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Sister City 2017/02/27CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES February 27, 2017 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: Anthony Al -Jamie, Paul Anderson, Taline Cole, Lori Dinwiddie, Jackie Filbeck, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Debbie Juliani, JerryO'Keefe, Brian O'Neal and Jeanne Tran Pepe Avila, Julia Erdkamp, Mark Lopez and Anna Piercy Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Brent Dennis, Community Services Kimberly Kelemen, Community Services Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office David Bracey, Anaheim University Agenda Posting: A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted on Friday, February 24, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Chair Debbie Juliani 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. L CALL TO ORDER Chair Debbie Juliani called the meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCO) to order at 4:04 p.m. on Monday, February 27, 2017 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Jerry O'Keefe AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 9-0, Abstained: Jeanne Tran and Debbie Juliani; Absent: Pepe Avila, Julia Erdkamp, Mark Lopez and Anna Piercy) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on January 23, 2017 as presented. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 27, 2017 Page 2 III. APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S REPORTS Treasurer Jeanne Tran presented the Treasurer's Report dated February 24, 2017 and noted there had been no activity since the last meeting and that the current balance remained the same at $14,416.07. MOTION: Commissioner Jackie Filbeck offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Matthew Hicks AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Julia Erdkamp, Mark Lopez and Anna Piercy) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer's Report dated February 24, 2017. IV. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS a. Cultural/Government Exchanize Subcommittee Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie reported they received nine applications for consideration of the 2017 Outbound Student Exchange Program. The meet and greet was held on Feb. 1 and it went really well. They also held the interviews and were very pleased with the students that applied. Out of the nine students that applied, they selected six. All six students had been notified and they all confirmed that they are attending. Four of them have passports, the other two have until March 6 to submit their passport applications and to provide the Committee the application number. There are five females and one male, and they will be leaving for Japan on June 23 and returning on July 4. Four students are from Oxford Academy, one from Anaheim High School and one from Magnolia High School. The next step is to get the students trained and to present them at an upcoming Council meeting. Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie gave some background on the training he gives the students. He noted he teaches them proper etiquette and useful expressions to practice and use during their visit in Japan. After some discussion, the Commission decided to agendize the discussion on the number of chaperones that would accompany students to Japan and the associated costs that would be covered by the Commission. In addition, the Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee will meet in the interim and make a recommendation. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 27, 2017 Page 3 Treasurer Jeanne Tran gave an update on the 2017 Inbound Student Exchange Program. Mito will be sending eight students and two chaperones. They will be in Anaheim from July 28 to Aug. 6. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck asked if the Commission had made a decision on whether they are going to solicit a teacher for the Inbound Student Exchange or if they had thought about asking Katie Filbeck to do it again. Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie replied she would be in favor of hiring Katie back and Vice Chair Al -Jamie agreed with that. Chair Juliani added she felt Katie has done a phenomenal job the past three years. Katie knows what to to do and the students walk away with a great experience by the educational piece and everything else. Greg Garcia recommended that the teacher recommendation be part of the Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee discussion and that the subcommittee bring back a recommendation to the Commission and then Commission can vote on it. Kimberly Kelemen is going to check availability of the rooms at the Downtown Community Center (DCC) and possibly block off the time the inbound students are visiting. Commissioner Filbeck recalled having trouble with the WIFI at the DCC. Kimberly assured the Commission staff would test the WIFI ahead of time and make sure everything works before the students get here. Commissioner Juliani will follow up with Kimberly with the draft schedule of events to book the rooms as appropriate. Staff will check in with the Mayor's Office to book a time for him to meet with the students. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck reminded the Commission she will be putting together gift bags for the inbound students and she would like the Commission to start thinking of what items they can contribute. She would like 12 of each gift item. Vice -chair Al -Jamie noted it was time to start thinking of recruiting host families and would like to find out how they can get an ad going in the Anaheim magazine. Also, if it was possible to advertise it on the government channel. He stated they have the videos from the former visits. Greg suggested putting the video on You Tube and social media. He stated it would not get too much viewership on Channel 3; it would really get viewership when they push it on Facebook and Twitter and all the other Anaheim Sister City Commission February 27, 2017 Page 4 social media available. Greg also suggested putting an ad on the Community Service magazine, the Recreation Guide. Kimberly agreed that would be possible and noted they are working on the summer guide now. The summer issue comes out in May. Commissioner Brian O'Neal suggested making flyers and handing them out in the Japanese classes. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck suggested running a quick commercial about hosting a student this year at the volunteer recognition lunch taking place at the Grove on March 15. Greg is going to work with Video Operations to edit the video and shorten it to 30 seconds with a flyer at end saying "volunteers apply, host families needed" or another suggestion could be having a spokesperson that wanted to be on camera from the Commission asking. b. Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee None. c. Economic Development Subcommittee Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie met with Commissioners Matthew Hicks, Jerry O'Keefe, Yanni Guo and Jackie Filbeck He stated Commissioner Hicks came up with a great idea and asked him to share it. Commissioner Hicks shared he thought of an idea where local businesses or industries in Anaheim could benefit from cross influences. Since sake is a major industry in Japan and the Japanese government welcomes opportunities to promote sake in the United States, he thought maybe this could be an opportunity for a local Anaheim brewery or distillery to offer a Japanese sake or a Japanese style lager. In addition, if the Commission decides to do a fundraiser in the future, maybe a dollar off a six or seven -dollar pint of beer could go to the Sister City Commission. Vice Chair Al -Jamie added this could also be a good way to get the Commission's name out there and let people know that Sister Cities exist. The Commission could provide cards describing the City's relationship with Japan and the reason why they are serving sake there. Chair Debbie Juliani shared Bottle Logic has done something very similar in the past in terms of that style and though she is not certain if they still have it on their list, she can check it out. Bottle Logic is a great community partner and feels they would support this idea. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 27, 2017 Page 5 Building off that, Commissioner Hicks suggested having someone from Mito's beer or distillery industry come as part of a Mito delegation in the future and that could be an opportunity for the Sister City Commission to organize a meeting or event and invite local businesses. Greg stated Mito has a regular trip scheduled every other year where they bring government officials in the fall. Maybe staff can encourage them to bring some businesses with them next time that could come, and do an exchange and possibly have the Chamber do a reception in addition to other activities to help build those business relationships. Vice Chair Al -Jamie shared that the subcommittee also talked about creating a protocol on how to select a new sister city. Vice Chair Al -Jamie looked into it further and contacted Sister Cities International in Washington, D.C. They do not have a protocol because it goes back 60 years. It is usually some type of commonality that cities share. In conclusion, there is no specific protocol from Sister Cities International. The Commission will just have to look at it on a case- by -case basis. The Subcommittee is going to continue to explore that and try to come up with some criteria that would make a good fit with Anaheim. V. VITORIA-GASTEIZ ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION DISCUSSION Vice Chair Al -Jamie noted, next year would mark a 20 -year relationship with Vitoria-Gasteiz and asked to get this item on the agenda to start thinking about a way to commemorate this milestone. Greg Garcia will reach out to the staff contact in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pilar to reestablish communication and mention the fact that next year is our anniversary and they would love to do something. He will suggest that they send a delegation here or that we can send a delegation there or perhaps she has other ideas. Chair Juliani suggested keeping this item on the agenda and continue to discuss it until something gets decided. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT David Bracey reported Sister Cities International, SoCal Chapter is having a regional meeting on Saturday, March 5 in Santa Clarita from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and everyone is welcome to join. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 27, 2017 Page 6 VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner O'Keefe shared he was very impressed with all the work that the subcommittee put in at the student's meet and greet and in the interview process. It was really well done and very professional. Commissioner Yanni Guo asked for an update on what the City Council decided regarding the Boards and Commissions. Greg Garcia advised that the Council voted to wipe clean most of the commissions and to reconstitute them and change the size and structure. The Sister City was one of two commissions that was exempted from that because of the work that they do and because the makeup of the board is different. Staff is not making any changes. He further advised that that is not to say changes or improvements cannot be made to the structure of this board, that can still happen at a later time. On March 7, there will be a first reading of ordinances to redo all the boards and commissions as directed by Council. Then there will be a second reading and come mid-April all those board members and commissioners who served on the other boards will be thanked for their service and released. Council will then reappoint all the boards and commissions, but this group is safe for now. There is still an opportunity for a council member on March 7 to say, okay while we have these ordinances in front of us we would like to revisit the Sister City Commission. Greg further stated the council members have asked him of the work of the Sister City Commission and how it is unique and different. Greg did his best to explain exactly the work that the Commission does and the fact that they are right in the middle of an application process and an outbound and inbound exchange and if any changes were absolutely going to be made to this Commission, he requested that it at least be done until after this summer's activities. VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:07 p.m. to Monday, March 27, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.