Brooklyn Park Mayor’s Planned African Vacation Turns Into Sister-City Trip Debate
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston wanted to take a family vacation to Lagos, Nigeria in August. That trip now includes the possible addition of visits to Brooklyn Park’s sister cities in Liberia and Nigeria.
Brooklyn Park City Manager Jay Stroebel spoke about the possible additional visits at Monday’s meeting, including the possibility of the city manager joining Winston on the trip.
“I always thought one day, if there’s an opportunity to visit Liberia, that would be a great privilege,” said Stroebel during Monday’s meeting.
Brooklyn Park has sister-city agreements in Kakata, Liberia and Udu, Nigeria.
Winston has already booked and paid for his family trip to Nigeria at his own expense. Additional costs would be accrued to the city if the sister-city visits are added on.
According to city documents, the added cost would be up to $4,400 to include sister-city arrangements for the mayor. Those costs would include airfare to Liberia from Nigeria, lodging and a per diem. If the city manager were to go, it would be a total additional cost of about $4,900 to the city.
Brooklyn Park budgets a total of up to $30,000 annually for sister-city arrangements, said Stroebel.
Some residents who spoke during public comment encouraged the council to allow the sister-city visits to take place.
“Collaborations and shared goals like education, public health, business and youth empowerment happens when leaders go and visit where their large communities or the people around them are from,” said Godfrey Edaferierhi, a Brooklyn Park resident.
“The fact of the matter is, once you’re in a sister-city arrangement, there’s the fact and the need for you to go see your other sister city and get a clearer understanding of where they’re coming from so that you guys can bridge the gap,” Chuck Okitikpi, also a Brooklyn Park resident.
Brooklyn Park has among the highest concentration of native Liberians in the U.S.
Mayor Winston applauded its African heritage and in particular its large Liberian population.
“I think in terms of the number of businesses, the homes, the contributions that have been made, I think in many ways the [Liberian] community has helped stabilize Brooklyn Park,” said Winston.
However, the potential visits come with cost and benefit concerns, which some council members pointed out through emails they received.
Council Member Tony McGarvey pointed out that the city took more emails on this topic than the $10 million investment into the city’s teen center.
City leaders mentioned the economic impact that could come down the road, pointing out that Nigeria is home to 300 million people with one of the largest economies in Africa.
However some council members wanted to learn more about the itinerary and the trip’s objectives if they were to approve it.
“I recognize that the mayor was already planning to travel there and was willing to interrupt his vacation with his family to bring value to the city, and I think that’s noble, but I also think that to plan this and spend the money on it, we should do it in a thoughtful way that brings in those grassroots community members,” said Brooklyn Park City Council Member Nichole Klonowski.
The city council ended up postponing a vote for approval by a week to further discuss the mayor’s itinerary and objectives of the trip.
The last sister-city visit by a Brooklyn Park delegation came in 2012 when former Mayor Jeff Lunde and other city officials visited Liberia.
