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Sister City 2015/08/24CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: MINUTES August 24, 2015 James Dinwiddie, Lori Farrow, Jackie Filbeck, Ann Gallaugher, Debbie Juliani, John Nguyen, Anna Piercy and Kyndell Thorson Anthony Al -Jamie, Pepe Avila, Laurie Leonard, Chris Locke, Mark Lopez, Brian O'Neal, and Jeanne Tran Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Erin Wahlen, City Manager's Office Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office David Bracey Agenda Postings A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted on Friday, August 21, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Chair Thorson explained that members of the public are invited to address the Anaheim Sister City Commission and will be called upon under Agenda Item No. VIII. Public Comment. I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCC) was called to order at 4:06 p.m. by Chair Kyndell Thorson on Monday, August 24, 2015 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Debbie Juliani offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Anne Gallaugher AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 8-0; Absent: Anthony Al -Jamie, Pepe Avila, Laurie Leonard, Chris Locke, Mark Lopez, Brian O'Neal, and Jeanne Tran) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on July 20, 2015 as presented. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 24, 2015 Page 2 III. TREASURER'S REPORT A copy of the Treasurer's Report dated August 18, 2015 was presented at the meeting along with a detailed copy of the 2015 Mito Inbound Student Program In -Kind Contributions and the 2015 Mito Inbound Student Program Expenses. The total expenses for the 2015 Mito Inbound Student Exchange came to $5,658.37. Mito's contribution was $5,448.79, so $209.58 was deducted from the Commission's budget. The value of the in-kind gifts/contributions for this year's exchange program was estimated to be $6,175.00. The most up-to-date Treasurer's Report shows a current balance of $20,590.74. MOTION: Commissioner Jackie Filbeck offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner James Dinwiddie AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 8-0; Absent: Anthony Al -Jamie, Pepe Avila, Laurie Leonard, Chris Locke, Mark Lopez, Brian O'Neal, and Jeanne Tran) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer's Report dated August 18, 2015 as presented. IV. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS Commissioner Dinwiddie did not have anything to report on behalf of the Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee. Commissioner Debbie Juliani reported on behalf of the Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee that she is working on a budget for the fall fundraiser and will send it out to the Commission for consideration. She is waiting to hear back from the Mayor's Office regarding his availability, but they are shooting for a Saturday or Sunday in October. On behalf of the Economic/Development Subcommittee, Chair Thorson reported there will be a delegation coming from Pudong in October of this year. That's good news and she's hoping they will find a way to leverage that. That may be a good opportunity for the City to ask Pudong to sign the MOU to start a sister city relationship. She feels the Commission should not mind if the MOU is signed in Anaheim or in Pudong. The Commission has been talking about a delegation to visit Pudong sometime in 2016 during the opening of the Shanghai Disneyland Park because Orange County is so familiar and knows the economic benefit of tourism, but obviously it would be a broader group than just a tourism focused group and she feels it's important when they take that delegation that it's either to sign the MOU or in celebration of the relationship being built. Either way, if they wanted to do it in October, she would certainly be supportive in encouraging that. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 24, 2015 Page 3 Chair Thorson requested a list of names from the City of Pudong that will be attending with the delegation as well as their titles and affiliations. In this way, she will be able to determine if it's the people they have already met with in the past. Chair Thorson will keep the Commission posted as she receives more information. V. 2015 MITO STUDENT EXCHANGE RECAP Commissioner James Dinwiddie reported the student exchange went really well. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck remained on the front lines throughout their stay. Overall everyone was very happy. Something that was noticeable was that they had a lot of younger kids this time around, as most of the kids were 13 years old which posed some new challenges. Commissioner Filbeck stated the video of the student's visit turned out really well. It was great adding the last part of their stay because last year they had to stop videotaping at the beach outing. This year they added the circus and the full sayonara dinner with some fantastic pictures that Commissioner Pepe Avila took of the students getting their certificates with Council Members Vanderbilt and Brandman. That was a really nice touch to finish it off. Commissioner Filbeck also felt the student exchange went really well. They did not have any problems; it was just a different group. They were way more introverted than the group of students that visited the year before. But all it took was for Katie to find different ways of working with them. It was not just that they were young, they were also very quiet. The kids presented very well at the Mayor's Office and really started to come around after their trip to Disneyland. From this year's experience, the Commission agreed they should request older kids from Mito for the student exchange, kids that are 15 to 16 year old. They would like for the students to be more social and have better control of the English language. They would also like to see a more engaged chaperone from Mito, someone that works well with the kids. Overall the students had a great time and some even asked if they could stay longer while others left with tears in their eyes. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 24, 2015 Page 4 Commissioner Jackie Filbeck stated a link to the 2015 Mito Student Exchange video is going to be emailed to the Commission and Katie Filbeck would like the Commission's feedback on the video. Commissioner Filbeck also added that next year, someone else should do the video. Commissioner Dinwiddie felt they do not have to do a video every year. Commissioner Filbeck thanked Commissioners Leonard and Farrow for sending out the thank you notes, the staff at the Honda Center were very appreciative that that was done. VI. 2016 OUTBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE FUNDRAISING Commissioner Dinwiddie suggested for next year's outbound exchange that the Commission recruit junior high school students to send to Mito. That way when they go back to school they can pass the word around about the program and the opportunity to go to Mito. It also ties in with hosting. If the student is a junior and they go in May, they may be more open to host students in July and that would cut some of the costs of the Commission. Erin Wahlen stated the intension of putting this item on the agenda was to get the conversation started about what the timeframe will look like, what the costs are going to look like, etc. It's the initial commitment for 2016. Chair Thorson asked the Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee to put together some recommendations for the Commission's consideration for the next ASCC meeting for the 2016 Outbound Student Exchange. Recommendations should include (a) what the cost is going to be for the students that participate (b) a timeline (c) the guidelines for the program and (d) Mito's expectations of the Commission sending students to Mito. Erin offered assistance in reaching out to Mr. Wang to understand what experiences and opportunities Mito would provide for the inbound students from Anaheim. Commissioner Dinwiddie asked if anyone kept a copy of the binder that was put together for the last outbound student exchange. Greg Garcia has a copy and will make it available for the Commission. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 24, 2015 Page 5 VII. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATION This item was continued to the September 28, 2015 ASCC meeting. VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT None. IX. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Chair Thorson and the entire Commission congratulated Commissioner Nguyen on his recent marriage. X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m. to Monday, September 28, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.