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07/25/2019 Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 m ap Meeting Minutes Thursday, July 25, 2019 4:00 PM Main Library - Council Chambers Sister Cities Advisory Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 Roll Call Present 5 - Chair Michael Ballard, Vice Chair Pamela Gene Benton, Board Member Candace Hays, and Board Member Sallie Parks Absent 2 - Board Member Hoyt Hamilton and Board Member/ Lucas Geraldi-Smith Also Present — Christopher Hubbard — Cultural Affairs Coordinator, Patricia O. Sullivan — Board Reporter 1. Call To Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. at the Main Library. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve the April 25, 2019 Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Member Benton moved to approve minutes of the April 25, 2019 Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting as submitted in written summation. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda: None. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Introduce new youth member Cultural Affairs Coordinator Christopher Hubbard said Member Geraldi-Smith was studying in Spain this summer, he looked forward to attending the next meeting. It was stated he had been a Young Ambassador twice and stayed involved with the program. 4.2 Review and provide direction on staff recommendations for exchange program updates Mr. Hubbard said he had discussed selection criteria with Member Benton. In addition to performance abilities and academic excellence, they recommended criteria include bright and beautiful attitudes and jovial and gregarious personalities, able to positively represent Clearwater. Internal documents will list these qualifications. The program will continue to be improved with small tweaks and regular course adjustments. It was recommended that preparation of students and chaperones be consistent and that chaperone duties be detailed. For chaperone duties, it was commented that Board members and former student participants could participate and the school system had a bank of reliable people familiar Page 2 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 with the program. It was suggested that chaperones take at least one year off between trips. Members Benton and Hays and Mr. Hubbard interviewed exchange program candidates and reviewed qualifications. Chair Ballard requested to participate next year. Mr. Hubbard said the exchange program will try to schedule more cultural activities at the Moccasin Lake Nature Park Center, including orientation meetings. It was stated that Nagano residents appreciated gifts from a student who framed pressed flowers; it was suggested that gifts of framed pressed flowers from Moccasin Lake, personalized with photos of participating students, would provide recipients a connection to Clearwater and the park. 4.3 Review and provide direction for proposed High School Exchange from Nagano for December 6-14, 2019 Mr. Hubbard said the Nagano high school student visit was rescheduled to December. In 2020, high school students will visit in mid to late October. The traditional Sayonara Party, City Day, and meeting City Council were planned. Suggestions for homestay families were welcomed. Suggestions were made that students join a City activity, visit Disneyworld's new Star Wars attraction, or participate in activities similar to ones Clearwater students experienced in Nagano. It was commented that Tokyo had a Disneyland and Nagano requested that students spend more time visiting schools. 4.4 Approve online recruitment form for Homestay Host Family Application Mr. Hubbard said the 4-page application for homestay host families was posted on the City website's Sister Cities page. The online application was designed to streamline the process and attract enough families to house exchange students, citizen delegates, and teachers. Applicants agree to background checks to ensure Sister City visitors stay in safe environments. Suggestions were made that the application request information re number of people living in the home, resident student grade level(s), and description of visitor sleeping arrangements i.e. separate or shared room, pullout coach, etc. Member Parks moved to approve the Homestay Host Family Application with recommended additions. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 4.5 Review draft of Sister Cities 60th Anniversary MyClearwater Magazine article Page 3 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 Discussion ensued with suggestions the article report the City's program was in the top echelon of oldest Sister Cities programs, was one of the most continuously active programs in the nation and facilitated more teacher and middle and high school student exchanges than most programs. It was suggested the article feature a photo of recent Clearwater exchange students. CSCI (Clearwater Sister Cities, Inc.) was thanked for their abundant efforts preserving the student exchange program. Member Parks moved to approve the Sister Cities article with recommended revisions. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 4.6 Provide direction for 60th Anniversary Official Delegation visit from Nagano Mr. Hubbard anticipated the official Nagano delegation will travel to Clearwater October 6— 107 2020. The City Council has set aside funds for the visit but preparations have not been started. Clearwater's visit to Nagano will provide ideas. 4.7 Provide direction for proposed Sister Cities relationship with Bourges, France Mr. Hubbard reviewed Sister Cities International's recommended protocols for establishing Sister Cities relationships. Bourges, France approached the City based on its Monin connection; Monin is headquartered in Bourges and its US headquarters is in Clearwater. The Sister City process has moved forward, mayors of both cities have sent greetings and Clearwater has communicated with Bourges' Vice Mayor. Mr. Hubbard will meet with the City Council next week to determine a time frame for future efforts. A Monin employee from Clearwater living in Bourges will soon return. Re a proposal to invite a Monin employee to join the Sister Cities Board, it was stated that multiple calls to the company's 800 number had not been returned. Mr. Hubbard said the City's Vice Mayor would contact the company on behalf of the Board. Discussion ensued regarding Bourges, founded in 52 BC, and its location in a rural area of central France south of Paris. Board members expressed enthusiasm about forming a Sister City relationship with Bourges. 5. Old Business Item 5.1 Approve verbal city staff post-trip report from High School Exchange to Nagano, July 2019 Mr. Hubbard said the trip went well. He requested the item be continued. Page 4 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 Member Parks moved to continue Item 5.1 to October 24, 2019. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 5.2 Provide direction for 60th Anniversary Official Delegation visit to Nagano, October 20-29, 2019 Discussion ensued re interest in joining the official delegation of 15 - 20 people. The Mayor, Councilmembers Hamilton, Cundiff and Allbritton, and Mr. Hubbard will be part of the delegation. Mr. Hubbard said a total of 15 people had indicated they would participate. It was requested that staff contact Linda Damsky, who already planned to be in Japan at that time and had a long history with Clearwater's exchange program. Mr. Hubbard reviewed the delegation's itinerary to Nagano, Kyoto, and Tokyo. The City was looking for an interpreter to accompany the delegation and interpret at official meetings, the City will pay a stipend plus travel and lodging. Members will query Japanese speaking contacts re interest. Information was requested re desired accomplishments for the delegation's visit. Mr. Hibbard said the City will seek information on Nagano efforts adapting to the technology industry and maximizing transportation options for tourists and citizens. Due to its conflict with the delegation's Nagano trip, consensus was to cancel the October 24, 2019 meeting and schedule a special meeting on September 26, 2019. 6. Director's Report Board Member/CSCI Representative Hays welcomed Mr. Hubbard back to the Sister Cities Board and thanked Mike Lavery for stepping up and working with the Board. Member Hays reviewed CSCI events, noting the organization's main scholarship fundraiser on November 3, 2019 would be at Hamburger Mary's. She said CSCI was working to establish a relationship with the Clearwater Historical Society to set up displays, hold future events in facility meeting rooms, and plant a Japanese Garden, hopefully before the Nagano delegation's arrival. Mr. Hubbard said he would contact the historical society on behalf of CSCI. Member Hays said CSCI will host an event for Nagano's delegation, Page 5 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 25, 2019 preferably a dinner boat cruise. She said Nagano had scheduled next year's Young Ambassador visit prior to the Tokyo Summer Olympics. It was noted at least 15 people in Nagano had expressed concern re difficulties finding reliable homestay families for middle and high school students and suggested reducing the number of middle school visitors to 8. It was indicated the middle and high school student visits almost overlapped and the teachers were there at the same time; one person hosted all 3 teachers at a temple. Member Hays said while 19 students applied, only 10 students were chosen. She noted Nagano had sent 13 middle school students to Clearwater last year. While Young Ambassadors stay in Nagano for a week, Nagano students visit Clearwater for only 4 days; Clearwater has encouraged longer stays. She suggested it would be unfair to accept more visiting students than Clearwater sends. Mr. Hubbard said his visit to Nagano will make communication easier re this issue. 7. Board Members to be Heard 8. Adjourn In response to a question, Mr. Hubbard will report when high school and middle school exchange student presentations to the City Council are scheduled. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. v"y., Chair - Sister Page 6 City of Clearwater ities Advisory Board