CITY OF PEORIA, ARIZONA VETERANS MEMORIAL BOARD Rio Vista Recreation Center Riverside Conference Room MEETING MINUTES FOR: April 8, 2008 A meeting of the Veterans Memorial Board of the City of Peoria, Arizona was convened at 8866A West Thunderbird Road in open and public session in the Westbrook Conference Room at 5:13 p.m. Members present: James Foulk, Doris Gosney, Phil Hanson, Larry Lichtenberg, Thomas Schaefer, and Reed Webber Members excused: None. Members absent: Anthony Foglio. Municipal officials present: Kirk Haines (Parks Manager) and Kristine Carr (Administrative Assistant) Audience: Cecilia Chan (Arizona Republic) 1C) Disposition of Absence. As no communication was received regarding the absence Mr. Anthony Foglio from the regularly scheduled 03/11/08 board meeting, the board did not excuse the absence. Staff liaison, Kirk Haines, clarified the intent of “Disposition of Absence” as the opportunity for the Board to excuse or not excuse board members absences from prior meetings only. When communication of absence from future meetings is received by Board or Staff, this information will be carried over for discussion and the appropriate action will be taken at the following meeting. 2C) Minutes. Reed Webber made the motion to approve the minute from the 03/11/08 meeting. James Foulk seconded the motion. The Board approved the motion to approve the minutes from 03/11/08 meeting. 3C) New Sponsorship. Kirk Haines presented to the Board an application for new sponsorship submitted by the American Legion “Mary Ellen Piotrowski” Post #94 to sponsor the World War II wartime event, Victor Over Japan (V-J) Day. Reed Webber made the motion to accept new sponsorship and selected wartime event with the expressed condition that the organization’s honorary title does not violate contribution guidelines: “Individual recognition and contributions are prohibited, i.e. recognition of a person who served their country and lost their life.” Larry Lichtenberg seconded the motion. The Board approved the motion to approve new sponsorship under the condition the organization’s honorary title does not violate contribution guidelines. This agenda item will carry over to the 05/13/08 as additional research is required. 4R) Ratification of Past Action Taken in Violation of the Open Meeting Law. Kirk Haines explained that after review of discussion and action which occurred during the 04/08/08 meeting in regards to removal of Anthony Foglio from the Veterans Memorial Board during agenda item 1C Disposition of Absences, the City Attorney’s office determined a violation of Open Meeting Law occurred when the Board made a motion and voted on a topic of discussion that was not on the posted agenda. The City Attorney’s office has presented one (1) of two (2) options that may be taken at this meeting: 1) Recommend to the City Council pursuant to Sec. 2-154 (d) of the Peoria City Code, or; 2) Recommend to the Council Subcommittee on Boards and Commissions Appointments. Larry Lichtenberg made the motion to recommend Anthony Foglio’s board membership be reviewed and a determination made by the Council Subcommittee on Boards and Commissions Appointments. Doris Gosney seconded the motion. The Board voted and majority approved the motion. 5R) Peoria Veterans Recognition (“Fun Run”) Event. Reed Webber and Doris Gosney met with Marc Brust (Recreation Supervisor) to discuss event coordination, and communicated the following proposals to the board: * Team participants into like groups; i.e., Army vs. Air Force, Generals vs. Generals, etc. * Map a designated run/walk course (with water spots) for participants within park * Establish a scheduled timeline of events * Coordinate with Peoria Police and Fire to organize a pancake breakfast * Invite local restaurants and vendors to attend and distribute food samples * Design a promotional tee shirt for attendees/participants Doris Gosney communicated the following advertising ideas to the board: * Distribution of leaflets/flyers through local fast food establishments * Adding co-sponsor(s) logos to promotional tee shirt Tom Schaefer and Larry Lichtenberg volunteered as chair and co-chair for the Ceremony Subcommittee. Kirk Haines will make available the Activities Application Form for the Board to complete. This agenda item will carryover to the 05/13/08 meeting. 6R) Future Design Services for the Veterans Memorial Wall. Due to unexpected delays in finalizing contracts between the Architekton and the City of Peoria, Architekton was not available to attend this evening. Kirk Haines requested postponing this agenda item until the 08/12/08 meeting, thus allowing the Board to focus on the upcoming Peoria Veterans Recognition Event, and allow Architekton the opportunity to better prepare for their next meeting with the Board. Chairman Tom Schaefer agreed with Mr. Haines recommendation; this agenda item will carryover to the 08/12/08 meeting. 7R) New Signage for the Veterans Memorial Wall. Kirk Haines reported that sign fabrication is completed, and scheduled for installation some time over the next week. This agenda item will carryover to the 05/13/08 meeting. 8R) Veteran & Civilian Service Clubs: Tom Schaefer drafted a letter for future distribution to Peoria- based Veterans and Civilian Service Clubs regarding the Veterans Memorial Board. The following changes to the proposed draft letter were made: * Paragraph 2, Sentence 2: Replace United State with United States * Paragraph 2, Sentence 2: Replace Global War of Terrorism with Global War on Terrorism * Paragraph 3, Sentence 1: Insert To provide continuity of the writing style and syntax for the events wording, before A history professor * Paragraph 3, Sentence 1: Replace A history professor with Brooks D. Simpson, PhD * Paragraph 4, Sentence 3: Replace plural countries with possessive country’s * Signature block: In addition to the Mayor’s signature, add the Veterans Memorial Board Chair’s signature Kristine Carr will create a database to compile and archive contact information for Peoria-based Veterans and Civilian Service Clubs. Database fields will include: Name, Title, Organization, Street Address, City, State, Zip Code, and Telephone Number. This agenda item will carryover to 05/13/08 meeting. 9R) Plaque Events for the Veterans Memorial Wall. The Board reviewed the language, punctuation, and grammatical content for the following plaque events: Battle of the Bulge. The Board asked to make the following changes to the last sentence: “Outnumbered American forces held on to crucial crossroads, such as Bastogne and Antwerp, before reinforcements and helped crush the last major German offensive in Western Europe.” The United States Ship Constitution. The Board approved the wording for this plaque event. Siege of Vera Cruz. The Board approved the wording for this plaque event. Fort Sumter. The Board requested staff to strike the last sentence “This initiated the Civil War” from the paragraph. The United States Ship Monitor and Confederate States Ship Virginia. This event will carryover to the next scheduled board meeting. Vicksburg. The Board asked to make the following changes to the last sentence: “After forty- seven days under siege, the Confederates surrendered, and evacuated the city on July 4 leaving the Mississippi River in Union control. Guest Speakers. None. Reports from Staff. Kirk Haines made the request when reviewing Plaque Events for the Veterans Memorial Wall, to allow for the immediate review of newly sponsored wartime events, revise the topic of discussion to include the “Discussion and possible action to review and modify the wording of all available wartime events.” Additionally, it is important to know that a representative from the City Attorney’s office will be attending the next Veterans Memorial Board meeting to discuss Open Meeting Law with board members. Lastly, the 03/25/08 meeting with the West Valley Veterans Association went well, overall. Questions asked confirmed the need to review each proposed wartime event on a case-by- case basis. Report from Department Director. None Report from Board. None. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Board, James Foulk made to motion to adjourn. A second motion was made by Larry Lichtenberg. The Veterans Memorial Wall Board Meeting adjourned at 7:01 p.m. Thomas Schaefer, Chairperson Kristine Carr, Staff Assistant