Morning.

Nice to hear all the happy patter in the audience.

I'm calling this meeting of the community hold to order, and our first item of business is a resolution authorizing a sister city agreement with Dniepro Ukraine.

And Mr.

Canfield's coming up.

I think he has a video to show us, among other things.

Yes, uh good morning, Mayor and Commissioners, and you are correct.

We will show you a video in uh just a couple minutes, but first we want to make some introductory remarks and welcome uh our guests.

So um I'm pleased to introduce the resolution before you this morning to establish a formal sister city relationship between Grand Rapids and Dniepro Ukraine.

Um Grand Rapids has participated in the Sister Cities movement for uh approximately 40 years, and at their best, these relationships are uh an expression of citizen diplomacy.

Um those uh relationships create connections between people and institutions across national borders through cultural and educational exchange, economic and civic cooperation, and ultimately friendship.

Um that mission feels particularly meaningful in the case of Dniepro.

Our formal relationship began in 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when Grand Rapids sought a tangible way to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Uh Dniepro subsequently became Grand Rapids' first friendship city.

And over the years since Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, its Dniepro committee, city officials and our counterparts in Dniepro have continued building this relationship, which has brought us to the action before you today.

Um the resolution would formally establish Dniepro as a sister city of the City of Grand Rapids and authorize Mayor Legrand to execute an agreement on behalf of the city.

Uh assuming your approval today, we will work with our counterparts in Dniepro and uh Grand Rapids Sister Cities International over the coming weeks to finalize the agreement.

Uh we are planning for Mayor Legrand and uh Dniepro Mayor Filotov to sign it during a ceremony this fall.

And of course, the signing is not the end of the process, it's really the beginning of the relationship, um, which over time we hope will create many opportunities for exchange, connection, uh sharing of uh experience and expertise, and um other forms of cooperation, and you'll hear more about um what we hope for in a moment.

Um we hope in particular this will demonstrate that the people of Grand Rapids value the friendship of the people of Dniepro and stand with them in their commitment to freedom, self-government, and a peaceful future.

Um so you'll hear more about the uh the relationship in a moment, and uh it will be from uh two individuals.

First, Emily Smith, who is the board secretary of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, our nonprofit partner.

Um she'll be followed by Anna Kovalenko, Chair of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International's Dniepro Committee.

And uh we'll also have the privilege of hearing directly from Dniepro through a recorded message from Mayor Boris Filotov.

So I want to thank uh Ms.

Smith and Ms.

Kovalenko and uh all of GRSCI and many volunteers uh who have invested their time and energy to uh get us to this point today.

So with that, I will turn the podium over to Ms.

Smith.

Good morning, Mayor Legrand, City Manor Manager Washington and City Commissioners.

Good morning, and thank you all for being here today and listening to our excellent uh news and and hopeful wishes for our friends in Dniepro.

My name is Emily Smith.

I have the honor to serve as the Secretary of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, G R S CI.

Um thank you again for your time today as we take this important next step towards formalizing our sister city relationship with Dniepro Ukraine.

This is a special day for our cities and the advancement of citizen diplomacy and people-to-people global peacemaking and peacekeeping.

It's my pleasure to introduce Anna Kovalenko, who is the co-chair of our Dniepro committee and also is uh the executive director of the Ukrainian Society of Michigan.

So thank you so much and welcome Anna.

Uh good morning, um Mayor Legrand, City Manager and City Commissioners.

It's a pleasure to be here today.

Thank you for having me.

Um my remarks will be short because I think we're all eager to see the video.

Um this is a meaningful moment for Grand Rapids and Dnepro, um made possible by the commitment and persistence of many people over many years.

And I would especially like to um recognize today the commitment and the assistance of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International Executive Committee, Luke Hanfield, uh present and past city leadership and all committee member community members who have um helped us along the way.

Um a sister city um relationship is ultimately about the friendship and the friendship between people.

That has a particular meaning here in Grand Rapids, which has also welcome um welcomed so many Ukrainian families displaced by the Russian war in Ukraine.

This partnership gives um an opportunity to deepen this connection and um and um this connection that already exists between our communities and to build new connections through cultural, economic, educational, and civic exchange.

And today uh we hope it's it will not simply be a completion of uh the process but the beginning of the new chapter for the cities of Grand Rapids at Nypro.

And now it is my great honor to introduce a message from uh the mayor of Dnipro Boris Yolatov.

Dear friends, Mayor Lagrant, esteemed colleagues and residents of Grand Rapids.

I would like to begin this video by expressing my gratitude to your community and to the American people for supporting Ukraine during this terrible war.

This kindness will live forever in our hearts.

Thank you.

Still, it can be difficult to fully convey the atmosphere of Dnipro is a single video, a large city near the front lines in eastern Ukraine with a unique history.

A city that was once the heart of workless sporting events, a city of vibrant festivals and ambitious urban projects, and it will be that way again.

A city of many nationalities and religions.

There everyone finds mutual understanding.

A city that has shaken off the Soviet Europe and returned its history.

From pain, tribute to Alexander Paul, the father founder of modern Dnipro, who held liberan views more than a century ago, to the realization that the Ukrainian nation has never been identical to the Russian one.

Dnipro's journey is this regard is unique.

After all, back in the 1970s, then Grand Rapids was launching one of its most famous festival.