Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Mayor to Sign a Memorandum of Agreement Regarding the Formulation and Implementation of Sister City Relations Between the City of Dumaguete, Philippines and the City of Alameda. (Community Development 267)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Authorize the Mayor to Sign a Memorandum of Agreement Regarding the Formulation and Implementation of Sister City Relations Between the City of Dumaguete, Philippines and the City of Alameda
BACKGROUND
Sister Cities International was created at President Eisenhower's 1956 White House summit on citizen diplomacy where he envisioned a network that would be a champion for peace and prosperity by fostering bonds between people from different communities around the world. By forming these relationships, President Eisenhower reasoned that people from different cultures could understand, appreciate, and celebrate their differences while building partnerships that would lessen the chance of new conflicts.
The City of Alameda embodies many of the principles promoted by President Eisenhower. In 2009, to strengthen its involvement in Sister Cities International, several Alameda residents formed the Alameda Sister City Association (ASCA), a non-profit organization, to assume the role formerly played by the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) Sister City Workgroup. ASCA received its non-profit 501(c)(3) status in 2014.
In 2013, members of ASCA expressed interest in pursuing a Sister City relationship with Dumaguete, Philippines in Negros Oriental province. Cynthia Bonta, an Alameda resident and former resident of Dumaguete, agreed to take on the leadership role in exploring this relationship. Conversations were initiated with Dumaguete officials later that year. Shortly thereafter, then-Mayor Gilmore sent a letter expressing interest in exploring a Sister City relationship b...
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