2025-02-24 Sister City Commission MinutesEdmonds Sister City Commission
Retreat Notes
Monday, February 24, 2025
6:00 — 7:00 p m
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Pos. 1 Karen Reid Pos. 5 OPEN Pos. 9 Yuri Nishiyama
Pos. 2 Katy Renz Pos. 6 Samantha Hopper Pos. 10 Karyn Heinekin
Pos. 3 Kiwa Tashiro Pos. 7 lyoko Okano Pos. 11 Colin Torretta
Pos. 4 Anne Nadreau Pos. 8 Michele Fellows Pos. 12 OPEN
In -person attendance: Karen Reid, Colin Torretta, Samantha Hopper, Karyn Heinekin, Kiwa Tashiro
Virtual attendance:
Absent: Anne Nadreau (ex.), Michele Fellows (ex.), Katy Renz (ex.)
Staff Liaison: Carolyn LaFave
Call to Order: Karen Reid at 6 pm
Guests: none
Administration:
1. Land acknowledgement: Katy Renz
2. Approve/Amend Minutes: Motion to approve October meetings minutes was made by Karyn,
seconded by Colin, and approved unanimously.
3. Approve/Amend Agenda: Motion to approve the November agenda was made by Colin, seconded by
Sam, and approved unanimously.
Retreat:
1. Welcome and updates from Carolyn
a. Hekinan
i. No new communication
ii. Interested in a virtual visit if possible
iii. Hoping for an in -person exchange in 2026
b. City
i. Awaiting Mayor's Board & Commission Task Force recommendation
ii. 30% of Carolyn's time is spent on the Commission
iii. Virtual meet -up:
1. Do we want to do one
2. Who is interested
3. There is a lot of work in doing one
4. We will need City help
5. Akiko is leaving her position with Hekinan; will the new person be able to
handle things on their end
6. Carolyn is retiring
7. We will need to come up with compelling ideas for the meet -up
8. We could set up a subcommittee to come up with a plan
2. Review of Commission goals
a. Reviewed Katy's presentation from last November with goals for 2025
b. Need to be thinking 3-5 years down the road
c. Discussed cost of exchanges; student summer exchange is approximately 3-4k with adult fall
exchange costing around 10k
3. Non-profit status
a. Karen Reid is doing research and will get back to group
b. There are differing opinions about changing to non-profit
c. We only have a few commissioners with experience in 501c3s
d. What would the relationship be between the non-profit and the city
e. If we move to a non-profit will the city help with resources
f. How does becoming a non-profit affect the Edmonds/Hekinan Sister City agreement
4. Questions
a. Where will we be as a commission after the 2-year hiatus
b. Who will still want to be a part of the commission in 2 years
c. Can we fundraise during the 2-year hiatus
d. Can we still meet, and how
Meeting was adjourned at 7:00 pm
Next meeting tentatively scheduled for April 21, 2025 @ 6 pm. Meeting will be used to try and answer
some of the questions and decide on a plan for this year.