Laserfiche WebLink
MINUTES <br /> <br /> Eugene City Council <br /> McNutt Room--City Hall <br /> <br /> October 12, 1998 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Ken Tollenaar, Nancy Nathanson, Tim Laue, Scott <br /> Meisner, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Laurie Swanson Gribskov. <br /> <br />Mayor James D. Torrey called the council to order. <br /> <br /> I. CITY COUNCIL DINNER WORK SESSION <br /> <br /> A. Work Session: Sister Cities <br /> <br />Councilor Taylor reviewed the history of the City's sister city relationships with Kakegawa, Japan; <br />Kathmundu, Nepal; Irkutsk, Russia; and Chinju, Korea. She discussed the transition of the Sister <br />City Program to a volunteer, nonprofit agency, the Eugene Sister City Foundation. Ms. Taylor <br />believed the City should reconsider its funding decision about the Sister Cities Program because <br />it contributed to world peace. She said that in addition, the City had entered into agreements <br />with the governments of each of the cities in question, and she thought the City should continue <br />to fulfill its agreements or sever them. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor introduced Nancy Arbogast, President of the Eugene Sister City Foundation, who <br />introduced Galina Groza, President of the Irkutsk Committee, and Tony Lum, vice president of the <br />foundation. Ms. Arbogast presented a brief slide show on Eugene's sister cities and discussed <br />the work of the foundation in supporting the four sister city committees. <br /> <br />Ms. Arbogast reported that the foundation was in the last year of its service contract with the City, <br />which expired June 30, 1999. She said that the foundation would like to continue the service <br />contract. <br /> <br />Mr. Lum discussed the history of the Sister City Program. <br /> <br />Ms. Groza expressed appreciation for the support of City government and noted the interest of <br />other groups to become involved in the program. She said that the committees actively sought <br />other sources of funds to support their activities and had received many contributions from the <br />community. In addition, the committees facilitated and directly supported cultural, charitable, and <br />economic exchanges between Eugene citizens and citizens of the sister cities. The committees <br />provided interpreters for sister city visits. Ms. Groza said that the program contributed to <br />acceptance of diversity at home and abroad. She said a global economy was not possible <br />without global understanding. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 12, 1998 Page 1 <br />5:30 p.m. <br /> <br /> <br />