.

PREVIOUS MINUTES:

December 4, 2003 December 4, 2002

MEETING MINUTES:  February 26, 2004

CITY OF MIAMI BEACH SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE
Miami Beach City Hall
Mayor's Conference Room
1700 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, Florida

   Old Business
   New Business
   Committee Status Reports

I.  ATTENDANCE:

    
II.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES

      Minutes of December 4, 2003 meeting approved with changes.

III. OLD BUSINESS

a. Status of Awards Applications & Young Artists Competition B. Singer / A. Vargas

i. Discussion: Cozumel and Fujisawa Committees to submit application for their respective programs.
ii. Action: A. Vargas to complete application by deadline of March 29, 2004
iii. Discussion: Young Artists Competition. Trinidad advised that there has been Very little response from Miami Beach schools to request for artwork
iv. Action: Trinidad to forward info to Singer for follow up with MBSH. S. Trinidad to make presentation to Education Committee.
 

b. Pending Affiliations
i. Nahariya, Israel (attachments)                    Steve Polisar / A. Vargas

1. Discussion: Presentation made by sponsor Steve Polisar and Israel Yunger, including SCI application form and letter of interest from Mayor of Nahariya.
2. Action: Motion made and accepted to proceed with affiliation process. S.Polisar to investigate whether Nahariya affiliated with any other city. A. Vargas to draft letter to Mayor Dermer recommending affiliation of Nahariya. Polisar to draft Resolution to accompany letter to Mayor Dermer. Vargas to copy SCI with correspondence.

ii. Fortalezza, Brazil                                                            R. Curvelo

1. Discussion: Affiliation of Fortalezza, Brazil. Presentation made by sponsor. R. Curvelo, including video and letter of interest from Mayor of Fortalezza.
2. Action: Motion made and accepted to proceed with affiliation process. A. Vargas to compose draft of letter to Mayor Dermer recommending affiliation of Fortalezza. Curvelo to draft resolution to accompany letter to Mayor Dermer. A. Vargas to copy SCI with correspondence to Mayor Dermer.

c. Termination of Relationship

i. Santa Marta

1. Discussion: At the last meeting the Council voted to recommend termination of relationship with Santa Marta due to inactivity. However, in attendance at this meeting was Luis Giraldo, a former resident of Santa Marta and President of the local Chapter of Lion’s Club International who expressed his desire to revive relationship through his connections with Santa Marta’s newly elected Mayor. Cited political problems in Santa Marta as the cause for last year’s inactivity. Expressed desire to create a humanitarian aid project with the aid of Colombian Lions Club consisting of the collection of eyeglasses for donation to the poor.
2. Action: Motion made and accepted to defer termination for 6 months. A. Vargas and George Safirstein to assist L. Giraldo in the process of reactivation.

ii. Ramat – Gan

1. Discussion: Termination of relationship recommended at last meeting.
2. Action: B. Singer to forward formal recommendation to Mayor Dermer. A. Vargas to notify SCI International.
 

IV.   NEW BUSINESS

i. Discussion: Presentation made to committee. Agenda and program outline distributed and discussed. SCI members invited to volunteer for specific committees.
ii. Action: Motion made and accepted to proceed with program. A. Vargas to send out meeting notice for March 11, 2004 and keep Council informed of new developments and report back at next regular meeting of SCI.

b. SCI Annual Conference July 14, 2004                            B. Singer

i. Discussion: Next SCI conference held on July 14, 2004 in Fort Worth, Texas. Reservation form and schedule distributed. Members invited to attend.
ii. Action: Interested parties to RSVP to A. Vargas. A. Vargas to make reservations

c. Reorganization of Committees                                      B. Singer

i. Discussion: In the interest of creating an SCI Program that is more flexible and accessible for citizen participation, the Council requests the reconfiguration of the Council by increasing the number of At-Large positions from four to nine; and decreasing the number of representatives per sister city from two to one.
ii. Action: B. Singer to forward request to Mayor Dermer.

d. Appointments

i. Discussion: Recommendation to appoint “Mac” McNamee to Fujisawa committee due to his long-term dedication to Fujisawa Committee activities.
ii. Action: Motion made and accepted to recommend appointment of Mac MacNamee to Fujisawa committee. A. Vargas to draft letter to Mayor Dermer recommending appointment.
iii. Discussion: B. Singer transfer to Cesky Krumlov committee.
iv. Action: Motion made and accepted to transfer B. Singer to Cesky Krumlov committee. Recommendation to be forwarded to Mayor Dermer.
 

V. COMMITTEE STATUS REPORTS

a. PESCARA, ITALY                                               Gale / Nobel

i. Discussion: None
ii. Action : None

b. FUJISAWA, JAPAN                                    Singer / Trinidad

i. Discussion: None
ii. Action : None

c. SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA                     Safirstein / Vargas

i. Discussion: See iii (a) above

d. ALMONTE , SPAIN                                          Datorre / Rey

i. Discussion None.
ii. Action None

e. RAMAT - GAN, ISRAEL                                          Brenner

i. Discussion See iii (b) above.

f. ISLA COZUMEL, MEXICO                     Vargas /Hernandez

i. Discussion : Annual Youth Conference on the Environment - Annual Conference to be held in June 2004 in Cozumel, Mexico.
ii. Action: A. Vargas to start process of choosing a delegation of 5th graders to attend Annual Conference. A. Vargas to make presentation to Miami Beach Education Committee

g. Fortaleza, BRAZIL                           Boen / Dunin

i. Discussion : None
ii. Action: : None

h. ICA, PERU                                                Yuken / Villar

i. Discussion: Donation of surplus police vehicles to Ica, Peru Request to CMB for surplus vehicles to be donated to Ica, Peru
ii. Action: Request not yet approved by CMB pending review.
 

i. CESKY KRUMLOV                                   Linden-Retkova

i. Discussion: None
ii. Action None
 

6. ANNOUNCEMENTS/GOOD & WELFARE

a. Discussion: None
b. Action : None

7. NEXT MEETING

a. 4:00 pm April 29, 2004, City Hall, 4th floor Mayor’s Conference Room