Sister Cities Commission — Naperville, IL
Date: 2024-11-13

400 S. Eagle Street
 City of Naperville Naperville, IL 60540



 Meeting Agenda

 Sister Cities Commission

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 6:30 PM NEU




A. CALL TO ORDER:

B. ROLL CALL:

C. PUBLIC FORUM:

D. OLD BUSINESS:

E. REPORTS:
1. 24-1311 Welcome newly appointed Sister Cities Commissioner and Student
 Representatives
2. 24-1310 Approve the Sister Cities Commission meeting minutes of August 14,
 2024

3. 24-1293 Update on contact and connections with Nitra, Cancun, and Patzcuaro

4. 24-1295 Receive the update on Sister Cities Commission activities with the
 Naperville Public Library
5. 24-1335 Receive the report on opportunities for the Sister Cities Commission to
 engage in trade, education, arts and culture
6. 24-1313 Discuss and approve the 2024 Sister Cities Commission annual report

7. 24-1308 Approve the Sister Cities meeting schedule for the 2025 calendar year

 General board meetings are held quarterly on the 2nd Wednesday of the
 month at 6:30 p.m.

 2025 MEETING DATES:
 February 12
 May 14
 August 13
 November 12
8. 24-1329 Receive the Sister Cities calendar items of past and present events



City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 11/8/2024
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Agenda November 13, 2024


9. 24-1294 Receive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act
 (OMA) refresher training presentation

F. NEW BUSINESS:

G. ADJOURNMENT:
 Any individual with a disability requesting a reasonable accommodation in order to
 participate in a public meeting should contact the Communications Department at least
 48 hours in advance of the scheduled meeting. The Communications Department can
 be reached in person at 400 S. Eagle Street, Naperville, IL., via telephone at
 630-420-6707 or 630-305-5205 (TDD) or via e-mail at info@naperville.il.us. Every effort
 will be made to allow for meeting participation.




City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 11/8/2024

City of Naperville

 400 S. Eagle Street
 Naperville, IL 60540
 http://www.naperville.il.us/




Meeting Minutes - Final

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

 6:30 PM



 NEU



Sister Cities Commission
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2024


A. CALL TO ORDER:

 Chairman Mani called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

B. ROLL CALL:
 Present 11 - Tony Chamberlain, Becky Rudolph, Allison Longenbaugh, Yugin Wang, Neelam
 Saboo, Daniel Bukowski, Ganesh Kar, Arun Mani, Navya Shah, Elin Amundson,
 and Abdechafi Boubkir

C. PUBLIC FORUM:

 Public Forum - Speaker
 Lauren Reyes-Yu

 Lauren is a resident of Naperville has attended Sister Cities meetings as well as
 other board meetings. She's interested in joining one of the city's boards or
 commissions in the future.

D. OLD BUSINESS:

E. REPORTS:

1. Welcome newly appointed Sister Cities Commissioner and Student Representatives

 Sister Cities Chair, Arun Mani welcomed our newly appointed Sister Cities
 Commissioner, Abdechafi "Chafi" Boubkir and student representatives Elin
 Amundson and Navya Shah.


2. Approve the Sister Cities Commission meeting minutes of August 14, 2024

 A motion was made by Chairman Rudolph, seconded by Chairman Chamberlain,
 motion passed by voice vote.

3. Update on contact and connections with Nitra, Cancun, and Patzcuaro

 Commissioners provided an update on our current Sister Cities.

 Nitra:
 Commissioners Chamberlain announced that Rosemary Wisnowski will speak
 at the Naperville Public Library on January 16th.

 Commissioners Bukowski and Chamberlain attended a Slovakian picnic. They
 group has chapters in Chicago and San Francisco. In an effort to continue
 making connections, Commissioner Bukowski reached out to a Dean at
 Constatine the Philosopher University and will report back.

 Cancun Update provide by Chairman Mani and Commissioner Wang:
 The Mayor received an invitation to Cancun World Fest. Commissioners
 discussed the costs associated to attending. Staff suggested Commissioners
 Kar and Saboo reach out to the foundation about possible fundraising

City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 4/3/2025
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2024

 opportunities to support efforts to attend the fest in the future. Chairman Mani
 said there are several items to consider, such as; costs for a booth, travel and
 other expenditures.

 Staff reported that they may have a lead on a contact in Patzcuaro, and will
 report back if they were able to make that connection.



 A motion was made by Commissioner Wang and seconded by Commissioner
 Bukowski to receive the update report on Nitra, Cancun and Patzcuaro. Motion
 passed by voice vote. This Report was received.

4. Receive the update on Sister Cities Commission activities with the Naperville Public
 Library
 Rosemary Wisnowski will give a Presentation on January 16th on the
 relationship between Nitra and the City of Naperville. Commissioner Rudolph
 suggests that the City posts to their social media account about the upcoming
 event.




 A motion was made by Commissioner Bukowski, seconded by Chamberlain to
 receive the update on Sister Cities Commission activities with the Naperville
 Public Library. Motion passed by Voice Vote.

5. Receive the report on opportunities for the Sister Cities Commission to engage in trade,
 education, arts and culture
 Chairman Mani outlined three key groups for classification purposes: Trade,
 Education, and Culture. Each category will have one commission serving as a
 liaison, with two commissioners working on Nitra, Pazcuara, and Cancun.
 When you sign up to one of these groups, your job will be to work internally with
 Naperville and identify these opportunities.

 For trade, the focus is on the I88 Corridor and leveraging Sister City
 connections. Community engagement is also a priority, with plans to raise
 awareness about Sister Cities in School Districts 203 & 204. Our student
 representatives will be helpful in this area. Commissioner Boubkir volunteered
 for the Education Group and Staff will help with providing contacts with our
 school districts.

 Chairman Mani suggested Commissioner Boubkir lead the Education
 Committee.

 Formal communications will be handled by professional staff, specifically the
 Mayor's Office.

 Student Representative, Navya Shah raised questions about social media

City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 4/3/2025
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2024

 strategies and our current presence. Staff stated that the City has a full
 Communications team that runs our social media and there is an opportunity to
 enhance the presence of Sister Cities activity on the city's social media across
 all channels. Staff will schedule a meeting for our student representatives to
 meet with our Communications Staff. Navya would like to write articles and blog
 to promote the groups work. Chairman Mani suggested that our student
 representatives write posts and run it through Communications to publish that
 information.


 Marcie emphasized students connect with all commission activities and tapping
 into meetings for broader engagement.

 Student Representative Shah asked about Public Art and if we have considered
 virtual or online media to display art. The usage of internet does widely spread,
 we could get a lot of culture and art through mixed media; paintings, writings
 through a virtual exhibit. Keeping and online exhibit would not require a lot of
 active engagement.

 Commissioner Rudolph asked about the parameters around the categories and
 staff responded that our mission is tied to our three current Sister Cities.

 Becky volunteered for Arts & Culture but would like some feedback on what that
 should include. Staff stated that once connections are made with our sister
 cities that the liaisons can come back and say, this is what we need from a
 Naperville perspective.




 A motion was made by Commissioner Chamberlain, seconded by Commissioner
 Bukowski to receive the report on opportunities for Sister Cities to engage in
 trade, education, arts and culture. This Report was received.

 Motion passed by voice vote.

6. Discuss and approve the 2024 Sister Cities Commission annual report

 Staff prepared the Sister Cities annual report and Staff praised the work that

City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 4/3/2025
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2024

 Commissioners have done this year adding Commissioners should be proud of
 themselves for the work they have done.



 A motion was made by Commissioner Chamberlain, seconded by Commissioner
 Bukowski to approve the 2024 Sister Cities Commission annual report. Motion
 passed by voice vote.

7. Approve the Sister Cities meeting schedule for the 2025 calendar year

 General board meetings are held quarterly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6:30
 p.m.

 2025 MEETING DATES:
 February 12
 May 14
 August 13
 November 12
 A motion was made by Commissioner Chamberlain, seconded by Commissioner
 Bukowski to approve the 2025 Meeting Schedule as presented with one
 amendment, adding the January 16, 2025 Special Presentation to the calendar.

8. Receive the Sister Cities calendar items of past and present events

 Motion by Chamberlain, Seconded by Bukowski to receive the Sister Cities
 calendar as presented and adding the January 16th Presentation by Rosemary
 Wisnowski. Motion passed by Voice Vote.

9. Receive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA) refresher
 training presentation
 Staff provided Commissioners with a refresher on FOIA and Open Meetings Act
 training covering a number of topics.

 As part of the requirement for board members and commissioners is to take the
 state's FOIA and OMA training when they are newly appointed. Staff stressed
 that transparency is key in our meetings; we are inviting the public into our
 meetings. Staff also reminded commissioners that a majority of a quorum for
 Sister Cities is three members. Anytime three or more commissioners meet,
 we are required to post the meeting for the public.



F. NEW BUSINESS:

G. ADJOURNMENT:
 A motion was made by Commissioner Wang, seconded by Commissioner
 Chamberlain to adjourn the Sister Cities Meeting at 8:01 p.m. The motion was
 approved by a unanimous voice vote.


City of Naperville Page 4 Printed on 4/3/2025
Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 13, 2024



 /s/ Rachel Pruneda
 Rachel Pruneda
 Assistant to the Mayor




City of Naperville Page 5 Printed on 4/3/2025