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04/28/2022 Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 28, 2022 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 m s Meeting Minutes Thursday, April 28, 2022 4:00 PM Main Library - Council Chambers Sister Cities Advisory Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 28, 2022 Roll Call Present 5 - Chair Michael Ballard, Board Member Candace Hays, Board Member/ Councilmember Lina Teixeira, Board Member Sallie Parks, and Board Member Doug Kelly Absent 2 - Vice Chair Pamela Gene Benton 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. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve the minutes of the January 27, 2022 Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting. Member Hays moved to approve minutes of the January 27, 2021 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 Review an update on a Sister Cities request from the city of Ixmiquilpan, Mexico. The city of Ixmiquilpan, Mexico has approached the City with a proposal to establish a new Sister Cities relationship. Cultural Affairs Coordinator Christopher Hubbard provided an overview of Ixmiquilpan, Mexico and that city's efforts to establish a Sister Cities relationship with Clearwater which included last month's visit by an official delegation. A large number of Clearwater residents and business owners emigrated from the Ixmiquilpan area. The process, based on Sister Cities International protocols, has begun. Ixmiquilpan wants to focus on education, with middle and high school student exchanges and a possible partnership between Ixmiquilpan's university system and St. Petersburg College focusing on technical or higher learning. Support for the relationship was expressed with comments that this would be an exciting, unique opportunity to expand Clearwater's Sister City program, the Mexican Consulate's involvement was impressive and improving St. Petersburg College's Spanish language program would be beneficial. In response to questions, Mr. Hubbard said budget requirements at this point were minimal. Future costs depend on the scope of the relationship which Page 2 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 28, 2022 could include official delegation trips and funding educational exchanges. The City would encourage establishing a friendship club in Ixmiquilpan. Consensus supported establishing a Sister City relationship with Ixmiquilpan. 5. Old Business Items 5.1 Review an update on the status of the Nagano exchange programs. Review an update on the status of the 2022/2023 high school, teacher, and official delegation anniversary exchange programs. Mr. Hubbard said the exchange program was in a holding pattern until the pandemic declines. Staff has forwarded to Nagano the City Manager's request to consider scheduling an official delegation exchange in 2023 and adding a youth sports component to the exchange program. The City plans to record well wishes to Nagano as a form of exchange. 5.2 Review an update on the progress of Sister Cities discussions with Bourges, France. An update on the ongoing conversation between Clearwater and Bourges, France on the formation of a reciprocal travel (student, teachers, officials), economic, and cultural exchange program. Mr. Hubbard said the City is waiting for an operation response from Bourges. Bourges expressed interest in an economic based relationship; an education component has not yet been considered. It was noted that Bourges originally had reached out to Clearwater to establish a Sister City relationship. 5.3 Review an update on the Sister Cities Young Ambassadors scholarship. Status update on the formation and funding for a scholarship program to support the exchange of middle school students to Nagano as party of the Clearwater Sister Cities, Inc. Young Ambassadors program. Mr. Hubbard said the City was in the process of establishing flexible guidelines to review applications for presentation to the City Council in May. 6. Director's Report Board Member/CSCI (Clearwater Sister Cities, Inc.) representative Hays said in February CSCI held its first virtual event with Nagano. She said Nagano will be able to attend virtually an Ichiban demonstration on May 27 at the Countryside Recreation Center. She said Nagano will schedule a demonstration this summer for local viewers. Ms. Hays reported Thomas Wools had passed away. He was a founding Page 3 City of Clearwater Sister Cities Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 28, 2022 member of CSCI and an important part of the organization's development. Ms. Hays announced that Stephanie Chill was elected as the new CSCI Chair at the board's annual meeting. She said Ms. Chill will be nominated to the City Council to represent CSCI at future Sister Cities meetings. In response to her concern re information on the Sister Cities International website, Mr. Hubbard said the City had filed paperwork to dissolve Clearwater's Sister City relationship with the Greek and Australian cities but had not received responses. The City will ask Sister Cities International re the time frame to remove outdated information from its website. Until the City receives the information, an emeritus status will be maintained. Ms. Chill said the International Folk Festival Society had taken over Sister City exchanges for the City of St. Petersburg. Ms. Hays was thanked for her service and wonderful efforts. 7. Board Members to be Heard Board Member Kelly introduced himself. 8. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Page 4 City of Clearwater Chair - Sister Cities Advisory Board