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Sister City 2010/01/13CITY OF ANAHEIM SISTER CITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 13, 2010 The regular meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission was called to order at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at the Anaheim City Manager's Office, City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., 7 th Floor, Anaheim, California. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Randy Amiri, Marge Conway, Sandy Day, Russell LaHodny, John D. Nguyen, Brian O'Neal Anna Piercy, Kyoko Smith, Henri Soucy, Kimberly Tulleners, Caroline Yellis COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS PRESENT: Swati Patel, Elaine Cali, and 2 vacant seats Tom Wood, City Manager Greg Garcia, City Manager's Office Sjany Larson -Cash, Community Services Maggie Solorio, City Manager's Office Curt Pringle, Mayor Lorri Galloway, City Council Member Bob Hernandez, City Council Member Ann Gallaugher, OCVCB Lisa Gina, Council Assistant Denise Silberman, Member of the Public Rochelle Hastings, Member of the Public Sue Soucy, Member of the Public Sarah Alevizon, Member of the Public Agenda Posting: A complete copy of the Anaheim Sister City Commission Agenda was posted at Anaheim City Hall on January 8, 2010. Public Input: Greg Garcia 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. L WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 2 Greg Garcia welcomed everyone in attendance to the first meeting of the Anaheim Sister City Commission. Everyone in the meeting introduced themselves and gave a brief synopsis of their background. It OATH OF OFFICE Greg Garcia administered the Oath of Office to Randy Amiri, Marge Conway, Sandy Day, Russell LaHodny, John D. Nguyen, Brian O'Neal, Anna Piercy, Kyoko Smith, Henri Soucy, Kimberly Tulleners and Caroline Yellis. III. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS OF COMMISSIONERS Commissioners Randy Amiri, Marge Conway, Sandy Day, Russell LaHodny, John D. Nguyen, Brian O'Neal, Anna Piercy, Kyoko Smith, Henri Soucy, Kimberly Tulleners, and Caroline Yellis introduced themselves and gave a brief synopsis of their background. IV. NEW ROLE AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMMISSION Greg indicated he invited a few members of the City Council to provide an overview of their vision for the Sister City Commission. Mayor Curt Pringle thanked the Commissioners for agreeing to serve on this Commission. Mayor Pringle indicated he was speaking on behalf of the entire City Council in offering a blank slate Commission to them. The Mayor asked the Commission to think about what is happening among like cities around the country and around the world in terms of Sister City relationships. The Mayor indicated that the Anaheim Sister City Association (ASCA), a nonprofit group, has had a limited look on how to expand the cities and the City Council felt there should be a change. Today, the City of Anaheim has two existing Sister City relationships, Mito, Japan, a long running and very positive relationship that participates in student exchange programs. And a City in Spain, Victoria- Gasteiz which is an on again, off again relationship. The City Council has a desire to have more cities. It's challenging for the Mayor to contemplate that Anaheim does not have a sister city from Mexico. He feels we should have a city from Germany and believes there are great opportunities for many other places to have cities. He indicated the new Commission has the opportunity to assess the existing relationships to see what other sister city groups are doing in other cities, to see what we should be doing in Anaheim or what the Commission would like to see the City as an official Commission in this role do, be it student exchange programs, be it economic development programs, be it cultural exchange programs. The Council wants for the Commission to work and develop plans for adding additional cities. The City Council has been frustrated with ASCA. It's Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 3 been isolated from the City. The association never had a strong relationship in the last number of years, and in fact, had quite a bit of friction in that regard. They had a number of attempts to bridge that gap. One of the last attempts was established just last year where they tried to create an oversight committee and really get in and operate within the nonprofit area and that group to see if in fact we could build bridges and they were unsuccessful. So, the Council unanimously agreed to put all of their focus and their priority into creating a City Commission to be able to be the City's voice in the area of sister cities. He indicated our goal today is not to have those battles, to wipe away that former established program and really look anew today with a blank slate to be able to sit here and say what should our relationships be, what should the goal be, what should the future of Sister Cities relationships in Anaheim be, and who should be at the table. The Commission is at the table and their voice is very important. So he challenged them to not be bound by history of the past. He wants them not be bound by relationships and plans and levels of service that were established in the past, but to look at where Anaheim can go. That's his charge, he believes the City Council speaks with one voice, there's no hesitation, there's nothing but excitement to say this group can do some really cool things and this can be a place where we can get a lot of things done and build great lasting international relationships that expand the business of Anaheim, expand the tourism base of Anaheim, expand relationships and cultural exchanges and build student awareness across the world. Council Member Lorri Galloway stated the Mayor's words were very well said and indicated she feels he represented the feeling of the entire City Council. She took an interest in the Sister Cities when she first visited one of Anaheim's Sister Cities, Mito, Japan with Commissioner Tulleners. One of the things that she found so interesting is how deeply involved the City of Mito government was and how they looked for that in the City of Anaheim, but it was not there. Lorri felt that Anaheim was not correctly represented. Lorri stated the City of Anaheim is a world class destination and people all over the world know Anaheim and the greatness of our City. Anaheim has so much to offer, but it's not just student exchange. There are so many facets of this City that would be very willing to be involved such as business, visitor's and convention bureau and our schools. In other cities, the City governments are very involved in the Sister Cities. The greater involvement, the greater success you'll find in the Sister Cities relationship. Council Member Galloway thanked the Commissioners for their service to the City and the community. Council Member Bob Hernandez thanked the Commissioners for stepping up and making the commitment to serve on this Commission. He and Sarah Alevizon Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 4 have been supporters of Sister City activities and are very much in favor of the program. It's vital to keep in mind that the City Council are empowering this Commission to do things that will truly benefit the Sister City relationships that they have and the ones that they will build. The international presence will be dependent on the Commission being able to move forward and make things happen. Council Member Hernandez thanked the Commission for their commitment. Mayor Pringle indicated that at the next month's agenda, he wants to make sure the Commission fully explores how to create subcommittees of this group to focus on evaluation of the present Sister City relationships, a game plan on how to establish future Sister City relationships and what they wish to develop in those, the types of services they wish to be engaged in, be it business and economic exchanges or be it student and teacher exchanges. Mayor Pringle mentioned that for a long time it has been mentioned that we are of German heritage in Anaheim and that we should look for a German Sister City. And people have told him, there is no such thing. When he was in a tour in Germany in November, he mentioned this to the Minister of Economic Development who was their tour guide and the Minister ran a list of all the Beverian Cites in size of their population to try and match the City of Anaheim. Now that we have official representatives of the City, we need to figure out how to use the contacts and the relationships that we have and build upon that to establish those and be it with Augsburg, which is one that the Beverian Minister suggested, or with cities of the same size or tourist cities. Then set a pursuit of who knows whom and how to build those relationships. All the Mayors of the cities of Baja have met with the Mayor and they all want to build relationships in Southern California. If the Mexican City is in Baja, great, if it's not it's fine too. So be it Ensenada, be it some other city in the central or southern part of Mexico wherever the Commission feels there's a connection to be open to see how we can build that benefit to Anaheim businesses and the Anaheim community with folks around the world. With that, he thanked them again for agreeing to serve. Council Member Galloway indicated the past Sister City Association has money and that some of it is City money and some of it is money that has been given to the Association to use for Sister Cities activities. She believes this Commission has the authority to ask for that money and to be able to use it for the Sister City relationships. V. COMMISSION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 5 Greg asked the Commission to refer to a document in their packet of information labeled Roles and Responsibilities. Greg went over some of the highlights including that the City Council in adopting the ordinance requests that the Commission act as an advisory body so the City Council expects regular updates. Mayor Pringle mentioned having a subcommittee that would bring to Council some ideas about expanding the program and providing updates how relationships are going and how they can be expanded. He indicated all of it is outlined in the duties section. VI. RALPH M. BROWN ACT /PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE Greg Garcia included one page summary of the Brown Act and advised that this Commission is subject to the Brown Act riles. Further, Greg indicated that the City Attorney's office will be providing a full presentation of the Brown Act at the next scheduled meeting. VII. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Greg Garcia indicated that this item would be continued to the February 22, 2010 meeting when a full Commission is present and to give everyone an opportunity to meet each other and vote. VIII. ANAHEIM SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION (ASCA) Greg Garcia indicated he placed this item on the agenda to get some background on the Anaheim Sister City Association (ASCA). ASCA was created in 1976 as a nonprofit organization. They started with Mito, Japan and then added Victoria, Gasteiz in the 1990's. Greg placed the question of how the Commission would want to make a formal request for the ASCA funds. He proposed sending a letter asking the association for an understanding for what funds they have available and if they would be willing to hand over those funds for purposes of the student exchange program and Sister City Activities. Greg advised that this Commission does not have a budget. If there are things that the Commission needs funding for, the Commission is welcome to ask Council for an appropriation. Commissioner Piercy asked how big was the association and Commissioner Conway responded there are about 60 active members and 12 board members. Commissioner Day stated she was part of the oversight committee and she recalls that there was somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000. Her concern is that Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 6 that money was designated to the Sister City's existing organization with the intention of it being used for the students. If we are taking over that function, then that money should be used for that function directly through this new commission. Commissioner Amiri indicated his thought is that one of the purposes of this Commission is to start fresh. So technically this is the only Commission that exists with Sister City as of today, nothing else exists. So everything has to be transferred over to this Commission via the proper methods. This Commission could decide what the stricture should be. If we decide that a group needs to be formed to focus on the business side of the Sister City or cultural side of the City that is where we can tap into the members with the expertise. Commissioner Soucy indicated the money that he knows about is about $14,285.88 in the money market account and a checking account that has about $3,300. With Mito's input he put together a financial analysis that he handed out to the Commission as an informational piece for the Commission for discussion purposes. Commissioner O'Neal indicated he sits on a nonprofit organization and by law they can only disperse their funds to pay a bill, but to another nonprofit. He questioned if this Commission is considered a nonprofit? Greg Garcia answered no, an account can be created within the Anaheim Community Foundation (ACF) which is a nonprofit of the City of Anaheim. An option for the Association could be to transfer those funds to a dedicated account within the ACF and those funds would be dedicated to Sister City activities. Commissioner Yellis asked if the Anaheim Sister City Association is willing to disband themselves? Commissioner Day indicated that as a Commission they could send an official letter to the existing organization asking them to disband and to transfer the funds for Sister City activities. Greg Garcia agreed that is one way we can go about it, if that is how the Commission decides. At the request of Commissioner Nguyen, Commissioner Soucy reviewed the financial analysis that was prepared for the Anaheim Sister City Association Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 7 (ASCA) from 2006 to 2008. Commissioner Soucy recommends that the funds that ASCA has should be dedicated to the student exchange based on the financial report. The fact that Mito has given so much money and not as much of it was spent as should have been. ASCA was charging the people that were coming, plus they were getting money from Mito, Japan. Mito's position is that the $17,000 that ASCA has should be given up to the Commission and dedicated to the Student Exchange. Commissioner Nguyen asked how much of the revenue coming from ASCA is from Mito. Commissioner Soucy responded that in the three years that he was treasurer, 81% of all the money coming in to ASCA was Mito's money. From Mito's perspective, it's been a great relationship. ASCA has hosted 377 students. The families hosting students and the exchange students form long term relationships and that's been the goodness of it. Mito wants to continue that and they also want to expand upon the relationships with business and cultural, but they want to make sure that if ASCA is going to disband that all the responsibilities with ASCA go with the Commission. Commissioner Soucy suggested that there be subcommittees under the Commission and ASCA board members participate that way with the money handled by the Commission. Greg Garcia indicated that although he could see a scenario where you have a subcommittee on cultural exchange that would be responsible for student exchanges, that the subcommittee members would be within the Commission. Obviously, there is going to be an opportunity for the Anaheim community to get involved in the student exchanges. ASCA and the member of ASCA should be commended for carrying on the programs for so many years and keeping the relationship and there's going to be ample opportunity for all of them to continue to be involved. It's Council's wish that the management, the relationship, the finances and everything else be transferred to this Commission, so that there is more City oversight. Greg explained this is a public meeting and all of the Commission meetings will be public meetings and all of the activities are going to be open to the Anaheim community. So there is a possibility for the members of ASCA to be involved. He also indicated it does not make sense to keep the ASCA intact because it does not make sense to have that separate organization with the same mission as this Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 8 Commission. It makes more sense for that group to still participate, but to come under the umbrella of the Anaheim Sister Commission. Commissioner Soucy then mentioned that if the Commission was to open an account with the ACF, that the $17,000 be deposited there and believes it should be dedicated to the Student Exchange. Commissioner Yellis indicated they've tried that before and it's very difficult to get money from ACF. Greg Garcia indicated they've looked into it initially and it's an option available to the Commission. A lot of other City groups use ACF, it's worked in the past and the City is very close to some of the Board members. He feels they can get through any obstacles, he does not think that that opportunity should be dismissed. Commissioner Yellis asked what other options do they have. Greg responded staff can do more research and talk to other Cities that have Council appointment Commissions and see how they do it and they can come back and report how they get around those legality issues. Another way is just setting up a budget line within the City. Greg also indicated that one of the things they need to study more is fund raising and how that impacts where the money goes and how easily it can be used. You'll have to have a tax identification to be able to write off. Commissioner Day indicated that the Muzeo uses ACF as a bank account and there have been a series of fundraisings and it has been very successful and a positive experience. Greg Garcia indicated that at the next meeting staff is going to come back with recommendations and how it's going to work under each scenario. Commissioner Piercy asked what was the exchange program that has been established with Mito? Were the students here for an entire year? Commissioner Conway responded that the students come in the summer for two weeks, normally the last week of June and I st week of July when ASCA sends their students to Mito. The students are placed in private homes, they have a Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 9 teacher and they go to class and they also go to different venues around Southern California and the City of Anaheim. Discussion took place related to the costs for sending Anaheim students to Mito and the increase in cost for Mito students to come to Anaheim. Mito, Japan has a population of about 263,000. MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a motion, seconded by Commissioner Amiri and MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11 -0, Absent: Patel and Cali, 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Association will hereby send a letter to the existing Sister City Association respectfully asking that they disband as an organization and that their entire funds be transferred to the Anaheim Sister City Commission. Commissioner O'Neal questioned whether or not this motion could be premature because we can't ask them to send us a check because where are we going to send the check to? Greg Garcia indicated that we could in the interim on a second motion, direct staff to ask the Anaheim Community Foundation Board to open a dedicated account for this. So, if ASCA is willing to do so, it can go directly from their nonprofit to the ACF to be used by the Commission. Greg also indicated that the request could be made and later determine where the money would go. Commissioner Nguyen clarified that from his experience in ASCA all the money including membership money is lump sum into one big account. And some of the members are going to expect to get their money back from this year's fund. Commissioner Soucy indicated that at the last ASCA meeting, it was discussed that about $450 has been paid into memberships for this fiscal year, and since this year the members are not getting a full benefit, that that money be refunded. The remainder should then be given to the Commission. Greg indicated that in the official request the Commission could ask for a detailed account of the money they transfer to the Commission. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 10 Commissioner O'Neal indicated that the letter should also state that the City Council formed this Commission, the reasons why and that, therefore, a nonprofit is no longer necessary as a representative of the City and layout the reason for it. MOTION: Commissioner O'Neal offered a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Piercy AND MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11 -0, Absent: Patel and Cali, 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister City Commission does hereby ask the City Council to put on their agenda to formally recognize and thank the Anaheim Sister City Association for what they have done for the City in the past. Commissioner O'Neal also requested that an item be added on the next agenda regarding notification to the Sister Cities of the newly formed Commission and the official members and that letter be prepared for signature by the Chairman. IX. MITO STUDENT EXCHANGE Greg Garcia explained that Mito Student Exchanges is one of the major programs that ASCA was involved in and the one connection that existed and kept the cities close. There is no student exchange with the Anaheim's sister city in Spain. Greg's understanding is that Mito is still interested in pursuing the student exchange, however, it's January, the student exchange usually happens in the summer and a lot of work is going to be required soon if it's going to happen this year. Commissioner Soucy indicated when they were in Mito in November, Mito City officials informed them that they have approved their City Hall 2010 program for four Anaheim students and one chaperone to come. Mito set aside a budget of over $900 a student for Anaheim students to go there, now we have to do our part to raise over $4,000.00 to be able to get them on the airplane and buy the insurance to get them there. Greg Garcia recommended that at the next meeting, a discussion take place to decide whether or not the Commission wants to continue with the student exchange and then at that point create a subcommittee to study the details of what needs to happen. Commissioner Piercy indicated that this is where ASCA could come in since they have that background knowledge of what has to get done. If we could have a subcommittee of 2 who then works with the ASCA people who have done this already and get the ball rolling. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 11 Greg Garcia clarified that from speaking with Council, reinventing the wheel with student exchange would not be a bad thing. Mito has expressed wanting to see some changes in the program and so this will be some good opportunity. We have institutional knowledge on how the exchanges happen, the finances and some of the basics. That is a good starting point, but he indicated he did want to encourage the Commission to take upon itself rather than rely on the folks that have been doing it for the past 20 years to expand. To think of new ways of doing it. Commissioner Piercy asked what changes did Mito express they would like see, besides the monetary. Commissioner Soucy indicated that Mito's position for the Anaheim students that go there is that they want to make sure we send the four best students. The other change, from the inbound program, they want to reduce it to 10 students, they want to make sure that there is a weekend trip out of this area to San Diego or to Santa Barbara. They are willing to front the money for all the hotels and all the missions. Commissioner Amiri recommended that as a starting point, the Commission needs to define what the objectives of the Sister Cities Commission are going to be. From there it will give the Commission a vision and will put everyone on the same page. This is who we are and this what we are trying to achieve. After the Commission sets the goals and objectives, then they can divide into subcommittees tied to those goals and objects. So that way they will have a good clear process and a system of reporting as well. Defining that will be very critical in the lead to those conservations about who should we get for exchange students. So his suggestion is for the agenda for next time is to work on the objectives of the Sister City program. Greg Garcia indicated Commissioner Amiri brought up a great point. Taking a step back and creating some goals for the Commission is a good idea and when we're talking about subcommittees we can create an executive committee that looks at those types of goals and objective to keep the Commission focused when we start talking about all these details of the activities. So that discussion is going to be placed on the agenda for next time as well. Greg Garcia summarized that for the next agenda meeting he has the student exchange program and discussion about overall goals and objects for the Commission. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 12 X. COMMISSION ACCOUNTING /NON - PROFIT ACCOUNT Greg Garcia asked if the Commission wants to go ahead and direct staff to make a formal request to the ACF for an account for the Sister City Commission. He indicated the next board meeting for the ACF will take place the first week in February. He said if the Commission chooses to use it, great, if not, it will not be a problem. But at least this item will get on their agenda for consideration and, if approved, the next time the Commission meets in February that will be an option for them. MOTION: Commissioner Day offered a Motion seconded by Commissioner Conway and MOTION CARRIED (Vote: 11 -0, Absent: Patel and Cali, 2 vacant seats) that the Anaheim Sister Commission does hereby direct staff to open an account with the Anaheim Community Foundation. XI. COMMISSION FUTURE MEETING SCHEDULE Discussion took place on meeting dates and times. It was decided that the Anaheim Sister Commission meetings are going to take place on the 4th Monday of every Month at 4:30 p.m. The next meeting will be on February 22, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. at the City Manager's Office, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805. XIL PUBLIC COMMENT Denise Silberman stated she has been a member ASCA for seven years and indicated she is saddened to see that the part that she loved the most is going away. She would love to be part of the student exchange, the interviews, the scholarship and hosting students. It was her passion and she is really sorry to see it go away, but she is excited about this Commission. She has never been to Mito, but has been involved with the student exchange and the relationships. She and her husband correspond with their students and that part of it, she really wants to be part of. She would love to be on the committee for that purpose if that is okay. Commissioner Piercy responded she does not want Denise to think that she is going to be entirely cut off. Just because it's changing, does not mean that she cannot still be involved. Someone who this means a lot to should continue to be involved when it comes to the interviewing and the background. Sarah Alevizon thought it might be helpful to talk a little bit about the Anaheim Community Foundation for those who might not know what that is. It's a foundation to help people in Anaheim. They have about a million dollars on treasury and they are the organization that the City uses when they get grants. Anaheim Sister Citv Commission Januan- 13, 2010 Page 13 They are a collector's bank. When you take the money to the bank you are in charge of it, you write your checks. The good thing about it also is that AFC is audited, so people feel comfortable because it is legitimate. Secondly, they take the interest off of it, but every penny that comes to the ACF goes back to the people, they have no paid positions, everybody is a volunteer. They work very closely and successfully with the City and the City Council. XIIL ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. to February 22, 2010 at 430 p.m. at the City of Anaheim, City Manager's Office.