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September 19, 2003/Elul 22 5763, Vol. 55, No. 56
Sister Cities council formulates action plan
BARRY COHEN
Editor
Phoenix is another step closer to having a sister city in Israel.
The Phoenix-Ramat Gan Sister City Founders Council met Sept. 15 at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus to learn what they need to do to gain approval from the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission.
Members of the Founders Council will need to pursue two parallel efforts: putting together a presentation for the Sister Cities Commission executive board on Jan. 28, and general board on Feb. 25; and reaching out to individuals and to the business community to gather support and funding, explained Sam Campana, co-chairwoman of the Founders Council. Her co-chairman is Rabbi Robert Kravtiz, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Sister cities programming and support depends in part upon private funding, said Paula West, chief of protocol of the City of Phoenix and executive director of the Sister Cities Program.
To increase chances for approval, the Jewish community will need to show the Sister Cities board that support exists in both the "citizen community and corporate community," said Mike Seiden, immediate past-president of the Sister Cities Commission.
During the coming months, the Founders Council - including 20 citizens from the Jewish and non-Jewish communities - will need to rally support from the Jewish community and the business community, said Cathy Wolf, director of the Jewish Community Re-lations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.
Part of this support is financial, and both individuals and businesses can make contributions to help fund the Sister Cities program, said West. Individual memberships range from $20 to $250; corporate memberships range from $250 to thousands of dollars, she noted.
At the meetings, the Founders Council broke into two sub-committees. One will reach out to the business community and explain economic links between Ramat Gan and Phoenix, said Wolf. The other will target "resource development" to attract "in kind or financial donations" to the Sister Cities Commission, she added.
Phoenix already has nine sister cities: Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Chengdu, China; Ennis, Ireland; Catania, Italy; Grenoble, France; Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico; Himeji, Japan; Prague, Czech Republic; and Taipei, Taiwan.
For Ramat Gan to gain approval, it will need to fulfill five primary areas of sister city programs: youth and education, municipal, economic relations, dis-ability awareness and sports, arts and culture, said West.
"Almost every aspect of the five categories (fits) Ramat Gan," said Eitan Ben-Ami, director of the federation's Israel Center.
He noted that Bar Ilan University, located in Ramat Gan, is a center for biotechnology research. The city also is home to Shin Kar, a college of engineering and design. In addition, there is a school for performing arts, a com-bination safari/zoo and a sports facility for the disabled that trains ath-letes for the Special Olympics.
For information, call Sam Campana, 602-468-6470, or Cathy Wolf, 480-634-4900, ext. 1108.
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