Sister Cities Commission

City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Wednesday, February 9, 2022 6:30 PM Meeting Rooms A & B Sister Cities Commission Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 9, 2022 A. CALL TO ORDER: Lance Fuhrer called to meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Sophia Luo Bill Donofrio Lance Fuhrer Neelam Saboo Alan Lowe ABSENT: Arista Wang, Peter Foyo, Vidya Joshi Wang was not present for roll call, but later joined the meeting at 6:56 pm. STUDENTS PRESENT: Zachary Wu, Tamana Ramkumar STAFF PRESENT: Councilwoman Gustin C. PUBLIC FORUM: Tony Chamberlain and Arun Mani introduced themselves to the Commission and expressed their interest in joining the Sister Cities Commission. Both parties have applications on file. D. OLD BUSINESS: E. REPORTS: Approve Sister Cities Commission minutes of December 8, 2021 Alan Lowe motioned to approve the minutes of December 8, 2022, seconded by Bill Donofrio. Motion passed by the following vote: AYES (5): Luo, Donofrio, Fuhrer, Saboo, Lowe NAYS: (0) Receive and file the Treasurer’s Report for January 2022 Neelam did not have a report to receive and file. Chairman's Report - Chairman Fuhrer Chairman Fuhrer announces that we received SECA funding for the Hispanic Festival scheduled for September 17, 2022. City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 5/3/2022 Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 9, 2022 Councilwoman's Report - Councilwoman Patty Gustin Councilwoman Gustin provided an update on the ambulance. The fire chief will be providing a list of equipment with more details around the type of equipment. Website Update: City Staff said that the Sister Cities Foundation will be managed by the Foundation. Councilwoman Gustin plans to invite City Attorney, Mike DiSanto to give OMA training at our next general meeting.This will be a great opportunity for our Commissioners to ask questions about the rules around public meetings. Neelam mentioned that a non-profit organization reached out to her for an interview on Sister Cities. Councilwoman Gustin asked Neelam if she is comfortable giving an interview and if not to reach out the Councilwoman or one of our Commissioners. Alan brought up the importance of having checks and balance between the Commission and the Foundation. How can we best achieve this. Website Update - Chairman Fuhrer and Councilwoman Gustin Councilwoman Gustin is going to reach out to NCTV to ask about procuring the video from last year's Hispanic Festival to add to our website to promote the upcoming festival. Foundation Update - Commissioners Wang and Foyo Shafeek discussed the members on the Foundation. We now have Arista, Peter and Tina all serving on the Foundation, as well as Patty, Brent, Melissa, and Roberto. Sister City Update - Commissioner Lowe Commission Lowe encouraged the other commissioners to sign up on the Illinois and International Sister Cities sites so that they will receive email notifications about upcoming events and Sister Cities business. Alan discussed working on a proposal to engage with Nitra and Cancun for exchange students. City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 5/3/2022 Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 9, 2022 F. NEW BUSINESS: Commissioner Lowe discussed the amount number of people on the Commission. We have one opening. CW Gustin will discuss appointing a new Commission with the Mayor. We have some applications on file. Commissioner Lowe discussed: donating tablets or laptops to the school in Cancun, but after discussion the logistics of this proposal are not feasible. Neelam discussed sending students kits and a possible Lego program to teach them coding. Alan stated that these are good ideas to connect with Cancun Sister Cities. He suggested that Shruti and Neelam work on pen pal project and the lego program. G. ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Fuhrer adjourned the meeting. City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 5/3/2022