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Sister City 2017/08/28CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: MINUTES August 28, 2017 Anthony Al -Jamie, Paul Anderson, Taline Cole, Lori Dinwiddie, Jackie Filbeck, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Jerry O'Keefe, Brian O'Neal, Anna Piercy and Jeanne Tran Pepe Avila, Debbie Julian and two vacant seats Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office David Bracey Jeri O'Keefe Agenda Posting A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted on Friday, August 25, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie 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. L CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie called the meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCO) to order at 4:01 p.m. on Monday, August 28, 2017 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. IL APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Jerry O'Keefe AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 7-0, Abstained: Paul Anderson, Taline Cole, Anna Piercy and Jeanne Tran; Absent: Pepe Avila, Debbie Julian and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on July 24, 2017 as presented. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 28, 2017 Page 2 III. APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S REPORTS Treasurer Jeanne Tran presented the Treasurer's Report dated August 23, 2017 and noted that since the last report, the funds from Mito for the 2017 Mito Exchange in the amount of $4,372.32 had been deposited to the ASCC ACF account bringing the current balance to $14,919,08. MOTION: Commissioner Jackie Filbeck offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Anna Piercy AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Debbie Julian and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer's Report dated August 23, 2017. IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS PER COMMISSION BYLAWS Greg Garcia stated Commissioner Jackie Filbeck brought to his attention that the election of officers had not taken place yet this year. He explained that since last spring, they have been somewhat in limbo based on what the Council is going to decide to do regarding the configuration of the commission and they are still unsure of what is going to happen. Commissioner Filbeck asked and Greg agreed to have it the item on the agenda and have the body discuss whether they would like to have an election of officers. Treasurer Jeanne Tran asked to hear the update on the Council before they have the discussion and Greg gave the update as noted below under Item No. 7. Following the status of Sister City Commission reconfiguration update, Commissioner Jackie Filbeck stated she brought this item forward because it is in the bylaws and they are required to elect officers in June. Even without knowing what direction Council will be going with the reconfiguration of the commission, she would be in favor of doing the elections in accordance with the bylaws. Commissioner Anna Piercy agreed with Commissioner Filbeck and noted the Commission was hesitant to do anything because they did not know what the Council was going to do and they still do not know. She would like the Commission to continue to operate in the same basis they have always operated on, according to the bylaws and when they decide what they are going to do, they will deal with it. Vice Chair asked for nominations for the Chairperson. Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie expressed interest in running as Chair. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 28, 2017 Page 3 By text, Chair Debbie Julian expressed interest in running as Vice Chair. MOTION: Anna Piercy nominated Anthony Al -Jamie as Chair of the Sister City Commission and Commissioner Jerry O'Keefe seconded the motion and MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby elect Anthony Al -Jamie as Chair of the Sister City Commission. MOTION: Commissioner Jackie Filbeck nominate Lori Dinwiddie as Vice Chair of the Sister City Commission and Jeanne Tran seconded the motion. MOTION: Commissioner Taline Cole nominated Debbie Julian as Vice Chair of the Sister City Commission and Commissioner Anna Piercy seconded the motion. Out of courtesy, the vote for Vice Chair was postponed until the September 25 meeting in order to give Debbie Julian an opportunity to be present at the meeting. Commissioner Jeanne Tran respectfully withdrew her name from any nominations because of the possibility of residency requirements being imposed by Council in the near future. MOTION: Commissioner Jackie Filbeck nominated Matthew Hicks as Treasurer, seconded by Commissioner Jeanne Tran and MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby elect Matthew Hicks as Treasurer. V. REVIEW OF THE 2017 INBOUND/OUTBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMS Commissioner Jackie Filbeck reported the Inbound Student Exchange went very well. They had an excellent group of students and chaperones. The chaperones were very engaged and involved. The events went very well. The Sayonara reception at the Visit Anaheim center was very nice and Chair Debbie Julian did an exceptional job of putting it together. The kids had a fabulous experience. Katie was able to team -teach with Jonathan Filbeck and it turned out really well. Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie and Vice Chair Al -Jamie helped tremendously. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 28, 2017 Page 4 Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie reported the fire station tour was held at a different station this year and it was quite incredible. They give the students a challenge coin, a hat and a t -shirt. They had the beach party on Monday this year, the first day they had the students. Since the very first day, the kids were very engaged and had a great time in the water. They had a good time at the fair and loved the Packing House. They met with Council Member Faessel and he was a very good substitute for Mayor Tait who could not make it on Tuesday. Mayor Tait was able to attend the Sayonara event on Friday and the Chaperones presented him with a letter from the Mito's Mayor. The stadium tour was excellent and the seats at the Angel game were fantastic. Disneyland was huge hit. Steven Trinh, a former student exchange student and his friend accompanied the students all day and got them to places quickly. The class time went really well. Overall, it was a great experience. Vice Chair Al -Jamie commended Commissioner Filbeck and Dinwiddie for all the extra effort put into the inbound student exchange. He also suggested that some type of manual be created in case this commission is reduced to seven members. This way something can be passed on to the new members to continue the success of the program. VI. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS a. Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee The Commission asked the Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee to come up with a recommendation on how to handle the inbound and outbound student exchanges. Whether they want to create two new subcommittees or how best to proceed and asked that it be agendized for the next meeting. b. Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee Commissioner Taline Cole agreed to spearhead a meeting to discuss fundraising opportunities. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 28, 2017 Page 5 Commissioner Dinwiddie came up with a fundraising idea. She would like to propose a Mito flower arrangement class, have people sign up for $45-$50 and all the proceeds will go to the Sister City Commission. The commission agreed this would be a great idea. c. Economic Development Subcommittee None. VII. STATUS OF SISTER CITY COMMISSION RECONFIGURATION Greg Garcia stated as the Commission may recall, Council reconfigured all of Anaheim's boards and commissions earlier this year. The Sister City Commission was kept out of that reconfiguration. Most of the reconfigurations was to make all of the boards and commissions somewhat uniformed in terms of having seven members so that each member of Council could appoint a member per their district or at large in the Mayor's case. Because of the uniqueness of the Sister City Commission, the Mayor and a couple of other members of Council expressed interest and agreed to separate the Sister City Commission because of the makeup. Recently, Council Member Faessel brought up that for consistency stake he would like to discuss the Sister City Commission and would like to talk about ways in which it could it to be more consistent with the other boards. Initially they were directed to come back at the end of summer because of the exchange program that requires so much time, energy and involvement from all the members of the existing Commission that it made sense to not have the discussion until after the exchanges are concluded. Now that the exchanges have concluded, Greg went back to the Council Member so get direction and he was told that they would visit it in October. Greg did not have any specific direction in terms of the change in the number and change in residential requirements. Some of the things that Greg anticipates being part of the discussion is the resident requirement, the number of commissioners and permanent appointments. When the discussion comes back in October, the Council may decide not to touch it or they can decide to modify certain things. The Commission requested that a conversation regarding a recommendation to Council about the Commission's thoughts and ideas on the reconfiguration be agendized for the September 25 ASCC meeting. Anaheim Sister City Commission August 28, 2017 Page 6 VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT David Bracey reported that Sister Cities International, Southern California Chapter held its quarterly meeting on August 12 in Newport Beach. They had representatives from 17 different Sister City groups. The next meeting is going to be on November 4 in Palm Desert. IX. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie would like to invite Jennifer Sasai, Assistant Principal at Brookhurst Jr. High School and Melody Hirayama, Japanese teacher at Loara High School to the next ASCC meeting. Jennifer hosted one of the chaperones this summer and she has great feedback. Along with Jennifer, Melody chaperoned the outbound students and has great feedback on the outbound student exchange. Commissioner Jeanne Tran will extend an invitation to them to attend the Sister City Commission in September. The Commission asked staff to agendize discussion regarding the anniversary celebration with Vitoria-Gasteiz. In addition, the Commission asked staff to agendize discussion regarding an invitation to Pudong to offer the opportunity to visit and formalize the sister city relationship. X. STAFF COMMENTS Greg Garcia reminded the Commission that Kimberly Kelemen was out on maternity leave until early December. If the Commission has any questions, they can contact Greg directly during that time. Greg also reported Council appreciated having the outbound students giving a presentation to Council after their trip. That was effective and he received many positive comments about it. XI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m. to Monday, September 25, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.