Present: Mary Lou Addor, Barry Mitsch (Chair), Steve Morrison, Julie Robison (Town Council Representative), Sarah Sheffield, Janice Stolzenberg, Darrell Stover (Town of Cary), and Nadette Welterlin-Hugg.

Meeting called to order at 7:45pm.

Meeting Summary Approval:

1. September 19, 2002 approved (Sarah motioned to approve, Barry seconded motion, motion approved)

2. March 22, 2002 approved with the following amendment (Mary Lou motioned to approve, Barry seconded motion, motion approved).

• Sarah Sheffield present at the March meeting.

Treasurer's Report – Barry Mitsch

Barry Mitsch reported there is approximately $400 in the SCA account. This does not include the $2,100 securing plane seats for the Ireland trip, which will be reimbursed to the account of the association once deposits are received for the trip. About $100 was spent on mailing 180 invitations to SCA members for the evening’s meeting.

Sarah Sheffield made a motion to apply for a Lazy Daze grant to update one banner for Markham, Ontario.  Barry seconded.  Motion passed. 

SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION REPORT – Commission Members

The Sister City Commission hosted a Sister City Association meeting in the Page Walker Cultural Building. Barry provided an historical and current perspective on the Sister City Commission. He discussed when each of the Sister Cities partnered with Cary and provided an overview on the activities that resulted because of these partnerships.

Two guests attended the Sister City Association meeting. One is interested in becoming a Sister City Commission Member.

The majority of the meeting was spent discussing ways to increase membership within the Sister Cities Association. Several ideas have been generated including providing benefits for membership which several commission members have worked on and explored ideas (Border’s benefit package, Connolly’s menu tickets, discounts on trips, ….). However, the Commission would like to increase not only membership, membership benefits but also involvement from the members’ in order to increase visibility of the Sister City mission and its relationship to the town of Cary.

Some commission members would like to increase partnerships with other respective cities that have expressed an interest in working together. Other commission members express concerned about creating new relationships since the commission maintains a current one, which are not as active as others. There is also a question about the whether the sister city relationships are maintained because of the champions from the representative cities or continue even if the representatives vary.

Commission members agreed that Barry should provide a 20-minute presentation in either October or November to the Town Council on the impacts and benefits of the Sister City Commission and its relationship to the town.

Commission members agreed that all commission meetings should be joint meetings of both the Commission and the Association. Barry will invite association member John Wei to attend the next Commission to discuss ways to encourage the relationship between Hsinchu City in Taiwan and Cary. John initiated the initial Sister City relationship with Hsinchu City, 1993.

Cultural Affairs and the Arts – Darrell Stover

Darrell plans to develop a marketing strategy for the Commission to increase membership of the Association. Several tasks he expects to initiate soon are:

• Provide a TV clip about the Commission on the Bud News Channel (would encourage Barry to be the spokesperson and one other commission member - perhaps one of the champions of the Sister Cities relationships such as Nadette).
• Meet with different community groups to encourage their interests. Groups would include senior citizen groups, the Teen Council, Newcomers of Cary, and others.
  

Other Business – Commission Members

• Janice Stolzenberg is resigning from the Commission.
• New members will be on board to replace Janice and Tom

September minutes did not make note of the excused absence of commission member Mary Lou Addor.

Next Meeting: November 21, 2002 @7:30pm, Conference B of Cary Town Hall