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Meeting date/time:
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11/15/2017
10:00 AM
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Minutes status:
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Final
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Meeting location:
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Zeidler Municipal Bldg, Room 102 (Fishbowl)
841 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202
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| | | | Meeting convened at 10:03 a.m.
Minutes note: Present 5 - Stamper, Durtka, Tovar, Barta, Vang | | | |
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| | 1. | | Review and approval of the previous meeting minutes from September 27 and October 20, 2017.
Minutes note: Meeting minutes from September 27 and October 20, 2017 were approved without objection. | | | |
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| | 2. | | Discussion on establishing a sister city relationship with Irpin, Ukraine.
Minutes note: a. Review application
Individuals appearing:
Boris Nayflish, Griffon Brands
Joseph Spolowicz, St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church
Natalia Semko, City of Irpin
Irene Spolowicz, St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church
Ms. Semko gave an introduction. She is a first aide for Mayor Vladimir Karpluk of Irpin in the areas of education, health, public works, sports, religion, and ecology. A delegation from Irpin, including Mayor Karpluk, had visited Milwaukee previously and was inspired by that visit. The new Irpin administration envisions modernizing their city and was impressed with Milwaukee’s implementation processes from the various departments, such as the fire department and public works, which were visited. She is here to represent Mayor Karpluk and will be in the City for 6 days.
Member Tovar said that his office helped arrange the previous Irpin delegation to visit Froedtert Hospital, police academy, fire department, library, public works, the port, and recycling facility in Milwaukee.
Mr. Nayflish played a short video on Irpin achievements from the last 3 years, which can be found within Common Council File Number 171188.
Ald. Stamper inquired about similarities between the cities, room for improvement for Milwaukee, the sponsoring structure on the side of Irpin, activities occurring in Milwaukee, and Ukrainian food.
Ms. Semko replied. Irpin is a young city, is growing, and is becoming digitalized to allow for more projects and efficiency there. Irpin is 8 kilometers from Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Urkaine features health facilities, many recreational activities and parks, and has bidded for the next children’s Olympic games. There will be exchanges in the areas of education, healthcare, and folk festivals from a relationship.
Mr. Spolowicz remarked. St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church (1025 S. 11th St.) will be the local nonprofit sponsoring organization in Milwaukee. He has been with the parish since 1956 when he and his family emigrated from Ukraine camps after World War II. There is a Ukrainian dance group, connected with the parish, that has been performing at the Holiday Folk Fair for many years.
Mr. Nayflish replied. There are 3 different non-governmental organizations (2 religious and 1 civil) in Irpin supporting the relationship. Food in Ukraine consists of Mediterranean, Asian, Japanese, and Ukranian.
Ms. Spolowicz added that Ukrainian community only participates in the Holiday Folk Fair with a dance group and no longer does food or exhibits anymore due to costs since the fair moved from downtown. She questioned the venue of the Holiday Folk Fair.
Mr. Durtka responded. The Holiday Folk Fair was moved from downtown due to major issues with facilities, parking difficulty, and parking costs.
Mr. Lee commented. After committee approval of the application today, a resolution to establish a sister city relationship would need Common Council adoption. There is possibility for a resolution to be scheduled for the 12/6/17 Community and Economic Development Committee and 12/19/17 Common Council meetings. Once the resolution is adopted by the Common Council and signed by the City mayor, a signed agreement would need to be signed by both mayors traditionally through a signing ceremony in Milwaukee or Irpin. Coordination for signing an agreement should commence in 2018.
Member Tovar moved approval, seconded by member Barta, of the application to establish a sister city relationship with Irpin, Ukraine with St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church as the local nonprofit sponsor. There was no objection.
Meeting recessed at 10:40 a.m. and reconvened at 10:44 a.m. | | | |
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| | 3. | | Discussion on participation in the Holiday Folk Fair International (Nov. 17-19, 2017).
Minutes note: Individuals appearing:
Arlisia McHenry, City Clerk Community Outreach Liaison
Paige Prichard, Celtic Milwaukee (Irish Festivals Inc.)
Khay Khong
Ms. McHenry gave an update. An exhibit display has been completed and incorporates information on the City’s current sister cities. There is a poster board of Ald. Stamper with a welcoming message. There will be city and sister city flags on the table. A staffing schedule has been brought to the committee for review that includes student volunteers from Job Corps. She will be training the student volunteers. Staff has provided educational materials for everyone to review and prepare to answer questions from exhibit visitors. She will be at the fair the majority of the time, especially in the evenings. At the request of member Durtka, materials will be given to visitors upon request and not freely due to visitors frequently discarding materials oftentimes. Name tags can be given to volunteers. She plans to take pictures.
Ms. Prichard said that there are representatives, such as Barry Stapleton from the Ward Irish Music Archives, who can staff the booth on Friday and provide several materials.
Mr, Khong said that he can help staff the booth sporadically since he will be present alongside the separate Indonesian booth at the fair.
Mr. Durtka commented. Volunteers should enter from west entrance of the building. Tickets are available for volunteers, can be picked up on Thursday from his office, and are valid for all 3 days of the fair. The fair is in its 74th year, has changed location several times, and has different kinds of groups participating, performing, or showing crafts. Groups include those representing Indonesia, Bahamians, Nome (Alaska), possibly Uzbekistan, and Irish. The Kenyan group could no longer attend. There will be 21 food groups. New food groups this year include Nepalese and Japanese. There will be many activities and major exhibits, such as those for or on Ramadan, refugees, Statute of Liberty, and Kosciuszko 200th anniversary. There is a program schedule available. There is no free parking, and volunteers will have to pay for parking or park on the streets. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Review of additional position job description.
Minutes note: Mr. Lee commented. The City Clerk appeared at the last meeting to present to and discuss a job description for a City position for the City’s sister cities program. The job description was compiled based on all past recommendations made by the committee. The job description is before the committee for review and possible approval.
Ald. Stamper read out loud the following essential functions in the job description:
40% of time to promote and operate sister city programming and activities for the city, considering short- and long-term goals and best impact for the city relative to economic and social exchange; using best practices, develop and maintain a marketing and communication plan for promotion and increasing public awareness of the program, local relationships, and their benefits to the community, city departments, and public-private institutions in consideration of different demographics and media types.
30% of time to fundraise, identify, apply, and obtain available funding or grants for the program and local relationships.
10% of time to assist and support local sponsors to maintain or establish successful and active sister city or friendly exchange relationships on an ongoing basis relative to relationship building, coordination, and guidance.
10% of time to travel and attend Sister Cities International annual conferences as well as to assist local sponsor events and program-related meetings and events.
5% of time to serve as secretary to the Sister Cities Committee.
5% of time to respond to and provide information to inquiries from the public and interested parties.
Member Barta questioned the ordinance restricting a financial piece for sister city purposes.
Mr. Lee replied that the ordinance prohibits use of City funds only for travel related to sister cities.
Ald. Stamper commented. Other cities have full time staff dedicated to do fundraising for their programs. An ordinance change will be done accordingly based on approval of the job description and adding a new City position.
Member Tovar said that the Department of Employee Relations will have to do a market study to determine a salary for the position.
Members discussed and said that the travel requirement should be clarified further to determine whether or not the costs associated to travel would be covered under City funds, other sources of funds, or under the employee’s own personal funds.
Ald. Stamper said that language should be added to the travel requirement to state that the type and amount of travel would be based on the amount of City funds or funds from other sources that is set aside on a yearly basis.
Member Durtka commented. The committee should explore if the new position should be placed within an agency outside of city government like how most other cities have for their sister cities programs. There may be competitive conflicts for fundraising amongst city departments. Further discussion is needed to determine the best route to take, whether to have an outside agency or not take on a sister city program for the City. A city-run program has the risk of being negatively impacted by changes in city administration, officials, efforts, or prioritizations. An outside agency-run program may offer more continuity despite changes in government. Another issue to address is that such a position does require much travel.
Mr. Lee said that the overall sentiment from the committee over the course of its past meetings on the matter has been to keep the program within city government.
Member Vang said that the committee should explore its options further to determine whether or not City efforts or an outside agency’s efforts are best suited to do programming and fundraising.
Member Barta said she needed more evidence to support having a City-run program and position.
Member Tovar said that other options should be explored and that an outside agency doing programming would not affect the City’s budget as much.
Ald. Stamper commented. A city-run program should be fine if there is no conflict of interest in doing fundraising. He is comfortable with a program being inside the City. Review of the job description should be held until the next meeting to allow the committee to also have further discussion on the benefits and negatives of having a program be within City government or outside to a nonprofit agency. Previous meeting minutes should be reviewed on past committee discussion on whether the program should be inside or outside municipal government.
Member Durtka moved to hold to the call of the chair review of the job description. There was no objection. | | | |
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| | 5. | | Discussion on sister city events.
Minutes note: a. Meet and greet
Individual appearing:
Khay Khong
Mr. Khong gave an update. He was asked at the last meeting to inquire about possible venues. Colectivo on Farwell Ave. has a conference room that can be used. The Global Water Center, where he works at, has a conference room or lobby space that can be used.
Ald. Stamper commented. He needs to meet and plan with staff to determine the date, costs, and activities. He will then come back to the committee for input on expected outcomes of the event, including getting everyone to know about each other’s sister city relationship better. Members can send ideas to staff.
b. Other
There was no other discussion. | | | |
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| | 6. | | Announcements.
Minutes note: Member Durtka announced that there is a new director of Sister Cities International, and SCI will have its next national meeting next year in Aurora, Colorado. | | | |
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| | 7. | | Agenda items for the next meeting.
Minutes note: Agenda items to include job description, meet and greet, Holiday Folk Fair recap, update on establishing a sister city relationship with Irpin, Ukraine, and infrastructure (within or outside City government) for administration of the sister city program. | | | |
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| | 8. | | Set next meeting date and time.
Minutes note: Ald. Stamper said he will consult with staff to determine the next meeting date, possibly in January 2018 or beyond. | | | |
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| | 9. | | Adjournment.
Minutes note: Meeting adjourned at 11:18 a.m.
Chris Lee, Staff Assistant
Council Records Section
City Clerk's Office | | | |
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