Sister Cities Commission

City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Wednesday, March 9, 2022 6:30 PM Sister Cities Commission Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final March 9, 2022 A. CALL TO ORDER: Commissioner Fuhrer called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. B. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Sophia Luo Lance Fuhrer Alan Lowe Arista Wang joined the meeting at 6:44 pm Mohammad Habeeb Khan, Student Representative Shruti Panse, Student Representative Tamana Ramkumar, Student Represenative Zach Wu, Student Represenative ALSO PRESENT: Councilwoman Patty Gustin, Council Liaison Rachel Pruneda, Staff Liaison ABSENT: Peter Foyo Bill Donofrio Joshi Vidya Neelam Saboo Shruti Panse, Student Representative There was no quorum for this meeting. C. PUBLIC FORUM: D. PRESENTATION: Mike DiSanto, City Attorney to provide OMA Training City Attorney Mike DiSanto provided training to our Commissioners on the Open Meetings Act, FOIA and the Ethics Ordinance. Mike gave a slide presentation and answered a series of questions. Sister Cities is not a legal entity and cannot accept donations. Commissioners do not have the authority to bind a contract or enter into an agreement. Public Forum - limit public comment to the Public Forum portion of the meeting. E. OLD BUSINESS: City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 5/3/2022 Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final March 9, 2022 F. REPORTS: Approve the Sister Cities minutes of February 9, 2022 There being no quorum, the minutes were not voted on at this meeting. Chairman's Report - Chairman Fuhrer Chairman's Report: The Chairman touched on the refugee situation and stated that Slovakia is not as well equipped to help with the refugees. Lance has a contact in Slovakia and Councilwoman Gustiin has a couple of City Hall contacts and thought it may be beneficial to reach out to see what their needs are. Hispanic Festival - Commissioner Donofrio worked with Downtown Naperville Alliance last year. Bill did a significant amount of work to promote the festival. We would like him to continue those efforts for this years festival. A suggestion was made to draft a letter promoting Sister Cities and the festival to send to downtown Naperville businesses. We could reach out to the alliance to assist with this effort. Councilman's Report - Councilwoman Patty Gustin Councilwoman Gustin stated that there were 100 people in attendance at a candlelight vigil held in honor of support for Ukraine. Mayor Chirico will appoint a new commissioner most likely prior to our next meeting. CW Gustin asked Commissioners for their help in updating the Sister Cities display cases. Councilwoman Gustin also provided an equipment update on the ambulance. Councilwoman Gustin - Naperville Sister Cities is on facebeook Foundation Update: Commissioners Wang and Foyo Sister City Update - Commissioner Lowe Commissioner Lowe announced that Sister Cities Illinois Association is having a 2 day event on April 22 & 23. He encouraged the Commissioners to join the email list so that they will receive news and event notifications. G. NEW BUSINESS: 1 ) Recommendation that there be NO ENTRY fee to the Hispanic Festival for attendees and no vendor fees Commissioner Lowe states that the intent of the festival is to honor, City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 5/3/2022 Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final March 9, 2022 celebrate and appreciate the contributions of our Hispanic Community. We want this event to be affordable to everyone in the community. Currently, the SECA submittal states that there will be a fee for individuals and vendors. 2) Recommendation that all Commissioners attend 80% of all meetings Commissioner Lowe wants to address attendance at our general meetings. When we do not have a quorum we cannot vote to approve/deny items on the agenda. In order to keep business moving, we need a strong attendance. 3) Recommendation that the Commission team up with non-profit organizations to collaborate for various projects Current projects include a fundraising event for Lithuania, cultural events and the Hispanic Festival Approve the $100 registration fee for Commissioners to attend the Illinois Sister Cities Association annual conference The Illinois Sister Cities Association’s annual conference is April 22 to 23 in the Tinley Park area of Chicago. We would like to send two (2) Commissioners to this conference. Approve the purchase of a video from NCTV in the amount of $10 from Naperville first Hispanic festival There being no quorum, the Commission was not able to vote on this item. H. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm. City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 5/3/2022