SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE ALD. KHALIF J. RAINEY, CHAIR Al Durtka, Sanjib Bhattacharyya, Oscar Tovar, and Bruce Spann Staff Assistant, Chris Lee, 286-2232, Fax: 286-3456, clee@milwaukee.gov Legislative Liaison, Luke Knapp, 286-8637, Luke.Knapp@milwaukee.gov Wednesday, February 9, 2022 1:00 PM Virtual Meeting This will be a virtual meeting conducted via GoToMeeting. Should you wish to join this meeting from your phone, tablet, or computer you may go to https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/741569533. You can also dial in using your phone United States: +1 (571) 317-3122 and Access Code: 741-569-533. 1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 1:02 p.m. 2. Roll call. Present 5 - Durtka, Tovar, Rainey, Spann, Bhattacharyya 3. Review and approval of the previous meeting minutes from October 4, 2021. The meeting minutes from October 4, 2021 were approved without objection. 4. Review and approval of sister city relationship annual reports. a. Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea (2021 report) Mr. Lee said that the local sponsor representative, Elizabeth Hittman, was unable to attend the meeting, the annual report was previously held by the committee for further reporting of activities and progress, and that Ms. Hittman said that the relationship was strictly centered on water industry and events. Member Durtka said that the local sponsor should be present to address questions of the committee and the sister city relationship should be multifaceted with more activities. Member Durtka moved to hold the annual report. There was no objection. b. Zadar, Croatia (2022 report) City of Milwaukee Page 1 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 Appearing: Nevenka Bralic, Federation of Croatian Societies, Inc. Ms. Bralic gave an overview. The current activity of the relationship was on a water health program between middle schools from both cities. Under implementation was a bilingual STEM Pilot Plan approved by the federation dealing with water lead remediation and POU "PUR" filtration systems. Golda Meir was a preferred school to establish an exchange program, but she has yet to successfully connecting with the school. The pandemic played a part. A goal of the program was to educate students on addressing water quality. There may be many revenue streams, such as ARPA funds, to implement the pilot. She would welcome assistance to leverage those revenue streams and to establish an exchange with Golda Meir. The issue with water quality was not from the source but at the tap. There should be reverse osmosis systems in homes rather than having total lead lateral replacements (72,000 homes) in the City. Member Bhattacharyya said that there may be ARPA opportunities in place and the scope of ARPA should be further looked at. Member Spann said that had shared the contact at Golda Meir to Ms. Bralic, that contact had since left the school, he could still try to assist Ms. Bralic, Croatia had one of the oldest soccer clubs in the country in the City of Franklin, and his son has played matches at the Franklin facility. Member Durtka moved approval of the annual report. There was no objection. c. Irpin, Ukraine (2022 report) Appearing: Joseph Spolowicz, St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church Boris Nayflisch Mr. Nayflish gave an overview. The City of Irpin had gifted Milwaukee officials with medals of merit. The relationship continued to be strong in its 5th year with established culture, educational, and economic exchanges. There was ongoing exchange at the university level between UW-Milwaukee and the City of Irpin universities. Irpin was ready to offer public safety innovations to Milwaukee. The fire departments from both cities have had communications and planned to do training sessions together. Those trainings were cancelled due to the pandemic. Irpin has dedicated $25,000 in their own funds towards sister city programming and travel. Delegations from Irpin have visited Milwaukee in the past, and there was planned another delegation visit for 2022. Also being planned was a international festival. Member Tovar said that he was glad there was ongoing communication with various Milwaukee departments (MFD, MPD, DPW), which were established from an original Irpin delegation trip to Milwaukee at the time of the relationship signing ceremony. Member Spann moved approval of the annual report. There was no objection. 5. Review and approval of the Sister Cities Committee 2021 Annual Report. Mr. Lee gave an overview. The annual report was required by City code and summarized the activities of the committee in 2021. The City had six active sister city relationships with Bomet County (Kenya), Daegu Metropolitan City (South Korea), City of Milwaukee Page 2 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 Galway (Ireland), Irpin (Ukraine), Tarime District (Tanzania), and Zadar (Croatia). The City had no new sister city relationships established, one pending relationship with Tema, Ghana (awaiting a signed agreement and ceremony), two sister city relationships renewed (Bomet County and Tarime District), one sister city terminated (Medan, Indonesia), and no active friendly exchange relationships. All 2021 annual reports regarding active sister city relationships were all received and approved, except the annual report for Daegu. Further details of the sister city relationships were contained within the tables in the annual report. The committee held three meetings in 2021, and minutes of those meetings were attached to the annual report. Members and participants commended Mr. Lee for producing the annual report. Member Durtka moved approval of the 2021 committee annual report. There was no objection. 6. Review or discussion on sister cities programming, capacity, resources, funding, collaborations, promotion opportunities, and infrastructure. a. Collaborations i. VISIT Milwaukee Appearing: Peggy Williams-Smith, VISIT Milwaukee Claire Koenig, VISIT Milwaukee Ms. Williams-Smith and Koenig commented. VISIT Milwaukee was open to any kind of collaboration and sharing of resources with sister cities. They do help show visitors around the city and can provide that to visitors from the sister cities. They were unaware of the Sister Cities Committee prior to the meeting. Member Durtka said that there should be a look at available resources/programs from the State and consideration of foreign languages and perspectives existing in the City. Members inquired about VISIT Milwaukee's involvement with delegation visits to the City, such as a visit from the Mayor of Lagos, Nigeria to purchase railway trains from Talgo; assistance with foreign professionals, who move to Milwaukee (such as with some cases in the Milwaukee Health Department), to help them get acclimated to the city; hosting a Sister Cities International conference should there be an opportunity, and virtual assistance during the pandemic. Ms. Williams-Smith replied that they were not involved with the Lagos - Talgo visit and transaction, they have volunteers ready to welcome visitors if needed, they have packages and can do tours to introduce visitors to the City, and can virtually assist people. Member Tovar said that VISIT Milwaukee would be able to assist with holding conferences and conventions. Member Durtka said that the SCI annual conference was planned for Santa Fe, New Mexico for 2022, SCI has changed its direction, and Milwaukee could be a future option. ii. Port Milwaukee City of Milwaukee Page 3 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 Appearing: Adam Tindall-Schlicht, Port Milwaukee Director Mr. Tindall-Schlicht gave a PowerPoint presentation. The Port handled annually on average 2.5 million metric tons of cargo, was the second largest port in the State, continued investment in port infrastructure to support future growth with the aid of federal and state grants, and was a major port of call on Great Lakes cruise itineraries with international cruise lines, including Pearl Seas and Viking Cruises. The Port's commercial operations has been an economic engine for the region. There were over 20 tenants (public and private) consisting of Stevedores, transportation/logistics, packaging, warehousing, commodities, and government agencies. 1309 jobs (630 direct, 460 induced, and 219 indirect) were supported by cargo moving through the PORT. There was $106 million in economic impact. Commodities handled at the Port included European steel, agriculture, cement, limestone, lumber, mining equipment, construction equipment, brewery tanks, ethanol, butane, and salt. International connectivity and port international trade consisted of Canada at 70%, Europe at 20%, Latin America at 6%, and Middle East/Africa at 4%. Total cargo tonnage for 2021 was 2,348,418 metric tons. The Agriculture Maritime Export Facility was a major initiative in partnership with The DeLong Company. It was a $35 million investment (largest in the Port's history since Seaway opening) supported with federal, state, and lcoal grants. The facility would serve to export Wisconsin agricultural commodities via Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway. Outbound Port tonnage would increase by 200,000 to 300,000 annually. About $40 million worth of products would be exported annually to markets in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Estimated completion date of the facility was Spring 2023. Another major initiative was the Dredged Material Management Facility (DMMF). The facility was a near-shore engineered structure that would provide long-term, safe containment of dredged material removed from Milwaukee's rivers and storage of 1.9 million cubic yards of removed contaminated sediment. There would be economic, environmental, quality of life, and usable land benefits. 42 acres of useable land would be generated in future decades for the Port. Another major initiative was a January 2020 flood remediation project. 60% of the Port sustained flood damages totaling over $2 million. 90% of the repairs have been completed. Damage were to Port buildings and warehouses, berthing facilities and docks, fencing, and pavement. There remained dockside work in 2022. Funding for remediation came from HAP at $1.25 million and FEMA. Another major initiative was the Foreign Trade Zone #41to assist businesses with tariff tax relief in return for payment of a small fee. The zone covered 12 counties in Southeastern Wisconsin. There were 7 active operators supporting 6,103 jobs and $2 billion in total merchandise throughput. Regional manufacturers and businesses included Generac, Mecury Marine, Kohler Company, Hospira, Broan Nu-Tone, CNH Industrial, and Lindner Logistics. There were dedicated Port staff to promote the program and aid in assessment and application process. City of Milwaukee Page 4 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 International cruises were coordinated via the Milwaukee Cruise Collaborative. Collaborators included VISIT Milwaukee, Port Milwaukee, Milwaukee Downtown, Discovery World, Milwaukee Airport, Cruise the Great Lakes, and Milwaukee Food City Tours. The collaborative has been a catalyst for tourism. Port to port and potential sister city opportunities would include Algeciras (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), Bremen (Germany), Brussels (Belgium), Peru (Callao), Duisburg (Germany), Gioia Tauro (Italy), Hamburg (Germany), Itaqui (Brazil), Lazaro Cardenas (Mexico), Mannheim (Germany), Montreal (Canada), Quebec City (Canada), Prince Rupert (Canada), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saguenay (Canada), Santos (Brazil), Sines (Portugal), Trois Rivieres (Canada), Toronto (Canada), Tunis (Tunisia), and Vancouver (Canada). Regarding sister cities the Port would continue outreach every 6 to 12 months; incorporate sister cities in industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational development of Milwaukee Harbor; incorporate feedback from sister cities on sustainable infrastructure investment; include sister cities' content and presentations in regular Port Milwaukee "All Staff" quarterly trainings; offer "Port 101" and "FTZ 101" trainings upon request; incorporate sister cities into the international cruise economy via the Milwaukee Cruise Collaborative; and involve sister cities in Milwaukee's freshwater industry notably the Area of Concern (AOC) work. Members inquired about developing a relationship with Canada who was a major port trading partner, Komatsu as a part of the Port, relationship with Brazil, and progress to assist prospective sister city Tema (Ghana). David Mugun appeared and asked how the Port could assist with farmers from Bomet, Kenya who were ready to export their avocados. Christine Thompson-Mosore appeared and asked how there would be fair trade regarding coffee export from Tarime, Tanzania. Mr. Tindall-Schlicht replied that a sister city relationship would be possible with port trading cities from Canada, Canada was the biggest port trading partner to Milwaukee, salt and lumber were the major commodities from Canada imported to Milwaukee, steel was the major commodity from Europe, Komatsu privately owned their own site and were exporting their own products, the Port was a City operator for its City-owned sites, the Port worked with private operators like Komatsu, there was an established relationship with the port directors in Brazil, there was potential opportunity with Brazil, Brazil was a possible competitor due to dealing with similar commodities with those of Milwaukee such as agriculture, he had contacted the port director in Tema but no progress has been made due to the pandemic, the Port had a trade team to help with supply chains. Mr. Tindall-Schicht added that generally exporters should identify dedicated vessel liner service routes with preset schedules between destinations to keep costs low, look for medium to smaller North American ports as a destination due to supply chain disruptions at major ports caused by the pandemic, consider de-containerization instead of containerization of their products, that he would connect Mr. Mugun with their trade specialist team to assist him further, the Port played no major role in fair trade, fair trade would start at the buyer level, connection should be made with Collectivo who was the major coffee buyer in Milwaukee, there should be use of cargo services with fair trade status, and that he was familiar with Tanzania having lived there for 6 weeks. City of Milwaukee Page 5 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 b. Dedicated funding and personnel i. Internship or federal work study with UW-Milwaukee Appearing: Elise Jaffee, UW-Milwaukee Ms. Jaffee gave a presentation overview of the UWM Earn and Learn Program. The Federal Work-Study (FWS) was a form of financial aid, based on financial need, earned through work, paid out like a pay check, and had rules and regulations. UWM's Earn and Learn Program goals would include crating opportunities for UWM students, creating a talent pipeline in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and building/deepening partnerships with the Milwaukee business and nonprofit community. The program was for for-profit and non-profit internships. Positions would be connected to learning, career, professional, and/or civic. Students would be employees of UWM. FWS would award up to $1500 each semester. Positions would be 8 to 12 hours per week, pay between $10 to $14.50 per hour, and occur during the academic year (Sept - May). FWS would subsidize 50% to 75% of the wage, and invoices for wages would be sent bi-annually. The employer would supervise and mentor, develop positions in partnership with UWM, screen and train, conduct performance reviews and program evaluations, and co-educate. UWM program staff would orient and onboard partners, recruit students, ensure learning, do new hire paperwork and payroll, support students and community partners, and lead program evaluation. Next steps for partnership would include online submission of a partnership request form, meeting with UWM to review program in detail and discuss positions, completion of a financial contract, and creation/submission of position description. The program timeline entailed partner onboarding (March-June), recruitment beginning (July-August), UWM FWS recruitment fair (September), student hiring and onboarding (September-October), orientation, training and beginning of work (October-November), learning activities and performance check-ins (January), site visits (March-April), and performance and program evaluations (May). Members inquired about foreign students participation in the program, marketing of positions, the total number of students in the program, program supervision, grade level program participants, and program participation through multiple semesters. Ms. Thompson Mosore questioned virtual and bilingual opportunities. Ms. Jaffee replied that foreign students must have work VISAs, positions would be posted on their website, targeted recruitment was mostly done during the pandemic since many job fairs were cancelled, the largest student pool would be those in marketing, her role was to onboard partners and connect students, students would have to take an internship course, she was the only one at UWM to oversee the program, employers onsite would also have supervision, 65 total students were in the program, an employer would have the discretion to determine and there has been a mix of virtual, in-person, or hybrid participation, there was bilingual and translator opportunities, they would help with proper recruitment, eligible students included all undergraduates from freshmen to senior who were work study eligible, most participants were from sophomores to seniors, and participation may occur over City of Milwaukee Page 6 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 multiple semesters. Members Durtka and Oscar said that they've had experiences with Marquette University's Trinity Fellow program, MU should make a presentation in the future to the committee, their program was at the graduate level, was for 1.5 years for a student, and may be more suitable. ii. City of Milwaukee budget Ald. Rainey said that he failed to include a budget amendment for $20,000 for sister city program purposes in this year's budget, would submit a budget amendment for next year's budget with Mr. Lee to remind him, would submit a resolution to open up a sister city account to receive contributions, the legislation would be before the Community, Economic and Development Committee meeting on February 17, 2022 at 1:30 pm, members and local sister city sponsors were invited to the upcoming meeting to support the legislation, and the goal was to support the immigrant community and cultural businesses in the City. c. Committee or program infrastructure i. Milwaukee Code of Ordinance Chapters 320-47 & 335 -Committee establishment, composition, duties, powers and duties, staffing, reporting, definitions, policy, friendly relations, application process, renewal, termination, and other aspects Mr. Lee said that the committee wanted to look at its ordinance to see if they wanted to change anything in the code regarding the sister cities committee, program, and process; to make improvements, and that the sister city committee membership, as an example, could be expanded to include other sectors such as Port Milwaukee or VISIT Milwaukee. James Owczarski, City Clerk, appeared and said that changing the committee membership would not be an issue and would require legislation to amend the City ordinance. Members said to add review of the Sister Cities Committee membership at its next meeting and that impartial membership additions would be welcomed. d. Promotion via public sites i. Memorial at MacArthur Square Mr. Lee said that there was no new update or progress from the Dept. of Public Works towards a proposed memorial for sister cities. ii. Milwaukee County General Mitchell International Airport Mr. Lee said that the committee was interested to see if there was opportunity to do a sister cities display at the airport and that he need a proper contact from the County to present this idea to. Member Tovar said that he would assist on providing a contact from the Milwaukee County Public Affairs office. City of Milwaukee Page 7 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 e. Events or activities i. Holiday Folk Fair (International Institute of Wisconsin) Member Durtka said that the fair for 2021 was virtual, would be in-person for 2022, virtual options may be explored but would present challenges, further details would be forthcoming as plans develop, and there was the goal to acquire the participation of new ethnic communities such as Afghans or those from Africa. Chair Rainey said that he could help connect with the Democratic of Congo community. ii. Meet-and-greet Members said that the meet-and-greet has been discussed over the last few years, that a larger in-person event with a larger gathering to include relevant guests would be more impactful, that the pandemic had stalled plans, and for the committee to keep the event as an ongoing agenda item to discuss. Ms. Thompson-Mosore said that she would be willing to take the lead on planning the event. iii. Other There was no other discussion. 7. Sister city relationship updates and announcements. a. Tarime District, Tanzania Ms. Thompson Mosore said that she was the point of contact, on behalf of her organization as the local sponsor, for the sister city relationship with Tarime District, that there should be collaboration and sharing of resources, and inquired about the management structure of a sister city relationship. Mr. Lee said that a sister city relationship for the City should be locally managed by the recognized local nonprofit sponsor who should also be the main point of contact and agent to manage activities. b. Other Member Spann said that he recently became a Sister Cities International country representative to South Africa, had attended a SCI reception in November 2021 welcoming and meeting several ambassadors (Tanzania, Ghana, Namibia), met H.E. of Tanzania and Ronda Pierce (SCI Country Representative to Tanzania) to inform H.E. of Milwaukee being a sister city to Tarime, that Ronda was arranging for H.E. to tour all of the US cities (including Milwaukee) with interest to do business in Tanzania, and that he has told Ronda to officially contact Ms. Thompson Mosore and her foundation on sister city related matters specific to Tarime District. Member Spann added that he may be able to assist with possibly making a connection towards a possible sister city relationship with Lagos (Nigeria) in light of their recent train deal with Talgo and Toki & Associates, Inc., and that Nigeria's biggest export was human capital. City of Milwaukee Page 8 SISTER CITIES COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes February 9, 2022 Member Durtka said that successful sister city relationships were multifaceted, broader ones based on many aspects as opposed to specific or narrowly focused ones and that broader relationships were more long term. 8. Public comments. There were no public comments. 9. Next steps. a. Agenda items for the next meeting Member Bhattacharrya said to invite the Office of Equity and Inclusion to discuss sister city diversity inclusion. Chair Rainey said that he had connections, was interested to develop sister city relationships with the British Virgin Islands (via local music artist Ray Nitte) and Belize, and he would send a letter of inquiry to those contacts. Possible agenda items to include presentation on the Marquette University Trinity Fellowship Program; proposals to establish sister city relationships with Lagos (Nigeria), British Virgin Islands, andBelize; discussion with the Dept. of City Development on international dealings (such as the case with Lagos); discussion with the Office of Equity and Inclusion; review of committee membership; and the meet-and-greet. b. Set next meeting date and time To be determined. 10. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 3:16 p.m. Chris Lee, Staff Assistant Council Records Section City Clerk's Office City of Milwaukee Page 9