Loading...
Sister City 2016/01/25CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 25, 2016 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Anthony Al -Jamie, Pepe Avila, James Dinwiddie, Lori Farrow, Jackie Filbeck, Ann Gallaugher, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal, John Nguyen, Anna Piercy and Jeanne Tran (2 vacant seats) Chris Locke and Mark Lopez STAFF PRESENT: Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Erin W. Ryan, City Manager's Office Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office GUESTS PRESENT: David Bracey Agenda Posting A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted on Friday, January 22, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Chair Debbie Julian explained that members of the public are invited to address the Anaheim Sister City Commission and will be called upon under Agenda Item No. V. Public Comment. L CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCO) was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Chair Debbie Julian on Monday, January 25, 2016 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. IL APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner James Dinwiddie offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Jeanne Tran AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11-0; Absent: Chris Locke and Mark Lopez, and 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on November 23, 2015 as presented. ITEM NO. 01 Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 2 III. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS a. Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee None. b. Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee None. c. Economic Development Subcommittee None. IV. OUTBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE UPDATE Commissioner James Dinwiddie reported the Outbound Student Exchange Subcommittee selected six students and two alternates for a total of three boys and five girls. The alternates are two girls, so they are recommending that three boys and three girls go to Japan. The students have not yet been notified. Mito requested that the Commission send two or four students, but the Subcommittee would like to send six students and two chaperones. Mr. Wong informed Commissioner Dinwiddie that Mito would like to send 8 students and 2 chaperones to Anaheim in July of this year. Commissioner Dinwiddie informed Mr. Wong that he would discuss the request with the rest of the Commission and would follow up with a decision. The Subcommittee felt that it is time to have an equal exchange. They would like to send 6 students and 2 chaperones and would like to know if they have the support of the rest of the Commission. Commissioner Nguyen stated the Commission has always accommodated the large number of students Mito sends to Anaheim and suggested that the Commission inform Mito that it wishes to send 2 additional students and 1 additional chaperone this year and for them to do their very best to accommodate the request. Greg Garcia reminded the Commission that although he agrees with the Commission's desire to make it an equal exchange, that when Mito sends their students to Anaheim they all also send a check for thousands of dollars. So although the Commission wishes to have an equal exchange, they are not giving equal money. Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 3 Commissioner Jackie Filbeck agreed, but felt that the Mito kids get a lot more when they visit Anaheim, so the money balances for what Anaheim offers. Commissioner Anna Piercy gave a bit of history on the student exchange with the city of Mito. She explained that Mito used to send a lot more money with their students, more than what it actually cost to host them and the Commission would have extra money left over to send the students from Anaheim. The Commission has not raised a lot of money since she has been on the Commission, they have raised some and the Commission received the $10,000 grant from Kaiser which is great. So the Commission has to consider that too. Commissioner Jeanne Tran explained that one of the items discussed at the subcommittee meeting was the number of families Mito should accommodate. It would be ideal if Mito could accommodate 6 students and allow the opportunity for 2 chaperones to stay at a hotel. That way they are only hosting families for students and that becomes a student -exclusive experience. The chaperones would cover their own costs. Commissioner Dinwiddie confirmed the outbound exchange dates — as suggested by Mito — would be from June 24 to July 6, and the subcommittee discussed reducing their stay to July 2 or 3 before the 4th of July holiday. Mito also gave the dates of July 22 through August 1 to send their students. Chair Julian noted each student from Anaheim is going to be required to fundraise $1,000 and the Commission would need to cover any additional expenses while they are in Mito. She asked if money is what is holding Mito back. Commissioner Nguyen gave a recap of his experience when he went to Mito as an exchange student from Anaheim. Mito took the students to Tokyo for two days, and covered the cost of the hotel stay, the train and all the excursions, as well as lunches and dinners during the student exchange. They would have three or four school days and the rest of their stay there would be on some sort of charter transportation to different venues. Chair Debbie Julian suggested that the Commission ask for an itinerary and what their plans are to host the Anaheim students and how the host families will be matched. Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 4 Commissioner Dinwiddie suggested emailing Mr. Wong to say the Commission would like to send six students and two chaperones to Mito and that they would gladly accept eight students and two chaperones from Mito. And, if Mr. Wong replies and says they can only accept four, then the Commission should only send four students. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck would not like to cut back the number of students that Mito sends. She explained that from spending daily time with the Mito exchange students, she experienced firsthand that the interaction in a bigger group is great. The classes are better, they have more fun, they have a dance off and there are more kids to have the dance off with. If they go to Disneyland, there are more of them to enjoy it with. To use the number of students as a bargaining position isn't fair to the students that come to Anaheim. It's not hard for the Commission to manage the larger groups. It's finding host families that may cause a bit of a problem. Chair Julian feels they need to understand what Mr. Wong's reasoning is for coming back and only wanting two or four students. What their thinking is and why it is that they are trying to minimize the number of students they can accept. Greg Garcia thinks it may be money and if it is, then negotiation needs to happen without the money. Whether the Commission sends money or they don't have to send money to Anaheim. Will that allow Mito to accept six students? Erin Ryan added that last year, the Commission provided Mito with a sheet explaining what it costs to host a student per day, so Mito may be looking at that. Commissioner Tran suggested communicating to Mr. Wong the impressive amount of student applications and that an outstanding group of students had been selected. She also suggested that that the Commission offer flexibility for the number of days the students are in Mito. Commissioner Anthony Al -Jamie stated the best option would be for the two sister cities to eventually move to the same number of students going on exchanges with no money transfers. For example, we send six, they send six. They send eight, we send eight. Both sides are trying their best to entertain the students, we can't judge what they offer and or compare it with what the Commission offers. It's all about the cultural experience. Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 5 Instead of the Committee continuing to exchange emails, the Commission decided to have a conference call after the Commission meeting with Mr. Wong to clear things up and to confirm the number of students and chaperones Anaheim and Mito will each host. Commissioner Dinwiddie advised that since the Commission has the dates for the inbound Mito student exchange, they are able to plan ahead. He asked for staff to reserve the Downtown Community Center from July 22 through Aug. 1, and to see about getting tickets for the Angels game and the circus during those dates. Commissioner Dinwiddie also announced he has applications for the outbound chaperone for anyone from the Commission who is interested or if they know of someone who is. The application is to be turned in with a resume by Feb. 5. Greg Garcia asked if there was interest from the Commission to extend this chaperone invitation to city of Anaheim staff members and make it a government exchange. They started that with Vitoria-Gasteiz and he was wondering if the Commission had any interested in doing that with Mito. Commissioner Filbeck asked if employees even know what the program is about and what the Commission does. The Commission also pointed out it's about the students not the employees. Commissioner Al -Jamie stated he would hope that the chaperone would be someone who is inter -culturally sensitive and maybe knows a little bit about the culture. Commissioner Dinwiddie stated he would like to send the two best candidates, whether they are a teacher or a city employee. The chaperone opportunity is going to be offered to former commissioners. V. PUBLIC COMMENT David Bracey reported that on Saturday, Jan. 30, the Southern California and Northern California Chapters of Sister Cities International will be having their first statewide Sister Cities International Leadership team meeting in 20 years. The meeting will be at the Old Mission San Miguel in San Miguel near Paso Robles. It's an all -day event and there will also be a reception dinner on Friday at Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 6 La Quinta Inn. A number of great guests will be there, the president, the chairman and vice chairman are flying in from Washington DC. It's an invitation for all the Commissioners if anyone is interested in attending. Chair Julian stated with more advanced notice that is a meeting that in the future the Commission would be interested in attending. Commissioner Al-Jaimie pointed out this is the first time that Sister Cities International, Southern CA Chapter and Northern CA Chapter come together. But the next meeting for Sister Cities International, SoCal Chapter will be held in Anaheim in the spring. VI. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Pepe Avila was approached by the President of the Orange County Visitors Association and asked if the Commission could consider a sister city relationship with Changsha, China. Commissioner Avila is aware that Anaheim is in the process of finalizing a sister city relationship with Pudong, China, but is not familiar with the entire process. How long does the process take and it is possible to have two sister cities in the same country? Commissioner Anna Piercy stated the Commission is very new in acquiring cities. The Commission has been working to establish a relationship with Pudong for a number of years. They had previously considered a German city and others, but it's such a long process that she would not support trying for a second Chinese city when the Commission has not expanded to others that they have discussed. Commissioner Anthony Al -Jamie explained Sister Cities International promotes cities to make only one sister city agreement per country and if they make a second one to make it a friendship city relationship. Greg Garcia advised the appointment to fill the two vacancies on the ASCC has been pushed back and will be considered at the Feb. 9 City Council meeting. Commissioner Avila mentioned he had someone in mind that would be a great addition to the Commission. Greg encouraged him to reach out to her and have her fill the paperwork through the City Clerk's Office. Commissioner Dinwiddie received memory books from Mito, Japan and passed them around for the Commission to view. Anaheim Sister City Commission January 25, 2016 Page 7 VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:07 p.m. to Monday, February 22, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.