1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 11, 2022
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Elizabeth Goldman, Library Services Director
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Inviting the City of Arezzo, Italy, to be a City of Burbank Sister City
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK EXTENDING
AN INVITATION TO AREZZO, ITALY, TO BECOME A SISTER CITY AND INVITING
THE PEOPLE OF AREZZO, ITALY, TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SISTER CITY
PROGRAM
BACKGROUND
The Sister Cit ies International (SCI) program was established by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in 1956. Burbank established its first Sister City relationship with Solna, Sweden, in 1960, followed by Incheon, Korea, in 1961. Gaborone, Botswana, followed in 1975, and Ota, Japan, in 1983.
City of Burbank Sister City activities are coordinated by the Library Services Department.
Burbank has no dedicated staff for this work ; City Council provides $14,000 annually for program expenses. The original Sister City relationship with Incheon involved do nations of English-language books. Other activities coordinated by the City over the years have involved visits by elected officials to Incheon and from Sister Cities to Burbank and an art exchange with Incheon.
The Burbank Sister City Committee (BSCC) is an independent nonprofit community group established in 1964 that has worked in partnership with the City to organize activities, primarily students exchanges. Each summer, Burbank high school students visit either Ota or Incheon, while Burbank hosts visitors from the other city, with the BSCC volunteers
BURBANK
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
2 providing homestay locations and chaperoning day trips. Other past activities coordinated by BSCC have included a pen pal exchange between Solna and Burbank students, and fundraisers for mosquito nets to support Gaborone. There is no official memorandum of agreement between BSCC and the City.
On May 24, 2022, the City Council directed staff to prepare a resolution to invite Arezzo, Italy, to be a City of Burbank Sister City and also to bring back inf ormation on Burbank’s Sister City activities in comparison to other cities in the region in a future report for consideration of establishing a staff position to support the program.
DISCUSSION
Generally, before adding a Sister City, a municipality will want to consider what activities, if any, it wishes to engage in with its Sister Cities and ensure resources are available.
Some cities primarily focus on Sister Cities in name only, without any activities.
Increasingly, cities are being strategic about Sister City relationships as they support economic development, cultural exchange, and each city’s mutual goals. It is not common for student exchanges to be the primary Sister City activity, as is the case in Burbank.
Establishing a Sister City Relationship with Arezzo, Italy The basic process to establish a Sister City relationship involves a city formally extending an invitation to a city in another country. Each city’s governing body must pass a resolution to establish the relationship. Burbank was invited to join in a Sister City relationship with two of its current partners (Incheon and Ota) and initiated the relationship in the other two cases (Solna and Gaborone). After the official partnership is established, the cities may wish to join in signing a ceremonial resolution provided by SCI, a global organization of which the City of Burbank is a member. Whether any activities follow the establishment of the relationship is based on the resources the partner cities wish to expend.
Arezzo, Italy, is a city of about 100,000 people located in the Tuscany region 80 miles from Florence. Along with its size, Arezzo shares some economic similarities to Burbank, namely a robust tourism industry and the presence of an arts sector. Arezzo hosts an annual international choral competition and has been the site for the production of films including Life Is Beautiful (1997). Arezzo would be Burbank’s fifth Sister City and first since 1983. Burbank would be Arezzo’s sixth Sister City (or Twinned City, as the program is called in Europe); it also partners with Norman, Oklahoma, in the United States.
Staff in the Mayor’s Office of Arezzo have indicated their Mayor and City Council are receptive to Burbank’s invitation to join in a Sister City relationship. The cities have various 3 activities in which they could potentially engage, in areas including the media industry and sustainability. Arezzo, like Burbank, is working on building a new main library.
BSCC voted at their October 3, 2022, meeting to support the staff recommendations to add Arezzo as a Sister City and work toward establishment of a staff position to support the Sister City program.
Burbank Sister City Program
While Burbank’s Sister City program has existed for more than 60 years and involved numerous activities supported by the City and/or BSCC, the program is limited by the lack of a staff position.
Staff reviewed Sister City programs in other cities around the region. The following cities have student exchanges: Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, Santa Clarita, Culver City, and Torrance. City staff are not involved in organizing or carrying out these exchanges anywhere but in Burbank. Generally, rather than involving staff directly, a city either has no association with student exchanges or supports them through a grant to the volunteer organization.
Staffing for Sister City work is generally at an administrative analyst level and most commonly part of the City Manager’s Office or Economic Development Department.
Along with serving as liaison to volunteer groups , staff in other cities in the region generally focus on supporting visiting delegations, supporting elected official travel, and coordinating cultural events and milestone celebrations.
In Burbank, Sister City activities are supported by the Library Services Director, Senior Administrative Analyst, and Executive Assistant. This takes the form of attending monthly meetings, providing forms and documents for student exchanges, reserving City facilities for activities, and generally providing continuity and institutional knowledge. The membership of BSCC is primarily students currently participating in an exchange trip and their parents, leading to high turnover. BSCC has struggled in recent years to develop a core set of members to focus on any activity beyond student exchanges.
None of the current City of Burbank staff positions have the capacity to provide more support than is presently made available. As a result, the current Sister City program is limited to student exchanges. There are many other ways in which the City could benefit from its Sister City program. Incheon, for example, is a leader in sustainability with many creative solutions that could prompt ideas for Burbank staff. With the proposed new Sister City of Arezzo, there is potential to work together on library planning , as well as cultural arts and digi tal media programming. Cities like Glendale have made economic 4 development the focus of Sister City work, identifying activities that support the local economy and business development.
Based on the current state of Burbank’s Sister City program and understanding of regional best practices, staff will propose as part of the FY23- 24 budget the addition of an Administrative Analyst I position to the Library Services Department. This position would be partially dedicated to Sister City work. Having a dedicated position at the appropriate level would allow for the strengthening of staff-to-staff relationships with Sister Cities, which in turn will lead to innovative projects that contribute to Burbank City Council and community goals while supporting the SCI mission of increasing global understanding.
Technology will allow many Sister City activities to take place remotely, while travel could augment the experience when relevant. The new staff member would develop goals and plans for the program that align with City Council priorities and carry out work to benefit the City directly.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to adopting a resolution establishing a new Sister City relationship. Staff will propose additional funding for a staff position for Sister City as part of the regular FY 2023-24 budget process.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends Council adopt a resolution inviting the City of Arezzo, Italy, to be a City of Burbank Sister City.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1: Resolution inviting the City of Arezzo, Italy, to be a City of Burbank Sister City