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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/7/2023 - Meeting Minutes MINUTES FOR THE Sister Cities ADVISORY BOARD June 7th, 2023 5:00 PM- 7:00 PM City County Building- Room 126 1. Roll Call The following members of the Sister Cities Advisory Board were present: - Ricardo Beccera - John Wilson - Nicole Gallo - Annie Quan - Ross Chambless - Missy Greis - Mattie Mortensen Virtual: Ahimara Suarez The following members of the Sister Cities Advisory Board were absent: - Sheri Sorenson - Olga Efimova - Joe Zeidner Also Present: Stephen Lemmon - International Peace Garden Academy Shih-an Huang- International Peace Garden Academy Katie Matheson, Department of Economic Development Lindsey Day, Department of Economic Development Josh Paluh, Department of Economic Development 2. Briefings by the Staff 3. Approval of the minutes a. John Wilson approved the meeting minutes from 5.10.23. Ross Chambless seconded approval of minutes 4. Staff Updates i. Mr. Paluh was introduced to team as new support for the program ii. Ms. Matheson reminded the board to get OPMA training done and Conflict of Interest Forms turned in. S. Sister Cities relationship updates b. Matsumoto: Mr. Chambless Ross secured 2 opera singers to attend banquet at Squatters c. Torino: Ms. Gallo connected SLC and the Mayor in Torino Italy to connect in July with a video call (talking about sports and Olympic involvement etc.) d. Russia: no updates e. Trujillo: still working on connecting Lima /Trujillo with SLC for firefighter trainings f. Chernivtsi: no updates g. Keelung: no updates h. Matsumoto Visit i. Mr. Chambless had a meeting with UofU College of Law to talk about the details of the Climate change panel. ii. Pending NEW Sister City requests: Ethiopia (Oromin?) postponed - will discuss at next meeting a strategic approach to new cities. 6. Board Governance: i. Electing leadership: Chair &Vice Chair (2 year position) i. Ms. Matheson opened up the floor for discussion in order to elect leadership. ii. Mr. Wison, interested in being elected to leadership, has background in Government works for Chamber West and personal history with the Sister Cities program. iii. Mr. Chambless was interested in leadership, community council, school board experience and with the program for a number of years, in particular with Matsumoto. iv. Ms. Gallo: motioned to elect Ross Chair and John Vice Chair. All members approved. j. Bylaws: last updated 2003 - city team will be updating first draft with legal team: quorum can include virtual members. k. Specific City Liaison vs. at large: the team agrees it will be good to have a primary and secondary for each city I. Strategic planning/brainstorming for the program (Goals, relationships, Mayoral recommendations, etc.). Board discussed options to start with local topics (Great Salt Lake sustainability, olympics/inversion etc.), collaboration from other cities. Board also discussed researching options and bringing suggestions to the Mayor, works both ways. Example: Regional balance etc. as a type of strategy m. Sub committees: TBD (could include Diplomatic Advisory, Educational, Cultural, Economic. Events etc.). The group is interested in pursuing this structure for the next meeting. 7. Public Comment period: i. Preservation Society attended and provided an update on Peace Garden status. Many pieces were broken and stolen. CIP funding recommendation ($325k) in the works to help repair. n. Adjourn i. Ms. Mortensen motioned to adjourn, Ms. Gallo seconds. 8. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meetia2 was ad'o ed. Ross hambless, Chairperson This document and the recording constitute the official minutes of the Economic Development Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting held on June 7th, 2023.