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Sister City 2014/03/24 CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 24, 2014 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Anthony Al-Jamie, Lori Farrow, Russell Lahodny, Laurie Leonard, Mark Lopez, John Nguyen, Brian Kyndell Paine, Anna Piercy, Pat Pina, Linda Newby COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: James Dinwiddie, Jackie Filbeck, Ann Gallaugher, Debbie Juliani STAFF PRESENT: Erin Wahlen, Ted White, Planning Department GUESTS PRESENT: Martha Trujillo, AUHSD Community Liaison Agenda Posting: A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21, 2014 at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Chairman Nguyen explained that members of the public are invited to address the Anaheim Sister City Commission and will be called upon under Agenda Item No. VI. Public Comment. I.CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCC) was called to order at 4:09 p.m. by Chairman Nguyen on Monday, March 24, 2014 at the Anaheim th Floor, Anaheim, California.  II.APPROVAL OF MINUTES The consideration to approve the February 24, 2014 Sister City Commission minutes was continued to the April 28 meeting because there were not enough commissioners present at the meeting that were in attendance at the February 24 meeting to represent a quorum.  Anaheim Sister City Commission March 24, 2014 Page 2  III. Commissioner Leonard reported there had been Report since last month; therefore the balance remained at $18,687.26. Discussion took place regarding the designation of the available funds. As it stands, the funds have not been designated to specific projects and the question was raised whether or not they should be designated according to IRS policies and procedures. Erin Wahlen is going to get clarification on this and report back at the April 28 meeting. IV.AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Treasurer Laurie Leonard stated Commissioner James Dinwiddie gave her his report over the telephone and she read it into the record. Commissioner Dinwiddie apologized for not being at the meeting that day. Regarding the Mito Inbound Student Exchange, Commissioner Dinwiddie has had email exchanges and conversations with Mr. Wang during which Commissioner Dinwiddie shared with Mr. Wang that the total cost to the Commission for the trip last year was about $1,200 per person. Based on that dollar amount he asked them to define how many people they are going to send. Further, Commissioner Dinwiddie asked for a monetary commitment of a minimum of $600.00 per person this year. The Mito Sister City Association will be voting for funding in May, so they will let the Commission know the number of people in June. The one thing that was confirmed was the change in stay to a shorter period of time, from July 25 to August 2 which is a Friday to a Saturday. And instead of 10 students and three adults, they are going to propose seven students and three adults. Chairman Nguyen added he was briefly involved with some of the conversations with Mr. Wang and they are willing to work with what we could accommodate. that Commissioner Dinwiddie explained to Mr. Wang that it was because of lack of housing for the inbound students that the Commission is looking for a shorter period of stay and that the Commission would like to have final commitment on housing in about a month or so. There is confirmation of an application from one host family. Anaheim Sister City Commission March 24, 2014 Page 3 Commissioner Paine reported that the City of Anaheim, in partnership with Anaheim/Orange County Visitors and Convention Bureau (AOCVCB) and S.O.A.R, is hosting a volunteer fair at the Anaheim Convention Center for the faith-based community and for students that need service hours. nonprofit that wants to man a table. Commissioner Paine shared she thought it would be a great opportunity for the Sister City Commission to have a table there to get the word out about the Commission and most importantly to hype up the opportunity for host families since there will be a lot of high school students who will be there looking for service hours and what a great college admission essay about having an exchange student come and all that they learn. The event is going to take place on Tuesday, April 29 from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Grand s and chairs. Discussion took place to make Mito Inbound Student Exchange flyers and distribute them to the Japanese classes at the Anaheim High Schools offering an opportunity to host a Japanese student this year, a terrific way to practice the Japanese language skills. Commissioner Piercy suggested that it should be communicated to Mr. Wang that the Commission would prefer to have older students participate in the program because they had some younger students last year. Having older students would be helpful since the Commission is considering offering high school kids that take Japanese classes the opportunity to host. If we could have older students rather and 12- or 13-year old students it would be much appreciated. She suggested a 14-16 year-old range. Chairman Nguyen will communicate this to Mr. Wang. Commissioner Mark Lopez touched on the marketing angle. He brought along a copy of the advertisement seeking host families that was published on the Nelson Newsletter. He asked that the Commission let him know if they want to add anything else pertaining to host families or the volunteer fair that Commissioner Paine mentioned so that he could include the information on the next distribution which would be the following Friday. Chairman Nguyen asked him to include the confirmed dates that the Mito students would be visiting, July 25 to Aug. 2. Erin Wahlen stated staff is going check with Marne Colby to see if she is available to chaperone the kids and commit to be with the students for their entire stay. Commissioner Piercy asked that Marne Colby be compensated for the extra time. Anaheim Sister City Commission March 24, 2014 Page 4 Commissioner Pina volunteered to call Mitch Caldwell to see if he is interested in hosting a student and to also possibly host a chaperone in the back unit. Chairman Nguyen reported that Mr. Wang expressed interest to have a Japanese delegation visit Anaheim in October. The preliminary plan is for them to be in Anaheim for two days, arriving on the evening of Oct. 26 and leaving on Oct. 27. Erin stated that hopefully by that date they will have a plaque for Dr. Hataya to dedicate during their stay. To date, Yuko Rodriguez has not presented the Commission with a proposed redesign of the landscaping of the Friendship Plaza in recognition of Dr. Hataya. Commissioner Newby reported that Yuko Rodriguez and the five students from Nishiyamato Academy did an outstanding job in cleaning up the items in the display case. Erin Wahlen stated the photos taken during the cleanup will be posted on the Sister City Commission website. V.VITORIA-GASTEIZ EXCHANGE UPDATE Ted White shared a couple of proposals he and Commissioner Newby received from Anaheim Sister City, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Ted received an email from the Planning Director of Vitoria-Gasteiz where the director expressed interest in visiting Anaheim. Ted discussed with him the possibility of him coming in September and attending the Calif. Chapter American Planning Association Conference that is going to be held in Anaheim. On March 17, the Planning Director again emailed Ted to let him know he was ready to book flights for September and that d be meeting with their Chamber of Commerce to get it approved. In the email the director also mentioned that his niece Elena would soon be finishing her studies in law and business and that she is very interested in living in a foreign country, especially the U.S. or England from July to December to improve her English. She is looking for a family that would be interested in hosting an international student and in exchange she could take care of children or help with housework. Elena is a sweet girl in love with California. She speaks Spanish, English and French and has experience teaching children. The director went on to say it would be a good idea that she be the first of their planned exchanges and asked if Ted knew of a family that would be interested or if Ted could share this proposal with the Sister City Commission. Ted wrote back and said yes, send her over, as Ted and his family would be happy to host her. Anaheim Sister City Commission March 24, 2014 Page 5 Ted did not hear back from the Planning Director, instead Commissioner Newby received what appears to be a follow-up email from Pilar Cengotita from Vitoria- s Chamber of Commerce expressing an interest to send someone from Vitoria-Gasteiz for a period of three to four months to participate in a work exchange program; similar to what Ted White partook in October of 2013. Everything would be paid for by their city council. In exchange, they would be willing to host someone from Anaheim for that length of time. Ted stated there are a few proposals planning to come, if proposal is a completely different exchange. In order to get some clarification, Commissioner Newby is going to respond to , request a formal plan and report back to the Commission at the next meeting. Erin Wahlen stated after clarification is received. The proposal will be presented to the Commission for consideration and planning. VI.PUBLIC COMMENT Martha Trujillo introduced herself and indicated she is a community liaison for the Anaheim Union High School District. She attended the meeting to inquire how her hometown city, Guadalajara, Mexico, could become one of Sister Cities. Chairman Nguyen recalls looking into that and learned that Guadalajara has Sister City relationships not too far from Anaheim with the cities of Compton and Downeyready have an established sister city relationship with a city close by. Although, the Commission would really like a sister city in Mexico, but city similar to Anaheim that does not already have a relationship with a city on the west coast. The Commission is open to any city that meets these criteria and asked if she learns of any to let the Commission know for further consideration. Commissioner Leonard shared she would like to get the pending sister city relationships settled before exploring another sister city. Anaheim Sister City Commission March 24, 2014 Page 6 Erin Wahlen reported that Awards by Paul produced name badges for every information to the Commission so that they can coordinate payment and pickup options. VII.COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Paine gave a short update on the status of the relationship with the city of Pudong, China. Staff is preparing a formal invitation signature to invite a delegation from the city of Pudong to visit Anaheim in August. Once the City receives a response, planning will take place to give the delegation the appropriate level of accommodations. Commissioner Pina reported that Hoagy Holguin is going through tough health issues and asked the Commission to please keep him in their prayers. Commissioner Newby reported that the volunteer appreciation luncheon she and others from the Commission attended was a very nice event and appreciated being invited to it. Commissioner Al-Jamie brought copies of the SoCal Sister Cities brochure for each Commissioner. SoCal will be having their next conference on April 5 at the Los Angeles City Hall. It was also announced that Commissioner LaHodny would be taking pictures of the Commissioners immediately following the meeting to update the pictures on VIII.ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:14 p.m. to Monday, April 28, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City