Well, good evening, everybody.

We're gonna call the meeting to order.

Ms.

Gibbus, you want to do the roll call, please.

Trustee Benucci here, trustee keeper.

Trustee Paniker.

Yes.

Trustee Ruin.

Yep.

Trusty Sula.

Here, Trusty Wojowski.

Mayor Agadelis.

Yes, please rise with pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States.

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God.

Indivisible liberty and justice for all.

Well, good evening, everyone.

Um presidential comments this evening.

We have a proposed uh um motion to uh start the process of uh becoming a sister city with uh Neo Sporeni.

Neil Sporeni that I'm pronouncing that right.

Um it comes uh I've learned this over the last couple of years.

I've gotten to know uh uh the council general Anton Lungo who's here tonight, uh along with the Plainfield resident Gary Kavalski.

Um that Plainfield, along with Naperville, has the largest population of Moldovan immigrants in uh I don't know, maybe the United States, but certainly quite a few uh residents are Moldovan.

Um we've gotten to uh know one another quite a bit.

There are businesses owned in Plainfield that are owned by uh um Moldovan residents of Plainfield, and uh uh it's but this has been proposed to us by um the council general, and I'd like you to come up and introduce yourself and maybe tell us a little bit about your vision for this.

Uh you can come up to the microphone here, Anton.

Yeah, just make sure the little green light on the button is on so we can hear you.

And uh please state your name and then uh uh talk a little bit about uh what your what your vision is with this proclamation.

Okay.

Uh good evening, everyone.

Uh my name is Anton Lungu.

I'm the first consul general of the Republic of Moldova in Chicago.

The consulate is responsible for the Midwest, Texas and Louisiana.

As Mayor Argudelis told, so our biggest community that you know the United States is in the area of of Chicago, Chicago land, and practically we have uh a couple of cities in the suburb where uh predominantly the Moldovan American community resides, so it is Naperville, Plainfield, Schaumburg, and surroundings uh around the cities.

So as the Consulate General has been inaugurated quite uh shortly in June.

So one of the scopes uh that I I try to implement is to integrate uh the community that has hosted uh our uh citizens and became their second home, that they get to integrate more into uh the uh society in the community that uh that has become uh their their home.

So the idea of a sister city is uh that we have this formal uh agreement, but the formal agreement has to have substance in it, and we came to the idea that the substance would be brought by those that uh are originating from the city of Nisporen, and uh that they would support and sustain activities uh that would fall under this agreement.

So uh we would see this as uh as an opportunity to build bridges.

Uh and I'll tell a bit about Nisporein.

So Nisperen is a regional hub.

Uh it's uh situated 70 kilometers from the capital.

Uh it has uh it it has around 12,000 residents.

Uh it uh it is a hub, it has uh a lot of initiatives that support uh youth.

So they have a center there, they have one of the most uh well-arranged uh stadiums, uh so sport facility, which encourages sport, uh youth uh uh youth uh uh engagement and uh they support craftsmanship, so a lot of uh things that I hope you'll get to know about Moldovan culture and so are also supported and uh and produced in in Nisporein.

Nisporen has also uh very nice uh hills, uh wine yards, uh so there are a lot of things, interesting things to discover.

Uh based on the fact that uh Gary and uh and and people uh from Nisporen that reside in in Plainfield, uh I think that uh with their support we can build a lot of interesting ties, meaning schools, uh business uh exchanges, tourism, promoting wine, and getting people uh that are from Moldova, especially Nisporin to discover more about plain field and and vice versa.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It is um I'm as I'm assuming most people know Moldova is located between Romania and Ukraine in eastern Europe and uh is increasing ties to all of Europe uh since communism fell and uh it was interesting to me that uh independence day uh for a lot of nations Paul comes at the same time when communism was falling in eastern Europe something you know as a history major I never thought I'd see communism fall and the rest of Europe start to reunite with Europe.

But um for me I I am bringing this forward tonight for the board's consideration because a uh significant number of people in our community our residents are from this region from this city and uh to enhance cultural ties and and maybe learn a lot about one another uh in both countries uh would be a uh a positive thing for for our residents um are there any questions or comments anybody has uh or does somebody want to make the motion I'm just kind of curious Mr Lungo do you know uh the population of Moldovans in uh the Plainfield Naperville area uh I don't know the exact amount but I can say that I could be seven families are in the same and I may assume that I know that there are uh three uh can you yeah I for I guess in order to record it you have to stand at the microphone there my apologies so uh I don't know the exact number uh but uh at least I visited uh seven families and I was told uh because I have friends that I studied in the same class with me and they are residents in uh in in uh in uh in uh plainfield so and they were telling me like on our street practically we have another six seven families that are from the Republic of Moldova so they they are quite uh so they they like it here in Plainfield yeah so any other questions or comments well just uh and it it's not nothing concerning your request it sounds nice I I I like the idea of goodwill that that's that's not my complaint um my my issue is I I feel like recently we've we've kind of got and not just plain field but other communities have been getting pressure to weigh in on international events and I'm concerned about opening up kind of a floodgate where suddenly we have pressure to pick one one country or another country over another one uh I I really don't think that's really the main focus of what we should be doing up here as as a board I think we should be focusing on focusing on local issues.

I I I just I I have a hard time I know a lot of communities have some sister cities I just feel like the political climate that we're in right now I I don't think that we should be weighing in uh and forming ties like this that's that's just where I'm coming from so I don't know if anybody else shares that view.

We have a sister city agreement already I don't know if you're aware of that um and this I am aware of that I mean this is cultural there's nothing about this that's political we're not taking sides in their elections or getting involved in anything this would just be a cultural exchange uh with people so we don't have to go beyond that I mean if if you're concerned and I I do share that I agree with you that we should not be weighing in on international politics but we would never have to do that we can have cultural exchange with uh uh this city and keep leave it at that no one's forcing us to do anything beyond that so I I just I don't think we should have the wrong impression that some I understand making a political stand in a world issue we're not we're I understand your point but I common cultural exchange I'd be worried that some of them we have every other group that comes to town wanting to have other sister arrangements.

I I don't know I just would have rather focus on our energies elsewhere but that's my chest keeper I kind of had that same reaction only because I feel like all of a sudden this is on the board agenda no offense to you or your your culture your comp you know country or anything um I just feel like all of a sudden it's on agenda if you've known about you've known these people for a few years and yet we've never discussed it beyond all of a sudden making this resolution I I do have concerns of what the what if not so much that you're here but who's next and then where does that go from there I mean I I've always um enjoyed reaching out different cultural levels you know I've worked for the university for years and that was one of my favorite things about working at DePaul was the cultural differences in people and getting to know places I'll probably never see in my lifetime but um I I did have the same concern for that for that reason just you know just because it's just sudden and it's here and there's that like there's no discussion it's like here it is if I may also uh the idea is that I'm deployed temporary I'm a career diplomat I work for eighteen years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I've worked for the university for years, and that was one of my favorite things about working at DePaul was the cultural differences in people and getting to know places I'll probably never see in my lifetime.

But um, I I did have the same concern for that for that reason, just you know, just because it's just sudden and it's here, and there's like there's no discussion, it's like here it is.

If I may also uh the idea is that I'm deployed temporary.

I'm a career diplomat.

I work for 18 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I may stay here one year, I may stay four years.

So that's that's practically my term.