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Sister City 2018/03/26CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 26, 2018 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Anthony Al-Jamie, Paul Anderson, Taline Cole, Lori Dinwiddie, Jackie Filbeck, Jerry O’Keefe, Brian O’Neal and Anna Piercy COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Debbie Juliani (6 vacant seats) STAFF PRESENT: Greg Garcia, 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, March 23, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: 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. XII. Public Comment. I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anthony Al-Jamie called the meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCC) to order at 4:07 p.m. on Monday, March 26, 2018 at the Anaheim City Manager’s Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. II.OATH OF OFFICE Greg Garcia administered the Oath of Office to Lori Dinwiddie who was re- appointed on March 6, 2018 by the City Council to serve on the Sister City Commission with term ending on June 30, 2020. III.APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Paul Anderson offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Jerry O’Keefe AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 7-0; Abstained: Anna Piercy; Absent: Debbie Juliani and 6 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on February 26, 2018 as presented. ITEM NO. 01 Anaheim Sister City Commission March 26, 2018 Page 2 IV. APPOINTMENT OF TREASURER Since a full commission is anticipated at the next meeting, this item was continued to the April 23, 2018 ASCC Meeting. V. REVIEW OF 3/15/18 ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION LETTER TO CITY COUNCIL Chair Anthony Al-Jamie reported that on March 15 he sent a letter to the City Council a copy of which was passed around to the Commission asking the City Council to expedite the filling of the six vacancies on the Commission. VI. DISCUSSION REGARDING MEMBERS TERMING OUT Chairman Anthony Al-Jamie asked about Commissioner Debbie Juliani’s term, since it shows she termed out on June 2017. Greg Garcia confirmed Commissioner Juliani has termed out, but the rule is that a commissioner serves until he/she is replaced. Commissioner Juliani is welcome to continue serving as have others as well before they formally resigned. Greg believes the Council is prepared to appoint all the members that have termed out or resigned at their next Council meeting. Greg advised Council could fill Commissioner Juliani’s seat or they can choose not to and Commissioner Juliani can continue to serve until she is replaced. Chair Anthony Al-Jamie is going to term out in June this year. In a letter that Chair Al-Jamie sent to the City Council, he mentioned that he would like to stay on the Commission through the summer until the students leave. Greg does not believe Council has plans to remove or reappoint anybod y in June, the plan is to wait until August when the exchanges are done and then to revisit the restructuring of the board. VII. 2018 INBOUND/OUTBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMS Vice Chair Lori Dinwiddie reported the committee selected six students for the 2018 Outbound Student Exchange. Eight students in total applied. The Committee members were surprised that the exchange program was not well advertised in the schools and that no one applied from Oxford. Some students said they heard from their Japanese teacher or from a student who went last year. Commissioner Anna Piercy noted they are going to have to work harder next year on getting the word out to high schools because this is a great opportunity for students and they would expect to have at least twenty students apply every year. Greg Garcia stated maybe it would be worth asking teachers or whoever is getting the word out if there are barriers from people applying and what are they. Is it money, the essays or the application process? Anaheim Sister City Commission March 26, 2018 Page 3 Vice Chair Dinwiddie asked if anyone on the Commission was interested in accompanying the students to Mito as chaperones. Being there was none, she is going to update the chaperone application and post it on the website. The Commission will cover the cost of the air flight and everything else will be the responsibility of the chaperone. Some discussion took place regarding the issues the Commission has had with booking the rooms at the Downtown Community Center in previous years and respectfully requested that Jackie Filbeck book the rooms herself instead of city staff. The Downtown Community Center is the preferred location during the Inbound Student Exchange. Commissioner Taline Cole announced Disney has a new process for requesting tickets. It is called Points of Flight and everyone needs to apply for tickets through that, so the Commission is not guaranteed Disney tickets for the students and chaperones this year. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck is hoping maybe the City can work that out for the Commission and Greg Garcia stated he is happy to help figure out the process. He will do whatever he can to assist, but if not, it could be one of those things where the Commission could pay for the tickets. Discussion took place and it was decided that the training days for the outbound students would be Monday, June 4 and Monday, June 11 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Commissioner Jackie Filbeck reminded the Commission it was time to put together goody bags for the inbound students and would appreciate any donations such as hats, notepads, pens, folders and key chains. She needs twelve of each item. VIII. GUIDELINES FOR APPROVING ADDITIONAL SISTER CITIES Commissioner Anna Piercy suggested continuing this item when the new commissioners are appointed so that everyone is aware of the guidelines. Chair Al-Jamie suggested continuing this discussion of thinking of how the Commission should structure the parameters. IX. PUDONG UPDATE & DISCUSSION ON MOVING FORWARD Chair Al-Jamie stated Pudong is a thriving area of Shanghai. It is one of the most thriving areas of all of China and it is a very popular place. Everyone wants to have a sister city relationship with Pudong. He asked staff if the process was stalled with Disney when Kyndell Thorson left. Greg Garcia noted the relationship is a done deal; Pudong and Anaheim have both approved an MOU. It is just a matter of signing it and conducting the formal Anaheim Sister City Commission March 26, 2018 Page 4 ceremony. There were talks initially about a delegation from Anaheim going to Pudong in conjunction with the opening of the Shanghai Disney and then that did not work out. Then they thought about a trip for a delegation from Pudong to come out here and that is when the discussions started with them to come out. First it was in the fall and then it got pushed to spring and staff said sure we can make it happen and then they said they did not get enough notice and they were not comfortable and decided not to come. Chair Al-Jamie stated that incident in Chinese means you insulted them because you did not respond. Shanghai asked you and they had no response and then Anaheim came at the last minute and then they did not want to do it and we have not heard from them since. Chair Al-Jamie suggested reaching out again with a letter and asked staff if they have a contact in Pudong. Greg responded yes, they have the name of the person that they were in communication with. Chair Al-Jamie volunteered to send an intro letter to get the ball rolling again and finalize the process. X. REVIEW OBJECTIVES OF SUBCOMMITTEES This item was continued to the April 23, 2018 ASCC Meeting. XI. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS a. Cultural/Government Exchange Subcommittee None. b. Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee None. c. Economic Development Subcommittee None. XII. PUBLIC COMMENT David Bracey reported that SoCal Sister Cities International has a raffle to help support their Sister City events. He is selling raffle tickets for a round trip ticket to Tokyo as a first prize, a Los Angeles Dodgers price pack (4 field box tickets with preferred parking pass and an autographed jersey and photo of Pitcher Julio Urias) as second prize, and a Los Angeles Chargers LaDainian Tomlinson hall of fame commemorative football as third price. The drawing will be on May 19. XIII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS None. XIV. STAFF COMMENTS None. Anaheim Sister City Commission March 26, 2018 Page 5 XV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:19 p.m. to Monday, April 23, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, City Manager’s Office Large Conference Room.