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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Sister Cities Committee 04/21/2005APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE JED =sun I. CALL TO ORDER THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 - 3:00 P.M. ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM Vice -Chair McIntosh called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL I1A Members Present: Patricia Bannon Donna Jean Darby Rolf Hoehn Briana Kirkwood Nancy Jo McIntosh, Vice -Chair Rose Mary Ortega Gilbert Slagel Frank Villar Gary Walker Jean Whitney Staff/Others Present: Donna Gomez, Visitor Center Manager Alibaba Farzaneh, Ex-Officio Member Terry Green, Ex-Officio Member Ignacio Otero, Ex-Officio Member O'Jay Vanegas, Ex-Officio Member Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Members Absent: Bill Harris John Marman Mark Talboys, Chair The Sister Cities Committee members introduced themselves to the new members of the Committee. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING AND THE REGULAR MEETING HELD MARCH 24, 2005 Mr. Walker moved to, by Minute Motion, approve the minutes of the special and the regular meetings of March 24, 2005. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bannon and carried unanimously by a show of hands. 10-0 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 V. NEW BUSINESS None VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF U.S./MEXICO SISTER CITIES CONFERENCE AND JOINT MEETING IN ZIHUATANEJO, JUNE 1-5, 2005. Ms. Gomez distributed the current budget to the Committee members and noted that the Community Day would not occur this fiscal year. She suggested that the Committee might want to consider subsidizing travel costs for members who were interested in attending the Conference. She noted that any City funds used for travel would have to be approved by the City Council. A discussion ensued regarding the dates of the conference, the joint meeting, travel arrangements, lodging, and who would like to attend. The Committee members asked Mr. Hoehn to research airfare for travel to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. Ms. McIntosh noted that the date of departure would be May 31 sc to return on June 7th. Mr. Hoehn said he would contact Alaska Airlines and Aero Mexico to check for favorable rates. There was further discussion regarding the cost of travel to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. The Committee discussed the activities that it would be involved in while at the Conference. Ms. Ortega said Kristy Kneiding, Marketing Manager for the City, would help the Committee with developing a video for the Conference. She said there would be a presentation on the Humanitarian Program that would include Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Gisborne, and all associated programs. The presentation would be conducted in both Spanish and English. Ms. Ortega suggested that contact be made with Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo's Committee members to let them know about the Committee's decision to attend the Conference and to ask for an agenda to be prepared for the joint meeting so that the Committee could give input to that agenda. The following Committee members showed interest in attending the conference: Donna Jean Darby, Patty Bannon, Rose Mary Ortega, 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 Gilbert Slagel, Jean Whitney, Gary Walker, and Nancy Jo McIntosh. Ms. Bannon moved to, by Minute Motion, approve the budget expenditure for Committee members and staff to travel to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, with airfare not to exceed $500 per person. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hoehn and carried unanimously by a show of hands. 10-0 B. CONSIDERATION OF SISTER CITIES BECOMING A NOW PROFIT, COMMUNITY -BASED PROGRAM The Committee members discussed the draft staff report that would be submitted to the City Council regarding the consideration of the Committee becoming a non-profit organization. Ms. Gomez said there were very minor changes made by some Committee members, which she incorporated in the draft, but nothing substantial. The Committee concurred with changing the language of Item No. 7 slightly to include, "other appropriate City departments." Ms. Darby moved to, by Minute Motion, approve Sister Cities Committee becoming a non-profit, community based program, with a change to Item No. 7 of the draft staff report to read: "The new entity would continue to work closely with the Palm Desert Visitor Center and other appropriate City departments." Motion was seconded by Mr. Hoehn and carried unanimously by a show of hands. 10-0 VII. OLD BUSINESS A. REVIEW OF GOLF TOURNAMENT RESULTS Ms. McIntosh congratulated Mr. Hoehn for the outstanding job that he had done in making the tournament a success. Mr. Hoehn said he had great assistants in Ms. Gomez and Debra Bamber (Club Intrawest). He also acknowledged everyone who helped before and during the tournament, which also contributed to its success. Ms. Gomez thanked Ms. Bamber of Club Intrawest for really taking the initiative in organizing the event and for heading up most of the activities. She thought the tournament events really worked well; i.e., the ball drop, the Chrysler test drive, the super tickets, and the silent auction. She added that they paid a little more money for those events, but felt that the Committee benefited in the end. Ms. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 Gomez distributed the financial report for the golf tournament. She noted that the financial report numbers were preliminary, as money was still coming in and going out. She said this was a learning year because of the new partnership with Club Intrawest, and she was confident that next year the tournament would be bigger and better. Mr. Hoehn wanted to put a little perspective on the fact that the tournament did not raise as much money as it had last year. He said they started planning fairly late, and because of the Tsunami relief fundraising efforts throughout the valley, it was much more difficult to gain sponsors. In addition, the Rotary Golf Tournament was the Monday preceding the Sister Cities Tournament, and they had gotten sponsorships from people that the Committee would have approached. He said considering all of that, it was a tremendous success. He said the date for the 2006 tournament would be April 21, 2006, and a few golfers had already registered. He added that Club Intrawest was committed to being a partner with Sister Cities again for next year. He agreed with Ms. Gomez in that he considered this year a ground laying foundation for future success. Ms. Darby commented that she thought that the Oakley sunglasses were being donated to the tournament. Mr. Hoehn said that they also thought they were being donated. He and Ms. Gomez discussed the issue and decided that due to all the work contributed by Club Intrawest, all of the things that they provided in - kind and in hard dollars, they would recommend that it be chalked up to miscommunication. He thought Ms. Bamber had, in good faith, said the sunglasses would be donated, only to find out later that Oakley was charging her for them. Mr. Villar congratulated the Committee on its accomplishment of a successful tournament. He said he hoped it would be one of the premium golf tournaments that people would continue to participate in year after year. Ms. Gomez said she had received responses from the schools in all three communities (Palm Desert, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, and Gisborne), regarding each school's identified needs. Ms. Gomez said she would like to pass that information onto the ACE or Education Subcommittee so they could make recommendations as to how those funds should be distributed. Mr. Hoehn said he would like to create a press release with information about the donation of 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 the funds and the tournament results when that information was available. Ms. Ortega suggested that they look for sponsorships that would cover expenses that the Committee paid for; i.e., shirts, wine & food, and drink. Mr. Hoehn said that was definitely one of the things they could pursue. Further comments made by Mr. Hoehn may be found at the end of these minutes in the Reports and Remarks Section D — Subcommittee Members — Public Relations & Promotions. Mr. Walker moved to, by Minute Motion, receive the report. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hoehn and carried unanimously by a show of hands. 10-0 B. DISCUSSION OF FIREFIGHTER TRAINING Ms. McIntosh announced that Mr. Otero had an update for the Committee regarding this item. Mr. Otero said the firefighters from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo were unable to obtain Visas for travel to the United States. Mr. Vianueva recommended that the Palm Desert firefighters travel to Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo and hold the training there. Mr. Otero agreed with Mr. Nueva because there were 42 firefighters who eventually would need to be trained. He said that the buildings, fire protection systems, and elevators in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo were different than here, and it would be more efficient to train the firefighters in their own buildings. He said they had a budget of $5,000 to cover travel expenses to Palm Desert, but they could travel to Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo in May for around $3,500. He requested that the Committee approve sending four firefighters to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo for training from May 16-20, 2005. He said they were hoping that those dates would coincide with the delivery of the fire engine, as it would be beneficial to train the firefighters on that particular fire engine. Mr. Hoehn said he would check on airfare for the firefighters during his research for the Committee. Mr. Walker moved to, by Minute Motion, support the new direction for the Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo firefighters' training program in an amount not to exceed the existing budget of $5,000. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hoehn and carried unanimously by a show of hands. 10-0 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 VIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. CITY COUNCIL Mayor Buford Crites gave a brief presentation about a meeting he and Patricia Bannon had with Robert Burnside, Chief Lifeguard for Los Angeles County Parks & Beaches. He said Mr. Burnside was involved with an organization called "Club Tortuga," which was a subsidiary of the U.S. Lifesaving Association. Mr. Burnside's organization created lifeguard -training programs for communities in Mexico, and he was interested in finding out more about starting a program in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. Mayor Crites felt this would be a worthwhile project to explore and suggested that the Humanitarian Subcommittee meet with Mr. Burnside to discuss his program. Ms. Bannon gave a brief review of Mr. Burnside's past programs. She said Mr. Burnside's organization receives grant monies for its training programs and added that "Club Tortuga" just completed a lifeguard -training program in Acapulco. Mr. Otero mentioned that Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo's firefighters were also the lifeguards, and they had not been trained in lifeguard safety. He said it sounded like a good program to him, and he agreed to participate in a meeting with Mr. Burnside. Ms. McIntosh suggested that Ms. Bannon invite Mr. Burnside to a Sister Cities meeting. Ms. Bannon said she would arrange the meeting with Mr. Burnside and inform the subcommittee and Mr. Otero of the time, date, and place. B. COMMITTEE CHAIR I N10 - C. COMMITTEE MEMBERS None n. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 D. SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS - Art, Culture & Education Ms. McIntosh reported that Miriam Swarbrick responded to the correspondence regarding the Student Exchange Program and that Gisborne's Sister Cities Committee was in support of the Program. She said once a firm commitment was received from Ms. Swarbrick, they could move ahead with the Program. She gave the completed legal documents for the Program to Donna Gomez to be forwarded to the City Attorney. Ms. Darby said Ms. Swarbrick placed an ad in the paper for the Artist in Residence Program. She said they would have to wait to see how much interest that ad would generate. She was hopeful that the scheduled two -week period in mid -October would still occur. She said the Aesthetic Education Program was set; it was just a matter of time and who would be chosen for the Program. Ms. McIntosh said she contacted Bob Harken, Manager of the Palm Springs Tram, asked him for complimentary tram ride tickets for the Aesthetic Education Program, and he was donating 30 tickets for the morning of Saturday, June 25th. O'Jay Vanegas distributed photographs from the January 2005, opening of the Maori Art Exhibit at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. He noted that the Maori exhibit would be closing in July, and he inquired as to where the artwork would go next. Ms. McIntosh said they have had discussions about finding a gallery that would exhibit the artwork. Ms. Darby said they could still pursue that, if it was necessary, or get feedback from Ms. Swarbrick regarding the artwork. Ms. Gomez mentioned that Ms. Swarbrick said she would speak with the artists'. Ms. Swarbrick offered that maybe the artists' would want to donate their artwork, but Ms. Gomez did not think that was a realistic possibility. Mr. Vanegas also mentioned that Ginger Ridgway, curator of the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, was going to Tonga and then onto New Zealand for the Anthropology Association's annual meeting. He said the Museum had extended Ms. Ridgway's leave an additional week so she could visit Gisborne. He requested that the Committee prepare an itinerary for Ms. Ridgway to introduce her to 7 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 the Sister Cities Committee in Gisborne and also to give her some ideas as to where to go and what to see while in Gisborne. Ms. Darby said she would like to make sure that Ms. Ridgway has an opportunity to meet the individuals from Gisborne while they are here in Palm Desert for the Aesthetic Education Program. Ms. Darby announced that they received six applications from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. She said the applications were judged, and four were chosen. Ms. Gomez said Ms. Swarbrick would be providing the Committee with applications within the next two or three weeks. The discussion continued regarding the dates of the Aesthetic Education Program, June 20-29, 2005. The Committee members further discussed the activities that were planned and encouraged all of the members to attend the events. Mr. Otero offered to host dinner for the Program attendees just like last year. The Committee concurred that that would be wonderful. Mr. Otero said to let him know what night, and he would be happy to do that. - Tourism & Economic Development None - Humanitarian Ms. Ortega updated the Committee with regard to the delivery of the fire engine to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. She said the paperwork was completed, and three people were designated to receive the fire engine and complete the paperwork at customs. Ms. Ortega was also researching the possibility of shipping the fire engine and the flatbed truck to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo together. However, she felt that since everything was ready for the fire engine, she would rather complete that process and work on getting the flatbed truck there at a later date. Ms. Bannon mentioned that she had spoken with Mr. Amador and that he agreed to pay for the cost of the delivery for the two vehicles. Ms. Ortega said the problem was not the cost of delivery; it was that there was no paperwork for the flatbed truck. She said another possibility would be to take the truck to customs in Mexicali 8 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 and pay an import fee. Ms. Bannon said Mr. Amador would pay the import fee. Upon question by Mr. Otero, Ms. Ortega said she would receive word by Friday, April 22"d, or Monday, April 25th, regarding the date of delivery for the fire engine. Ms. McIntosh made a request of Mr. Otero to give any photographs available from the trip to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and the firefighters' training to Ms. Gomez so they could be included in the video. Ms. Ortega added that any photographs that Mr. Vanegas could contribute to the video would be greatly appreciated. She noted that Kristy Kneiding, the Marketing Manger for the City of Palm Desert, would be helping to put together the video for the Committee to take to the U.S./Mexico Conference. - Public Relations & Promotions Mr. Hoehn gave a follow-up of the golf tournament. He said he was currently working on an ad with Club Intrawest that would run in The Desert Sun thanking the sponsors for their participation in the tournament. He was also working with Ms. Gomez on thank you letters to people who donated items for the silent auction. He said the Promotion Subcommittee would have a debriefing of the tournament once Mr. Talboys returns, and they would then set a plan in action for next year's tournament. In particular, all promotional ideas would need to be generated months in advance and then coordinated with the local media to promote Sister Cities activities. He added that a picture of the fire engine being delivered to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo would be a great media event. Mr. Hoehn thanked Mayor Crites for meeting with the media the day of the tournament, and he also thanked Mr. Otero for his team. Upon question by Ms. McIntosh, Ms. Gomez responded that they registered 92 golfers. Mr. Villar said the seed for the tournament had been planted, and it was very successful. Mr. Hoehn agreed that the tournament was a great platform for the Sister Cities Program. Ms. Ortega suggested that the Committee be more conscientious next year with regard to expenditures; i.e., food and beverage. Mr. Hoehn said while he was comfortable with the cost of the 9 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE APRIL 21, 2005 tournament, it was the revenue side that he would like to see increased. He said there was a competing tournament the Monday before the Sister Cities' tournament and felt that contributed to a loss of market share. He was very confident about next year's results and comfortable with the Committee's new partner, Club Intrawest. Mr. Slagel mentioned that he had already signed up a golfer for next year. Mr. Hoehn added that he thought the concept of a reception in lieu of a sitdown dinner was more conducive to interaction with individual players. He also felt the Committee was better able to answer questions about the Sister Cities Program in that environment. E. STAFF Ms. Gomez announced that Carmen Huras from Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo's Sister Cities Committee had resigned. Ms. Huras was the chair of the Ecology Subcommittee and had done a wonderful job with that subcommittee as well as being involved with other great programs. Ms. Gomez said Ms. Huras stated that she would very much like to keep in touch with the Palm Desert Sister Cities Committee members. She said Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo's Sister Cities Committee would advise when a new chair is appointed for that subcommittee. IX. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 5.30 p.m. Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary *Reminder: Our next meeting will be held May 19, 2005 at 3:OOp.m. 10