Sister City 2019/03/25
CITY OF ANAHEIM
SISTER CITY COMMISSION
MINUTES
March 25, 2019
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Anthony Al-Jamie, Paul Anderson, Kevin Barrot,
Taline Cole, James Dinwiddie II, Lori Dinwiddie,
Elizabeth Jabaz, Larry L. Larsen, Jerry O’Keefe and
Anna Piercy
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Jackie Filbeck, Brian O’Neal and Brigitte Rodgers
(Two vacant seats)
STAFF PRESENT: Kimberly Kelemen, Community Services
Maggie Solorio, City Manager’s Office
GUESTS PRESENT: David Bracey
Germaine Neumann
Agenda Posting: A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted
on Friday, March 22, 2019 at 3:30 p.m. at Anaheim City Hall.
Public Input: Chair Taline Cole explained that members of the public are invited to address the
Anaheim Sister City Commission and will be called upon under Agenda Item No. IX. Public
Comment.
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Taline Cole called the meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission
(ASCC) to order at 4:12 p.m. on Monday, March 25, 2019 at the Anaheim City
Manager’s Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim,
California.
II. FLAG SALUTE
Chair Taline Cole led the Flag Solute.
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March 25, 2019
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III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION: Commissioner Larry Larsen offered a Motion, seconded by
Commissioner Anna Piercy AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 9-0; Abstained;
Lori Dinwiddie; Absent: Jackie Filbeck, Brian O’Neal and Brigitte Rodgers; and,
two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve
the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on February 25, 2019 as presented.
IV. APPROVAL OF TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Jim Dinwiddie presented the latest copy of the Treasurer’s Report dated
March 25, 2019 with a current balance of $15,557.55. Treasurer Dinwiddie noted
he cleaned up the report and removed the information from the previous year.
The new balance includes $1,000 payments from five outbound students, and he
has a commitment that the last student will pay by April 2.
MOTION: Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie offered a Motion, seconded by
Commissioner Anthony Al-Jamie AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10-0;
Absent: Jackie Filbeck, Brian O’Neal and Brigitte Rodgers; and, two vacant seats)
that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer’s
Report dated March 25, 2019.
V. FUNDRAISER
Chair Taline Cole reported that as of that day, they had sold 30 tickets for the
fundraiser and that 40 is the catering minimum. She needs everyone to sell tickets
and to promote the event on social media. The Commission decided to charge
$20 a ticket for kids under 15 years of age and to only enter full price ($40)
tickets into the raffle.
Chair Cole advised if there are any additional donation items for the silent
auction, to let her know as soon as possible, because she is creating the bid sheets
and signs.
It was noted that for the silent auction, the Commission has six sets of Angels
tickets, a basket from Coffee Bean, a basket from the Colony, a basket from Larry
Larsen, alcohol and two VIP tickets to the Festival Durango y Su Cultural 2019 to
be held at Pearson Park on April 27.
Kimberly Kelemen is going to talk to the CEO of the Anaheim Community
Foundation regarding payment and reimbursements for the fundraiser.
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VI. MITO OUTBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE
Commissioner James Dinwiddie reported six students are going to participate in
the 2019 Mito Outbound Student Exchange and five of them have already paid
the $1,000 required fee. Three of them have their passports and the others are in
the process of obtaining them. The students will be leaving to Japan on June 20
and returning to Anaheim on July 2, 2019.
Kimberly Kelemen reported that the chaperones had been fingerprinted and that
they have cleared the background check.
VII. MITO INBOUND STUDENT EXCHANGE
Chair Taline Cole reported on behalf of Commissioner Jackie Filbeck that the
rooms at the Downtown Community Center have been reserved for the week the
inbound students are in Anaheim. Mito is sending eight students and two
chaperones, which is the same as in previous years. In addition, Commissioner
Filbeck is coordinating a date for Mayor Sidhu to meet with the students.
Kimberly Kelemen is going update the host family application and post it on the
Sister City website.
The Mito Inbound Student Exchange will take place from Friday, July 26 through
Monday, August 5.
Commissioner Kevin Barrot who is also the Chair of the Inbound Student
Exchange Program reported he is waiting for a date confirmation from the
Mayor’s Office before he starts putting a schedule together for the inbound
students.
Kimberly Kelemen is going to check with Greg Garcia on the availability of
Angels’ game tickets. The Commission prefers seats in the suite and the games
on either Saturday, July 27 as a first preference or July 28 as a second preference.
Regarding Disneyland tickets for the Inbound Students, the way in which they
obtain tickets has changed. Last year, Disneyland qualified the Commission to
receive tickets for the Inbound Students. Now what the Commission needs to do
is submit the project and volunteers need to sign up through Points of Light. The
Commission will continue to look into this and or look for other alternatives such
as pay for the cost of the tickets.
Chair Cole reminded the Commission to look for items for the gift bags to give to
the inbound students when they arrive. They need sets of 12.
VIII. PUDONG SISTER CITY UPDATE
Chair Cole reported that on March 12, she, Mayor Sidhu and Greg Garcia met
with Consul Junying Shao, Director of Political/Media Affairs Division from the
Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles and they discussed the sister city relationship
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with Pudong, China. Before she joined the Commission, the City had agreed to
establish the relationship with Pudong, but they never actually did the official
ceremony. Thanks to Commissioner Anthony Al-Jamie who assisted in writing a
letter to Pudong, they responded and they met with them. The meeting went well.
She is going to work with them on inviting them to Anaheim to do that. A picture
of this meeting is on Facebook.
Chair Taline Cole is going to contact Greg to establish next steps.
IX. PUBLIC COMMENT
Germaine Neumann has lived in Anaheim for eleven years and she is excited to
find out about Anaheim Sister City. She submitted an application to join the
Commission. Her son is at Sycamore Jr. High School in the Spanish Dual
Immersion Program. She is interested in working on developing the relationship
with Victoria-Gasteiz to help students in Anaheim who are studying Spanish. The
Anaheim Elementary School District has decided to add Spanish Dual Immersion
to 23 schools next year. Anaheim currently has two junior high and two high
schools that have the Spanish Dual Immersion Program.
David Bracey reported the Sister City International, Southern California Chapter
had their quarterly event on March 9 at Laguna Beach and they had a great turn
out with approximately fifty people in attendance. The next event is going to be
on May 9 in Santa Monica.
X. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Chair Taline Cole noted that regarding the Japan Festival, she spoke to the
organizer and he wants to charge the Commission $350.00 to have a booth at the
fair. Chair Anthony Al-Jamie is going to meet with him and is going to ask him
to donate a booth to the Anaheim Sister City Commission.
The Anaheim Japan Fair is going to be on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at Center
Street Promenade from 11 am to 8 pm. It would be great if Sister City has a
booth there to have former participants to talk about the program and to recruit
host families.
XI. STAFF COMMENTS
Kimberly Kelemen reported a host family add will be posted on the Anaheim
Community Services Activity Guide that will be mailed out this summer for the
first time in many years, to every resident in Anaheim. It is also going to run in
the Anaheim magazine, which also goes to every resident.
Kimberly also reported she does not have an answer yet for Commissioners who
have termed out and want to know how long they will stay on the Commission.
As soon as she gets information, she will share it with the Commission.
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XII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:26 p.m. to Monday,
April 22, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, City Manager’s Office
Large Conference Room.