HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/21/2020 Non-Agenda Item Public Comment, Owen
From:Frank Owen <
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Natasha Mercurio
Subject:Public comment -- San Luis Obispo should join Sister Cities International, Inc.
Dear council members,
My name is Frank Owen. I am a citizen of San Luis Obispo, a member of the Central Coast Passport
Rotary Club, and an emeritus professor at Cal Poly.
For a long time now I have wanted San Luis Obispo to join Sister Cities International, Inc., an
organization in Washington, DC that promotes partnerships with cities around the world. I have
investigated this and found that many cities in California are members of this organization and have
active partnerships with cities around the globe. Santa Barbara has an active program. Bakersfield
has an active program and even a part of a public park dedicated to displaying and celebrating its
relationships with its five sister cities (Amritsar, India; Bucheon, South Korea; Cixi, China; Queretaro,
Mexico; Wakayama, Japan). Sister-city relationships can be based on mutual interests (e.g. a large
university in town), youth exchanges, cultural exchanges, tourism (an active wine industry, for
example), geological similarities (there's a subset group of port cities, for example), and also to
promote international trade. The sister-cities program was founded in the country by President
Eisenhower in the 1950s to promote peace through international engagement at a grassroots level.
Our International Services Subcommittee in our Rotary Club is interested in pursuing this program
and connecting SLO with appropriate international partners. Our immediate aims are 1) to put
together a list of potential partner cities and 2) to try to spread interest in this program to others
interested here on the Central Coast. We would form some type of volunteer citizens committee to
manage the program for the city.
What we need to do as soon as we can is to join Sister Cities International, Inc. The cost is
$610/year, but we have already found funding for that. We need to get into the organization simply
so that we can officially solicit advice and take advantage of its wealth of resources. So I/we seek
permission from the city to enroll SLO as a member city. There is absolutely no obligation on the city
for this. Official buy-in from the city takes place with each partnership we set up. We would,
however, with your permission, like to make public our joining this organization in order to solicit the
help and involvement of other interested parties.
Best wishes,
Frank Owen
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