Sister Cities

Idaho Falls Sister City Meeting Minutes Monday, January 29, 2018 Members in Attendance: Dave & Carole Walters, Paul & Sheri Hansen, Cal & Cindy Ozaki, Kevin & Joan Fuhrman, Clarke Kido, Val Haddon, Chelsea May & Kris Schneider, Bill Kelly, Brad & Michelle Cramer, Jovita Cosens, Jerry & Lisa Sehlke, Linda Milam, Guests/New Members: Lynda Ulschmid, Catherine Smith, Nan Hong. Introductions: Members & Guest introduced themselves. Minutes: Approved as read. Treasurers Report: Balance as of 1/29/18 prior to collection of dues $5234.29. Business:  A brief review was made of the November 2017 exchange in Japan by Sheri Hansen. She passed around the scrapbook she made of the exchange for members to look at. If anyone is interested in ordering a copy for themselves, Sheri will e-mail the link for Shutterfly of the shared book for you to order. Remember to use the discount codes to get the best price. Current code is X0X0 for 50% off + additional 20% off and SHIP39 for free shipping over $39 this is good through 1/31/18. Brad shared his experience as a first time visitor. Carole, Brad, & Kevin will be presenting a review of the exchange and will show the scrapbook to the City Council at their Feb. 5th meeting.  Sheri passed around a member roster for members to fill out with their contact information. If you were not at the meeting and have updates, please let Sheri know so that she can update your information.  A brief review by current members was given for the activities we do as an organization.  Clarke gave a brief history of the Friendship Garden, how it started, everything it has accomplished and how the greenbelt has benefited by all the hard work and volunteer hours that has been put in. He also asked if Sister Cities could donate $500 as we have in the past for 2018. It was decided that this will be looked at after we review the budget for this year and will be voted on at a later date. Cindy reviewed how the Rotary clubs in conjunction with the Sister Cities raised $70,000 to purchase 5 solar generators for Tokai after the earthquake & tsunami in 2011. We saw one of the generators at the community center we visited at this exchange.  Katherine Smith-Executive Director of Downtown Development council mentioned how much she is impressed with the Friendship Garden and what it adds to the Downtown area and greenbelt.  Nomination of Officers for 2018-2020 term was done with elections to follow at the February meeting. Carole reviewed the job descriptions and what the duties are for each office. Nominations will remain open and anyone interested in running for one of the offices can be added to the ballet prior to the February election. If you are unable to attend the meeting you may vote by proxy by designating another member to cast your vote. Wording of the proxy should indicate the member is unable to attend and authorizes their vote be cast by another specified member. This proxy must be on hard copy or electronically by the requesting member and must be given to the Secretary/Historian before the vote is called. Remember only members in good standing shall be eligible to vote so membership dues must be paid prior to the meeting. Carole Walters will hold the position of Past President. Sample ballot with nominees is as follows: President: Cindy Ozaki Vice President: Jerry Sehlke Sec/Historian: Lisa Sehlke Treasurer: Joan Fuhrman  Budget: The budget was tabled upon further review of expenses from previous years and anticipated expenses for this year’s hosting and will be decided on at a future date.  Dates were discussed for the 2018 exchange: Tokai would like to know the dates so they can let their members know at their April meeting. It was discussed to not do over July 4th since it is such a busy time, hotels are more expensive, and YNP being too crowded. September is not a good time of year for the Japanese due to city government activities. We are looking at mid-August or 1st of October as dates. Carole will contact Hiruta and see what timeframe would work best for them and we will decide from there. If you have any suggestions or input please let Carole know. The next meeting is: Tuesday, February 20, 2018, at 7:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. (Please note this is a Tuesday rather than a Monday due to the Monday holiday). Sheri Hansen Historian, Idaho Falls Sister Cities