2014-11-24 Sister City Commission MinutesEdmonds Sister City Commission
Meeting Date: November 24, 2014
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm
Attendance: Pos. 1 Michelle Van Tassell
Pos. 4 Marlene Friend
Pos. 7 Iyoko Okano
Pos. 10 Karyn Heinekin
Student Rep. Michelle Rockstead
Commissioners Absent: none
Staff Liaison: Carolyn LaFave
Guests / Public Comment: none
Administration
Agenda: moved and seconded
Minutes: Minutes for October approved
Chair's Report: none
PR Report:
Pos. 2 open
Pos. 5 open
Pos. 8 Michele Fellows
Pos.11 open
Pos. 3 Pamela Erickson
Pos. 6 Rita Ikeda
Pos. 9 open
Pos. 12 Paul Anderson
• Carolyn sent out the press release to school districts for the chaperone position. Michele
delivered flyers to private schools.
• Karyn will be available to talk with interested students and chaperones about her
experience.
Staff /Treasurer's Report:
• There has been no change in funds. There remains $500.70 in public funds and $892.19 in
private funds. Carolyn is writing a letter to the City Council to explain how we will use the
$500 Council matching grant. This letter will be presented as part of the process for
obtaining matching funds.
• We received a thank you from Mayor Negita for flowers.
• We also received an invitation for a birthday celebration for the Japanese Emperor at the
consulate for Tuesday, Dec 9, from 12-2pm.
• Hekinan sent an email saying that they were sending 15 students again for summer 2015.
Student Representative Report: none
Correspondence: Iyoko said that we received an official letter request for the AET position and a
draft contract. (see old business below)
Old Business
Cultural Event:
• The sake night event has been confirmed with Arista. It will be Saturday, February 7, 2015
from 5:30-7:30. The staff will be serving the food and beverages.
• There is a maximum capacity of 75 people. The current estimate is 50, which includes the
commissioners.
• There will be a silent auction with wine/sake and other things in 1 or 2 baskets.
• Michelle F has been working on the PR and the postcards to mail out.
• The cost of the space is $300. Tickets will be $50. The projected output for the event is
$2200 giving us approximately a $6 profit per ticket, which could be used to purchase the
auction wine. Carolyn will look into whether or not our funds can be used for this purpose.
• Karyn is looking at food sources. She will also have a projector which will be used for the
Hekinan presentation.
• The mission statement will reflect that this cultural event is promoting the ESCC and our
exchange program.
• We will be reaching out to the city, Rotary, library and schools (STARS program). Michelle F
will be doing a display at the Edmonds Senior Center.
Chaperone Planning for 2015: (see PR report above) The deadline will be 12/12/14.
Student Recruiting for 2015:
• Carolyn has updated the paperwork on the website.
• The student non-refundable deposit has been $300 and there was discussion to raise it to
$350 to cover the rising cost of airfare for the chaperones. The increase was voted on and
approved by the commission. Any overage will be spent on the delegation at the
committee's discretion.
• The deadline for student delegate applications will be 1/30/15.
• The flyer will be updated and Michele F suggested we create a URL link to the flyer.
Fund raising: Paul confirmed that we would have a fundraiser at the Red Onion on May 5, 2015. He
hopes that we will have our student delegates by then and that they can participate.
AET Planning Update: The letter from Hekinan stated that the current term ends 8/2015 and that
the new AET will begin 9/1/15. Hekinan would like to have the AET person selected between 5/13
and 5/15/2015. We will post the position mid January. Carolyn will update the previous PR,
application and website.
Commission Student Representative: After voting unanimously to have Michelle R continue as
student rep for another year, we discussed how to handle this in the future. It was agreed and voted
on that we will advertise at the end of May for new applicants for the following year.
Chair Nominations: Pam Erickson was nominated and approved as the new chairperson.
New Business
Committee/Planning Meeting for 2015: Michelle VT updated the 5 year plan and gave everyone a
copy. It will be used for the January retreat meeting. It was suggested that we create a calendar of
upcoming events.
Commissioner Recruiting: Noriko Tseng has submitted an application and will be interviewed
next week.
Next Meeting: December 15
Adjournment: 8:25pm