Town of Cary
SISTER CITIES COMMISSION (SCC)
Page-Walker Arts & History Center
Minutes of November 20, 2003 Meeting

Present:  Mary Lou Addor, Jinnie Davis, Ian Henshaw, Steve Morrison, Sarah Sheffield, Darrell Stover (Staff Liaison)

Absent: Mary Brice, Lisa Englert, Amy Feistel, Samuel Fudzie, Sharon Hannigan, Cricket Harrell, Selby Lo, Jack Smith (Council Liaison)

Handouts:  Agenda (Steve), Minutes (Jinnie), E-mail to Stephen Chait on Proposed Objectives for Cary-Markham Pen Pal Program (Mary Lou), 13 October 03 Letter from Hsinchu (Jinnie)

CALL TO ORDER:  Steve Morrison called the meeting to order at 7:39 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Members reviewed the minutes of the 16 October meeting but could not approve them in the absence of a quorum. Approval tabled until December meeting.

STUDENT PEN PAL PROJECT UPDATE:  In response to a request from Markham for objectives of the pen pal exchange, Mary Lou Addor has been working with Selby Lo to develop a draft document, which she went over with the commission. Mary Lou has sent the list to Stephen Chait and requested a review and response from the Markham Youth Task Force. Selby would like all the sister city liaisons to establish the groundwork for a pen pal program with their city, after which he can follow up directly with the students involved.

MATERIALS EXCHANGE PROJECT UPDATE:  Jinnie Davis reported that she has received no changes to the draft boilerplate document for use by the sister city liaisons. Karen Gray has been very willing to obtain both the book and the videotape for our use. Jinnie suggests adding a reference in the letter to the Chamber of Commerce CD, then allowing each liaison to send the query out with specific modifications as needed. They are to report back to Jinnie after they hear which items their city would like, so Jinnie can give a total count to Karen.

Jinnie noted that Lisa Englert has agreed to serve as her back-up on this project and will join the Web Committee, which originated the idea. Because of the broader scope of its work, that committee will be renamed the Information Systems Committee. Steve will send out an updated version of the committee list.

HSINCHU UPDATE:  Jinnie distributed copies of a letter from the mayor of Hsinchu, acknowledging receipt of the information packet from the Lazy Daze events. Mayor Lin also mentions the upcoming glass festival and the participation of a Cary delegation.

LAZY DAZE GRANT UPDATE:  Sarah Sheffield reported that her committee has completed an application for a $2,000 Laze Daze grant and she will submit it tomorrow. It will be used to support an arts exhibit and an artist delegate-ambassador from our sister city in Markham . In terms of publicity for the artist, Darrell Stover noted that the deadline for the summer brochure is April and for the fall brochure, in early August.

Mary Lou suggested raising the issue with Markham now, so they can be thinking of possible artists, appropriate criteria for selection, and ways they can support such a program. Sarah will send Mary Lou a brief outline of points to cover with Stephen Chait.

MARKHAM UPDATE:  A recent letter from Markham invited Cary to develop joint economic development and cultural/educational programs with them. Following up on that proposal, Mary Lou, Ian Henshaw, Steve Morrison, and Darrell Stover met with representatives of Town Council, Cary town staff, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Although no formal plan was formulated, the group discussed various ideas, including the need for coordination in communications with Markham , the possibility of sending a representative from the commission to the February event in Markham , and the guest artist project. On December 9, Mary Lou and others will conduct a conference call with Stephen to go over these issues. The goal is to develop a three-year plan.

LE TOUQUET UPDATE:  Selby has sent Steve a list of names for the pen pal program with Le Touquet. Plans are also proceeding for sending students and adults to Le Touquet next summer. Ian will post the schedule for the two-week trip on the Web. A letter or e-mail will go out to Sister City Association members about the trip.

Alain Herman, whose daughter was among this summer’s Le Touquet students, has e-mailed to say that she and two other girls will be coming for a four-day visit. He requested assistance in finding housing for the two friends.

Steve mentioned his concern that the liability issues raised earlier by the commission with regard to our student exchange program have not yet been resolved. Discussion covered the extent of liability for commission members (e.g., if a visitor is injured); the limitations of existing Town of Cary waiver forms for absolving the commission of liability with regard to the types of activities that we are now sponsoring; the extent to which current town policy governing other appointed positions pertain to our activities; the lack of a town policy on international travel; and the best way for us to pursue the issue. Steve will review the list of current SCC committees and determine whether a new one is needed to handle the matter, which will be on the next meeting agenda. Its task will be to draw up a sample list of SCC activities (e.g., from Lazy Daze and the Le Touquet summer exchange), solicit additional ideas from the rest of the commission, and draft a request to the town attorney asking for his advice on the lack of town policies on liability of commission members with respect to the wide range of our activities.

OTHER BUSINESS:  None raised.

ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION:  Darrell reminded the SCC of the December 1 application deadline for appointment to the commission.  He encouraged members to help seek new candidates who will build on the new momentum recently generated.

CULTURAL EVENTS:  Darrell announced upcoming performances and holiday events.

ADJOURNMENT: Mary Lou moved that the meeting be adjourned. Ian seconded it. Approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:54 p.m.

Submitted by Jinnie Y. Davis