Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 04/02/2007 2 L13 24 25?6Q.>\\ Sister City Steering Committee t, ` Regular Meeting �` �Q �`5 City Hall, 6th floor conference room � f0 r r Monday, April 2, 2007 6\1 c ti <<0!6S - MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF Randy Farrar Ellen Murry Drue Combs - AE Chris Kailas Westi Horn JJ Nelson Rose Gunji - A Dr. Gustavo Ann Jaime Sharon Phillips Cecilia Hanna - A Valadez Peter Kuntu-Mensah Gilberto Porter Almira Flores - A H. Moretzsohn Flicka Rahn Ridge Hammons — A Coeta Montgomery - A Guillermo Perez- AE John Rocha - AE Sukhbir Singh - AE Though no quorum, at 6:17 p.m. guest speaker, Michelle Horine from Wildlife in Focus showed a video and made a presentation about their 3 books showing the area's wildlife. Their third book has just been published. Normal cost is $40 per book. If there is an order of 10 or more books, the books will cost $25 each. CALL TO ORDER: Gilberto Porter arrived at 6:25 p.m. making a quorum. The Sister City Steering Committee meeting was called to order by General Chair, Heather Moretzsohn around 6:25 p.m. II. ROLL CALL: Chris Kailas called roll. A quorum was met with 10 of 19 members present. III. ANNOUNCEMENTS: There were no announcements. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: J. R. Farrar noted two mistakes. One of form, on page two, section D, line two a 1) should be placed in front of the word "forms". The second error is on page 3, starting at the top of the page where the lettering for the Committee reports if of. Section C is moved to the correct position and Section N is removed. Ann Jaime moved the minutes be approved as corrected. Westi Horn seconded the motion. The Minutes were passed as corrected. V. HEARING FROM THE PUBLIC: The guest speaker had already spoken. No one else from the public spoke. VI. TREASURER'S REPORT: Chris Kallas presented a new format as requested by the Committee last month. It showed that monthly expenses of $70.25 for an extra flag stand and $600 for cash awards came in this past month. Mr. J.R. Farrar requested that each column have a total so the Committee can see the total spent and left at the end of each month. Included was the actual General Fund budget showing a balance of $8,058.59. The PALS Fund balance is $4,894.41 with $300 still owed for the Chess Tournament trophies. It was noted that Mayor Henry Garrett made good on his promise to contribute SCANNED $500 for this year. Dr. Gustavo Valadez announced that Councilmember Jesse Noyola also donated $500. With that information, the total will rise to $5,394.41. VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS: A. DISCUSSION AND ACTION concerning gifts from Corpus Christi for the Mayors of the various Cities that the students visit. Samples of the Wildlife in Focus books were passed out for the Committee to view. General Chair Ms. Heather Moretzsohn asked what the Committee thought about book. As short discussion about what had been suggested earlier, such as clay plates from Aloe Tile and what had been given in the past like Wilhelmi Plates which cost $60 each and the Snow Book last year which cost about $20 each. J.R. Farrar said he thought the wildlife books would be good since they are about local animals. He also stated that we could buy the wildlife books only if we can get them for $25. Ellen Murry said that the books overcome the language barrier because everyone enjoys photography. It was noted that if the Committee purchased 10 books, they could be given to a number of other people, like guests here, or to the local contacts in our Sister Cities or to the Director of the upcoming Choir event in Toledo, Spain. J.R. Farrar moved that the Committee purchase 10 Wildlife in Focus books for $25 each as gifts to the Sister City Mayors and others over the next year. The motion passed. B. DISCUSSION AND ACTION to develop an official delegation to Monterrey, Mexico. Heather Moretzsohn said she had spoken with John Rocha about contacting the contact in Monterrey, Mexico about an official visit. Mr. Rocha said it would be best if only a few went. She said his idea is that only he and Ms. Moretzsohn should go at this time and do a larger, official group later. The Item was tabled till after Mr. Rocha and Ms. Moretzsohn have a chango chance to visit the contact in Monterrey, Mexico. C. DISCUSSION AND ACTION Ellen Murry announced that Heather Moretzsohn and she had lunch with Marti Johnson with the World Affairs Council on March 6, 2007. Mr. Johnson suggested that the two organizations collaborate with a pot luck dinner for both the College and High School age students. He suggested the event could take place in November and held at the University campus. Mr. Randy Farrar suggested the Committee not take any action at this time until the Committee has an opportunity to explore a little more. D. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on relationship with Veracruz, Mexico. Ellen Murry reported that she was hoping that the Rotary's visit of business men from Veracruz, Mexico would give the Sister City Committee an opportunity to make a connection with people in Veracruz. However, the reception and welcoming party at her house on April 17 is not going to happen, since the visiting group will not have arrived yet. The group will arrive late Thursday, April 18 and stay through April 20`h. Ms. Murry suggested that Ms. Ann Jaime and she attend the Rotary Convention with the hope of meeting with the Veracruz delegation. No action taken. E. DISCUSSION on recruiting and developing a pool of prospective members for the Sister City Steering Committee. Heather Moretzsohn explained that we need to be proactive in recruiting prospective members for this Committee. Randy Farrar said we need to recruit and refer them to the City Secretary's office to complete an application that can be kept on file. Ellen Murry said the Committee needs to talk to prospective members and tell them about the Sister City Program. If they are interested in what the Committee is doing they can apply. Randy Farrar said he didn't know where to find prospective members. It was suggested some locations for recruiting could be the Rotary and other organizations, WAC, University and other schools; any place where you happen to meet someone who would be interested the Sister City Program. Ann Jaime asked if the City will allow the Committee to do this. Gustavo Valadez said yes, recruiting is OK. Gilberto Porter asked what happened to the idea of developing a speaker's bureau. Randy Farrar asked if the PowerPoint presentation had been put on the web site yet. Heather Moretzsohn noted that she has the PowerPoint presentation on a disk without the budget stuff used for the Council. She will e-mail a copy to Gustavo Valadez tomorrow and he will get it onto the City's web site. Gustavo Valadez also suggested the Committee get on the Leadership Corpus Christi's speaker list. He also suggested someone talk to Bill Richmond, owner of Wienerschnitzel, as he has shown interest in the past. Ms. Murry agreed he would be a very good prospective member. Ms. Murry suggested we recruit from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It was noted that once the PowerPoint is on the web site, that will help recruit too. Gilberto Porter noted that our Committee's web site has not been developed. He said that Sukhbir Singh has been very ill with a bad back and unable to do extra things. F. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on reviewing tape of Council's reaction to Sister City's PowerPoint presentation, about 45 minutes long. General Chair Heather Moretzsohn noted that she has the recording of the Council's reaction to the PowerPoint Presentation. She asked how the Committee would like to use it. It was suggested that Ms. Moretzsohn could make copies of the presentation and give to everyone on the Committee for viewing. Flicka Rahn moved to have Ms. Moretzsohn make copies for the Sister City Steering Committee members. Sharon Phillips seconded the motion. The motion passed. VIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Selection Committee: No report. B. Fund Raising Committee: Ellen Murry, JJ Nelson — Ellen Murry noted that Danny Jesse Noyola sent in his promised $500 contribution to the Sister City Steering Committee. Ms. Murry will be talking to Melody Cooper. Also, Ms. Murry noted that the $1,000 promised contribution from Wells Fargo is still outstanding and she will follow up on that promised and with John Tower for his promised $500. C. Publicity Committee: Cecilia Hanna, Gilberto Porter, and Sukhbir Singh — Gilberto Porter explained that everything the Committee discussed concerning the Web Page still needs to be done. Because of Mr. Singh's serious back problems and because Ms. Hanna had not been able to be reached, the Publicity Committee has not been working. Mr. Porter asked if the Committee if the Web Page could be streamlined or could we start our own with someone to host our Web Site. He also asked if there was a way that the Sister City Programs could be immediately accessed from the front page of the City's web site. It was suggested that all those requests could get started by using the Speaker's Bureau and the PowerPoint presentation. D. Art Competition Committee: Rose Gunji and Sukhbir Singh — No report. E. New Sister City Evaluation Committee: Ellen Murry— Heather Moretzsohn asked for a template of a letter our Mayor can work on and prepare for sending to the two new prospective Sister Cities. Sukhbir Singh is working on getting 4 new businesses together between the Bethinda, Indian and Corpus Christi. Ms. Moretzsohn will follow up on this item. F. Agen, France: Ann Jaime, and Ridge Hammons — Ms. Ann Jaime reported that she had talked to Michele Stephanus in France and sent her the names, addresses and parent's phone numbers. G. Keelung, Taiwan: Peter Kuntu-Mensah — Peter Kuntu-Mensah talked to Tim Dowling (Mr. Dowling worked in Keelung some years ago) to get an e-mail address of a contact in Keelung, Taiwan. Mr. Dowling thinks he can help the Committee by acting as a liaison. Dr. Kuntu-Mensah reported that Yalee Shih needs a letter of introduction in order to help the Committee. H. Monterrey, Mexico: John Rocha and Almira Flores — No report. I. Toledo, Spain-Music: Flicka Rahn and Ann Jaime—Veracruz, Mexico: Ann Jaime— Flicka Rahn announced that at the City Council meeting on April 10 there is an Agenda Item authorizing the choir of The Church of the Good Shepherd to go to Toledo, Spain in mid-May as the City's official choir. J. Veracruz, Mexico: Ann Jaime— Ms. Jaime reported that she has still not been able to reach anyone in Veracruz, Mexico. Their numbers have been changed so she has not scheduled a trip to go there and visit with them. K. Yokosuka, Japan: Westi Horn and Drue Combs —Westi Horn reported that a director and all the staff(6 members in all) will be coming the first week in December. One reason for the visit is to collaborate on use of Japanese students. Drue Combs can help to host the visitors. Ms. Horn asked the Committee members for help with activities for the Japanese visitors. L. Curriculum/Training Committee: Sukhbir Singh and Peter Kuntu-Mensah — Peter Kuntu-Mensah reported that there were only 4 of 10 students at the first training. There will be a make up meeting on April 15 at Barnes and Nobel Noble The students will be informed of the time. He reported that there was a UIL test and our students could attend. M. Activities Committee: Sharon Phillips, Flicka Rahn and Westi Horn — No report. IX. GENERAL CHAIR'S REPORT: No report. X. STAFF REPORT: Gustavo Valadez announced that the International Cultural Festival will be held at Heritage Park on April 15, 2007 from 12 noon to 8 p.m. He also reported that he asked for$12,000 more on the Sister City General Fund Budget. It was submitted with Heather Moretzsohn's report. Dr. Valadez asked that the Committee spread the word about the Spanish Language Program in Toledo, Spain. At this time,no one has responded to the letters sent to the two colleges. Flicka Rahn asked if a student by the name of"Susie"respond. Dr. Valadez said no. Ms. Rahn said she would have her complete her application and turn it in. XI. CURRENT CONCERNS: JJ Nelson reported that he is working on the GPS map of our Sister Cities for the Flag Display at the Corpus Christi International Airport. XII. ADJOURNMENT: The motion was passed. Chris Kailas, Sister City Recording Secretary Cultural Services Division Parks & Recreation Department The following guide explains the attendance code: A—Absent, unexcused AE —Absence Excused for those who were absent due to illness or Sister City Travel R— Resigned or removed Examples of arrival or leaving times — arrival, 6:07 p.m.; or leaving, L7:00 p.m.