HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 12/15/2022 wt 1201 Leopard Street
City of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi,TX 78401
cctexas.com
Meeting Minutes - Final
Sister City Committee
Thursday, December 15,2022 11:00 AM 6th Floor Conference Room
Special Meeting
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A. Call To Order
11:02 am Chairman Melody Cooper Called the meeting to order
B. Roll Call
Tammy Embrey Called the Roll
Present: 9- Almira Flores, Deacon Marck C.Arnold, Chair Melody H. Cooper, Mirza Pearson,Adria
Vasquez,Arthur Wallace,Vice Chair Luis F. Cabrera,Valerie Harbolovic,and Susane
"Westi" Horn
C. Public Comment
None
D. Approval of Minutes and Action on Absences
1. Adoption of Minutes and Action on Absences
Attachments: Nov 2022 minutes-draft. of
This Minutes was approved.
E. Committee Reports -none
F. Staff Reports
2. Briefing from Asst City Secretary Ruth Bocchino
Role of Committee
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Process for updating Policies
Process for updating Ordinance
Process for Utilizing Volunteers/Partnerships
Ruth Bocchino started with the purpose of an advisory committee and what their
responsibilities are under city charter; she explained what can constitute a meeting and
how to avoid those situations; She discussed how to communicate with each other; She
also informed the Committee the procedure for changing the ordinance governing the
Committee and stated that the City Secretary has requested that all changes to
ordinances that govern committees be submitted to her office by December 19th; She
also advised that the Committee was to use their staff liaison (Wendy Herman) for all
Policy updates or correspondence with City Council members and other City Staff. The
topic of using volunteers at events was discussed and Tammy offered to get the
guidelines from the Parks Department.
3. Briefing by Aimee Alcorn Reed
Open Meeting Act
Aimee Alcorn Reed from Legal also advised the Committee on the best practices to
ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Act.
G. Unfinished Business - none
H. New Business for Discussion and Possible Action
4. Election of Officers
Melody Cooper was Elected Chairman
Mirza Pearson was elected Vice Chairman
Elections will be held moving forward in October of each year.
5. Strategic Planning Discussions
Organizational issues
Review Current Guidelines and Ordinances Governing Committees
Examine Current Bylaw redlines
Topics for Considerations
Purpose of SCC
Value to the Communities
Goals for 2023
-Programs: Student Exchanges; Cultural Exchanges; Social Media/Virtual
Exchanges
-Other Goals; Evaluate Existing City Relationships; Adding new Cities
Strategic Partnerships
Budget for 2023
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Identifying Partnerships
Value to our Partners
Legal Limitations of Partnerships
Topics of Discussion:
Review of Current Ordinance: The Committee recommended the following changes to
the governing ordinance:
--to strike "Parks & Recreation" from the Ordinance and add "Intergovernmental
Relations" as the committee liaison;
--add one Ex-officio Member representative from Visit Corpus Christi;
--to expand the Committee to 11 members.
Adria Vasquez made the motion; Val Harbolovic seconded; Passed unanimously
Review of Current Policies: After a brief discussion, it was decided to table this until each
member had an opportunity to look them over and make red-lines; This will be discussed
at the January meeting.
Strategic Partnerships: The number of cities that we have active interactions with was
discussed; It was suggested that we talk to either a person from Sister Cities
International or someone from EI Paso or Fort Worth who have a vibrant program to
garner some fresh ideas and discuss how their operating structure; Wendy will set that up
for the January meeting; It was decided that Melody Cooper, Valerie Harbolovic and Art
Wallace would serve as a sub-committee to visit with the other cities about their structure.
Student Exchanges: Luis gave a report about the changes to the application from Legal
and said that they would have the new applications ready for review at the January
meeting; also, it was discussed which cities the students would visit in 2023, and it was
agreed that Agen, France and Yokosuka, Japan would be the focus.
Budget: This item was tabled at Tammy Embrey's suggestion until we hear from Finance
that the SCC cost center has been re-established.
6. Discussion
Annual Report Due January 23, 2023
Chairperson Cooper offered a draft of the Annual Report that must be submitted by
January 23, 2023; After review it was unanimously approved and staff will file with the City
Secretary's office. Luis Cabrera made the motion, and it was seconded by Mirza
Pearson.
7. Discussion
Date for Special Meeting in January 2023 due to Legislative Session
January's meeting will be January 9, 2023 at 12 noon
I. Future Agenda Items
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Future discussion items include:
Art installation at the CC Airport; Future fundraising opportunities; and Chairperson
Cooper would like to get on the Council's agenda in January to brief them on the Agen,
France visit.
J. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1:04 pm
This meeting may be held via videoconference call pursuant to Texas
Government Code § 551.127. If this meeting is held via videoconference call or
other remote method of meeting, then a member of this governmental body
presiding over this meeting will be physically present at the location of this
meeting unless this meeting is held pursuant to Texas Government Code §
551.125 due to an emergency or other public necessity pursuant to Texas
Government Code § 551.045.
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