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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 11/01/2004 4,0 Sister City Steering Committee ` ND'y, 2004 Regular Meeting Q, RECEIVED Monday, November 1, 2004CIIYSECRETAY'� co City Hall-Council Chambers — 1201 Leopard Street \o OFFICE (0, Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 `,6): MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF Joseph Alley Westi Horn Ann JJmte (E) Dr. Gustavo Regis Barber Venecia Kelly Mary Ann Lopez Valadez Dr. Mindy Chang Ellen Murry Bebe Morris Chris Kailas Randy Farrar Sharon Phillips Dr. Mufid Abudiab Vicki Garza Flicka Rahn Judy Benkendorfer Elizabeth Iglesias Rebecca Hawn Sonia Q. Heil Heather Moretzsohn Yalee Shih (E) John Rocha (E) I. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Sister City Steering Committee was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair, Randy Farrar II. Roll Call: Recording Secretary called roll, announced quorum. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — Corrections to the minutes were: correct the spelling of student Andrew Daehne's name and, denote with an "E", an excused absence for Ann Jaime. A motion was made by Vicki Garza and seconded by Joe Alley to approve the October 4, 2004 minutes as corrected. Motion passed. IV. HEARING FROM THE PUBLIC — No one from the public was in attendance. The 4 Sister City Exchange Students who were to have made their reports on their trips to Monterrey, Mexico, Yokosuka, Japan and Agen, France did not show up. V. TREASURER'S REPORT — Chris Kailas handed out copies of the latest update on the Sister City budget and expenditures. The report shows the account with $13,539.71 . VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Randy Farrar named off those Sister City Committee members who volunteered to be members of the Funding Committee. They are Mary Ann Lopez and Ellen Murray. Mr. Farrar also assigned Flika Rahn to the Committee. Ellen Murry said that this Committee and the Feasibility Committee need to work together, they will be dealing with similar issues. B. Mr. Farrar also named those who expressed an interest in being on the Curriculum Committee. Committee members are Rebis Barber, John Rocha and Heather Moretzsohr. Mr. Farrar recommended they meet and choose a SCANNED group leader. Chris Kailas said she has found a lot of materials in old Sister City files and has it in her office for use by the group. C. Mr. Farrar noted that four members had not been assigned to a Committee. They are Joe Alley, Vicki Garza, Sonia Heil and Venecia Kelly. Joe Alley volunteered to serve on the Veracruz, Mexico Committee, Vicki Garza volunteered to serve on the Agen, France Committee and Venecia Kelly agreed to serve on the Committee for the Sister City International Young Artists Competition. VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Wheelchair for Peace Report (inserted) — Ellen Murry reported that 120 "thank you" letters will be going out with a picture of some of wheelchair recipients. She noted that Walmart donated all the film development which includes the 120 copies for the "thank you" notes, the documentation pictures of each recipient we are required to send to Sister City International and all of the various group pictures of the trip to Veracruz, Mexico. She reported that the Mayor of Veracruz, Mexico will be visiting Corpus Christi in late November or early December, 2004. She said she would be sending the total documentation packet this week to the head of the Wheelchairs for Peace Program. Ms. Murry also noted that she had attached a flyer about several speakers at the Nueces Club on November 13, 2004. She encouraged members to attend. B. Sister Cities International Young Artists Program — Chris Kailas noted that Rose Gunji sent out letters to all the Middle and High Schools along with a brochure and student application. Deadline for work is Friday, February 25, 2005 at 5 p.m. at the French/Galvan House in Heritage Park. She noted it's listed on the timeline. C. Agen, France — No report. Chris Kailas suggested that now is the time for the Sister City Chairs to get with their assigned Sister City counterpart to let them know that we will need the names of their exchange students and Host Family information, hopefully by our deadline of March 25, 2005 so everyone can purchase tickets for their exchange students. Knowing by this time allows us to work together with our Sister Cities and make travel arrangements. D. Keelung, Taiwan — Dr. Mindy Chang reported that Yalee Shih is with the official delegation in Keelung, Taiwan. She also noted that their government operates differently than we do and that she is not sure we can get the student information by the March 25th date, but, they will try. The problem last year was because they had dropped the program when we didn't send students during the year of SARS. E. Monterry, Mexico - No report F. Toledo, Spain — No report G. Veracruz, Mexico — Elizabeth Iglesias reported that she has sent 3 e-mails to Vercruz, Mexico but has not received any information on the Exchange program. H. Yokosuka, Japan — Regis Barber said that the two volunteers, Dixie Oshman and Holly Hubler have to cancel at this time due to other plans. We will try again in the spring but, we don't know if these two will be available. Mr. Barber feels there is some value in going through a selection process. Room and board will be provided and they will stay with more than one family. VIII. CURRENT CONCERNS — Randy Farrar went over the absentee policy again. He explained that because we have 11 regular meetings and members are allowed to miss 25% of the meetings with an unexcused absence. Those who miss three meetings will be removed from the Committee. After two unexcused absences, members will receive a letter warning of their removal if three meetings, with an unexcused absence, are missed. He also explained that if a member misses more than half of the meeting, they will be given an unexcused absence. If a member is ill and has to miss a meeting, they must send a note to the General Chair, Randy Farrar before the next regular meeting in order to receive an excused absence. Dr. Mindy Chang requested the Committee keep some flexibility in the process. To show the policy's flexibility, Mr. Farrar used the Committee's regular September meeting date change from Monday to Tuesday (due to the Holiday and the trip to Veracruz), stating that those members who were regularly scheduled to teach on Tuesdays were give an excused absence. He explained that the Committee must have some rules or it would, once again, have problems with attendance and the Committee would not be able to accomplish its business. Mr. Farrar also went over the timeline and noted that we have nothing special in December other than the December meeting which will be held at Randy's House for the Annual Holiday dinner. He will get information out to everyone before the meeting. Ellen Murry reported that former Sister City Committee Member Amanda Haney's sister died from injuries after the tragic fire on Ocean Drive. IX. STAFF REPORT: Dr. Valadez reported that we are beginning to develop a better relationship with Toledo, Spain due to the recent language student exchange and our upcoming Artist Exchange. X. ADJOURNMENT — A motion was made by Joe Alley to adjourn and seconded by Vicki Garza. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:05p.m. ' -/-'24"/ (2--(7ZZ Chris Kailas, Supervisor Park & Recreation Department