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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-22; City Council; 20279; Dissolve the Sister City CommitteeCITY OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL 20 AB# 20,279 MTG. 6/22/10 DEPT. Arts DISSOLVE THE SISTER CITY /^^•••IHTTCCCOMMITTEE DEPT. HEAD M^ CITY ATTY. /G&^ CITYMGR. lu — - RECOMMENDED ACTION: 2010-160 Adopt Resolution No. to dissolve the Carlsbad Sister City Committee, send a letter of appreciation to current and past committee members expressing thanks for their service to the city and the community, and direct the city manager to return within nine months with a report and recommendation on the city's relationship to the newly created non-profit organization, Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors, Inc. ITEM EXPLANATION: The Carlsbad Sister City program was created in 1988 by City Council Resolution 88-19, which created a Steering Committee of representatives from various Carlsbad civic and business organizations to coordinate a newly established sister city partnership with Futtsu, Japan. Responding to a request of the Steering Committee in 1990, the City Council disbanded the Steering Committee and established instead a nine-member Sister City Committee by Resolution 90-3 as an appointed Committee subject to the regulations of the Brown Act and the State of California Fair Political Practices Commission. Staff liaison and assistance was to be provided by the Cultural Arts Office; budget for the program was allocated from the General Fund. In 1991, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, was added as a second sister city to the program. Over the years, a variety of culturally oriented programs have been carried out under the Sister City program including international educational exchanges, visits to and from both sister cities by delegations and tour groups, the Carlsbad-to-Karlovy Vary Vocal Competition, the Multicultural Festival, and Japan-in-a-Suitcase school presentations. The Sister City Committee also organized various fundraising programs to augment its allocation from the General Fund. Also over the years, the Sister City Committee has continually expressed a desire to expand the program, add new partners, and increase its budget and activities, and so in 2008, a city goal assignment was approved (#9038) that directed Cultural Arts Office staff to review all aspects of the Sister City program and to recommend the most effective and efficient administrative structure for the program's future. After a year of research and interviews with many other sister city programs, it was clear to Cultural Arts Office staff that most cities had moved away from the traditional city-sponsored FOR CITY CLERKS USE ONLY. COUNCIL APPROVED ACTION: DENIED D CONTINUED D WITHDRAWN D AMENDED D CONTINUED TO DATE D SPECIFIC _ CONTINUED TO DATE D UNKNOWN RETURNED TO STAFF D OTHER - SEE MINUTES D PAGE 2 OF AB "DISSOLVE THE SISTER CITY COMMITTEE" committee model, in which individuals were appointed by the city council and the committee was provided administrative and budgetary support by the city, in favor of sister city programs that were run by independent, non-profit, community-based volunteer organizations. City governments were still informed about sister city program activities, especially visits by governmental delegations, but were no longer directly funding or administering the programs. On June 16, 2009, at a joint special meeting of the City of Carlsbad City Council, Municipal Water District and Housing and Redevelopment Commission, city staff presented its research and recommendations as a Program Option within the 2009/2010 Operating and Capital Improvement Program Budgets. On a minute motion by Mayor Pro Tern/Vice President/Vice Chair Kulchin, the Council/Board/Commission voted to continue the Sister City Committee for one more year with $3,000 in funding and to encourage the creation of a non-profit entity to administer the program. Since the June 16, 2009 City Council meeting, members of the Sister City Committee have been researching and working on becoming an independent 501-c-3 non-profit organization; in early March of 2010, they submitted their application to the State of California and on April 22, 2010, they received notification that their 501-c-3 non-profit status had been granted. The new organization is called the Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors, Inc., and the president of the Board of Directors is Jacqueline Thye. FISCAL IMPACT: The FY 2009-10 General Fund budget allocations for the Sister City program was $3,000 and with the end of the program, the allocation for FY 2010-2011 and beyond is now $0. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The proposed action to dissolve the Sister City Committee does not qualify as a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 as it does not result in a direct or reasonable foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. EXHIBITS: 1. Resolution No. 2010-160 dissolving the Carlsbad Sister City Committee, sending a letter of appreciation to current and past committee members expressing thanks for their service to the city and the community, and directing the city manager to return within nine months with a report and recommendation on the city's relationship to the newly created non-profit organization, Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors, Inc. Department Contact: Peter Gordon, Arts Manager 760-434-2921 peter.gordon@carlsbadca.gov 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2010-160 2 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, DISSOLVING THE SISTER 3 CITY COMMITTEE 4 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad established the Sister City 5 Committee by Resolution 90-3 on the 2nd day of January, 1990; and 6 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad decided on June 16, 2009 to 7 end its funding of the Sister City Committee as of June 30, 2010; and8 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad has encouraged the creation 10 of a non-profit entity to administer the program; 11 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of 12 Carlsbad, California, as follows: i T. 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 14 2. That the Sister City Committee is hereby dissolved. 15 3. That the City Council send a letter of appreciation to current and past16 committee members expressing thanks for their service to the city and the 18 community. 19 4. That the City Council direct the city manager to return within nine months 20 with a report and recommendation on the city's relationship to the newly 21 created non-profit organization, Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors, Inc.22 // 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad on the 22nd day of June, 2010, by the following vote to wit: AYES: Council Members Lewis, Kulchin, Hall, and Blackburn. NOES: None. ABSENT: Council Member Packard. ATTEST: OD, City Clerk^