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Sister City 2010/08/23CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITYCOMMISSION MINUTES August 23,2010 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:Joseph Aihara, Sandy Day,James Dinwiddie, Russell LaHodny,JohnD. Nguyen,Swati Patel, Anna Piercy,Kyoko Smith,HenriSoucy, CarolynYellis COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:Elaine Cali, Carrie Nocella, BrianO'Neal STAFF PRESENT:Greg Garcia, City Manager’s Office Sjany Larson-Cash, Community Services Maggie Solorio, City Manager’s Office GUESTSPRESENT:Christina Maguire Alvina Hinh Danielle Vargas Nhu Nguyen Denise Silberman Agenda Posting:Acomplete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted at 3:00p.m. onAugust 20, 2010,at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input:Chairman Nguyenexplained thatmembers of the public are invited to address the Anaheim Sister City Commissionand will be called upon under Agenda Item No.V. Public Comment. I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission was called to order at 4:04 p.m. on Monday, August 23, 2010 at the Anaheim City Manager’s Office, th City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7Floor, Anaheim, California. II.OATH OF OFFICE –NEW MEMBERS Greg Garcia administered the Oath of Office toJohn D. Nguyen. III.STUDENT PRESENTATION Commissioner Soucy announced that Deborah Kwak, one of the outbound students,could not make the presentation that day because she was away at Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 2 college. Commissioner Soucy gave each Commissioner a copy of the memory book that the students and the chaperone put together. He explained that this is one of the major assignments that the students have todo and that acopy will be sent back to their host families in Japan so they can remember the great timesthey had. Commissioner Soucy noted that when the students attended theSister City Commission meeting in May they gave the Commissiontheir initial thoughts of Japan before going there and now Commissioner Soucy asked the studentsto explainif their impression had changed of Japan and what was the best thing they liked about going there. Alvina Hinhstated her impression of Japan has changed a lot because she did not know what she was going in for.She feels it is one of the best things she has experienced in life. Everyone there is very nice and generous. They are hospitable and when you are there you feel very relaxed. Coming back to America you realize how fast paced life is here and how you want to slow it down and capture the special moments in life. She really loved it and thanked the Commission for the opportunity. Nhu Nguyenstated her impression of Japan has also changed. Before she went she knew little of Japan. She described it as an adventurous book and indicated she loved it. She also liked the environmentin that it was very eco-friendly and recycling was a big thing. She loved the foodand found it to be very different from the Americanized version. She also learned about the education thereand made a lot of friends. She shared a fan with the Commission members that the kids that she interacted with in Japan signed in English and Japanese. Danielle Vargasstated what impressed hermost about Japan was the people and their way of life. She was very impressed with how hospitable they were, how they treatedthem, and how they treat people they don’t know. When people are walking by they are super friendly and they always say hi to people, even if they don’t know them and they’venever seen them before. The opportunities were amazing.They got to wear a Kimono which was extraordinary because they are veryexpensive and they were able to do something that is traditional and that is not practiced very muchnowadays. They also did the Japanese Archery and they got to meet a lot of people their age at the schoolsthey visited. It was nice to see kids around the world with different lifestyles andyet they can still get together and talk about the same things as it relates tomusic and movies. She definitely learned a lot and broadened her understanding of the Japaneseculture. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 3 Christina Maguire stated the experience was awesome and the girls were great. To see the classes in action was really great. She noticed that the elective classes werepretty loose and she was surprised to see that the teachers were not telling the noisy students to be quiet. She also visited a math class because she wanted to see how the academic classes were. Thatwas totally a different story. Everybody was attentive, books were on the desk, two pencils, and paper,and therewas no talking and nothing else going on. The people in Japan are very hospitable and the culture is amazing.They noticed as they started flying over Japanthat it is intensively green.The food was great and the people were immensely nice. She wants to go back to Japan. Ms. Maguire asked if the Commission can’t possibly find a chaperone for next year to please put her name on top of the list. Greg Garcia asked the students and the chaperone if they had any recommendations to the Commission for future students participating in the Student Exchange Program. Danielle responded she did not know any Japanese, she only knew how to say hello and good bye, whereas Nhu studied it for three years.In Japan, they were surrounded by people like the chaperones who spokeEnglish and couldtranslate for them.Thehost families knewa little bit of English and they taught hera little Japanese, so it’sreally not that hard to navigate around. Alvina responded she did not know any Japanese either and the fun thing for her was that her host family did not know any English. The host family had translators either on their phonesor PDA. You would think the language barrier would be a challenge, but it really brought her closer to her host family. Christina responded that as a teacher, she thinks the students should know a little Japanese just as a courtesy. They should know a few basic things to get them going. Commissioner Soucy asked them to describe Mayor Kato’s reaction to the Angel Baseball jersey, the gift that Mayor Pringle and City Council sent him. Christina noted Mayor Kato loved it and it fit him perfectly! Commissioner Soucy thanked the students and the chaperone and indicated that Mr. Wang,Ms. Atsuko and the students’ chaperones told Commissioner Soucy they loved all the girls and that they were a delight to be around. From their standpoint, Anaheim sent the best student ambassadors and chaperone. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 4 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Yellisoffered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner PiercyAND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 9-0,Chairman Nguyen abstained, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does herebyapprovethe July 26, 2010 minutes correcting the name on page 3 to Colleen Beckand the dollar amount on Page 4 to $1,000.00. V.PUBLIC COMMENT Denise Silbermanasked why if Mito wanted the San Diego programdid they not allot for the extra cost in the grant. She indicated the dollar amount they gave this year is the same amount they have given every year.Mitowasvery generous, but they are the ones who said they were going to give the Commission more money so that they could dothe San Diego trip. She also commended Commissioner Soucy for getting through the Student Exchange Programalmost under budget. Commissioner Soucy responded in the past Mito always gave about a million yen. The $10,124.00they gave this year equals about 950,000 yen. In the past, the cost of the program under ASCA was anywhere from $4,000.00 to $6,000.00,so Mito wasgiving over and above. The point of the money is that they did not have to give a dime, so Commissioner Soucy is very appreciative of the $10,000 that Mitogave. Ms. Silberman said it was wonderful that the Commission got all the donations and thought that was superior. Commissioner Soucy reiterated Mito was under no obligation to give any money at all, but Mito was so happy with the student exchange, the possibility of a businessexchange, the pen pal program and just the whole program this year that they kicked in money at the end to get it that high.They were originally considering 850,000 yen and they bumped it up to 950,000yen. Ms. Silberman thanked Commissioner Soucy for the clarification. VI.TREASURER’S REPORT Commissioner Soucy went over the Treasurer’s Report. He stated the ACF account started with $18,454.50. The disbursements shown on the report are all Inbound Student Exchange expenses. The cash balance as of August 17, 2010 is $8,907.68.The only expenses that are not reflected on the report are some additional costs related to the Sayonara dinner and some of the San Diego expenses. That will be it for the Student ExchangeProgram expenditures this year. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 5 VII. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES Commissioner LaHodnystated from the Economic Development standpoint, they had a meeting with Mr. Wang in July regarding theJapanesedelegation that is coming out in November. The delegation will arrive on November 11, Veteran’s Day. A tour and a mixer or business gathering arebeing planned for Friday, th November12. They are still working on the details of thatday. If it’s a tour, Mr. Wangexpressed interest in touring the Anaheim Convention Center and at the second half of the day they maydo a tour of the Canyon Area. Commissioner LaHodny wantsto make sure that the delegation sees what Anaheim has to offer from the business standpoint. The Economic Development Subcommittee is going to plan the details for Friday, November 12. Chairman Nguyen announced that Commissioner Amiri has formally resigned from the Commission and that in the interim Commissioner Dayhas agreed to take on whereCommissioner Amiri left off. Commissioner Day reported that one of the most important tasks the Commission has right now is moving forward with a Sister City relationship. Former Commissioner Amiri forwarded to her all the nominations for Sister Cities that have been received thus far. When former Commissioner Amirigave a formal presentation to the Commission, he had set a goal to have three sister cities in place by August 30. As the Commission knows, they are not quite there yet, since they’ve been so busy with the incoming and outgoing students. It’s time to return the focus on that since it’s already the end of August.Commissioner Day proposed to focus on one country. Originally, theCommission was considering a cityfromGermany and a city from Mexico, but she thinks they shouldfocus on the German city first since itmakes sense with Anaheim’s history. Up until now they have received three potential cities for consideration. Thecities that have been nominated by the public are Wittgenstein,a region composed of eleven German cities,Augsberg and Stuttgart. Commissioner Day proposed that the Commission consider sending out a letter of exploration to at least two of the three cities. The two cities being recommended at this time are Stuttgart and Augsberg because they meet the criteria established by the Executive Committee. The City of Wittgenstein does not fall under the criteria because it’s a collection of tiny towns and cities into one, like a county. The purpose of the letters would be to explore if there is interest in a potential Sister City relationship with Anaheim. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 6 MOTION: Commissioner Yellis offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner SoucyAND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby support the idea to send a letter of exploration to the cities of Stuttgart and Augsberg for a possibility to form a Sister City relationship. Commissioner Soucy reported thatwhen Mr. Wang was here in July, he and Mr. Wang met with Colleen Beck who is a teacher at Sunkist Elementary School regarding the Pen Pal Program. The Pen Pal Program will be kicking off in September. Commissioner Soucy also reported that the Assistant English Teacher program is being promoted atCalState Fullerton. Commissioner Soucy recently was contacted by a couple of teachers that had been laid off. They are a married couple who meet the age criteria and they both teachEnglish. They are going to look over the materials and get back to Commissioner Soucy. Commissioner Soucy also reported that the memory bookthat was handed out to the Commissioners that day will be downloaded onto the Sister City Commission website. Commissioner Soucy went over the costs incurred for the Inbound Student Program. The budget for the program was set at $11,836.70 and the actual cost was $12,292.17. They went over by $455.00. The grant from Mito was $10,124.88, so the net cost for the Inbound Student exchange was $2,167.29. The overage was due to the higher quality Angel baseball shirts, the mileage on the van that was rented for the San Diego trip, going over the budget forthe Sayonara dinner and thecost of the ice rinktickets. They got close to $5,000 of donated items. Overall, it was really successful.For the program next year, a lot will depend on how much money can be fundraised and if Mito will be willing to give another large grant. Greg Garcia asked for thetotal cost of the exchangeprogram. Commissioner Soucy answered that the actual cost, without the donated items, was almost $17,000.00. Greg Garcia noted that if the Commission doesn’t get the extra money from Mito, and the Commission plans to do a student exchange every year, it makes sense to keep that number in mind to know the amount they need to fundraise annually for Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 7 one sister City. If the Commission wants to do one for Spain or another one for Germany, they need to keep that number in back of their minds of at least $15,000 to put something together. They can also reduce the number of students and cut the cost down. Commissioner Soucy clarified that the big expensewas the San Diego weekend. They had never done that beforeand it was almost a$6,000expensethat they had never incurred. Mito requested the trip and gave ahuge amount of money. If Mito is not able to donate money next year and the Commission is not able to fundraise that amount, they will take the trip out and that will really cut the cost down. Commissioner Soucy noted that for outbound students, the Commission pays for the airline tickets and the insurance. The total cost was about $6,600, thestudents fundraised$250 each, so the net cost was about $5,800. Commissioner Piercysuggested breaking down the numbers to what wasspent per student.She calculated that approximately $1,200.00 was spent per student, both inbound and outbound. VIII.REELECTION OF OFFICERS MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Piercy AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby nominate Commissioner John Nguyen as the Chairman of the Sister City Commission. MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner LaHodnyAND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby nominate Commissioner Carrie Nocella as Vice Chair of the Sister City Commission. MOTION: Commissioner Yellis offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Patel AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Neal and 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby nominate Commissioner Russell LaHodnyas the Chairmanfor the Economic Development Committee. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 8 MOTION: Commissioner Aihara offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner PiercyAND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does herebynominate Commissioner HenriSoucyas the Chair for the Government and Cultural Exchange Committee. MOTION: Commissioner Yellis offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner PiercyAND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does herebynominate Commissioner Sandy Day as the Chair for the Executive Committee. IX.APPROVAL OF BYLAWS Chairman Nguyen thanked Commissioner Yellis for putting together the bylaws and asked if everyone got a chance to review them and if anyone had any changes. Greg Garcia stated that overall the document is great and went over some suggested changes. MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Piercy AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Nealand 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Sister City Commission bylaws,as amendedat the meeting. Greg Garcia noted that the approved bylaws would be brought back at the next public hearing for signatures. X.SISTER CITY CONFERENCE REPORT Chairman Nguyen reported that the three-day Sister Cities International Conference was amazing. He met people from all over the world. Seventeen countries were represented. Just to get that global perspective was very unique. It was an opportunity to get connected with the right sources and he saw firsthand the value of becoming part of such a large organization. Itwasan opportunity to network with the world. He learned that Sister Cities International also has a youth component and that there’s a youth conference every year. He recommended having youth representation that can be the bridge to engage the young members in the community. The next annual convention will be inMarch of 2011 in Washington DC. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 9 Chairman Nguyen remarked that some Sister City relationships are better than others. It mostly depends on the people, the structure and the level of commitment that people make. There’re a lot of structures. There arecities that allocate a $300,000 annual budget to their Sister Cities, and there’re others, like Anaheim, who don’t have anything except for staff’s support and support of the City Council and the City. So it ranges, some exist outside of the City as their own 501c3, others are Commissions, and others are Commissions, but have a 501c3 account per Sister City. What Anaheim has and what the City Council set up is a perfect blend, especially when they have standing members from the education community, the business community, the arts and the visitors and convention bureau. It’s a good mixture and now the Commission needs to make themselves known in the community. The City of Anaheim has a lot of potential to have more sister cities with the City of its size and diversity. Chairman Nguyen invited the Commission Members to go the link of the Sister Cities International Conference that staffpreviously emailed to them. There they can get pictures and audio files of the meetings that were held just as if theyhad attended the conference. He passed around a directory that is also available online to give the Commission Members an idea of what other Sister Cities are doing. The Anaheim Sister City Commission is a wonderful Commission that has lots of opportunities with the educational component, with the arts, with business, with tourism and community service that they can make a lasting impact. Sister Cities International received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for 7.5 million, so once Anaheim is done with Germany they can look at cities in Africa and there’s grants for them to work with them and really build a great relationship, something that is unique. The message is not to be shy, but to be aggressive and to get people engaged as much as possible. XI.OUTREACH TO NEW CITIES Commissioner Day indicated that regarding the relationship with Vitoria-Gasteiz, she would like the Commission to form a delegation of their own to go to Spain in 2011. She recommends sending a letter to the people in charge in that location and ask them ifthere’s a time of year that is agreeable to themfor Anaheim to visit. Maybe they say not in 2011, but at least it starts a conversation to see if they can develop the cultural exchange or economic development or any other type of relationship. Going face to face may be a good way to start that. So she wanted to talk to the Commission about considering putting together a delegation for 2011. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 23, 2010 Page 10 Chairman Nguyen and Commissioner Yellis agreed it’s a great idea. MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Yellis AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Cali, Nocella andO'Neal and 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission is going to hereby send a letter to the Sister Cities Program at Vitoria-Gasteiz asking them if Anaheim can send a delegation perhaps in 2011 and see what day might be a good time of year for the delegation to visit. XII.RESIGNATIONS/NEW MEMBERS Chairman Nguyen and the rest of the Commission members welcomed JamesDinwiddie to the Commission. Chairman Nguyen announced that Commissioner Amiri was reappointed to serve a second term, but because of his business commitments it’s hard for him to serve time on the Commission, so he has formally resigned. Chairman Nguyen also announced that Commissioner Tulleners has accepted a position to work for Council Member Lorri Galloway and due to conflict of interest she is no longer a Commissioner. Chairman Nguyen indicated that the City Council will be considering appointments to fill the two vacancies at their September 14 meeting. XIII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Chairman Nguyen asked the Commission members to keep in mind what committees they would like to serve on because that will be discussed at the next meeting. The three committees are Economic Development, Cultural and Government Exchange and the Executive Committee. XIV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. to September 27, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at the City of Anaheim, City Manager’s Office.