HomeMy WebLinkAbout0179.094\
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February 24, 1994
rKE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
Palo Alto, California
•• ighbor. Abr984 'ecemp§nd.tion to Ad~ Alb!. franc, to it. stater
City Progry
Members of the Council:
Report in Brief
This report forwards a request from Neighbors Abroad that asks
council to permit the City of Palo Alto to enter into a Sister City
relationship with Al01, France~ The report contains an impact
statement with respect to the request.
Background
Neighbors Abroad, 'Which administers the Sister City program on
behalf of the city of Palo Alto, has fou~ Sister cities: Palo l
Leyte, Pbllippin2s, established 196J; oaxaca, Mexico, established
1964; En~chede, The Netherlandsl established 1980; and Linkoping,
SWeden, established 1987.
In 1990, the Neighbors Abroad Board of Directors directed a special
committee of the Board to commence a search ro~ a new sister city
arid to use criteria for' establishing sister city relationships that
the Board had adopted in 1986. In addition~ the Board asked the
search cOllUnittee to take into consideration any cities 'Which had
the potential of invigorating the Neighbors Abroad program and
which miqht bring nev people into the organizQtic~. The search
committee suqgested eventually acquiring tyO new sister cities, in
order to addres5 the two desires of the Board and the Neiqhbors
)broad membership to acquire one new sister city from a developed
country, and one from a 4eveloping country. Although this report
addresses only one acquisition, Neighbors Abroad hopes to acquire
another sister city from a developing country.
After a three-year exploration in which the search committee
considered many cities in countries such as Chile l China, Eritria f
France I Japan, Romania and Russia, the committee~ with approval of
the Board, began researching several cities in France~ Some of
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those were alre..o.dy paired with other United St.ates cities (only one
is permitted a~cording to sister City International rules) j others
were either too large ¢r small in population, or were not
interested in a sister city affiliation.
Discussipns ~ith Albi
Neighbors ]!.broad has actively pursued the possibility of
establishin9 a sister city relationship with Albi since 1992 {see
attached chronologyl. This activity has been coordinated by the
Neighbors Abroad Search Committee and has included discussions ~ith
persons in the community regarding L1terests in Jt..lbi and oth~r-city
officials~ and a visit to Albi by designated members of Neighbors
Abroad 4 Neighbors Abroad has thorouqhly researched this
recommendation before forwarding it to Council.
ImPacts
Staff has considered Neighbors Abroad's request "With respect to any
financial or operational impacts for the city of Palo Alto~
On the face of it, there is an appearanc9 that staff support of
such a community based program is minimal. However, staff time and
resources from the city Clerk's Office and the City Manager's staff
are expended in support roles. As st~ff resources diminish and
budgets are reduced, the staff role in support of Neighbors Abroad
is strained. If Council approves another sister city,. then
resources. ..,ill need to be added to the. tudget to support that
decision.
A detailed accounting is not maintained of
to support Neighbors Abroad activities.
accurate a typical year's expenditures as
Financial Impacts --typical
Gifts and entertainp'lent
Printing and mailing
exact expenditures made
However, belo..... is as
staff could capture.
Sister City Association Membership
$ 2 j 500
3,000
480
TOTAL $ 6,980
Workload Imp~cts in City Clerkls Office
Proclamations and resolutions 13
Exchang~ student resolutions 17
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The above information gives ~ general picture of the support level
provided by both the City Clerk's Office and the City Manager's
staft. There are areas of support 'Which are difficult to quantify,
such as t..lte staff liaison time spent attending meetings and
facilitating Neighbors Abroad requests, staff time spent in
preparing proclamations and resolutions, staff time spent arranging
special social events related to Neighbors Abroad .activities,
impact on work load of the liaison's secretary, as time is spent in
coordinating facilities and se.tting schedules for meetings, and
receiving telephone calls rega~ding Neighbors Abroad.
While this intormation is provided to council in order to inform
Council of t.~e impact on staff, it is recognized that the proqrams
of Neiqhbors Abroad are beneficial to the community, are largely
operated by the Neighbors Abroad membership, and provide an avenue
tor unique c~ltural exchange.
Conclg.ioD
Staff rsquests that the Council act on the recommendation presented
to you by Neighbors .~road to add Albi, France, as the City of Palo
Alto's fifth Sister City, and gcknowledge that the needed resource~
tor staff to support such a proqram will be included in the budget.
Respectfully SUbm}tted,
i / .. --~.:<~
LEoN KAPLAN"
Director of Arts and OJlture
02!::~~t~
City Cler~ U
fClJ.J.,~
PAUL TH.lL'I'GEN
Director of Community services
, I"" '}.t II" ••• \~''''''7< J~\FLE:MING
City ~anage:r
Attachment: Chronology of Research on Albi
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M.tac:hmeJ!t 1
ClR05QLOGX 01 RESEARCH ON ~
In early 1992 representatives from the search cOlMlittee made:
contact with a Palo Alto resident to explore the possibility of:
developing a Sister City relationship with his native city, Albi,
France.
Ap~il 10~ 1992 --Albi was placed on the agenda of the Neighbors
Abroad Sister City search committee to be considered as a potential
sister cit~ for Palo Alto. Marc Pasturel and Elizabeth Ferrie (a
teacher at the French-American School in Palo Alto), who are
oriqinally from Albi, pr~sented information on Albi~
OQtcber 15 1 1992 --The Sister City search committee sponso~ed a
reception tor Bo~ru members who might be in~eregted in learning
more about Albia A qrcup of Albi supporters was recruited by Marc
Pasturel and Elizabeth Ferrie, including additional Palo Alto
residents who had relatives in Albi. contact was made with their
frlenda and relatives in Albi, and a committee in Albi was formed
to explore the possibility of an Albi-Palo Alto Sister city
relationship •
• ov~r 12, 19'2 --Correspondence ~as sent to Mayor Mi~~el castel
of Albi by Pat Sanders, Chair of the Neigheors Abroad Sister city
search cOimittee. The le.tter e.xpressed interest in exchanginq
views concerninq a possible future pairing of the two cities.
Deoeaber 10, 1"2 --A response was received t~om Albi Vice-Mayer
Jacques Biqot, indfcatinq that their City was interested in becom
ing a sister city to Palo Alto and that they were prepared to start
a dialoque.
January 17, 1'93 --~li~abeth Ferrie, after returning from a trip
to Albi in December, reported that an encouraging level of interest
in the Sister city idea existed on the part of the Albigeois. Vice
Mayor Bigot and Mayer Michel Castel indicated they were prepared to
visit Palo Alto in 19$3. Mr. Maurice Roqer agreed to be qrassroots
coordinator in Albi~ Jean-Claude Duriez, Associate Oean of the
Ecoles des Mines, the new branch of a top ranked engineering school
in Albi, supported the Sister city possibility and was eager for
his students to learn English and cross train with Silicon Valley
ccmpanies. There were a number of other projects, actiVities, and
exchanges proposed by Albi residents.
January, 1993 --The Neighbors Abroad Advisory CommJttee 'met to
receive a report from the search committee concerning various
cities being considered.
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April 14, 199' --The Sister City search ccm~ittee met and contin
ued the discussion concerning Albi as well as other cities •
.May, 1993 --A representative fro!!: the Neighbors Abroad search
committee, i'lnd her husband, paid a brief visit to Albi. A tour of
the city was given by the Ferrie family.
JUn_ 3-5, 1993 --A three day visit to A~bi by search committee
memberS] Pat Sanders and Carol stevens and their husbands took
})lace. The Pd.lo Alto '"isitors were favorably impressed by the
charm and special attractions of the City, the hospitality,
enthusiasm.. and friendship of their Albi hosts, and the interest
expressed by the Mayor's office for a possible pairing of the two
cities. A business meeting was held with the Albi committee, and a
reception was given by Vice-Mayor J~cques Bigot for the Palo Alto
de-legation.
BUIUler... 1"3 --Elizabeth Ferrie returned to Albi and met with
residents of Albi throughout the sUrolIler, for the: purpose ot
broadeninq the base ot support and expanding the Albi committee~
eeptemb4r, 1"3 --An informational meeting ~aa held in Palo Alto
for Neighbors Ahroad Beard Members and a report was given of the
stevens/sanders Albi visit. Andre AU~Je, an Albi resident and
Vice-president for Amdahl France, met with Stevens and Sanders in
Palo Alto, and expressed an interest in joining the Albi committee.
october ... ~"3 --A delegation of six Albi committee IDerohers visited
Palo Alto for four di'lYs~ They were treated to the hospitality of
Neiqhbor~ Abroad members, attended several receptions and dinner
parties, toured Palo Alto and environs, and met with search
co.mittee members to continue the dialogue, present information,
and advocate a long-term relationship. The Albi group also met
with former Mayor Jean McCown at city Hall.
January ., 1994 --The Sister City search committee recommended to
the Board that Neighbors Abroad. on behalf of Palo Alto, undertake
a Sist~r City relaticnship with Albi, France (vote: 4 aye, 2 nay~
1 abstain).
Janu_ry 12 ... 1". --Vice-mayor Jacques Bigot, acting tor the Mayor
of Albi, "Micnel Castel. sent a letter to the Coordinator of the
Albi Committee, Jean Pierre Remazeilhes~ reaffirming ~lbi's desire
to establish a Sister City relationship ~ith Palo Alto. A fax of
this letter was sent to search committee Chair Pat Sanders in Palo
Alto.
January 18, 199. --The Neighbo~s Abroad Board of Directors voted
at its regular Board Meeting to adopt the recommendation of the
Sister City search committee to undertake a sister city relation
ship with Albi, France and to communicate that recommendaticn to
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the City Council (vote: 27 aye, 6 nay.) Heiqnbors Abroad President
Le Levy 'Will appoint carol Stevens to be Vice-pres:i.dent (and ("hair
of the Albi commi tte.e) I provided that tb!! Council approves the
rec~maendation to enter into a sister city relationship with Alhi.
Pebruary ., 1994 --The Neiqhbors Abroad Winter General Committee
meetinq ~ocused on Albi 'With displays, slides, and a talk. Many
Neiqhbors Abroad members express&d their enthusiasm for Albi as a
potential new Sister City.
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