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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSISTER CITIES Notes 2001, 1993SISTER -CITY PROGRAM 859 R 218.7 adpt 4/19/71 proclaim San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico R 5324 adpt-3/20/84 authorize Mayor to meet with'Austr- MICROFICHED % ian officials regarding implementin€_ program with Salzburg - R 5734.adpt,7/16/85 authorize Mayor to meet .with.Austr- M0OFICHED ian officlils `(Mondsee,. Salzburg & Vienna) to discus's cultural :relation & sister city'`.progam (859) R 584.4= ad'pt ,�1��1�/19/85 author-ize formal .program with HPCROF{CHFD Oa Mondsee, Austria (859) SISTER CITY PROGRAM 9/23/85 by Motion appropriate $200 to join Sister Cities International for 1 year, form committee to explore program with Mondsee (Austria) (859) IUUCROFICHED �ft Sister City X Ref: See Maebaru, Japan 6/1/93 iar�I council mcmoRAnbum city oF_ an lois oBispo,:community �Evei mEntd�aatment } ._ DATE: November 15, 2001 TO: City Council Members VIA: Ken Hampian, CAO I,b 1"t 0 FROM: Betsy DeJarnette(> SUBJECT: Request for Participation in Sister City Program Recently, Ms. Merrily Karr approached the City with a request to consider participation in the Sister Cities International program. Specifically, Ms. Karr is interested in establishing a partnership with Toulouse, France, or Valencia, Spain, both having a connection to San Luis Obispo via the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. [Saint Louis (San Luis), Bishop (Obispo) de Toulouse (Tolosa), France, whose bones lie at rest in Valencia, Spain] Ms. Karr first approached Mayor Settle, who referred her to the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC). She made a brief presentation to the PCC in September but they did not feel it was in their purview and referred her back to staff. Ms. Karr then followed up with a letter to staff describing her vision and providing information on the program (attached). Upon discussing the idea of becoming a Sister City with Ken Hampian and Wendy George, it is staff's opinion that, while it is an honorable program, the City has neither the staff nor the financial resources at this time to commit to such an endeavor. As evidenced by the attached Denver Sister Cities International newsletter, once established, the program involves meetings, membership and volunteer drives, newsletters, special events and more. Although activities are accomplished primarily by a committee of interested citizens, the City serves as a catalyst for continued motivation and leadership., I understanding that a similar program was attempted a number of years ago with a town in Austria, but was unsuccessful due to the efforts needed to sustain it. I have sent a letter to Ms. Karr indicating our hesitancy to commit and informing her that should she wish to pursue the concept further, the appropriate "next step" would be to address the Council during public comment at a Council meeting. Cc: Wendy George Sister cin. memo 1101 IS C q r 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 934013249 November 15, 2001 Ms. Merrily Karr 1747 Chorro Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Dear Merrily: First, let me apologize for the time it has taken to get back to you regarding the Sister Cities program. Between staff vacations, conferences and playing catch-up, I was not able to speak with our City Administrative Officer until late last week. It is my understanding that a similar Sister Cities program was attempted a number of years ago with a city in Austria. The endeavor failed, largely due to the efforts needed to sustain motivation and leadership. Based on that experience, and staff's opinion that we currently have limited staff support and resources to devote to a new program, we are hesitant to commit to a Sister Cities partnership at this time. However, should you wish to pursue the concept further, the appropriate "next step" is to address the Council during public comment at a Council meeting. I have forwarded your correspondence to the Council members, so they are informed of your interests. The Council meets the first and third Tuesday of the month in Council Chambers, 990 Palm Street. Public comment is taken at 7:00pm. Thank you for your interest in San Luis Obispo. Sincerely, V Betsy aette Assistant to the CAO Cc: City Council Members Wendy George GAdejamette\corr\merrily karr 1101 �,'� —,-I- iCir:. ,r i3.: !i "e . i:1.� Obispo I. COfiIIT ei ( 0 )781-7 tl;e disabled in 2ll Oi its services, �irOgI'arn5 and activities. __i-1 Tetacor,-:m!Incstions Device for the Deai (805; 781-7410. September 28, 2001 Elizabeth K. Dejarnette Assistant to CAO Administration City of San Luis Obispo Dear Betsy, - 33rd Assembly District Merrily Karr CANDIDATE, DEMOCRATIC PARTY PHONE 8051550.2279 DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS 8051546.8499 E-MAIL 1 learnvac@hotmail.com Thank you for our impromptu meeting of a few weeks ago at City Hall. I believe your input is indispensable for the endeavor of a Sister City in San Luis Obispo (de Tolosa). The two cities under consideration in this exchange are Toulouse, France, and Valencia, Spain (where the saint's bones lie).. Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-profit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between the United States and international communities in an effort to increase global cooperation at the municipal level, to promote cultural understanding and to stimulate economic development. SCI leads the movement for local community development and volunteer action by motivating and empowering private citizens and business leaders to conduct long-term programs of mutual benefit. These include the categories of: education, business, culture and science. After September 11, 2001, this manner of exchange is more important than ever. The goals of Sister Cities International are to: Develop partnerships between U.S. cities, counties, states and similar jurisdictions in other nations. • Provide opportunities to citizens to experience and explore other cultures through long-term Community partnerships. e Create an atmosphere in which economic and community development can be implemented and strengthened. Y Stimulate environments through which communities will creatively learn, work and solve problems together through reciprocal cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges and projects. • Collaborate with organizations in the United States and other countries which share similar goals. The ideal affiliation involves a large number of citizens and organizations in both communities engaged in Continuing projects of mutual interest (see categories above). Cities that become partners set their own initiatives and determine what projects and programs they want to work on together. Sister Cities International was created in 1956 by the Eisenhower administration to improve global understanding and cooperation. Since that time, more than 900 communities in the U.S. have been linked with more than 1500 partners in 110 countries. SCI provides leadership, ongoing support and helps fmd,cities for this partnership. Again, thank you for your interest in this endeavor. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours us very truly, / l AMemy T. (�att 1747 Chorro St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805/550-2279 leamvac@hotmail.com j + atl�F z •F eaiVEr SISTER CITIES \ \1 hroughP DemrerSlster:Mis Int6rhMonal . { v!ww.dehversistercities:o�g ,?;i :. ; 1 789 Sherman Street, Stutz 560 , Denver CO 80203 ' President - Marsha Mallor¢Bennett ;Vfce:Presideri7 Caroline Corkey _. - Secretary Polly Cox Treasurer Steve Comstock .• �J Inside this issue: •rrY r . •h: Denver Sister Cities International, Inc. A Message From The President... Where has the time gone? It resent the concept of Peace seems like just yesterday we Through People. braved sub -zero tempera- Chennai Committee Plans Gandhi 2 tures to march in Denver's Much has been accom- annual Marade honoring the pushed at DSCI since that birth of acclaimed Nobel cold, crisp day in January Peace Prize recipient, Rev. 2001. There have been nu - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. merous fundraisers, celebra- Crowds waived enthusiasti- tions, foreign exchanges, and tally as the DENVER SISTER festivals, Membership is CITIES INTL (DSCI) banner steadily increasing. None of slowly made it's way through this could have been possible the cast of thousands to rep - without the continuing sup- port of you, the membership. As president of DSCI I take this opportunity to thank you for your commitment as we press onward in our mission to establish peace through cultural and educational ex- change in foreign lands throughout the world. To- gether, we can make it hap- pen. Marsha A. Mallory -Bennett President Kunming & Takayama Team up for Asian Boat Festival The Kunming and Takayama committees have We will need plenty of help staffing our booth so teamed up with Denver Sister Cities to partici- please contact Chance at the DSCI office to sign pate in the Asian Boat Festival. The Festival will up. You can reach us between the hours of 9:00 take place on Sunday August 19, 2001 at a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on weekdays at (303) 832- Sloans Lake which is located at the intersection 1336. of 17th & Sheridan. DSCI Committee Updates 4 We look forward to seeing all of you at the festi- The event will run from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Membership Appreciation 2 Kunming & Takayama will be sponsoring a boat Luncheon ASuccess that will participate in the Dragon Boat Race that Chennai Committee Plans Gandhi 2 morning. Many of our Sister Cities Members will Lecture Series be participating as rowers. We invite the entire f Sister Cities Community to join us for a day that DSCI Office Updates 2 promises to be fun for the entire family. In addi- Delegates RepresentDSCI at2001 4 tion to the Dragon Boat Race there will be an Annual Sister Cities Conference Market with plenty of interesting foods and AnnualAsian &RaffieSetfor 3 arts and crafts. Decem erg,Meeting December2, 20D1 DSCI Committee Updates 4 We look forward to seeing all of you at the festi- Denver Sister Cities will use the boat race as an DSCI Welcomes Walk Across 3 opportunity to create visibility for our organiza- Amedca & Takayama Students Denver Sister , 1 tion. DSCI has secured a booth that will be DSCI Membership Drive 3 staffed with members and plenty of information f about our organization. We hope this could lead TJ a to some new memberships as well as being an Delegates RepresentDSCI at2001 4 opportunity to sell tickets for the annual raffle. Annual Sister Cities Conference DSCI Committee Updates 4 We look forward to seeing all of you at the festi- val. This is an excellent opportunity to meet the rest of the Denver Sister , 1 Cities Com- munity, and of course, f cheer on all TJ a of our partici- pants. Please Join Us for The Asian Boat Festival! ! ! VBlume 2, Issue 2 - — i' Paagg -- . . e 3 Annual Meeting And Raffle Set for December 2, 2001 The Annual Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday Decem- ber 2, 2001 at the Denver Pub- lic Library. This is always a very important event for Denver Sis- ter Cities and it is our hope that all members will be in atten- dance. This is when the new Executive Committee officers will be elected and introduced to the membership. This event is also when the Annual Raffle will take place. A special thank you goes out to Teddie Throm for taking on re- sponsibility for the Annual Raf- fle. This has been a very profit- able fundraiser for DSCI in the past, and thus is very important to our organization. The prize for the Raffle is round- trip airfare to one of our nine Sister Cities (Axum, Ethiopia, Brest, France, Chennai, India, Cuernavaca, Mexico, Karmiel, Israel, Kunming, China, Nairobi, Kenya, Potenza, Italy and Taka- yama, Japan) and a homestay. The raffle tickets will be pre- pared and available for pur- chase very soon. Please don't miss this opportu- nity to win an unforgettable va- cation by purchas- ing a ticket and to raise money for DSCI by selling tick- ets. Win a trip to one of our nine Sister Cities! DSCI Welcomes Walk Across America & Takayama Students On July 23, 2001 Denver Sister Cities joined the Mayor and the City of Denver in Welcoming participants in the Walk Across America and Students from Ta- kayama, Japan. The event was held in the City and County building and was covered by the local media. The Walk Across America 2001 honor's the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Pan American Peace Treaty, which allowed Japan to reenter the interna- tional community. The walk began in February in Washing- ton D.C. and the participants have stopped in various cities as they make their was to San Francisco for a celebration on September 8th. DSCI was hon- ored to meet this very commit- ted group of people, and we marvel at their stamina. The Students from Takayama, Japan were participants in the alternating exchange program with Denver Sister Cities. This program has allowed many stu- dents from Denver and Taka- DSCI Membership Drive The Denver Sister Cities Membership drive is still underway and it's not too late to get involved. The Membership Drive is an incentive to get current members to recruit new members. Those members who recruit the most new members will receive prizes as a thank you for their efforts and commit- ment. The first prize is a free one-week stay at a villa in Cabo San Lucas. Other prizes include Rockies tickets, a free yama to uniquely experience another culture. The students were in Colorado for 10 days to participate in various activities and joined the Walk Across America as they continued to Boulder. DSCI was represented by Mar- sha Mallory -Bennett and Kitty Comstock, Takayama Chair dur- ing the welcome ceremony. And finally, a special thanks to Mr. Taiichi Fox & English Robin Inc. for their support during the stay of the Takayama students. meal at Jax Fish House, a free massage from Izba Spa, a gift certificate from Moto Photo and a free flower arrangement from Designs by Effie. Let's all get involved for the benefit of DSCI and the possibility of one of these great prizes. A number of new members have already been recruited and the contest will run through August 20, 2001. Many thanks to F.D. Wilkins, Linda Wat- son of U.S. Bank, Patrick Kingston, Leo Vyssokov, Lia Ameluxen and Effie Kavadaf for their gen- erous dona- tions. Let's support these local business' as they have so generously supported us. `The Denver - Takayama alternating exchange program has allowed many students from Denver & Takayama to ztniquely experience another cztlture. " One of our members will enjoy a week on the beaches of Mexico. Will Itbeyou? city® Sail tUIS OBISPO 990 Palm Street/Post Office Box 8100 • San Luis Obispo, CA 93403.8100 June 7, 1993 Ms. Jonni Eylar SLO County Visitors & Conference Bureau 1047 Chorro Street, Suite E San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Dear Ms. Eylar: The City Council has received your request to re-establish a sister city program; it was discussed at the June 1st meeting. The program has value and I believe the City would benefit. However, because of the serious budget crisis (including personnel layoffs) that now is now a reality, we are unable to commit to any additional expenditures at this time. It was suggested by Council that we could accept the city of Maebaru in Japan as a sister city if your office were to develop and staff the program. Please let me know if this would be feasible. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Peg Pinard Mayor /ss c: City Council John Dunn, City Administrative Officer I�The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to include the disabled in all of its services, programs and activities. V� Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (805) 781-7410.