Anchorage Assembly: Sister Cities Commission Meeting 2026-08-26

Okay, we have started to record. Yes. Can everyone hear us? I want to do a quick tech check beforehand. Yes.

And I'm really surprised that you have good Wi-Fi in Katsubi. You got to let me know where you're at because last time I was there, I didn't. And Kelsey and Shay, Masha, can you hear us? Like, like, like maybe you Did indicate, but maybe I didn't see it. Hi, I can hear you.

Okay, well, thank you everybody for joining us, 6:05 PM on this glorious sunny day. Hopefully not the last one. Everyone, fingers crossed. Um, before we begin, we were just going down the list to double-check which commissioner does have reports. So far, uh, Hiroko.

Has a report. Um, Eddie has something to share, so Okay, we are back. Sorry that something happened.

All good. We are all good. Okay, we're back.

Yep. So please raise your hand if you have something to report out just so we can save some time towards the end.

Good. I see none. Okay, so we'll stick to what we— hopefully everyone heard what we said before the mic went out. Okay.

Uh, did everyone— uh, we're gonna call to order today at 6:07 PM. It's gonna restart. We're gonna do roll call, everybody. Oh, hello, Tasha. Um, Hiroko Harada.

Yeah, it's present. Anna Vernaya is not here. Yeah, I didn't hear from her either. She might think she might be traveling, but I'll need to double-check. Uh, Shane.

Here. Present. Claudia. Present. Perfect.

Kelsey.

Here. Perfect. Vacant, doesn't count. Tatiana is not present. And Sasha.

Here. Perfect. Emily, I am present. Jasmine is not here. Carol is also not present.

And Timothy?

Here. Perfect. Vacant does not count. Eddie? I'm here.

Perfect. And another vacant does not count. I guess a quick question for the vacant seats. Are they going to be filled soon? Soon, yeah.

This, yeah, hopefully would And the expiring seats too. Okay, perfect. Yeah, we do. I think we have one maybe this assembly meeting. I think we have one there.

So, ooh, exciting. Okay, so everybody should have a copy of today's agenda. If everyone would like to take a moment to review.

And if anybody would like— if everyone had a moment to take a look at the agenda, someone would like to make a motion to approve that agenda. I make a motion to approve the agenda, today's agenda. Claudia makes the motion. Who would like to second? I second it.

Any seconds? Oh, wait, uh, what we do I'd like to add something. Oh, yes, like the terms expired. So just a little note, can we add that to the new business? Oh, yes.

Oh, yeah. New business after Darwin. Darwin. Yeah. Terms expired.

Thank you. Do we need to make a motion? Nope. Okay. Or yeah, I guess to—.

Okay. Who would like to accept that? Who would like to make a motion to accept the— under new business discussing term expiration? I'll make that motion. Eddie motions.

Who seconds? I second. Claudia seconds. Okay. Okay.

Do we have to make another motion? No, that's it. No, that's it. Okay, perfect. Agenda has been approved with the addition of discussing terms under new business.

Minutes of previous meetings. All of our meetings are recorded and on our MENE's YouTube channel. Yes. Yeah, hopefully it's there. I haven't checked.

Yeah, IT should have all that to post. I can email you the link. Yeah, yeah, just, I guess, just to the YouTube page and then people can find the sister cities, right? Yeah, they're all in the YouTube channel for the community, like for all the assembly meetings live and all the other parks and commissions. Oh, so we can find others.

Perfect. Okay, so please review the videos when you can. Should all be there. Must be riveting watches.

Treasurer's report. I don't think we have one at the moment since we're still kind of in the works of finding a new home for our monies. Disclosure. So based on the agenda, does anyone have any conflicts, any disclosures that you'd like to share? Based on what's on the agenda?

Based on what is currently on the agenda.

Everyone good? No, no, no, nothing. No weird feelings. Good. Okay, we're gonna move on.

Oh, we're being really efficient today. I'm very proud of us. Um, so we're gonna go into unfinished business. Uh, so the item A is update of new sister city Heißepey. Uh, Marie, your name was right next to that.

Did you want to—. Oh yeah, no, just to update that. Um, oh, go ahead, you start because you sent the letter. Oh yeah, so the mayor of, uh, received it, sent us a letter of like a partnership. And so they're just now waiting for response to find out what's the new steps to finalize.

Okay, perfect. Oh, that is what Marie getting. Yes. And so, yes, and it I got it while I was off for 2 weeks, so it's delayed. But, and I know you requested that we do some of the vetting before, but legal can't do it without the official letter.

So they have it now, just, just to see, you know, if there are kind of like a— just to make sure the mayor can recommend it to the assembly without hesitation, that we've done our due diligence to investigate on our part, you know, what's going on there. But everybody's excited. They are in our staff meeting. I've shared already about the medical partnership, you know, on medical information. Yeah, and I understand that because, uh, we see if we did the same thing before.

Yeah, the government thing. Yeah, they took long because of that, because they actually were doing the same thing. They better just make sure that's why I understand that the neighborhood is doing that to the legal to work on all that. Yes, I know this is a process. Yeah, so I guess, is there a projected timeline for this now that legal does have the letter?

I don't know. Yeah, I guess like few, like will take like a few months. I don't know, I'm hoping weeks, but we'll see. I don't know if they're short-staffed. Should we just say mid to late fall?

I know, we'll just say mid to late fall, keep expectations low.

'Cause if, if we're early—. Yeah, Maria, just keep us up to date about the process. Yeah, I will. Perfect. Is there anything else for Haití FEI?

The letter went out, received with legal. Now it's just the due process, due diligence stuff. Does anyone have any questions so far?

Nope, all good. Okay, is there— is that all for Heisei Bank for now? Yeah, perfect. We'll move on to item number B. Under unfinished business is the International Carving Festival.

I have a question, what is that? I never heard of that. Oh, that was like a— that was from our last meeting before we did the summer, and I think the commission— I think, I think it was Anna who brought it up, so she's not here, but this is, um, I think they're hoping to host it in Anchorage, and it's like this large-scale festival that showcases the carving arts. So it was like, I think worldwide, I think, or at least internationally. But Anna is the point of contact for that, so I'm not too sure.

Did she send you anything in the meantime? No, I just know that there was interest last time, so I thought we'd follow up if you guys don't remember, but I think there were some— anyone online who remembers the discussion on that? Like, I thought it was something that the Commission wanted to take on as an event. No, I think the interest was if we wanted to pursue this, we could send one or two commissioners over to their planning committee because I think this is more than us. This is like a whole thing.

We could send a few members, one to two members, to help plan it and support it as part of our activities. Right, because it was in its crawling stage. Yeah, it was just in its infancy when she first—. Infancy stage more than crawling out. Oh yeah, it's not crawling yet.

Do you guys know what is this? I did a Google and it didn't show up. It's new. Yeah, yeah, it's new-ish. Yeah, please.

So I think it's carving. I don't know what they're carving, but it involves Alaska Native Carving? Yeah. Does anyone know? I mean, I'm thinking ivory, but I don't know.

I mean, like wood carving, ivory, anything. But I think because it's international, they'll probably try to bring other artists from other countries. Gotcha. But it was like when she brought it up, it was like an idea. Okay.

When is that? No idea. No idea. But here's the notes because I wasn't here in your main meeting because I had an emergency appendectomy. And we are very happy that you are okay.

Oh my God. Hi, Max. So I missed that meeting, but it says on the notes from Farah from that meeting, SCC wants to plan participation in the International Carving Festival and make sure they're following— make sure that you are following P&P for forming a planning committee. So I'll address that. So the response to that is you can form a committee and we do need to notice it if you're discussing MUNI business, but it's no big deal.

I don't think people will join you. It's just we just need to follow procedures. Major and, you know, public notice it. So I guess the chances of the public showing up is very slim to none. So just know that we have to put, you know, maybe like if you're gonna meet here, maybe meet here.

Oh yeah, casually mentioning it. Yeah, you know, no biggie, no big deal. Yeah. We're like, are you okay? Well, after that, actually, just 3 weeks ago, I have a new hip.

Like, of course, I know. So that's why I was off when I got this thing. So, yeah, major appendectomy and then hip replacement. No, I thought you were traveling apart or something. Oh, just falling apart, staying in the hospital, you know.

Oh man. Goodness. Anyway, I guess anyways, carving festival. Who is organizing this carving festival? So, Anna is one of the primary organizers, and I would say like I would like more information from her if there was any solid dates or if it did happen this year or going to happen this year or for next year.

She met with me before that meeting, so I kind of had some background information. I think You are going in, in the critical planning stages, so you can actually determine when it could be and really be a part of the organizing committee, if you want to take that on as a project, um, you know, just an activity for the Commission and promote the Commission's work, establish relationships with Alaska Native, because the next part here is that You can sell tickets and ask Native corporations to, you know, pay for the hospitality or travel. Wait, clarifying question. So this is not something that she heard of and she wants us to support. She wants us to do it in partnership with others.

Yeah, no, it's— you're not like— you don't have sole responsibility. You can partner with another group. She wants us to kind of like lead the planning or—. Oh no, not even that, just participate with others in the planning so you will have input. Who is organizing?

Who is organizing? That I don't know. Anya would know more about that, but yeah, from what I understand. Yeah, who are the others? Yeah, who's organizing, right?

Yeah, no, no, no, it's just if you want to participate, I think there were some people last time interested in being part of that organizing committee. Like I said, you all don't have to participate. 2 Or 3 will be enough. We just have to public notice it because it's a business of the commission, um, and, and then promote it as your event. So you can take credit in being a partner in this event.

You can invite, I mean, Japanese— there's carving with Japanese chitosan, right? I mean, well, just so that That's why I want to say that if this, you know, by participating in it, if it, you know, connects to the next stage of like a, you know, related to our next exchanges with our sister cities, that would be great. Exactly. But if nothing comes out from this What's the purpose of us? Well, yeah, as a sister city commissioner, I think individually I'm interested.

Yeah, but it has to have benefit to our organization. I think one benefit, if I'm thinking of what this is correctly, is the community outreach portion. Um, because I think, like, I think there's two— there are two things that needs to, like, in, like, the benefits. Like, of course, like, the exchange for— from us and our sister cities, but I think also making sure that we are engaged with the community and like communities know what we are doing and what we are. I think that's like, that's like one thing that I think that needs to also become a priority is how we engage with the greater English community.

Yeah. Especially if we want them to donate to us and support us. But however, we do need a balance between if it's going to take a huge part of like a lot of time, then yes, it has to benefit us both. Of our own cities. Yeah, so I am— I, I think I want to hold off on making a decision on this.

I feel I'm going to put, you know, set up a table there. Yeah, I, I think info. Yeah, and if we're involved, we can send it to our sister cities, like an invitation to participate on that too. So, right, to engage them. Yeah, not only that, like, uh, I think that's why this is the critical stage that you have uh, for to join is that to explore possibilities of how can you integrate your sister city as far as carving is concerned.

You can educate, you know, we can probably have part of, as part of the program, you know, presentation of what your sister city's relating activities they have or their skills or whatever that is in carving. Yeah, right. It could be snow carving, whatever, you know, and maybe an audio or video. Yeah, so something like that to like be creative and turn it into a sister city project. A portion of it could be about international carving from our sister cities.

But yeah, I would, I would like to hear more. Okay, so we're trying to make a decision beforehand. Okay, so we'll do that for— we'll carry that over to the next meeting. Sounds good. All right, moving right along.

It's the fact that we were like, what is this? Yes. Can't remember last week. 3 Months and you all forget. It really was like summertime in the summer.

I was like, what happened? I'm like, oh, this is a bad note. Oh, I don't even want to read mine. I'm like, okay, so, you know, since you don't have other activities planned too, this might be a great opportunity to partner with someone, you know, so. Something to consider.

I guess that's enough on all— wow, sunny day, end of day, brain works slow. If there's any other opportunities for us to collab with the community, if there's any like cool cultural events or places that we can table or places maybe we can do a quick presentation and connect with folks, let us know. I think those are really quick and simple and low-cost ways for us to engage with community, to get the word out there, generate excitement, and sometimes we get some really great ideas.

Ideas out of it and support. So if— I mean, any opportunity, just let us, let us know, let the group know. We can at least discuss it. If there are no questions or comments about the International Carving Festival, we're going to table that until we get to see Anna again, and then hopefully we get to learn more. We'll move on to Item C, the Japanese Consular Strategic Planning Meeting that is going to be on September 4th Friday from 3 PM to 8 PM.

Yes. Yep. And it's on my platform. Yes. Um, uh, yeah, go ahead.

Uh, do they have a new— because of the job— oh no, I miss out. It's a South Korean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he just—. Yeah, just the South Korean, right?

Yeah, yeah, here we go, right? Yeah, I think, I think he's here. I think he's been here for a little bit. Oh, recently. Yeah, sorry.

Okay, so the Japanese—. Go back to the Japanese. Sorry about that. Oh yeah, uh, so this was something that they've been planning since— oh gosh, like late last year, early this year. Feels like a long time.

Um, from what I remember, you know, they want to gather the Japanese community organizations and its stakeholders to really brainstorm. Also, like, one, to connect, and two, to brainstorm of how to work together kind of like a grassroots movement. But Marie, do you have more? Yeah, I just got the program from Daniel today. And Shane, I think since you're an Incheon person, you are cordially invited.

And this—. Hiroko, you're going to be there too, right? Yeah. Okay. And so anyone else have any relationship with Japan who might be interested in attending.

So the program is 3 to 8. I think the, the forum discussion is 3 to—. It's like 3:30 to 6. Yeah, 3 to 6. And then after that, there's a reception from 6 to 8.

Oh, and then closing. Yeah, so you can attend either just that the program portion or the reception or, or both. But yeah, Shane, I think we have other seats. Emily is coming, Hiroko in her capacity as member, and Tasha, you have— yeah. Can you remind me what date that was?

I know that I'm one of the Chitose folks, so I'd be happy to attend. Yeah, it is September 4th, 3 o'clock. To aid at the Marriott downtown. So yes, yeah, Daniel thought maybe you were related to Chitose too. So yes, so Shane and Tasha, just please let me know if you can come and I will let Daniel know.

Shane, I saw you went up. No, go ahead. I was asking if you had—. Yeah, I will be out of town that weekend. Yeah, isn't that Labor Day?

Yeah, yep, it is. Yeah, that's Labor Day. I saw the date, I was like, we did say September, we didn't say when in September. Yeah, so anyway, okay, yeah, so that's— yep. So if you're interested, let me know.

With Che not being able to go, I think that leaves us one more. I want to go then. Yeah, so I'll—. I will. Oh, cool.

Okay, I'll confirm with you. Alrighty, yes please. Great, okay, that's it. That's it, yep. If you have any questions, let us know, but it'll be a really great evening, afternoon/evening of connecting.

I met some of the folks that will be there and they do really great work and it's really nice just to like connect with folks, learn what they do, and see them connect. Yeah, and just to mention some of the people or groups invited that's on the program. Japan Alaska Association, JACL Alaska Chapter, Hiroko, do you know what that is? What is that? Japanese American Citizens League.

Oh, okay. And Alaska Association of Teachers of Japanese. Yeah, UAF, Alaska Japanese Business Association, JAAB. Japanese exchange teacher.

Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association. Got it. Oh, that's real. Got it. And then the Anchorage Sister Cities Commission.

So Emily will be there and hopefully Tasha and Claudia to represent the commission. And maybe I can represent many of them. The both you got. Yeah, yeah. Great.

Yeah, I was told you're there for JAA. Yeah, cool. Great. That's it for Sister Cities. Yeah, that's it.

That's it. Okay, perfect. Now we go to item number D, membership in Sister Cities International. However, I think Carol is a big part of that conversation. So as a reminder, before we, um, galavanted to summertime vacation, we chatted about joining the International— sorry, Sister Cities International Communications Association.

And we— I did some research on the annual membership. Annual membership is based on the size of your city, and so for our size of the city, annual membership is about $1,200.

Carol, if I remember correctly from our last meeting, very generously offered to help cover the cost. And so this meeting was supposed to be our big meeting of the do we join or do we not join. How—. I mean, we do have quorum, so we could vote on do we commit to join in our next one, in our next meeting. Hopefully Carol will be able to join us to verify if they can't— her company can't help with costs because that's from what I remember the last go around.

Oh, it's an annual fee, right? Yeah, yeah, $1,200 is the annual fee. Does she do that every year or just one time? That's where I kind of want to verify with her of like, I think there is still interest, but I don't want to say yes and then put that on her. That would not be great if she— if it was only for a one-time thing and then we figure it out.

We didn't discuss like a 2-year pilot. Like, is this going to work out for us? Does it work out for us? And then reassess.

Yeah, I would say like, uh, it would, you know, we should do the pilot and try. If you're gonna just pay for 1 year, I think we should take it and see if it works or not. I recommend somebody volunteering to research maybe and present what the advantages are of joining. I mean, how does it benefit to you even if Carol offered generously to cover the cost? So in my— I think I did a mini presentation when I looked up like, okay, let's see how much this costs.

Um, you basically get to be part of like— you get to connect with the other members of Sister Cities International, and I think a lot of cities are members of Sister Cities International. Um, one of the benefits I presented was We are able to basically connect with our peers who do the same work. I feel like in the state of Alaska, we're pretty unique because in other cities where they do have a Sister City program, it is a staff person. It is not a commissioner. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. So even in Alaska, like Fairbanks, I know they have a staff, one staff person that manages their Sister Cities, and Seward is a staff person. We are very unique that we have a commission of volunteers who do Sister Cities International, who do Sister Cities work. So I think it would benefit us to be able to connect with other people across the world who are in a similar position as us.

So is the meeting, uh, is on Zoom or—. I don't think there are like set meetings, but I think there's just like activities and benefits that we should probably seek out and people that like we can say like we want to connect with you. I can dive deeper Convention? They do have a convention, but like a convention, symposium, I think they do have that kind of stuff. They have a lot of resources for us to tap into, financial resources potentially, and mentoring.

Yes, yeah, I think it would be helpful for us even like to find ways how to reach better the community and how to create the, you know, to get them involved too. I think that would be also just prior to start. Yeah, I think like that we should start and see if it doesn't work. What are the best practices? There is a, yeah, like a convention in another part of the United States.

We probably want to participate, right? Yeah, I mean, we need to come up with money. So I think what the— honestly, I do agree, like highlighting, seeing if we actually use the benefits of the membership, especially if cost won't be an issue, if at least the short term. Um, my thought process with bringing this up the first time around was because one, it's been brought up a few times about why we're not members, and two, with new members coming in, you know, we always talk about we need training, we just want to know how to do this, what to do. And I think that having a membership with Sister Cities International with the vast amount of resources that they have will help honestly, like, make it easier for newcomers to learn about the work, know what a sister city is, what does it mean to have a sister city, and what it means to be that liaison between your city and your sister— assigned sister city.

Yeah, but I do want to give space to folks online. Does anyone have any questions or comments about Sister Cities International?

Um, I have a question. So the annual membership fee, what is included with that benefit? Is it an online account that gives you access to the network? Is it a single login that we would share? Do you have any information on the logistics of it?

It didn't. It wasn't really apparent to me about how the account works. I will assume that we probably will have the one account, like the admin account that we can use to log in to the Sister Cities International to access at least their online resources. But then also, then honestly, it kind of gives— what's— what would you call it? Not like authenticity, but it's kind of like we are also a member of Sister Cities.

Legitimate. Yeah. Not like, although we still, we are legitimate, you know, we are doing the work, we're legitimate, but I think being a part of that cohort kind of adds on to that. But I will take a look into how the actual logistics of like accounts work because it really wasn't made apparent. I have to dig a little deeper on that.

Uh, Tim, are any of our sister cities members already? Um, I think Our sister cities? Or just our city? Yeah, or any of them. Well, let me take a look.

Well, I don't see any. I see states. Oh, this is in the US. Oh, wait, here.

Huh. Yeah, there's Quite a few states and their cities. I don't— I'm not seeing any international. They might have a separate tab. I will be very honest, they don't have the best website.

Not very user-friendly. Um, but if you will excuse me, I will also quick do a quick search.

I would assume yes, but please hold my answer.

You're on the telephone. Yeah, no, right. Search by city.

Well, I know for Chichose, I don't think so because Anchorage is its only sister city and I don't think there's any reason for them to. Oh, it's so weird how they do their— okay, well, I'm just gonna search up Incheon.

I just saw here that the City and Borough of Juneau is an active member of the Sister Cities International.

I think it's just nodding. Fairbanks, North and Ketchikan, Boothman, Longyearbyen, stand the International Municipal Green Yeah, yeah, a lot of the cities within Alaska are members. City of Palmer. Uh, Palmer. Palmer is the only one that's really a member.

Or member. Oh, why did you say Juneau? It's a member. Yeah, Juneau. So we just did a quick search on the website.

Kind of weird how they do it. However, the $1,200 benefit— I mean, the membership includes several benefits: network access, operational assistance, cities, seeking cities, the resources, and the discounts. Oh, discounts. Did they say on what or just discounts?

So I'm doing a Google here. This is from their website. Oh yeah, and then this discounted background check and services. Oh wow, okay, everything. Insurance, travel, medical services.

Because they have a Japanese translation program. And what is that? Toolkits. Oh, templates and stuff. That would have been very useful for us.

But according— but I mean, I just searched up Incheon on the list and it looks like in China. It's also sister cities with many cities that are US cities that are members of Sister Cities International. So I think depending— I think it depends on the city internationally if they have other US cities. We're not the only one. They're cheating on us.

They're not. But I think from what Hiroko just listed off, I think those are really valuable resources for us to have, especially as we're navigating like one, like, navigating new ways to engage, but also trying to navigate how to just be a commission with so many new members. I mean, when I joined, I had no idea what I was doing. Sometimes I still don't. So we could always take this month or the next month until our next meeting in September for everybody to kind of form their own opinion on joining.

I feel like there is interest, but there are a lot of questions. However, for the specific questions, I can delve deeper as everybody just gets familiar with what this organization is. So one of the specific questions I will research is how do accounts for members work, um, international cities as members, because I have a feeling I might have to Is there any other specific questions that you would like answers to before voting on this in September?

If you think of anything, just let me know and I'll forward to Kelsey or Musa. Yeah, I think this was already said, but just confirming with Carol what that potential financial commitment looks like from her company and also if it would be for like the first 2 pilot years, just 1 year based basically like the specific, um, the specifics of that commitment.

Okay.

Okay. Giving space for one more question before we move on. I think this is something that we've kind of just talked about, but maybe for the September meeting so that we have it in front of us, um, Just a list of membership benefits.

Yeah, they have a link to it, but I clicked on it and it gave me a 404 error. So yeah, again, I think they should probably work on their website, but no judgment. Websites are hard, I know. Yeah, I think— but are you thinking this like in a Word doc? Like, here are the things that you get if you're a member of SHAY.

Yeah, there's, yeah, there's supposed to be a Word document. Yeah, something simple. Yeah, I guess there is supposed to be, but we will, we will dig for it. Oh dear. Okay, so I do encourage everybody to explore their website to get familiar with what this Sister Cities International organization is.

And with these specific questions, I can just do some digging, get some research done. And present it before we take a vote. Okay, sounds good to folks. Thumbs up. Thumbs up.

Perfecto. Okay, we are going to go into line item 8, new business. Item A, request from Darwin, Australia. I believe there was a document for this. Yeah, I sent you all the email.

From Darwin. Yeah, I was surprised to get this. So basically they are— what was the original email from? It's from the City of Darwin, their manager, International Relations and Sponsorship. So they would like— they invited you all to submit one or two proposed programs, initiatives, or project ideas that you would like City of Darwin to deliver for our two cities to work on together for 2026-2030.

So they are developing their 2026-2030 Sister and Friendship Cities Action Plan. So they want to emphasize that this is a call for ideas and not project proposals. It was due August 30th, but since you're not meeting till today, they gave us a deadline of up to September 30th. No, that's very generous of them. Right.

So who is assigned to Darwin? I would— Claudia. Claudia. Claudia. I don't know who else is with me.

I think—. And Kelsey. I'm also assigned to it. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Kelsey here. So I think if you two can get together, discuss, and also if anyone else has ideas of what we could do with Darwin, There's not really, you know, they just said for projects to work on together for the potential mutual benefits. You know, you 2 can work together during that period for the potential mutual benefits for both cities. Your proposal will assist us in identifying collaborative opportunities to be included in the action plan and will help strengthen our partnership. Through practical and mutually beneficial initiatives.

So, oh, it says we encourage proposals that align with the key areas of cooperation outlined in our sister city agreement. Of course, you're like, that the agreement that you of course have quickly on hand. I do have it. Yeah, yeah. So, um, somewhere in that— I know.

Yeah. Um, so yes, if I have anything, I will forward to you and Kelsey, to you as well. And then with everybody else, this is a whole Sister Cities project. So if you have an idea, maybe adopt from whatever we've been doing with Chitose, something, an exchange. Gosh, Australia.

How long does it take to travel to Australia? Oh my gosh. Anyway, you know, we can explore those, find areas of mutual interest. Yeah, so yeah, this is our opportunity to make proposals for them on what we want to do, and we can always, uh, use towards the other sister cities too. Any ideas that will come out, yeah, yeah, so share with the others.

Yeah, so I will, uh, remind you, send you and Kelsey copy, uh, an email inviting both of you so we can start discussion. And again, everybody just email me for any ideas you'd like to pass on to Kelsey and Claudia to include. That'd be great. Yeah, and September 30th is the deadline, so by your September meeting hopefully we get that done and submitted. Yeah, or at least presented to the commission.

—Approval. Yeah, that'll be September 23rd. Yeah, yeah, 23rd. Yeah. Okay, so you have—.

Yeah, okay. Marie, were there— sorry to just jump in— were there any guidelines included in that email? I didn't see them around like what they would like to see in a proposal beyond kind of the things outlined in our agreement, but like length of proposal, anything in terms of of what might be helpful for actually writing something, putting pen to paper? No, not at all. Uh, and yeah, I was surprised to get this, so I don't—.

Uh, I know we can maybe ask for their last action plan if it's in, or I mean, I'm sure a follow-up email just like, hi, we're gonna work on this, can you tell us more information about what you're seeking? Yeah. I'm sure, and then I think maybe that can just help start a conversation, even if the answer is not really. Yeah, that follow-up from Brian Bauer, Head of Public Affairs, invited you to say, you know, we are very happy to discuss any ideas, so we can probably schedule a Teams or Zoom meeting and for a discussion because, you know, we don't have a lot of time, so. They have done exchanges before here when I was a commissioner.

Oh, nice. So they— maybe we, you know, we can ask them. Maybe they have a record of what they did with Anchorage.

Yeah, that was our children's artwork exchanges. Oh, that's so cute. Huh? Oh, that's— I'm just saying that's so cute. Yeah, very good.

And then all those The artworks from Darwin was— this were displayed in the Blaine's Art. Oh, Blaine's Art Store. A store. Oh, cute. Yeah, that's adorable.

Yeah. Oh, so they sent over here? Yeah, they had to ship it. Oh yeah. Yeah.

And I'm assuming we did the same. Yes, our art over. That's so cute. Um, it would be good in your— like, if you do a follow-up email with Cherry to ask if they have, for the 2026-2030, if they have specific, like, guiding principles or goals beyond increasing partnership, if their goals are, like, around youth or education, environment. That would be good to know so we're not, like, throwing spaghetti noodles at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I don't want, um, yeah, because you want to, we want to do it right. And then also when we had the AFN convention a few years ago, there was indigenous people from Darwin. Yeah. And yeah, I see that. I see this opportunity to just present new ideas too that really come from us without actually seeing what's been done before.

I'm always like, go for something new, go for what we would like to propose. I imagine they would love to hear like a culinary exchange. Yeah, something. Yeah, exactly. So I think just talking about it and whatever idea comes out, whatever is in that plan, or even without that agreement.

Yeah, but you know, keeping in mind culture exchange, business, something economic for our both our economic benefits. Education. So those are the areas that sister cities focus on. So what are the products that we'd like to see here? Uh, yeah, no, I just thought that the consul for Australia in San Francisco, they met with us and the mayor, and it's cool because there's like 3 women, and then it's like all women staff with the mayor's office too.

So that was kind of cool to see. There was Yeah, hello, hello. I know it was a very light conversation compared to the other consuls who visit us, so it was nice to see. Oh, that's good. And they gifted us a scarf, uh, from Australia.

Oh, lovely. Yeah, so I know I'm just thinking economics. What are the products that we would like? Oh, like, like, uh, something. Yeah, you know, so yeah, so anyway, yeah, be crazy.

Yeah, think of something we'd like, but yeah, maybe some guidance of what areas. Santos is the one that's from Australia. That's what it is. Santos. Oh, the oil company?

Yeah. Are they from Australia? I don't remember. They're not from here. I thought it was Australia.

I will check. A friend of mine work over there. I see Kelsey has her hand up. Yes, Kelsey.

Sorry, I raised my hand at a not the right time in the conversation. You're good, you're good. Being virtual is not great. I was just going to say, I'm happy, Marie, I can reach out to you to coordinate a time for Claudia and I to talk, and then we can plan to have a proposal for the September 23rd meeting. And then if anyone else passes along any ideas to you over email, if you could share those with us, then we could work those in and talk through them further if we need to.

How does, how does that sound for next steps to folks? Yeah, that sounds good to me. Sounds great. We are working with a tighter timeline, so. Yes, Santos is Australian.

Oh, it is? Yeah. Oh, I did not know. Interesting. I would never have guessed.

So, but for everybody, if you have any ideas that could, you know, that you think would be great for the Darwin Anchorage partnership plan, please share. But it doesn't have to just be about Darwin. It could just be anything. So no idea is a bad idea. The only bad ideas are ideas that are not shared.

That's right. Yes, the sun is really affecting my mood, and you can be sunny more often. Okay, so are there any questions about the request from Darwin, Australia before we move on? Nope. Okay, perfect.

We're gonna go on to Item B, term expirations. Marie, oh yes, so I show it should be on your agenda, so on the front page. Yeah, front page. So, Member Hiroko, Anya, Tatiana, and Jasmine are all up for reappointment. Is it because Jasmine took over?

Yeah, yeah, they— exactly. Okay. They take over— you take over the seat and whatever expiration date goes with the seat. Oh, okay. What is this, seat 6 vacant?

Yeah, we have several vacant seats. Yep. So let me know. It's just by email. Let me know and we'll process.

And I always say this with reappointments, it's the opportunity for each administration to give other community members an opportunity to serve. And so if, I mean, chances are, I don't, if you don't have applicants either, that's probably what we're moving to. Oh, Tim just messaged. I will read out loud. Apologies, going to have to drop in a couple of minutes for a dinner meeting.

Tim, you're all good. Have a good dinner meeting, and if it's a good restaurant, let us know what it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to see you, Tim. Thanks for joining.

Safe travels. Good to see you all. Anyway, yes, bye. So yeah, just email me if you're interested and we will forward it. Somebody else now is processing that.

I have been relieved of those duties. Is it just an email saying, yes, I am interested? Okay, just an email, I'm interested in reappointment, please consider. And if they're reappointed this year, will their expiration depend be 2029? Yes.

Okay, yes, and we're not expired yet.

6:55. Okay, 6:56. Oh, we're okay. 5 More minutes. Okay, any other questions on term expiration?

There are only 3 people who is technically expiring unless they express interest. Okay, perfect. Uh, moving on, public participation. Well, any members of the public like to participate? There are none, so I think we can move on from that.

Oh dear. Um, Sister City reports. So we have 3 confirmed cities who have reports. So we'll start with Chitose. Okay, so I have 3 things report, and one is Miss Anchorage, and also second, high school exchanges, and third, middle school exchanges.

And then Miss Anchorage visiting Chitose, that happened in July, and that is an annual thing, and then it has been in existence for how many years, like 30 years or something? A long time. Yeah, a long time. But this time, this year's Miss Anchorage is Becca Sewell. S-E-W-E-L-L, how do you say?

Yeah, I think you have it right. And then she had a good time with, and the Chitose said they have good time with Miss Anchorage. And although it rained during their stay, And Becca was able to give a try through visits to Chitose High School and Chitose Aviation College and Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Oh, very interesting. So among others.

And then also she's a homestay with a family of a Chitose High School student who has been studying at the Diamond High School since this August, and that provided a rich opportunity for exchange.

And the good news is, do you remember that Chitose was asking us to—. Money? Money, yeah. But Good news is that Chitose will invite Miss Anchorage again next year. Oh, good!

For their summer festival, and they will cover the cost of Miss Anchorage. Next July? Next July. Next July. That's so exciting.

Hopefully it doesn't rain. So unusual. Very good news. Well, the thing is, uh, um, The person who is in the city hall who takes care of these exchanges is Matsubara Kanpaku, and he used to work with us very closely. So he's now in charge of this, so I think he did some magic so that people agreed to pay That's kind of magic.

Yeah, money magic. And the second, high school exchanges. As I said, a new exchange student to Diamond High School from Chitose is here. Oh great! He's a 10th grade high school student and he will be here for next 10 months.

Oh okay, next 10 months. And he's the 4th exchange student since the high school level exchange started. Wow, so this, I think it's been in existence for 4 years. Oh, so every year there's a new exchange? Yes, fairly new.

Sadly, there is no student from Diamond this year. Oh, it didn't, it didn't go both ways? Yeah, no, this year. Did something happen or? I, I don't know.

Oh yeah, okay, well at least we got a student. And then the middle school exchanges will happen next January. Oh, January. Students are coming from Chippewa to Anchorage next January. That's all.

That's so nice. So January 2027, how many students did you—. I, I coming usually, uh, like 10 to 15 students. Wow. I don't know how many are coming.

Okay, that's exciting. And they'll be here for the school year? Oh no, no, no, no, no, it's just a 2 weeks. Oh, 2-week visit. 10 Days maybe.

Just one for this, for the school. Oh, okay, okay, very nice. Thank you. Uh, anything else from Chitose before we move on to the next city?

Okay, Whitby, Eddie, Tim. Oh, so I want to say, Tasha, yeah, I, I look forward to looking— I mean, I'm looking forward to working with you Thank you, me as well. Appreciate it. Well, we'll all be together in person for the September 4th strategy meeting. Yes.

So we have Whitby, a report? Yes, no response from Whitby when I email them. I may need to just use a different email, my actual professional email rather than my personal email. Maybe that's why they're not taking me seriously. I guess.

Yes. Or maybe they're just super busy, um, or I'm sending it to the wrong person. Oh, maybe you're CCing a whole bunch of people. Yeah, maybe. Uh, but the Whale Bones, the famous arch that they're very well known for, uh, which was gifted by us, uh, will be taken down in September, and a replica will be taking its place in early 2027, so in spring.

Next year.

That's it. All I got for Whitby. Nice. Congratulations to Whitby. Darwin, you already discussed.

Oh, we already did it. Oh, I guess the update is ideas incoming. Yes, that's what it is. Perfect. Incheon, I don't think I have anything on my end to November to report, but the 40th is incoming, and now that summer's over it's time to get our working hats on, because I think we had some ideas of what we wanted to do, but we were limited because they had their election.

But now they— now they're done. Now they're done. I've inquired, revisited, because they wanted to do something. They were open to an exchange. They will travel here, uh, but because their mayor was up for reelection last June, they couldn't commit.

And after election, we got message that he was reelected. So I asked, you know, now what? But they haven't responded, so we'll see. Follow up again. They're probably celebrating right now.

We'll just revisit. Yes. Okay. Uh, Mayor reelected.

Visit with him. Perfect. Uh, I think our school district, World Languages Program Director Ramen Lock. Oh yeah, yeah, we met him at that reception when the Ainu folks were here. He was just saying that.

Yeah, okay. Oh, that's good. Did he like it? Yes. Oh, that's good to hear.

No bias, but that's very good to hear. Okay, perfect. Arvin, on that side here, and we can move down to member comments. So is there anything that you would like to share that is outside of what we already discussed? Yes.

Yes. Oh, good. Yeah, I have been thinking about fundraising and, uh, for the commission, and one of the biggest and popular things here in Anchorage is running. Uh, running.

Mr. Marathon Runner. So, and you're right, not only is it popular, but But Anchorage has the resources, not only with the mayor's office, but also there's an Anchorage Running Club that I could potentially reach out to. There's actually multiple running clubs here that could— and businesses that could help facilitate a Sister Cities 5K, right? Which could bring in some donations or funds. I've been looking at some of the 5Ks and how much they cost, or like $40, $35.

That's, you know, that's some cash depending on how many participants are running. But this is definitely a next year kind of thing since the running season's coming down. No one wants to run in the snow. Yeah, and it would— if we plan for next year next year's summer running season, it would— we have time to actually facilitate this to make it happen. Great.

I would like to create a 5K for Sister Cities. I second for you to do that. For you to do that. I guess I raised your hand. Who runs?

I need the motivation. Yes, it's very— you will be in my car. I will hear from you from my car and hand you water from my vehicle. Well, one of the big things too is volunteers. That's true.

That's really good. I will help you. You know, oh, oh, next year, next year. Yeah, I would have to, um we would have to reach out to some of the, uh, you know, like Skinny Raven potentially, Anchorage Running Club, the mayor's office of course, uh, and who plans the mayor's marathon and get their advice on how to actually facilitate this. And it's gonna be a— and find the date.

Yeah, it's a big— but yeah, there's people we get, Parks and Rec, they do the, right, Mayor's Marathon, but I think if you could relate it to like maybe the anniversary of the creation of or the establishment of Sister Cities or one of the Sister Cities, some important, you know, that we could call it—. None of the summer babies are—. When was that? When was this? It's not June.

Was June? Oh, September 11th, right? Darwin is September 11th. Would it be March 15th, which was in Chitose's summer?

Yeah, so maybe what we could do, I don't know, I don't know distances well, so maybe this will be out of our— this might be maybe not the greatest idea, but it could be like we run the distance of one of our cities. Yeah, never mind. I thought about that, but I think a 5K is a popular distance. Yeah, doable. And very doable.

Not only for adults but children as well. Exactly, that's the Heart Run. What's the sense? Just, uh, something different. I thought, uh, to do something like, you know, like a hilltop, like some different kind of race would be something.

I don't know, I'm just— you're the runner, I just don't know what's something Anchorage unique. Yeah, you know, something that people has done since like everybody that was running. So I said, you know, mountain That is like, I know the Mount Marathon, but I know the guy from the Hilltop. I don't know how bad it is to do the Hilltop kind of deal. I would, I would have to coordinate with Parks and Rec and see if that's even allowed for certain— what areas can we run on and what can— what's allowed and what's not.

So I know the guy that I think he's the marketing guy for the Hilltop, I think. So if you have an idea that we could go through him, yeah, we could get together. Hilltop is the skiing uphill, right? Yeah, but like, you know, they do have the mountain bike thing deal over there. I don't know, I never went up to check.

Have you been up there? No, I have not been there. So, okay, Tasha, and then we do want to get the time. Okay, all good. I just had an idea.

I feel like I remember that there was some kind of park or something dedicated to one of our sister cities. Yeah, is it Chitose? Yeah, I wonder if it might be. Yes, um, maybe we could have whatever the 5K end at that park, and that could be like the finish line, and then we could have some kind of banquet there or something. Oh my God.

I'm not even sure what I was— That is wonderful. Behind the Sunlake Elementary School. Yeah, it's a monument. And that's a beautiful place over there. It is really nice.

Yeah, we'll have to take a look at that because it could be an annual thing where we finish and end at, or start and end at a sister city monument, which there's a few. Yeah, yeah, there's the Captain Cook statue, there's the plaque at the bus station. Chelsea Park seems like a good idea. Chelsea Park. I don't think maybe there are— I think what we could also do is to invite the communities from our respective sister cities, like invite the consuls if they run, maybe interested, or at least at the end of the party, like, you know, end of running party.

Consulates is not We cannot get them to one. We can get them to the party. They will come to the party. They will come to the party. Oh, it's 7:09.

Oh, 7:09. Yeah, so let's wrap up. So that was my idea. Yes, I think that's a good idea. Right, so I will just want to say quickly that I think it's great to have this event so that instead of just— so your exam from sunsetting, like being about, you know, Abolished, is that the name?

Abolished. You know, there's other sister cities have sunset dates, and what happens is they're audited based on their activities, and if there's none, the auditors recommend that they be— I don't think abolish is the word, but you know, to discontinue. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, so because, you know, but you are exempt from that sunset, but it doesn't mean that you can't be a focus. I mean, I think just to not take advantage of that, that you don't have a sunset date, it will be nice to have reports to the assembly and to the mayor of activities that you are doing, you know, outside of these meetings.

So I really encourage that you decide on an activity and then put your efforts in it as far as promoting like the running or the carving. Minkitosi has a lot, um, they're doing, but I think with the other sister cities it will be— it's just my recommendation, you know, that it's one way of promoting yourselves as well to the assembly so that they will back. It's another way to get your name out there as far as outreach as well. Should we have a consuls mixer? Something, but yeah, just like mix with the head consuls, especially if they just had an informal I just got the gathering for the—.

2 Weeks ago. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, but those are things. Email me your ideas, I'll forward it to everybody, and hopefully next meeting we'll have something to plan, discuss, something tangible, an activity for you all to do. Yeah.

Okay, so let's commit September 23rd, we will revisit the fundraising ideas, but also ideas of how we engage with with our folks. Um, just as a recap, please do your own research on Sister Cities International. I will do research on the questions that were asked, but I do ask everybody to form your own opinion on the organization because we will take it to vote in September on the go or no-go. Uh, next meeting September 23rd, 6 PM. Uh, some of us will be at the September 4th, 3 to 8 PM at the Marriott.

That will be in person, so I can't wait. Is there anything else for the good of the order?

Nope. Nope. Everyone good? Okay. Meeting is adjourned, 7:12 PM.

Thank you everybody for joining. We'll see you in a few weeks. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye.

Bye. See you guys.