Recommendation to approve the application of Taoyuan City, Taiwan as the City's newest Sister City, and authorize the Mayor of Long Beach to take necessary actions and execute any and all documents to accomplish the establishment of such a relationship.
Item two so. Much. And. Clerk. Can you read the item, please? Item 28 Communication from Councilman Austin. Recommendation to approve its application to Taiwan as the city's newest sister city. It's a recommendation to approve the application of the Tao Yuan City, Taiwan, as a city's newest sister city. Okay, thank you so much. And I would just ask if you guys can please exit quietly. We still have business before the council. Thank you so much. And I'll recognize myself on this item. Motion. I'm excited to bring this item forward, which at the Long Beach City Council to approve the application from Taiwan City, Taiwan for sister city status with the city of Long Beach. Five years ago, the Taiwan City sent a delegation of government leaders and prominent business figures to Long Beach in hopes of forging a stronger relationship and ties between our cities. Since then, our partnership has blossomed into a friendship and partnership, and we've been fortunate enough to host Taiwan City representatives on several occasions. Like Long Beach, Taiwan City is a multi-ethnic metropolis that acts as a logistics hub for Taiwan. Both cities have taken advantage of our coastal positions to develop into hotbeds for trade and commercial activity. Embracing Taiwan City as a sister city, providing multiple or multiple I'm sorry, a mutually beneficial exchange of business opportunities and port strategies. Further, an exchange of culture may lead to enrichment for both of our cities. Throughout the exhaustive application process, Taiwan City has shown a willingness to embrace. Long Beach. Worked diligently with our sister cities of Long Beach. They attended Dragon Boat festivals, promoted Taiwan, Hakka, food culture and local events. And I want to also just recognize that during our toughest times during the pandemic, when we were dealing with PPE shortages, it was our friends from our from Taiwan City who were sending personal protective equipment like face masks and shields and gloves and other equipment to our emergency operations center. Their hard work has culminated in the sister city's of Long Beach organization, unanimously approving their application to establish a sister city relationship on December 28, 2020. However, Council approval is still needed to formalize this agreement and this relationship. I'd like to thank those in attendance today who've worked tirelessly to make this partnership possible, and I would ask that my colleagues support and embrace Taiwan City, Taiwan as a sister city for the city of Long Beach. And I'd like to kick it over to the city attorney for. Thank you, Councilmember Austin. And the request is totally understood by the council member. But I was wondering if we could change the motion to direct the city attorney to prepare a resolution approving the application of Taiwan, Taiwan, new city, Taiwan as a sister city. If that direction we received tonight, there is no action that the mayor would take or be authorized to take. So it would be a vote of the body. So tonight, if it's the will of the council, we would bring back to you next at the next meeting a resolution approving this. And then it would be turned over to the sister cities of Long Beach, obviously, to administer on behalf of the sister city program. Thank you. So move that. I accept that. Mr. City Attorney, that is our motion and tastic. Thank you. Councilman Price. I wholeheartedly support this item and thank Councilman Austin for bringing it forth. All right, Councilman Ciro? Yeah. I also want to add my support. I'm always supportive of anything that allows us to do mutually beneficial exchange for business opportunity, port strategies, and obviously especially cultural enrichment with other countries. Thank you. Thank you. I'll just. Councilman Allen. Yeah. Just real quickly, just want to say thank. You to Councilman Austin for bringing this forward. This is a great item and I will be supporting it. Thank you. And offer my support as well. I will now go to public comment. Is there public comment on this item? That would be the time to come forward. Are there any members of the public that would like to speak on item 28 in person? Please line up at the podium in Zoom. Please use the raise hand feature now. Thank you. If you will sit on. My name is Susan Redfield. I'm president of the sister cities of Long Beach. And I want to thank Councilman Austin for bringing this request for full status. I'm startled because I didn't know I was going to have to wait another month anyway. Sister Cities happily collaborates with thousands of Long Beach residents from multiple backgrounds each year. It's our vision to continue serving as an international arm for our city and its leadership, serving toward the betterment of the personal and economic future of Long Beach. Thank you for the consideration of this request. Thank you. Next speaker. Please. Hi. Good evening. My name's Mindy, and I'm part of the Long Beach, Italian Sister City Formation Committee. I just wanted to thank the Long Beach City Council and Councilman Al Alston for bringing this up today. I've been delighted to be working with the rest of the sister cities of Long Beach City members for the past several years. Italian city has long held the city of Long Beach in high esteem as one of the forefront cities in the country. When town Mayor Chang visited, he was very impressed with much of what he saw, and he believes that there is much more in common that we can share after working together with all the sister cities and meeting everybody else. I look forward to seeing much of the incredible things that we could accomplish together. Connecting cities to cities, cultures to cultures and people to people. I'm very excited to continue moving down this path and introducing Long Beach to Taiwan and talking to Long Beach. Thank you very. Much. Thank you. All right. That satisfies public comment. Let's go. Councilman Austin. Thank you. And appreciate the public speakers and the support of my colleagues on this item. I just would like to point out, I know the mayor isn't here this evening, but he was enthusiastically supportive of this item as well. I know that the Cities Association was working with the mayor's office and there may have been a little confusion in terms of how to draft this as a result. But he was fully supportive. Like I said, five years ago, the delegation came here, met with the mayor. I was privileged to be in that meeting and part of that and and host that delegation. And I think that this will be a fruitful relationship for many years to come. Look forward to our vote this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Let's cast our vote. And women's interests. I mean, women. Alan. I count. Women price. I. Councilman. Super. Now I. Councilwoman Mongo. I. Councilwoman Sarah, I. Councilmember Urunga. Hi. Councilman Austin. Hi. Vice Mayor Richardson. Hi. Motion carries nine zero. Thank you. Congratulations. All right, so we'll move now to item 23. And I think this is the last item with the staff presentation. So this is the last longer one, folks. Let's hear item 23.