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Sister City 2017/09/25CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES September 25, 2017 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: Anthony Al -Jamie, Paul Anderson, Taline Cole, Lori Dinwiddie, Jackie Filbeck, Jerry O'Keefe, and Anna Piercy Pepe Avila, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal, Jeanne Tran 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, September 22, 2017 at 3:00 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. 11. Public Comment. L CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Anthony Al -Jamie called the meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission (ASCO) to order at 4:07 p.m. on Monday, September 25, 2017 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7th Floor, Anaheim, California. IL PUBLIC COMMENT On behalf of Sister Cities International, Southern California Chapter, David Bracey reported that they received sponsorship from Japan airlines for a ticket to be held up for a raffle to go to Japan. This may come in handy for the chaperones for next year. In addition, that Dr. Al -Jamie as President was successful in obtaining a $120,000.00 grant from Google for online advertising, which is going to be used for different cities in southern California. This means that the Sister City Commission may be able to advertise events for the Commission through Google. ITEM NO. 09 Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 2 III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Jerry O'Keefe offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Lori Dinwiddie AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 7-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal, Jeanne Tran and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the minutes from the ASCC meeting held on August 28, 2017 as presented. IV. APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S REPORTS Greg Garcia presented the Treasurer's Report dated September 22, 2017 and noted that since the last report, there was a reimbursement in the amount $387.99 processed for James and Lori Dinwiddie leaving the current balance at $14,531.09. MOTION: Commissioner Taline Cole offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Paul Anderson AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 7-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal, Jeanne Tran and two vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the Treasurer's Report dated September 22, 2017. V. ELECTION OF OFFICERS — VICE CHAIR Greg Garcia stated there was some confusion at the last meeting whether Debbie Julian was interested in the Chair or the Vice Chair position. They received notice from Debbie during the meeting that she was interested in the Vice Chair position, so they voted on the Chair and agreed to continue the vote for the Vice Chair until the next meeting in the hopes that Debbie would be present. He further noted that Debbie would not be present at the meeting that day. Chair Anthony Al -Jamie reported he had a conversation with Debbie where he suggested that she serve as an advisor for him. Just prior to the meeting, he received an email from Debbie saying she would prefer to withdraw her nomination as Vice Chair and serve as an Advisor to the Chair instead. Chair Al -Jamie noted the motion for Vice Chair took place at the August 28, 2017, with one nominee, Lori Dinwiddie, and asked for a vote. VOTE: The Anaheim Sister City Commission elected Lori Dinwiddie as Vice Chair of the Sister City Commission (Vote: 7-0, Absent: Pepe Avila, Yanni Guo, Matthew Hicks, Debbie Julian, Brian O'Neal, Jeanne Tran and two vacant seats). Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 3 VI. AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEW & REPORTS a. Cultural/Government Exchanize Subcommittee Jennifer Sasai introduced herself and shared she is the Assistant Principal at Walker Jr. High School. Melody Hirayama also introduced herself and shared she is a Japanese teacher at Loara High School. They were both chaperones for the Outbound Student Exchange Program and accompanied the students to Mito, Japan in the summer. They were invited by Vice Chair Lori Dinwiddie to give their input about their experience and to give some recommendation for the following year. They stressed the importance of gift giving. It is part of the Japanese culture and part of developing relationships. They found that everywhere they went, they received gifts and they felt that what they prepared was not enough. It was not comparable to what they received. The kids had an extra suite case of just gifts. The chaperones only brought See's candy, and they felt that was not enough. There was some confusion on behalf of the Commission as to what happened to the items donated for gift giving and thought that perhaps they were left behind by mistake. The Commission is going to try to figure it out. Another recommendation they would like to make is that the chaperones wear business -casual attire, not shorts or t -shirts because people from Japan dress formal and they see them as educators so they need to look professional. They did not have an issue with the student's attire, but they should also make sure they wear appropriate clothing. It would be helpful for students to bring an extra change of clothes for physical education. They brought to the Commission's attention that though, Chair Al -Jamie went over with the students that no one was to exchange money in Mito, there were some kids who asked their host families to exchange money and they drove hours to find them a bank that would exchange their money. Another thing that they felt was inappropriate is that some kids accepted huge gifts from their families like Fuji Film Cameras and clothing. Some families took their students to the mall and bought them a whole new wardrobe and so they had to pull them aside, talk to them, and tell them that although, they are offering them all those things it is not acceptable for them to be taking them. They feel that is something that needs to be stressed to the kids. The last thing they wanted to share is that the students were not very prepared to introduce themselves and say where they are from and what they like to do. The Japanese students prepared a welcoming speech in English, Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 4 they prepared a PowerPoint presentation about their school and their city and when it came to our students, they did not know what to say. The Commission agreed they had to have the students better prepared and perhaps with more instruction time before they go to Japan. The Commission thanked Ms. Sasai and Ms. Hirayama for their feedback. They will add their recommendations to the manual. Vice Chair Dinwiddie suggested maybe the Commission could provide matching polo shirts for the kids going to Mito. There was discussion of the things they did in Japan and everyone agreed they spent too much time in the classrooms. There was concurrence on behalf of the Commission to establish a list of things that our students should do in Japan. Mr. Wong asks the Commission for his students to do certain things, so the Commission feels students visiting Japan should have the opportunity to go to the beach, to spend two days in Tokyo and to go to Mount Fuji. Ms. Hirayama asked as a teacher who teaches Japanese, that if the Commission could somehow set a preference for students who take Japanese to go to Japan. Vice Chair Dinwiddie agreed that the kids that speak Japanese are the kids they want to send because they will have a better experience. Commissioner Piercy agreed they are enriching the students who are taking Japanese and they are putting forth a better foot in showing them they study that language here, but they need the teachers to encourage them so they can apply. Ms. Hirayama shared the one thing that her students had trouble with is that they could not afford the trip. Many of her students wanted to apply, but when they asked their parents, they said no because of the cost. Commissioner Piercy replied there are different ways and suggestions on how they can raise the money. Chair Al -Jamie thanked them again for their input. b. Marketing/Fundraising Subcommittee Commissioner Dinwiddie noted that during the last meeting she spoke about doing a flower arrangement class as a fundraiser. She has a group of about twelve women that are interested in it. The cost is going to be between $50 and $65. They are adding wine and cheese. She is working with the Downtown Community Center to finalize a date and once they have a date, she will announce it. She plans to book it 2 to 3 weeks in advance to have a chance to promote it further. She hopes that this will draw enough interest to do it at an ongoing basis with the seasons. Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 5 Commissioner Taline Cole reported she emailed the committee about getting together and only received one response; she is going to follow up with the group and get a meeting together. c. Economic Development Subcommittee None. VII. REORGANIZATION OF SUBCOMMITTEE STRUCTURE FOR INBOUND/OUTBOUND EXCHANGE PROGRAM Greg Garcia stated this item was placed on the agenda at the request of Vice Chair Dinwiddie to discuss whether they should break down to further committees. He further explained, the way it's set up now for the Inbound/Outbound Exchange Program is that they assign everything to the Cultural and Government Ad Hoc Subcommittee. The full board relies on its members to get it done. Chair Dinwiddie explained last year Jeanne Tran handled the Outbound Student Exchange, Jackie Filbeck handled the Inbound Student Exchange and she handled the host families. That all worked out really well. She thought it might be a good idea to bring in two people to handle the Inbound and two people to do the Outbound, so it is not so much on one person. Greg expressed he thought it made sense to have one point person for Inbound and one point person for Outbound. He agrees it is too much to ask one person to do everything involved with that, but he thinks you need a single point of contact to take that on. After further discussion, it was decided that when the planning for the outbound exchange begins, they will create an outbound ad hoc subcommittee with a chair, co-chair and five members with Commission members and/or community members. The same would apply for the inbound exchange and the ad hoc subcommittees would dissolve when the exchanges are over. Chair Al -Jamie advised the Commission should be moving towards making a manual so that if things change, there is a historical record for others to go by. Greg Garcia committed to reach out to Commissioners Dinwiddie, Filbeck, Tran and Katie Filbeck who worked on it most recently and start putting things together. Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 6 VIII. DISCUSSION ON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SISTER CITY COMMISSION Greg Garcia stated at the August meeting there was discussion amongst this group about how they should weigh in on their recommendations to the Council about the future of the Sister City Commission and it was requested that the discussion be placed on this agenda for further consideration. The Commission discussed the possibility of recommending to Council that they increase the members of the Anaheim Sister City Commission to twenty-one; that each Council Member appoint two members with the Anaheim residency requirement; and, that there be representation from the education, tourism, and business communities and further that those members be appointed at large without the Anaheim residency requirement. Since there was not a final decision on this item, it will be placed on the October 23 agenda for further discussion. IX. DISCUSSION OF PUDONG AND VITORIA-GASTEIZ RELATIONSHIPS Commissioner Paul Anderson suggested setting up a booth at either the Art Crawl or the Farmer's Market downtown for the Sister City Commission so they can highlight some of the things that go on in Mito and Victoria-Gasteiz. Things such as the wines and the sites that are there to build up awareness. He is trying to think outside of the student exchange because the student exchange has been well established for some time. In addition, he would like to see some of the student ambassadors at the booth so that they can share their experiences. Commissioner Anderson volunteered to try to get a contact at Vitoria-Gasteiz. With respect to Pudong, Chair Al -Jamie suggested writing an introductory letter to our contact in Pudong saying that we would like to keep this conversation about the sister city relationship going and volunteered to spearhead it. X. INTEREST FROM NEW CITIES INTERESTED IN A FORMAL RELATIONSHIP Greg Garcia reported that a member of the public came to a Council meeting recently and mentioned that he was from South Korea and he had a city that he wanted to partner with Anaheim to be a sister city and would love to speak to the Mayor about a formal relationship. Mayor Tait responded that sounded great and asked that he meet with him. That meeting is coming up shortly and Greg is going to check with the Mayor to see if Chair Al -Jamie could attend because he thinks it makes sense to have the Commission represented. Mayor could then Anaheim Sister City Commission September 25, 2017 Page 7 refer him to Chair Al -Jamie to do the exploration and the research if it is something the Commission would like to move forward with. XL COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Paul Anderson mentioned he was asked at one of the Anaheim Breweries why Anaheim does not have a German sister city. Chair Al -Jamie shared that when Sister Cities International was founded, the great majority of the sister city relationships were Japanese and German because it was after World War II and they were trying to create peace. The number of German sister cities who have continued interest has been dropping and weeping over the past fifty years, so they are dwindling, whereas China is booming. XII. STAFF COMMENTS None XIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:54 p.m. to Monday, October 23, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. at the Anaheim City Hall, 7th Floor, City Manager's Office Large Conference Room.