)estimate of property taxes 10 years in advance ?Basic maintenance, like what, cutting the grass ?

  4. 33k that could go towards another development effort to test another hypothesis of what is possible. Fair enough if there was any sort of mandate for the use of these funds or what to develop, but its ridiculous to ‘set aside’ such a large amount of money to experiment whenever your ready.

  5. The fact that everything here is under-researched and has no proof of any sort of accuracy in your financials seems a bit strange as to the nature of the demand.

  6. Parcel 0 is a project, not a guild, yes it has its own governance but should not be congesting the discord with different channels that will be used once per week.

  7. This overall proposal has bundled about 10 completely different things that are not directly related to each other and it is misleading to propose such a large amount of money with an un-researched collection of data and financials with each other.

19

Compensation for previous contributors is very necessary. I think whether there is a better incentive mechanism: such as giving a certain percentage of creator royalties, so as to motivate contributors to make better designs that are in line with the market.

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@DenverCitizen9 just clarifying, the $5k is a bonus for outstanding work? We did get people paid for the Parcel 0 work.