The Edmonds Sister City Commission has been working with officials in Hekinan, Japan on a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the two cities’ sister city relationship this year.
The mission of the sister city program is to promote international communication and understanding through the exchange of people, ideas, and culture.
Plans include sending an Edmonds delegation to Hekinan in April and then receiving a Hekinan delegation in the fall.
Members of the Edmonds delegation include commissioners, teachers, members of the Multicultural Association of Edmonds, and staff members.
The delegation will be documenting their visit through posts on the commission and city’s Facebook pages.
Is this coming out a little late? The delegation from Edmonds is already in Japan. Don’t you have any pictures to show? I’ve received pictures from the Hekinan Sister City Commission.
This information from the city indicates the Edmonds delegation will travel to Japan in the fall.
Correction — the story did say that the delegation was traveling to Japan in April. I’ve asked for information about who is with the delegation.
Sure would be nice if they documented this somewhere other than Facebook, so everyone can see it.
In past years, the trip to Hekinan was open to Edmonds citizens who wanted to go along and pay their own way. My wife and I were interested in going this time, but I could find no information anywhere about this year’s trip. I couldn’t pry it out of anybody.
I made multiple inquiries to the Sister City Commission and to Carolyn LaFave, the mayor’s aide who staffs the Commission, with no results. There’s just no information anywhere. The commission cancelled their last meeting. They publish no meeting minutes or notes. There’s no video recording of Commission meetings. Their webpage is static with no current information about anything.
Why has this project gone dark? Why are interested citizens ignored this way? There’s just no excuse for this.
Well Roger it appears there is a reason but the reason is not an excuse it is a secret. WHY well there seems to be a pattern of lots of information not given to our citizens. It’s a hand picked deal, Roger. Not an everyone welcome event. It is getting quite old.
Deborah Arthur are you really concerned about the Sister City Commission? There are 3 open positions on the Commission. Why don’t you put your name in the be one. Then you can keep us all informed.
Actually my concern is a well known citizen who has done a lot for Edmonds to be totally ignored after every possible attempt to be involved with a trip. So maybe I am concerned about the SCC. I am concerned every time I see in print something about not being able to reach or get a response from our Mayor and his appointed staff and commission. I won’t stoop but I doubt this particular commission would suit me and I very seriously doubt they would invite me to be one of their commission members. However after the soon to be election for Mayor and then a new commission is formed maybe I will happily volunteer my services and I, would return every single phone call and every email with grace and factual information. Thank you for the invitation Paul Anderson:).
The interest in who is attending is unprecedented. I wonder why?
I dug a little and have not found a full published list of any previous delegations, only partial. I would love to see the previous delegation lists as well, if those exist, as well as the previous Hekinan coverage.
We had correspondents who sent us regular reports in the last two visits — we knew about who was attending ahead of time so were able to ask:
Examples of these regular reports:
In 2013
https://myedmondsnews.com/2013/03/paul-anderson-to-write-about-sister-city-trip-to-japan/
and
In 2018
https://myedmondsnews.com/2018/04/edmonds-delegation-arrives-in-sister-city-hekinan-for-week-long-stay/
Heather Damron, I can tell you who was going up to a couple weeks ago. There were 15 on the list. I couldn’t quite count them when they got off the bus. It was also hard to tell at the welcoming party. I did see the eight I knew.
It helps to have friends in Hekinan who post pictures.
In 2013 I post pictures and reports for My Edmonds News when possible. There is a whirlwind of activity all day once you get there. I choose to stay with a wonderful family and stayed up late chatting with them. I posted when I could.
You do know that Japan just opened back up to tourists and the celebration of the 35th anniversary isn’t as big as the 25th.
As far as past delegations I can only speak about the one I went on. There were 27 of us. Everyone made lots of friends and it was worth going to show good will between our cities.
I think the interest in this is simply because we read a heart felt message from a citizen who many of us have heard of and or know personally. I think it was a bit shocking to hear that so many have been so grossly overlooked and ignored in many instances. That is what got my attention. I think the idea of the Sisterhood and the Sister City is wonderful.
Deborah Arthur,
It is the mayor’s to invite people to go on the trip to Hekinan.
I knew about it months before they were hopefully going. Japan just opened up to tourism again. Maybe they weren’t sure if there was going to be an exchange.
They need to know months in advance so the delegates can fly together. Hekinan sends a bus to pick them up from the airport because it is about an hours drive.
The chair of the commission is one of the delegates in Japan now.
This is all the help I can relay to you since I’m not on the commission.
BTW the commission doesn’t disbanded after the mayor’s election. People serve for many years and some for three.
Remember they are all volunteers with a small budget to get a lot done. You can help when the Hekinan delegation comes in the Fall.
The May 7, 2013 City Council Public Agenda lists all 27 delegates by name and indicates who they are or what their job is. It is available to view on the city’s website. The list is on packet page 145 of 266.
The May 7, 2013, City Council Meeting Minutes indicate that the adult delegation to Japan in 2013 was first recruited by invitation only and later expanded to citizens. Twenty-seven delegates visited Hekinan including Mayor Earling and his wife. The Meeting Minutes go on to say the 2013 delegation very successful in recruiting delegates, making/fostering personal, professional, and civic connections, and providing a unique cultural experience for Edmonds citizens.
The October 24, 2022 Edmonds Sister City Commission Minutes include the 2023 Adult Exchange as new business. These ESCC minutes state that applications for Edmonds delegates are due 12/ 15/ 2022 and that delegates will purchase their own tickets as in previous years.