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Home My WebLink AboutM-77-0777Joseph R, Gtassie City Managet -"Robett C, Homan ENE . 7' ;':bl Septembef 27 1911 Sistet City Ptoc fam Within the past year, the City of Miami has, by resolution] formally designated three additional "Sister Cities." They are: Cali, Colombia Prior to last September, the Santiago, Chile Beersheba, Israel only officially recognized sister city was Bogota, Colombia, which has been a sister city since 1958. The City Commission has informally selected two other cities as sister cities, but Miami's relationship with those cities (Me-Ami, Israel and Villahermosa, Mexico) has never been formalized by resolution. Sister Cities International, a program of the Town Affiliation Association of the United States, Inc., was initiated in 1956 as a means of encouraging international friendship, exchanging of ideas by means of a variety of cooperative projects, and bettering international relations. Sister Cities International st��..yiy recommends that any sister city program be well -planned and carefully designed with a broad base of citizen participation. They recommend that a committee for each sister city be estab- lished with a cross-section of community leaders and organiza- tions. This organization also recommends that a Sister City be chosen very carefully based on mutual interests and shared characteristics. When the national sister cities program was introduced, it was intended that a substantial amount of effort and resources would be devoted by each participating city. In order to follow the spirit and intent of Sister Cities International, it does not seem appropriate to "water down" the program by simply naming several cities as "sister cities," without providing the support that is described in the available literature. It is questionable that the City of Miami has or can afford to devote the resources necessary to support many sister city programs and do adequate justice to the stated goals and objectives of Sister Cities Inter- national. However, :Miami being the unique gateway city that it is and having strong ties to Latin American countries, as well as frequent con- tact with many other cities around the world; it might be desirable to use a "sister city" concept as a means of promoting stronger relationships with many cities. It may be perfectly acceptable to cddichate ► say ► ten cities around the wotld as Miafni ' s "tiatef 'pities", assuming, of course, that there is a mutual desite to do so on the part of those cities. But there shouldtbe be an awareness of the distinction between that approach kind of intensive program that the Sister Cities International ptomotes, like the special relationship Miami has been cultiv= ating with Bogota for the past twenty years. It is very easy to pass a resolution designating a given city a "Sister City' and, perhaps, taking an inaugural trip there; but it is more difficult and demanding to maintain an ongoing Meaningful exchange of projects, ideas, and assistance. Un- less there is some kind of distinction for those cities with Which the City of Miami desires to pursue this kind of re- lationship, there is a danger that a good idea and productive program will become seriously watered down and of little real consequence. It seems appropriate that the City Commission discuss this matter and establish a policy that carefully defines the goals and objectives of Miami's Sister City Program. Keeping in mind that the City of Miami has recognized Bogota, Beersheba, Cali, and Santiago by resolution, the Commission has apparently embarked on a course where several, rather than one or two, cities are officially part of Miami's "program." This being the case, the Commission may wish to limit the number of sister cities to, say, five or ten. This will enable the program to be manageable, especially if the Commission wishes to clearly state what kind of relationship is "to be developed with all prqPnt and future "Sister Cities. Mt, Robert C, itomatit, Admin. As s' t • 'e1ifliary A* 190, Of five of the, City lanagf 1 ! \, Sister Cities Proqram(s) I \ \ Lew Price / , D iredtor ''o f Pub'l is ity & Tourism \! 1\�1 .,' We are pleased to submit the following information, as well as the literature provided by Sister Cities International, covering the requested background. 1. Sister Cities International is the principal program of the MEM Town Affiliation Association of the U.S., Inc. III2. On September 11, 1956, President Eisenhower announced the People -to -People Program. !Otis memorandum dated Jana 21, 19 1 3. The basic concept that underlined the Sister City Program was that citizens and their cities could and should make contributions to improve international understanding and cooperation through a wide range of educational, technical, professional, municipal and other exchanges. Under the original People -to -People Program, a variety of national committees were named, ranging from civic to veterans. One of these, the Civic Committee headed by the late Mark Bortman, was charged with the responsability of developing the Sister City Program. In 1965, a Western Regional Sister City Conference recommended the establishment of a single national organization. During the 10th Anniversary Conference of the newly named "Town Affiliation Association of the U.S., Inc in Washington, D.C., in September 1966, delegates unanimously supported this idea and the incorporation was moved ahead. The Association finally became a reality on June 12, 1967. 4. Sister Cities International urges that (a) two U.S. cities do not have the same Sister Cities abroad so as to avoid duplication and confusion, and (b) that a U.S. city make sure it has a solid foundation built for its first and/or second affiliation before going on to a third, fourth, etc. adh city has to determine its own limits in terms of number df affiliations. The secret to success in situations where a city has several affiliations is to make sure that each affi= iiation has a committee of concerned people that takes res- ponsibility for that affiliation. As to selection of a Sister City, most cities will seek affinity of social, business, economic, educational or other similar interests. 5. The Sister City Program encourages international cooperation and understanding through planned and continuous contact between the cities involved and their citizens. The scope and type of program may vary with each city. 6. A Sister City Program may be initiated by a group of citizens in cooperation with the city or by the city itself in cooperation with citizens and/or organizations. Citizen involvement is the key. City support is important and at the point of affiliation by passage of a resolution. There must be a formally stated mutual desire for ties to be established, once two cities have informally agreed that they would like to affiliate. Then, they can proceed with the formal aspects of affiliation. In telephone conversation with Thomas Kelly, Operations Director, Sister Cities International, he confirmed that in order to establish a second, third and/or other affiliation, the procedure is the same as for the first one. In other words, in a given city several Sister Cities Committees could be functioning. It is advisable that these Sister Cities Committees send periodical reports to the mayor's office in regards to their activities and projects. Also, in some instances the Mayor designates a person to represent him in the Committee. At the present time the Miami -Bogota Sister City Committee has periodic meetings. The last Board of Directors meeting was in January, 1977. The Board of Directors is the following: Glenn Goerke, President; Bob Rodgers, Eduardo Mejia,M.D. and Marie Louise Leeds, Vice Presidents; Mary Mills, Secretary -Treasurer; Tom Economou, John Corrigan and Ines Ospina, Board Members. U.S. StSTF R CITY July 11, 1977 Mr. Frank J. Cobo Executive Assistant City of Miami Miami, Florida 33133 SISTER CITIES - r +' /•'� FIT Paatt�el ptogr*ifi of the TOWN AFFILIATION ASSOCIATION OF Tit U.S.. 101C. Suite 202 City building. i6i2 K Street. N.W., Wiihtngton. D.C. 20006 Phone: (202) 293.7360 Dear Mr. Cobo: Thank you for your letter of June 24 and the accompanying documentation. We would appreciate your sending us copies of any official responses that you may receive from Beer Sheva confirming their affiliation with Miami. We will then provide you with the proper official documents from here. Thank you for work on Sister City matters and we hope that your new affiliation is a productive one. Sincerely, II. Thomas Kelly Director of Operations 1'1TK/vfw • A creative force for international cooperation and understanding through citizen involvement and community participation