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Sister City 2015/02/23CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES February 23, 2015 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Anthony Al- Jamie, James Dinwiddie, Lori Farrow, Ann Gallaugher, Laurie Leonard, Mark Lopez, Brian O'Neal, Anna Piercy COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Jackie Filbeck, Debbie Julian, John Nguyen, Kyndell Thorson and Jeanne Tran (two vacant seats) STAFF PRESENT: Erin Wahlen, City Manager's Office GUESTS PRESENT: David Bracey Savanna Olson Agenda Posting A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted on Friday, February 20, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at Anaheim City Hall. Public Input: Treasurer Laurie Leonard stated Chairman Nguyen and Vice Chair Thorson are away on business and that she'd be chairing the meeting. She further 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 (ASCC) was called to order at 4:13 p.m. by Treasurer Laurie Leonard on Monday, February 23, 2015 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. IL APPROVAL OF MINUTES The consideration to approve the January 26, 2015 Sister City Commission minutes was continued to the March 23, 2015 meeting because there were not enough commissioners present at the meeting that were in attendance at the January 26 meeting to represent a quorum. ITEM NO. 01 Anaheim Sister City Commission February 23, 2015 Page 2 III. TREASURER'S REPORT A copy of an updated Treasurer's Report dated February 18, 2015 was presented at the meeting. Treasurer Laurie Leonard noted that the current balance remains the same as the previous report, however that an invoice from Public Works for $2,365 was recently submitted for the installation and other costs related to the Mito Plaque dedication that took place on October 27, 2014. The current balance is $23,165.68. Once the invoice is processed and paid, there will be a loss of $330 for that event. MOTION Commissioner Anthony Al -Jamie offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner James Dinwiddie AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 7 -0; Absent: Jackie Filbeck, Debbie Julian, Mark Lopez, John Nguyen, Kyndell Thorson and Jeanne Tran; and, two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer's Report dated February 18, 2015. IV. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS Commissioners James Dinwiddie and Anthony Al -Jamie reviewed the last three years of actual costs to host Mito inbound exchange students. Based on their review, they proposed a $700 a week per student for an eight day stay and a $300 stipend, bringing the total to $1,000 per student including transportation. Treasurer Leonard suggested rather than a $1,000 flat fee for eight days, that the Commission give Mito a daily rate. She suggested $150 a day, then the city of Mito can figure out how many days they want the students to stay. Eight days would come up to $1,200 per person. Commissioner Anna Piercy stated part of the problem is that they are deviating from what has been done in the past. The city of Mito had always paid for everything related to the Student Inbound Exchange and sometimes they would pay extra. And when Anaheim would send students, we'd only send four and an advisor and there was no cost to Anaheim other than the flight. Since the tsunami in 2011, Anaheim has not sent students, but we have continued to host students from Mito. If we start charging a daily rate, are they going to begin charging us a daily rate? She said it was something to think about, since we are changing the way things have been done. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 23, 2015 Page 3 Commissioner Anthony Al -Jamie thinks that either way, the side that is sending the students should pay to send the students. It's just common courtesy, no one should just be dropped off on someone else's doorstep and expect that they are taken care of If Anaheim can afford to send two students, then we'll send two students and if Mito can afford to send 12, they can send 12, but they would have to pay for it. Erin Wahlen advised she wants to make sure that whatever daily rate is given to Mr. Wang, that it be reflective of the actual expenses. Last year, the Commission had a profit of $2,400 on the Inbound Student Exchange. Treasurer Leonard concurred that was accurate, but that there were a lot of in -kind donations. Twice the amount that was spent was in -kind donations. Erin agreed that was also correct, but the reason the Commission has been able to offer to take the students to Disneyland is because the Commission gets the tickets for free and if the tickets are not available the next time they visit, then perhaps an alternate activity should be considered. Commissioner Al -Jamie responded, the Commission cannot not take them to Disneyland because the exchange students will be planning on it and prepping for it because they would have heard that the kids from the previous year went to Disneyland. The other thing is that the Commission cannot assume that Disney is going to give them free tickets every year and believes they need to charge them for that and if there ends up being extra money, then they can find ways to improve their experience. Treasurer Leonard agreed she's all for that. Erin stated for example, if the Commission was to send money to Mito and it was not being used in Mito and it was not being used towards the kid's stay, it would be a little unsettling. In other words, the Commission should not be looking at making a profit. Commissioner Al -Jamie suggested using any excess money for the relationship when the Commission hosts an event, similar to the Plaque Dedication last October. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 23, 2015 Page 4 After further discussion, the Commission agreed to put a cap on the number of people the Commission can host during the Mito Inbound Student Exchange with a daily rate and approved the following motion: MOTION Commissioner Anna Piercy offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Anthony Al -Jamie AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 8 -0; Absent: Jackie Filbeck, Debbie Julian, John Nguyen, Kyndell Thorson and Jeanne Tran; and, two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby establish a daily fee of $125 per student per night and $100 per chaperone per night plus the hotel fee, if the chaperone elects to stay in a homestay the fee will be $125 per chaperone per night, further that the Sister City Commission can host a maximum 10 people for a maximum of eight days, from Friday to Saturday during the month of July. Commissioners Anthony -Al Jamie and James Dinwiddie will notify Mr. Wang of the above - mentioned action. Erin Wahlen read the following thank you note from Katie Filbeck "Members of the Anaheim Sister City Commission, thank you so much for the generous gift. It was very unexpected and unnecessary, but very much appreciated. Thank you again for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of such a special program and I hope you will consider me to teach again this year. Katie" Commissioner Dinwiddie indicated they need to design a contract for Katie that specifies she'll be compensated $1,000 for teaching the students during their 8- day stay and for picking up the chaperones every morning if the chaperones choose to stay in a hotel. It was also noted that all the chaperones will need to stay in the same hotel. Treasurer Leonard asked for the status of the revisions to the host family application. Erin replied the application has been uploaded to the Sister City Commission website and there's still time to make any amendments to it. One suggested change on the host family application is to note that a stipend is available upon request. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 23, 2015 Page 5 V. PUBLIC COMMENT David Bracey is now a member of the Southern California Sister Cities Association. David reported the Sister Cities International Annual Conference will take place in July, in Minneapolis. There will be a youth leadership summit and they are recruiting students between the ages of 14 and 18. An application has to be submitted by the last Saturday in March. Registration is $550. David is going to email the details to Erin. David also shared that the SoCal website is looking for pictures or videos from Sister Commission events to post on their website. Commissioner Dinwiddie suggested sharing the video taken during the Mito Inbound Student Exchange last year. Erin Wahlen is going to follow up on this item. VI. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Erin Wahlen reported that she, Chairman John Nguyen and Greg Garcia met with Mayor Tait on February 17 to talk about the Mayor's trip to Pudong. Mayor Tait is open to two trips, one in late fall this year and another trip in 2016. The purpose of the trip this year is to deliver a memo of understanding stating that the City of Anaheim would like to formally enter a sister city relationship with Pudong. An MOU with Happy New Year wishes will be sent soon to Pudong and also advising that Mayor Tait will be visiting later this fall. Commissioner Anna Piercy received an email from an AUHSD employee who attended a Sister City Commission meeting in the past and had expressed interest in starting a sister city relationship with Mexico. She is interested in attending the Sister City Commission meetings and Commissioner Piercy encouraged her to attend. Erin Wahlen reported the City Clerk's Office is reaching out to the applicants on file who applied for a Sister City Commission seat to see if they are still interested in serving on this commission. The Clerk's Office has 11 applications on file. Anaheim Sister City Commission February 23, 2015 Page 6 Erin advised the terms for Commissioners Anthony Al- Jamie, Lori Farrow, Russ LaHodny, Brian O'Neil and Anna Piercy's will expire this year in June. Commissioners Anthony Al -Jamie and Lori Farrow are eligible for reappointment, the rest of the commissioners listed will be termed out in June 2015. Further, Erin indicated that it is still not clear when the current commission vacancies will be filled. Commissioner Mark Lopez asked for an updated Sister City Ad Hoc Subcommittee list. Erin will email the Commission an updated copy. Commissioner Lopez also announced that he is tentatively planning to travel to Europe in late May or early June and he'd like to visit Vitoria - Gasteiz during the trip. He added if there is a letter or anything that he'd be able to present to them, he'd be glad to do that. He should have more information on the exact dates and confirmation on whether or not he's going there. Since the Commission is not going to have a delegation visit Vitoria - Gasteiz this year, he'd figure he can stop for a short visit and present them with something. Erin suggested taking that opportunity to name a street in Vitoria - Gasteiz after Anaheim as proposed by Mr. Bilbao in his October 2014 email. Treasurer Leonard asked how the Commission responded to Mr. Bilbao's proposal. Erin replied that Commissioner Jeanne Tran responded and was trying to get additional information from Mr. Bilbao regarding the student exchange and that's all the communication they've had. Erin is going to reach out to Mr. Bilbao and let him know the things the Commission is planning to accomplish. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:37 p.m. to Monday, March 23, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.