Loading...
Sister City 2010/04/26CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: MINUTES April 26, 2010 Joseph Aihara, Randy Amiri, Marge Conway, Russell LaHodny, John D. Nguyen, Carrie Nocella, Brian O'Neal, Swati Patel, Anna Piercy, Kyoko Smith, Henri Soucy, Caroline Yellis Elaine Cali, Sandy Day, Kimberly Tulleners Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Sjany Larson -Cash, Community Services Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office None Agenda Posting: A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 23, 2010 at Anaheim City Hall. L CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission was called to order at 4:01 p.m. on Monday, April 26, 2010 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7 th Floor, Anaheim, California. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner LaHodny offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Conway AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 10 -0, Absent: Cali, Day, O'Neal, Smith, Tulleners) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the March 22, 2010 Anaheim Sister City Commission minutes. III. PUBLIC COMMENT None. IV. COMMISSION ACCOUNTING /ANAHEIM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Greg Garcia reported that Commissioner Conway delivered a $10,000 check from ASCA. The money was deposited in the Anaheim Community Foundation account on the same day and the funds are available for the Commission's use. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission April 26, 2010 Page 2 V. ANAHEIM SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION (ASCA) UPDATE Greg Garcia reported that Commissioner Conway and June Glenn are continuing to work on the dissolution of ASCA. The Commission will be made aware when the dissolution takes place. VI. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES Commissioner Amiri reported that he has conducted two subcommittee meetings and one leadership meeting during the last month. In the first subcommittee meeting they went through the PowerPoint presentation and added an objective to enhance relationship with the current Sister Cities. At the leadership meeting, they discussed several key things. One was the purpose of the website. They also defined the delegation's purpose on their visit from Mito, Japan as it relates to stimulating economic activities with Mito and to discuss enhancements on the cultural aspect. They are expecting a delegation from Mito of about 30 people. They also spoke about the delegation from Spain. Currently a one -man delegation is targeted to come in December. The Subcommittee is considering to postpone that visit and to do a similar thing as they are doing with Japan. This way it will be more productive for both parties. At the second subcommittee meeting, the Subcommittee discussed the next steps as it relates to the Executive Subcommittee action items. Commissioner Yellis looked at the bylaws and prepared a rough draft. The rough draft was sent out to the leadership team for review. Chairman Nguyen asked if there are other cities that have a Sister City Commission that would already have bylaws in place. Commissioner Yellis indicated that Santa Cruz has a Sister City Commission. Greg Garcia suggested that staff research what other Cities have commissions and borrow from their bylaws to make sure the Commission is not reinventing the wheel. Chairman Nguyen then asked if the Commission has set a date to have a revised version for approval. Commissioner Amiri clarified his thought was that the leadership team take a look at the rough draft and submit their input. That will be the revised version that can officially be presented to the Commission at the next Sister City Commission meeting. Commissioner Amiri further suggested that the Subcommittee Chairs discuss the rough draft with their team members and that any feedback be Anaheim Sister Citv Commission April 26, 2010 Page 3 submitted by May 10. The final document will be presented at the May 24 Commission meeting for consideration. Commissioner LaHodny reported that his committee has not had an opportunity to meet, but his committee has committed to meet regularly an hour before this meeting. He has been working with Commissioner Amiri on the verbiage for the scorecard. His group focus is going to be two -fold, fundraising and the business exchange program. The business exchange program will focus on identifying businesses in Mito and Victoria - Gasteiz that are similar to businesses in Anaheim to build partnerships. Commissioner Soucy reported that the students and the chaperone have been selected for the Student Exchange Program. He distributed some handouts and indicated that only 12 students applied this year. There was some concern for the low enrollment. As a result, Commissioner Soucy is planning to make some changes in 2011 including to rollout the program much earlier, to make presentations to the schools, and to promote it on the website and on the newsletter. The students selected for this year's program were Alvina Hinh and Deborah Kwak from Oxford, Nhu Nguyen from Western High School, and Danielle Vargas who goes to Mater Dei but lives in Anaheim Hills. Christina Maguire was selected as the chaperone. Christina teaches at Cypress High School and lives in Anaheim Hills. These students are exemplary. Their applications were exceptional and they got along great at the get - acquainted mixer. Commissioner Soucy further reported that the students' profiles have been sent to Mr. Wang the General Manager of the Mito City International Association. Mr. Wang uses the profiles to pick host family for each student and the chaperone. The host family also gets a copy of the profile. Commissioner Soucy indicated that one of the handouts shows that they have selected Gallery Travel in Anaheim and the ticket broker got the flights locked in and now he's trying to get a check cut. Gallery Travel is taking care of the travel and medical insurance. The airfare is good through Tuesday and staff is still trying to obtain two signatures from AFC Board Members. If a check is not cut by Tuesday, then it could cost another $300 to $500. It was discussed and agreed that a Commissioner could front the amount of the airfare in advance and then get reimbursed. Sjany Larson -Cash indicated they have obtained one signature and that staff is hoping to get the other signature by Tuesday morning. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission April 26, 2010 Page 4 Chairman Nguyen commended Commissioner Soucy for the detailed work on the handouts, for making sure it is very transparent and easy for the Commission to follow and see how the decision was reached. MOTION Commissioner Conway offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner LaHodny AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11 -0, Absent: Cali, Day, Smith, Tulleners) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby approve the issuance of a check in the amount of $6,128.00 to Gallery Travel to cover the cost of the airfare and the comprehensive insurance for the 2010 Student Exchange Program. Greg Garcia stated that the Commission may wish to consider sending a City representative to accompany the students and the chaperone. Since the City has a new Commission and the City has reengaged in this, staff feels it would be a good message to Mito that Anaheim is serious. Commissioner Piercy commented that after being on the subcommittee working on this, that it is a little too late to try to ask Mito to accommodate somebody else. And, as Commissioner Soucy had pointed out, they had to work with the numbers. Before the Commission could add someone else, they would have to talk to Mr. Wang first to see if they could handle an additional person for next year. She does not feel it would be appropriate to send someone else this year, even though it's a good idea. Commissioner Soucy agreed that five is the number with four students. Mito spends $930 a person, so it's expensive for them and then they have to find another host family. Commissioner Piercy stated maybe next year they could try to see if they can incorporate the chaperone as well as a Commission member so that we are not imposing on them and the rest of the Commission agreed. Chairman Nguyen clarified that if it was for some brief visit, if someone can afford to do that from the Commission then he would agree with the idea, but not at Mito's expense. If someone decides to go, they would be on their own. Greg indicated that is what he was thinking also. Greg also added it would be great if sometime in the future that could be built into the program as a sign of support. Commissioner Soucy gave an update on the inbound program of Mito students coming to Anaheim. Mito is going to pick 10 students, 5 from high school and 5 Anaheim Sister Citv Commission April 26, 2010 Page 5 from junior high. There will be no college students this time. They will have three adults, one teacher and two chaperones. The Mito students are coming July 23 and going home on August 7. On the budget side, they have reduced the cost by about $1,000 because Disney is going to provide Disneyland tickets and Commissioner Day was able to secure tickets for the Angel vs. Boston baseball game. The total net cost will be a little over $10,000 for both the inbound and outbound programs. Commissioner Soucy announced that the students and chaperone are going to attend the May 24 Sister City Commission meeting. They would like to personally thank the Commission members for the opportunity. Commissioner Soucy also reported he is meeting with a teacher at Sunkist Elementary on the first week of May to start talking about a pen pal program. Also, Commissioner Soucy is working with Commissioners Aihara and Piercy on the Mito Assistant English Program to get teachers to teach English in Mito next year. Mito would like as many teachers from Anaheim as they can get. They normally take about 10 new teachers. VII. MITO DELEGATION VISIT /COORDINATION Commissioner Soucy reported that the Mito delegation is tentatively scheduled to come to Anaheim from November 11 thru November 14. The delegation has been informed that the business perspective will be incorporated in this visit. Commissioner Soucy expects that there will be a different mix as compared to other delegation visits and that there's a good possibility that more than 30 people will come. In the past it's been mostly the Mayor, some City Council members and some interested citizens, but not business people who have participated. Commissioner Soucy noted that at the leadership meeting, the Chairs discussed establishing a separate committee for the Mito delegation to plan their stay. It was agreed that Chairman Nguyen and Commissioners Soucy, Day, Yellis, Conway, Aihara and Cali would serve on the Mito Delegation Subcommittee. VIII. COMMISSION WEBSITE Greg Garcia displayed the Anaheim Sister City Commission Website and noted that it is in the development stage. There is no limitation in terms of graphics, links, and items that can be added. Commissioner Nocella indicated that possibly someone from her team can design a branding mark or a logo for the Sister City Commission. It will all be built in. Greg indicated he wanted to show the Anaheim Sister Citv Commission April 26, 2010 Page 6 Commission what staff is working with and for Commissioner Amiri's team to review it and make recommendations. Commissioner Patel inquired about having an email address for the Sister City Commission and Greg responded absolutely an email address can be created and added to Anaheim Anytime. It was also suggested that Anaheim's Facebook page be used to promote events. Commissioner Patel volunteered to create a Facebook Page for the Anaheim Sister City Commission. IX. COUNCIL CORRESPONDENCE Greg Garcia reported that Chairman Nguyen's presentation to the City Council was postponed from last week to the Council meeting on April 27. Chairman Nguyen will provide the City Council with an update, highlighting all of the major programs and all the things that have been accomplished thus far. Greg expects it to go well and it will be great to hear what Council has to say and if they have any direction for the Commission. It was discussed that when the Commission starts looking at partnerships with new cities or a new exchange program, that a Council Workshop would be scheduled for the Commission to make a presentation to the City Council. X. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Amiri went over the action items to be completed before the next Commission meeting: • Present the plans in detail and timelines of the Mito delegation to Commission on May 24. • Review, revise and finalize the bylaws in order to present them to the Commission on May 24. • Start the Sister City selection process by beginning to accept recommendations. The process is going to be long and the Commission's goal is to have a new sister city by end of the year or beginning of 2011. • Commissioner Amiri will give an update on the Sister City Commission web site. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m. to May 24, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at the City of Anaheim, City Manager's Office.