2013-01-28 Sister City Commission MinutesEdmonds Sister City Commission
Meeting Date: January 28'h, 2013 — Meeting Minutes
Pos. 1 Michelle Van Tassell
Pos. 4 Marlene Friend
Pos. 7 lyoko Okano
Pos. 10 Beth Fuhriman
Pos. 2 Ray Olitt
Pos. 5 Kay Vreeland
Pos. 8 Kody McConnell
Pos. 11 Jill Van Berkom
Commissioners not in Attendance: Jill Van Berkom
Staff: Carolyn LaFave
Pos. 3 Yoshitaka Inoue
Pos. 6 Rita Bailey Ikeda
Pos. 9 Joseph Fletcher
Pos. 12 Paul Anderson
Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:09pm. Pat Ratliff from the Edmonds Beacon was
introduced and asked to relate his ideas about the Commissioner profile stories to be featured in the
periodical. The following schedule was developed:
Featured on: 2/1— Rita, lyoko, Michelle
2/7—Jill, Marlene, Kay
2/14 — Ray, Paul, Kody, Joseph
The deadline for submission of photos and stories is a week prior to the publication date. Pat also asked
for articles about the upcoming trip to Japan — points of interest, activities, and day-to-day photos.
Pat can be reach at the email contact address: Pat Ratliff edmondsed itor(cD_you rbeacon. net
There were no further guests for citizen input. The meeting agenda was not modified.
Minutes: The minutes of the December meeting were edited by the group while Joseph gave
instructions on how to access the meeting minutes on the Google Drive online account. The process
proved to be complicated enough that the group decided to revert to distribution of the minutes via
email and using the secretary as the keeper of the minutes.
Treasurer's report: Kody distributed copies of the current treasurer's report to the members in
attendance showing the current financial state of the Commission. The report will be archived.
Staff Reports:
Student Representative
AET Recruit
Carolyn has been working with Yoshi on the AET package that includes a sample contract, coverpage,
letter and a letter from a former AET. Additionally, an article will be run in the Edmonds Beacon
describing the position. lyoko proposed that the deadline be executed on the end of February. The
group discussed the date of March 15t" as a better date.
Adult Delegation Update
Carolyn also reports that two registration forms were received for the Mayor's Delegation to Hekinan.
Carolyn believes there are more on the way. The Mayor's office is preparing a number of media
contacts getting the word out about the trip.
Kay is still working with the group interested in organizing the lantern walk. It was decided that the
evening slot during the adult delegation visit is not an option. This is still in the works for the 2014
student delegation timeframe.
Library Lobby/Senior Center Displays
lyoko heard from the Frances Anderson Center that a display space will be available to be used by the
Commission. Beth remarked that the Library's glass display case in the lobby is being used in October
but will be available to us in September. The group expressed idea that there might be additional
locations that could participate in our efforts when the Hekinan delegation visits Edmonds.
Correspondence:
Carolyn reports that the Mayor's office has been contacted by the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club who
is very interested in meeting a gardening group in Hekinan. Michelle is working to find a suitable
contact. Marlene mentioned a contact, Noriko Katayama, a chaperone with the student delegation last
summer, who might have information concerning garden clubs.
Review of the Five Year Plan: Michelle distributed copies of the City Codes Section 10.60 — Edmonds
Sister City Commission. She pointed out several sections which affect the operation and management of
the Commission. Kody will research the budget and expenditures from the delegation which visited in
1998 to find a projected budget for the upcoming visit.
Review of the Five Year Plan: Michelle discussed the previous meeting where we updated the
wording of some of the sections. She reorganized the column headers and incorporated the changes
suggested at the retreat. This revised document can be found in the attachments. Further updates
were made in the discussion during the meeting. These will be presented in an updated document.
Michelle asked for other volunteers to join her to create the final version. Ray, Paul and Beth
volunteered to join this effort. Ray mentioned as a comment that the current document is very process
heavy and reflects little of the spirit of the Commission. Others reflected that the document will be
expanded and that the details of the process are important to be documented and illustrate activities
for new Commissioners.
Kody expressed the idea that the Commissioners should exercise greater autonomy. Others agreed with
this sentiment with the limitations being the disbursement of funds — which requires voting.
Pamphlet
Joseph provided a limited number of copies of the revised tri-fold flyer to several members who will
provide feedback prior to the next meeting.
Announcements
Seattle -Kobe Sister City Association is having their New Year's Party on Feb 2nd from 4-8PM at Point
Edwards Charter Club in Edmonds.
Tabled:
Next Meeting: February 25th , 7 to 9PM — Edmonds City Hall.
Adjournment: 8:57PM