Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission 2021 Retreat – Tuesday, September 21 https://www.charlottesville.gov/zoom 4:30‐4:50 Opening – Share about a unique/memorable experience and a special talent 4:50‐5:20 Review Bylaws and Strategic Plan Before the retreat, please read the three highlighted docs in the “Organizational Materials” folder in the Google Drive (see associated CSCC Guide to Contents on Google Drive) Questions to consider while reviewing docs:  Which areas of bylaws, strategic plan need attention? Priority areas?  Are there topics for which we still need bylaws and/or planning? 5:20‐5:45 Discussion of current Sister City relationships Before the retreat, please read the two highlighted documents in the “Contacts: CSCC Guide to Contents on Google Drive  Are contacts up to date? Set deadline for updates.  Latest Updates 5:45‐6:00 BREAK 6:00‐6:30 Review Goals/Achievements for 2020‐2021: Before the retreat, please read the two highlighted documents in the “Subcommittee Meetings” folder on the Goggle Drive.  Which goals are unachieved as yet? Discuss why and whether to pursue. 6:30‐7:00 Discuss establishment of Travel Assistance standards Before the retreat, please read the highlighted document in the “Travel Scholarships” folder of the Google Drive. 7:00‐7:30 Commission Members  Review Current Officers  Discuss how to attract new members 7:30 Adjourn Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the public meeting may call the ADA Coordinator at (434) 970‐3182 or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City of Charlottesville requests that you provide a 48 hour notice so that proper arrangements may be made. Remote participation supported for the duration of the City Manager’s Declaration of Emergency issued March 12, 2020. Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission MINUTES Meeting August 17, 2021 Zoom Present: Daman Irby, Amanda Folsom, Michael Grinnell, Stella Mattioli, Dave Norris, Elizabeth Smiley, Adrienne Ward Absent: Nana Ghartey Non-members Present: Maxicelia Robinson, Lachen Parks Meeting opened at 4:31 pm Mr. Irby presided Mr. Irby started the meeting with three announcements not on the agenda: 1. Commissioners Joan Clarke and Neeley Minton have resigned 2. Because of his extended absence, Mr Ghartey has missed more consecutive meetings than our By-Laws permit and could be subject to removal from the Commission by CCouncil. Mr. Irby will follow up with Mr. Ghartey on this. 3. Mr. Irby will be drafting the Commission’s 2020-21 annual report to file with the Clerk of Council (typically due June 30). I. Approval of July minutes Ms. Smiley noted she had already made a minor correction to Section IIIB Motion to approve as amended: Ms. Folsom Seconded:Mr. Grinnell Passed II. Secretary’s Report Ms. Smiley outlined the steps she has taken to clean up and organize all files on the Commission’s shared drive. These include: creating folders for each of the active sister/ friendship cities; deleting duplicate copies of agendas and minutes; organizing meeting agendas and minutes by calendar year; creating a folder for education committee materials; and relabeling files in a consistent format so that they are easy to identify. III. City Rep Updates a. Winneba-- Mr. Norris reporting Plans remain underway for delegation trips to Winneba in December 2021 and May 2022. Mr. Ghartey is scheduled to return from Winneba during the first week of September. Mr. Norris will reach out to grantees for updates regarding the ongoing grant-funded projects. Mr. Grinnell clarified with Mr. Norris that expenses related to the still- unfinished firefighters grant project will come out of the 2019 grants budget. b. Besancon- Ms. Smiley reporting Talks are ongoing regarding the proposed student sport exchange with Lycee Jules Haag, though this project may have to be deferred until the CCS Superintendent approves the resumption of student exchanges, currently suspended due to the pandemic. We have received a request to assist with a return visit by African Blues musician Joyce Tape, as part of her international tour promoting her new album. She previously visited in 2019. c. Poggio- Ms. Mattioli reporting from Poggio Ms. Mattioli’s plans to return to Cville are on hold as she awaits the approval of her travel visa. In a follow-up meeting with the vice-mayor, she confirmed that there are no copyright issues preventing a Charlottesville screening of the Poggio-produced film “Filippo Mazzei-Cittadino Del Mondo” once she returns to town with Ms. Ward askea copy of the film. Ms. Ward asked whether the film might be shown in an online format if the pandemic will prevent an in-person film event until a later date; feasibility is undetermined at this point. Ms. Mattioli reported that the next UVA student J-term visit to Poggio, originally scheduled for January 2022, will be deferred until 2023. d. Huehuetenango- various commissioners reporting Ms. Ward reported that Rachel McLaughlin (“Peace and Creative Connection Through Arts” grantee) has secured the Northside Library as a location for the joint Charlottesville-Huehue art exhibition. The exhibit will be on display in October, with an opening to launch the show at a specific date tbd. Mr. Irby presented the idea of collaborating with the UVA Center for Politics to invite Guatemalan ambassador to the US, Alfonso Quinonez, to speak as part of its “Ambassador Series.” The event would be free, open to the public, and in-person at a date tbd in 2022. With the CSCC as a co- sponsor, we could promote the event broadly in the local community and use it as an opportunity to highlight our Friendship City relationship with Huehue. Commissioners signalled their support and asked Mr. Irby to reach out to the Embassy to sound out the ambassador’s interest. Mr. Grinnell reported that the Huehue page on the CSCC website is not yet public; he is still seeking images and text. Mr. Irby suggested requesting the short video that the Huehue participants presented at the July meet-and-greet. Mr. Norris reported that has not yet written a letter to Council requesting a Friendship City Rep position, but will be making that a priority and will report back at our next meeting. IV. Committee updates a. Grants update- Ms. Folsom reporting All the 2020 and 2021 grants are moving forward. She is working on creating a dashboard in the shared drive to allow progress reports on grants to be easily updated on an ongoing basis. The Speak/Bridge portrait project grant will launch this Fall; the grantees have requested help from City Reps with identifying possible portraiture subjects in our Sister Cities. The committee will focus next on developing their travel scholarship idea. Ms. Folsom requested that this item be placed on the Sept meeting agenda for a full commission discussion. b. Outreach/Communications - Mr. Grinnell reporting (See his comments in the Huehue report regarding needs in order to make the Huehue page on our website public) No other updates. c. Education - no update on committee activities d. Finance- Mr. Grinnell reporting Per CSCC by-laws, he needs to submit an annual financial report to CC which he will be working on in the month ahead. Monthly budget update included two grant payments, one to Rachel McLaughlin for expenses related to the Mountainside Arts project, and the other to the Va Festival of the Book. V. Annual Retreat Will have to be virtual this year, per city requirement. Mr. Irby proposed designating the September 21 meeting as the Retreat, 4:30-7:30. Commissioners agreed. This will be a public meeting. Ms Ward asked if any portion of the Retreat might be made private in case there are any issues of a sensitive nature requiring our attention. It was noted that the annual Retreats have always been public, even when they were conducted in person. Mr. Irby and Mr. Norris will meet soon to plan the Retreat agenda. Ms. Smiley suggested that commissioners review past Retreat agendas and minutes and forward any requests for 2021 topics/agenda items to Mr. Irby in advance. VI. Other Business: a. Filling the vacant Commission positions Ms. Robinson reported that to date, we have not received any applications for the ongoing two vacant positions. There was discussion of how to find applicants for the now vacant K-12 position. Mr. Irby will contact Cville City Schools to follow up on this. Ms. Ward asked for clarification about replacing the (now inactive) Pleven Rep position that Ms. Clarke had filled. Ms. Robinson reported that the city is not currently advertising for the Pleven Rep position. There is a community member who has expressed interest in a potential Huehue Friendship Rep position; we discussed requesting special consideration from CC to approve this Commission position so that this candidate can apply with our endorsement. b. Upcoming event of interest - Mr. Norris The Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation is hosting a zoom presentation by UVA Architectural History student Shaheen Alikhan focusing on the architecture of slaving vessels. Ghana was one of the main transit points for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Building A Slave Ship: Planning the Floating Prison,” Thursday 8/19 @ 7 pm. Motion to adjourn: Mr. Grinnell Seconded: Mr. Norris Meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth Smiley (Secretary and Besancon Rep) C‐Ville Sister City Commission (CSCC) Guide to Contents of Google Drive, as of SEPT 13, 2021 The “Charlottesville Sister City Commission” Shared Google Drive currently contains 11 folders; they are organized alphabetically, moving horizontally across a 4 x 3 grid: FOLDERS (in alphabetical order): Agendas/Minutes Besancon Materials Budget and Financial Materials Communications Materials Contacts: CSCC & Cities Education Grants Huehuetenango Materials Organizational Materials Poggio Materials Winneba Materials Below pls find listed the specific contents/files in each folder: *highlighted files are relevant reading for Sept. 2021 CSCC Retreat Agendas/Minutes Current: 2021‐2022 Agendas/Minutes Archived Agendas/Minutes Subcommittee Meetings Fill‐in Form for Subcommittee Meetings Subcommittee Minutes Jan 2021 Subcommittee Minutes May 2021 Besancon Materials LIST TO COME Budget and Financial Materials LIST TO COME Communications Materials LIST TO COME Contacts: CSCC & Cities Boards and Commissions_Masterlist.pdf (Sister City Commission only) CSCC Contact Info.xlsx (last edit April 18, 2018, Yates Nobles) 2 CSCC Roster 2021‐2022 (last edit Nov. 22, 2020, Kate) Winneba Contacts.xlsx (last edit Sept. 18, 2019, Dave Norris) NEED TO ADD?: Besancon Contacts Huehuetenango Contacts Poggio Contacts Grants Materials 2014‐2015 Grants 2015‐2016 Grants 2017 Grants 2018‐2019 Grants 2019‐2020 Grants 2020‐2021 Grants (contains most recent docs for all parts of Grants process) Travel Scholarships CSCC Travel Scholarships‐Principles and Process_040920v2‐clean.docx (last edit June 17, 2020, Amanda) Sister Cities Grant Review Grid (last edit Jan. 16, Amanda) CSCC grantee liaison role_draft_061521.docx (last edit Aug. 17, 2021, Amanda) Organizational Materials 01_City Hall Sister City Display Case Plans‐1.pdf (last edit Mar 13, 2012, Paige Rice) BoardAttendRes.pdf (discusses meeting attendance policy) CSCC Guidelines for Affiliating w New Sister City (last edit Feb 19, 20??, Kate) CSCC Guidelines for Affiliating w New Sister City (last edit Dec 7, 2020, Sister Cities) CSCC Guidelines for Affiliating w New Sister City.pdf (??) CSCC Letterhead.docx CSCC‐ Strategic Plan FY17‐20 Rev 08.29.17 (last edit Oct. 11, 2017, Leah Hicks) CSCC‐ Strategic Plan FY21‐24.docx (last edit Nov 17, 2020, by Kate) Dates SC Relationship Established (last edit Jan. 26, 2018, Leah Hicks) Dormant Program Toolkit (last edit Aug. 28, 2018, Leah Hicks) Dormant Program Toolkit.pdf RFQ_City Hall Sister City Display Case‐1.pdf (last edit Mar. 13, 2012, Paige Rice) SCC Bylaws Revised 2012.pdf SCC Bylaws Revised 2017.doc (last edit Aug. 16, 2018, Leah Hicks) Sister Cities Traveling Trunks “Wish List” (last edit Dec. 12, 2014, Annie Evans) Poggio Materials LIST TO COME Winneba Materials LIST TO COME Above list compiled by Adrienne Ward, 9/13/21