Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 06/07/2004 Sister City Steering Committee Regular Meeting Monday, June 7, 2004 City Hall-Council Chambers — 1201 Leopard Street Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF Dr. Mufid Abudiab Gary Hansen Regis Barber Dr. Gustavo Dr. Hsiu "Mindy" Elizabeth R. Judy Benkendorfer Valadez Chang Iglesias Bebe Morris Chris Kailas Sue Dulaney Ann Jaime Connie Munoz Barbara Williams Randy Farrar Ellen Murry John Rocha Rose Gunji Sharon Phillips Amanda Jane Haney Yalee Shih I. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Sister City Steering Committee was called to order at 6:14 p.m. by Chair, Randy Farrar. II. ROLL CALL: Recording Secretary called roll, announced quorum III. Hand out gifts — Dr. Gustavo Valadez Dr. Valadez gave out the gifts to the board members who were unable to be present at the Boards & Commission Reception. IV. Approval of the Minutes: Motion was made by Sue Dulaney and seconded by Ann Jaime to approve Minutes of the May 3, 2004 meeting. Motion passed V. HEARING FROM THE PUBLIC Fernando Iglesias - Honorary Consul of Spain expressed concerns regarding last years Sister City Exchange with Spain followed with a rebuttal from members of the SCC committee. Kelly Smith, one of the applicants for a position on the committee was asked to be present at the meeting by Chair, Randy Farrar. Mrs. Smith gave a brief biography of herself to the committee members. VI. TREASURER'S REPORT Chris Kailas reported a treasurer's balance of$13,324.64. The purchasing of tickets for the exchange students will cost in the neighborhood of$12,000.00. Tickets have not yet been purchased due to not being able to identify the exchange student's coming. SCANNED VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. ACTION ITEM: Review, discuss and make recommendations for appointees to the Sister City Committee. Randy Farrar passed out copies of the applications of persons seeking a place on the committee. The applications were looked over and discussed by the committee and a vote was taken: It was voted upon to submit Westi Horn, Flika Rahn, Kelly Smith and Rebecca Hawn's names to the city council for consideration as members to the SCC. B. Discussion on possibility of hosting Sister Cities International Annual Convention in Corpus Christi in 2007 or 2008. Randy Farrar reported that he had met with the Tom Galyon, head of the Convention & Visitors Bureau and gave him the packet for submitting the application to bid on Corpus Christi Sister City hosting the International Sister City Convention for 2007 or 2008. After completing his research, Mr. Galyon reported to Randy Farrar that Sister City International would like to have 5 years between hosting in the same state and that we should look to bidding on 2009. He also reported that the Sister City International Convention is held in July, which is prime season for the downtown hotels, who would have to take a reduction in room rates for a convention. Mr. Galyon reported Sister City International might entertain the idea to move the schedule to August and also from Thursday to Monday. He reported that the Convention & Visitors Bureau would not be involved in raising the funds to support this project and also was not very optimistic about planning this because the perimeters that had been given are not going to be easy to comply to. Chris Kailas suggested that possibly the committee would entertain the idea to bid on 2009. Randy Farrar informed the committee that we would have to raise approximately $250,000 to $300,000 in services and/or cash to sponsor the convention. Ellen Murry informed the committee that accessibility would be a major factor in hosting the convention here and also the money is not here to be raised. She stated staffing is also another issue, paid staff and part-time paid staff and the number of volunteers it would take to host a convention of this size. She stated Corpus Christi does not have the infrastructure to host an International Convention. However, she did say that we should look at bidding for the 2009 convention. It was suggested that a feasibility study be done in order to make an intelligent decision. It was suggested that city staff contact other cities who have hosted this convention to find out what was expected of them to host the convention. The discussion ended with deciding to proceed with fact-finding regarding hosting in 2009. C. Discuss helping YWCA provide pen pals from City's Sister Cities for YWCA Leadership Camp which starts Monday, June 7, 2004. Chris Kailas was contacted by the YWCA and asked if they could count on SCC to provide them with pen pals for the Leadership Camp. Chris Kailas asked the chairs and co-chairs of the various sister cities if they would contact their exchange sister city requesting cooperation in the project. It was suggested that a list be compiled of the students from here who want to participate and e-mail the list to the various sister cities asking for participation from them. Chris Kailas reminded the committee that pen pal exchange involving our exchange students had been a project that the committee had entertained implementing. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Activities Report—Judy Benkendorfer, Sue Dulaney and Bebe Morris Sue Dulaney reported there is a tentative schedule of events however, there needs to be extra activities for the students from France and Japan because France will be the first to arrive ahead of the others and Japan will be the last to leave after everyone else is gone. Randy Farrar updated the exchange student itinerary: France, leave June 29, return July 21 and leave August 11th. Japan, leave July 21, return August 4th and leave August 18th . Veracruz leave July 7th, return July 21st and leave August 4th. Monterrey's schedule has not been finalized yet. Keelung, leave July 14th, return July 28th and return August 11th B. Wheelchairs For Peace — Sue Dulaney and Ellen Murry The wheelchairs are enroute to Veracruz Mexico and Sue Dulaney , Dr. Gustavo Valadez and Ann Jaime will be leaving June 24 to meet with the Veracruz Rotary International and key representatives to work out the logistics. The actual distribution is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of September, depending on Mayor Neal's schedule. C. Agen, France— Bebe Morris and Ann Jaime Randy Farrar informed the committee that councilmember Melody Cooper made a special request that the students going to Agen leave on June 29th Ann Jamie reported our students will arrive in France on June 30th with a reception on July 1st D. Keelung, Taiwan —Yalee Shih Ms. Shih reported that she found out the program was cancelled due to non participation last year from our Sister City because of the SARS epidemic. Yalee Shih reported that it is very difficult for Keelung to get funding for a program once it has not been implemented for a year. However, she spoke with the Mayor of Keelung who very much wanted the program to continue and he said he would find the funds to continue it. In past years middle school children were the participants in the exchange, this year high school students are coming. Randy Farrar expressed concerns regarding not having a definite commitment from France and Keelung causing a delay in purchasing tickets for these 2 countries. This delay prevents the committee from purchasing tickets for the exchange program at a less expensive rate. He stated as of now we are within $300 of spending our entire budget for the year. E. Monterrey, Mexico —John Rocha and Ann Jaime Ann Jaime spoke with Roberto, the representatives from Monterry who have selected their exchanges students and inquiring about information about our students. Ann Jaime said she would contact Roberto to finalize arrangements. F. Toledo, Spain — Mufid Abudiab and John Rocha Toledo will not be participating this year. G. Veracruz, Mexico— Sharon Phillip made contact with the representative who has contacted the school and they have their students and will contact send us the names as soon as she gets them. H. Yokosuka, Japan —VIP Exchange update-Gary Hansen Gary Hanson reported he would be unavailable to be present at the exchange student reception because he would no longer be on the committee. Sue Dulaney reported there are companies who will pay expenses for their employees. Gary reported Yokosuka was to have selected their students on Saturday and he is expecting to receive the names of their students very soon. I. Focus Group/Youth Programming 1. Curriculum Sub-Committee Report—Amanda Haney Randy Farrar reminded Amanda that Dr. Acevedo-CCISD would be a good resource for the committee. 2. Programming Sub-Committee Report VIII STAFF REPORT Dr. Gustavo Valadez reported Mayor Neal received a letter from the Mayor of Toledo extending the offer and requesting 2 students from Corpus Christi be sent to Spain for a university-level summer study program in Toledo. There are 2 scholarships available for approximately $1,000 each for this summer. Dr. Valadez contacted Del Mar College Spanish Department requesting assistance in selecting 2 students to participate in the program. They will leave some time in June and be there in time for the Feast of Corpus Christi. He also reported that the program is a 6-weeks program. Gary Hansen asked if these students upon their return be asked to come and report to our committee about their experiences in Spain. Chris Kailas reported that the alternate student for Monterey, Mexico, Jeremiah Walters would be taking Ryan McAdams place due to illness in Ryan's family. Chris Kailas asked if arrangements had been made to present the plaque that had been brought back from Yokosuka to be presented to the USS Lexington. Randy Farrar informed her of the plan to make the presentation while the Exchange students were here. IX. CURRENT CONCERNS Randy Farrar asked Sue Dulaney how many voting delegates the City of Corpus have at the Sister City International Convention X. ADJOURNMENT—A motion was made by Dr. Mindy Chang and seconded by Gary Hansen. The meeting adjourned at 7:45p.m. Chris Kailas, Supervisor Park & Recreation Department