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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 02/02/2009 RECEIVED MAR 0 5 2009 Sister City Steering Committee Monday, February 2, 2009, 5:45 p.m. 6th floor Conference Room, City Hall CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE 1201 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF Kevin Aguilar-Ferrari Dora Hidalgo Flicka Rahn - R Sally Gavlik-A Jorge Brenner Westi Horn John Rocha - A Chris Kailas Drue Combs Maria Jaramillo Phyllis Roseman—AE Wes Vardeman Tim Dowling H. Moretzsohn 6:30 Danny Williams - A Randy Farrar Javier Morin Almira Flores Liette Ocher-N Janice Garrett Sharon Phillips Rose Gunji Brandi Williams Michele Hammock-N CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Sister City Steering Committee was called to order by General Chair Brandi Williams at around 5:50 p.m. II. ROLL CALL: Chris Kailas called roll. A quorum was met with 17 of 20 members present. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes for January 5, 2009 were read. Suggested corrections were 1) move Jorge Brenner's name from present to absent side; he was not there last month; 2) Second page, VI, Item D., 15th line, following Kevin Aguilar Ferrari it should read "is if" and 3) Third page, VII, Item A under COMMITTEE REPORTS, 3rd line should read as "news". Randy Farrar moved to accept the minutes as corrected. Kevin Aguilar-Ferrari seconded the motion. The minutes were approved. IV. TREASURER'S REPORT: DISCUSSION ITEMS: Ms. Kailas reported that the General Fund report remained the same with a total of $16,128.19. A $500 deposit (10 checks of $50 each for Student Application Fees) was made to the PALS Fund with a current balance now at $5,677.24. Randy Farrar moved to accept the Treasurer's Report and Rose Gunji seconded the motion. The Treasurer's report was accepted. V. PUBLIC COMMENT: Council Member Nelda Martinez sent a runner to tell the Committee that she was in another meeting and was not going to be able to make a statement on Ting Sing, Tianjin, China until later. He asked if she could come toward the end of the meeting in about an hour. The Committee agreed that would be fine. VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS: A. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on the International Cultural Festival/EXPO. Ms. Drue Combs said she had met with Ms. Nancy Stewartd from Del Mar College. Ms. Combs set today's EXPO Committee meeting at 5 p.m. to discuss a new opportunity. After a short summery, Ms. Combs moved to partner with Del Mar College during their International Student event to be held at Del Mar College Student Harvein Center on March 5, 2009. Sharon Phillips seconded the motion. Ms. Combs said that the event would be a nice, short event. The Sister City Steering Committee will have a table. Janice Garrett has volunteered to take care of treats and refreshments for those members attending. Each Sister City Chair was asked to do a short 3-fold board as a display about their City. Ms. Combs suggested chairs try to get appropriate dress to wear at the event. Next SCANNED year, when the Committee hosts the International Festival, Del Mar could go in with us at no cost. Ms. Combs suggested the Committee think about the Economic Development Center for the EXPO as a location. The motion passed. Randy Farrar moved to allocate up to $50 from the PALS Fund to reimburse the EXPO Committee for their expenses for this event. Almira Flores seconded the motion. The motion passed. B. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on sending another student to France. Maria Jaramillo explained that before she had a chance to tell them that the Corpus Christi Committee had voted to send only three students to France this year, the French Committee chose 4 students based on our recent history. She explained that her hope was to avoid another incident with France since we had a very bad experience with one of our students last year. Kevin Aguilar Ferrari moved to send another student to France. Westi Horn seconded the motion. Randy Farrar said he feels it's irpremature to do so at this time because we still don't know what to do with the students chosen to go to Monterrey, Mexico. Kevin Aguilar Ferrari agreed. Mr. Farrar suggested someone find out what sex preference the French have. General Chair Williams asked Ms. Jaramillo to amend her motion. Ms. Jaramillo moved to table the motion till the Committee hears back from Monterrey, Mexico. The motion was tabled. C'. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on 2008 Spanish Language student's bill in Toledo, Spain. Javier Morin reported that Ms. Edmonson, the Del Mar student that went to Spain this past summer still owes a bill for her room and board. The amount is 820 Euros about $1,000. Mr. Morin told here she needed to get in touch with Spain back in November and because he did not hear again from Spain he assumed the bill was taken care of. However, he recently heard again from our contact in Spain that the bill was still owed. Mr. Morin e-mailed the student several times about the bill still owed to Spain. He said that Spain has asked her to make a deposit but she did not and she left without paying. She has been totally unresponsive to Mr. Morin's e-mails. He noted that she was fully briefed that she was totally responsible for her bills in Spain; that she would pay her lodging. He went through the whole process, as was explained on her application, with her before she left. Drue Combs said we need to ask City's legal staff to look into this issue. Drue Combs moved to ask the City's Legal staff to investigate this situation and send a letter to Ms. Edmonson asking her to pay her bill and send a notarized copy to Toledo, Spain. Sharon Phillips seconded the motion. The motion passed. D. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on a high school student exchange in Playa Del Carmen. Heather Moretzsohn said she still needs to check with her contact to see if they are still interested in starting a Student Exchange Program. Randy Farrar moved to authorize Heather Moretzsohn to see if they would like to participate in 2010. He said, "As an aside, we can always go back to them to see if they can do it this year if Monterrey, Mexico does not come through". Kevin Aguilar Ferrari seconded the motion. The motion passed. E. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on a car wash fund raising project. Tim Dowling proposed this project to the Committee saying that it would be an advantage to the local selected students helping them all to better know each other before they started their traveling to our various Sister Cities. He stated that a location at Staples and Saratoga worked very well for his daughter's group that used that area for a fund raising car wash. He said he would be responsible for doing the event. He would plan a lunch before the car wash (once he discussed it with his wife). He suggested they could do some activities before lunch to get to know each other better. Drue Combs moved that Tim Dowling coordinate a fund raising activity with the exchange students for sometime in June. Westi Horn seconded the motion. Michele Hammock recommended a breakfast. Drue Combs amended her motion and Ms. Horn seconded the new motion. The motion passed. VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS: A. Publicity Committee — It was announced that all the publicity pieces were sent out to the media for the upcoming news conference announcing the 2009 selected exchange students. Invites were sent out to the Mayor and City Council members. Mr. Huerta, a donor in 2008 and Sherriff Kaelin were also invited to attend along with the 2009 selected students, their families and friends and the 2008 students. Drue Combs asked what time the event would be held. She was told it was at 1 p.m. at the International Airport. Maria Jaramillo said she received some information from Jorge Brenner concerning the new web site. They will be working on that. B. Selection Committee — Randy Farrar said he called the newly selected students and told them to bring anyone they wanted. He stated that "the students know they were selected but they don't know where they are going; they'll be told at the event. Everyone was reminded that they are to bring a covered dish. Westi Horn said her son Jason Horn who went to Japan some years ago will be coming instead of students from last year. Mr. Farrar said he was unable to get last year's students to come this Saturday. Brandi Williams thanked everyone for sitting on the Selection Interview Committees. Randy Farrar encouraged everyone to sit on a Selection Interview Committee because it's a real honor to meet and listen to these students. Janice Garrett said it was really hard difficult to chose. Wes Vardeman asked if the Committee addressed the students about behavior when visiting our Sister Cities. Randy Farrar said it is a structured interview; all questions are aimed at the student guidelines and those address their behavior. C. Fundraising Committee — Heather Moretzsohn had no report at this time. D. Essay Committee — Heather Moretzsohn — Ms. Moretzsohn said she would have nothing until the fall. E. EXPO/International Cultural Festival — Drue Combs noted that she had nothing more to report. Almira Flores reported on the Laredo, EXPO. She said there were many vendors with lots of products. There was information and products on medical, wools, therapy, jewelry, etc. She said all the vendors are very interested in coming to Corpus Christi when the weather is warmer. She had an opportunity to meet the Laredo Event Coordinator and got names and e-mail addresses of vendors. She'll let us know how they put on their event through the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, who totally covered the costs for the event. We are hopeful that we can get an EXPO event started here. Brandi Williams thanked everyone for going. F. Yokosuka, Japan —Westi Horn and Drue Combs —Westi Horn announced that the travel dates changed to better serve Yokosuka's schedule. The new dates are July 11 through July 26, 2009. The visiting students will return on August 9, 2009. G. Agen, France — Ms. Maria Jaramillo announced that the dates for the three weeks of travel for the Agen selected students are June 2425 to July 16. The visiting students will return to France on August 6, 2009. H. Keelung, Taiwan — Tim Dowling announced that our students will travel on July 8 through July 22 and the visiting students will return on August 5 or 6, 2009. Monterrey, Mexico —Almira Flores stated that she still in contact with Mr. Dingier or of Monterrey, Mexico contact. He states that their City is experiencing difficult economic times. They are looking for Sponsors to fund their student's travel. She said they will let us know mid-February. Heather Moretzsohn asked if she should approach Playa Del Carmen to see whether they would host our students this year, if Monterrey is unable to participate. Brandi Williams gave the date of January 179 2009 as a deadline to have an answer from Monterrey, Mexico. J. Toledo, Spain — Flicka Rahn and Javier Morin —Flicka Rahn resigned due to her father's illness and her need to take care of him. Javier Morin reported that he is trying to get possible dates for Spain's choir to come to Corpus Christi. He said he has sent our contact, Consuelo Alvarez, 3 inquiries but has had no response. He said he suggested a 5 to 7 day stay to tour South Texas; to include Corpus Christi, other area churches and missions, including San Antonio. He is hoping for September or October, 2009. He told the Committee they would need housing. K. Veracruz, Mexico — Jorge Brenner and Dora Hidalgo — Dr. Brenner said that Dora Hidalgo sent him the name of the right person to contact while he was on holiday vacation. He will conduct interviews, talk to the Mayor and introduce himself as a Sister City Steering Committee from Corpus Christi, TX. The people there responded to his letter and told him that the Mayor had received a copy of his letter. When he ge-ts gets there he has an appointment with Veracruz's City Secretary. He will try to correct the perception of our Sister City relationship with Veracruz. He noted that Chris Kailas made copies of all documentation that the City has. He said that he can now share our cities history with the City Secretary. Dr. Brenner is traveling in March by bus and there should be time to develop a relationship with the Veracruz, Mexico City Secretary. Drue Combs thanked him for approaching Veracruz. She said that the Mayor and about 10 committee members from Corpus Christi went as a formal delegation in 2006 to explore economic avenues between the two ports and we should try to find more opportunities to do more. She said we may already have a relationship between our two ports. At that time, we also gave 240 wheelchairs from our Committee to the City of Veracruz as a good will }ester gesture. L. Playa del Carmen, Mexico — Heather Moretzsohn had nothing more to report. M. Curriculum Committee/Training —John Rocha — No report. N. Art Competition Committee — Rose Gunji and Sharon Phillips — They reported that they changed the date on the reminder letter to April 6, because there was a misprint on the first letter. The deadline for art is March 26, 2009. Award night is at the April 6, 2009 meeting at the Galvan House. The location was changed because the Festival of the Arts event is happening at the Art Center during March. They are going to call the students the week before to remind them of the meeting. Ages of the competing students are from 13 to 18 years. Chris Kailas explained that the Middle School teachers have been expressing their concern for their students being so young and not able to compete with the older, more mature art students in High School. Rose Gunji said we need Mr. Marez's money for the art contest awards. City staff will check into that donation. She said she would send around a sign up sheet for refreshments at next month's meeting. O. New Sister City-Evaluation Committee, Maria Jaramillo told the Committee about attending an Eco (ecological) Luncheon that explained about a new Eco- Partnership between China and the USA. She suggested that the Sister City Steering Committee consider a new Sister City Partnership with Tian Jin, Tianjin, China, the City that is going to be building a large pipe building factory in our area. Ms. Jaramillo said that Marty Johnson with the World Affairs Council (WAC) is planning a trip to Tian Jin, Tianjin, China sometime in May. The Sister City Steering Committee is being asked to consider sending representation in order to be involved from the beginning and be able to follow the progress of the Eco Partnership Initiative. The WAC is planning to open an office there in Tian J+n Tianjin and will be very interested in the Eco-Partnership Framework and how it can be used to help relationships like the one with Tian-J-in Tianjin in Gregory Portland. Ms. Jaramillo had asked Council Members Nelda Martinez and Melody Cooper to come to speak to the Committee about the Council's hopes and goals for Corpus Christi. Kevin Aguilar Ferrari wanted everyone to be aware of all the work this Committee does with the youth exchange and the potential negative impact if we try to do another youth exchange with a new sister city. He wanted the Committee members to understand that if our youth do something bad in China, they would be arrested. He explained that would be a very difficult thing for the Committee to handle and the Committee should be careful before they proceed with a partnership with China. Drue Combs express her opinion that his concerns might be too early and "putting the cart before the horse". She said that investigating a Sister City Partnership does not predispose the Committee to having a student exchange in that relationship. Her understanding was that Ms. Jaramillo and Dr. Johnson are talking about a Partner-in-Trade relationship instead of a cultural exchange. Mr. Tim Dowling said he was excited about Ms. Jaramillo's idea about pursuing a relationship with Tian Jin, Tianjin China concerning the new industry they are bringing to our area. He mentioned that former Sister City Steering Committee member, Ellen Murry knows Josephine Miller of Portland, TX, the woman who was successful in getting Tian Jin Tianjin to invest 3 billion dollars in this area. He said his understanding is that Ms. Jaramillo is going to get information on this possibility of an Eco-Partnership. Also, since Portland, TX does not have a Sister City Program, and the University here has a 30 year relationship with China, Corpus Christi's Sister City Program is the logical source for this kind of a relationship with Tian-Jin T u ij;,�. At 7:40 p.m., Council Member Nelda Martinez arrived. She started by saying she +&has been a longtime fan of this Committee and the work it does. She continued by saying that the perspective of the City Council is to expand the business tax base here in Corpus Christi and the surrounding area. The Sister City Committee provides an opportunity to build understanding through relationships with other cities around the world. The new agreement executed with Tian Jin, Tianjin, China's TPCO, for a pipe factory, could provide us with 300 new jobs and other new opportunities. Back in 1979 the USA and China began to explore trade opportunities and bring down the "trade wall". China began to aggressively plan for foreign trade and industry but not necessarily how to best build these opportunities. Their thinking was that because they were behind in industrial growth they should not have to worry about protecting the environment, as they worked to catch up with other industrial nations. However, since the Olympics and the issues with air quality in Beijing, China is now interested in clean air, water and protection of their natural resources. Ms. Martinez said that China has stated that because they are only now catching up to the other industrial nations, they feel they should be allowed to develop their industry without the constraints of environmentally friendly technology. The USA however, has this technology and could provide that information, hence, the USA and China Framework for Eco-Partnerships. Ms. Martinez said that Tian Jin, Tianjin, China found the Corpus Christi area very attractive for a variety reasons. We have shipping, working railroads, inexpensive land, a ready work force, and water. She explained that California will not be able to handle all the shipping for this country so investors are looking to Texas. In the last 20 years, Corpus Christi has been positioning itself to accept and handle more global shipping. Corpus Christi's new, large refrigerated storage provides the opportunity for people to ship and move right into cold storage without having to, right away, ship the goods out. Plus Corpus Christi has a tremendous rail system allowing people to move freight economically on a long haul. Corpus Christi also has inter-navigable waters allowing shipping all the way to Canada. China and other nations find these assets very appealing. Ms. Martinez said that Ms. Miller, the Executive Director of San Patricio's Economic Development Corporation, has helped Tian Jin Tianjin to identify some land. Roland Mower, Director of the Corpus Christi Economic Development Corporation said this is the single biggest investment ever made in the USA. Ms. Martinez said that it's important that Tian Jin, China and Corpus Christi communicate with one another about our needs and culture. She asked that we send her a copy of our Sister City Criteria for evaluating new Sister City relationships. Ms. Martinez suggested we go forward with due diligence to explore possibilities using our strengths and resources from this area, resources like Ms. Josephine Miller, the Hart Institute for Marine Biology, Kelberg National Wildlife Refuge, the Port and others. P. Activities Committee —Westi Horn and Sharon Phillips said they would start pulling their ideas together for the Activities in either July or August next week. At this time, their plans will be for the dates will begin July 27, 2009. Q. Pen Pals — Danny Williams — No report. VIII. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA— Nothing new was added. IX. CITY STAFF REPORT: No report X. GENERAL CHAIR'S REPORT: A. Brandi Williams reported that she will follow up with Bobbie Reed about the Planning Retreat on February 21, 2009 B. She reminded everyone that our next meeting is March 2, 2009 at City Hall. XI. ADJOURNMENT: Rose Gunji moved to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. Kevin Aguilar Ferrari seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned. Chris Kailas, Sister City Recording Secretary Cultural Services Division Parks & Recreation Department The following guide explains the attendance code: AE — Absence Excused for those who were absent due to illness or Sister City Travel R — Resigned Examples of arrival or leaving times — arrival, 6:07 p.m.; or leaving, L7:00 p.m.