Shoreline council moves to adopt formal sister-city policy after local group completes nonprofit steps

Jim Hammond, a member of the City Manager's Office, told the Shoreline City Council on Sept. 29 that staff is presenting Resolution 551, a draft policy that would define the city's role in relationships with citizen-led sister-city organizations.

Hammond said the Shoreline Sister City Association has completed the nonprofit formation steps required by a prior council action, and the proposed policy would clarify roles and responsibilities, criteria for selecting a sister city and how the city would provide support including, if approved through the biennial budget, transferring funds via a contract with a scope of work.

The policy matters because it sets the administrative framework for any public support and for how the city and a volunteer association will interact over projects, funding and termination. Hammond described the document as covering the relationship "from cradle to grave" and said the policy would provide clear expectations for both the city and community volunteers.

Laura James, identified as the president of the Shoreline Sister City Association, told council the association has voted to make Akrapong its sister city and is ready to pursue projects. "We have received some donated artifacts from Ghana, and we would like to build a mobile museum with that grant," James said, referencing a grant she called the Curiosity Pass.

Council members broadly signaled support while asking staff to ensure the policy allows the city to terminate or reconsider a relationship if circumstances change. One councilor asked whether the policy should explicitly state that a sister-city relationship could be ended if the foreign partner's actions or political environment became inconsistent with Shoreline's values; staff noted the draft already includes termination provisions focused on conduct by the local association and said language could be refined if council desires.

Council discussion included questions about whether the city could have multiple sister-city relationships and how termination would be handled; staff replied the community initiative drives the number of relationships and the draft policy includes several termination triggers. Multiple council members thanked volunteers and staff for completing the nonprofit and policy groundwork.

Next steps: staff told council the draft policy will be placed on the Oct. 6 consent calendar. Hammond said a placeholder will be released to council and the staff report will be available by Friday prior to the Oct. 6 meeting.

Votes at this meeting: none taken on Resolution 551; council voted later the same evening to approve the consent calendar for other items (see separate article on that vote).