Division in California at Dingle decision
THE Kerryman has learned that the Santa Barbara Sister City Committee has written to Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall and US Ambassador to Ireland Edward Crawford to defend its decision to end the city’s 17-year Sister City relationship with Dingle.
As reported in last week’s edition, Santa Barbara voted to cut its sisterly ties with Dingle in January, and a city council resolution in April recommended that the Mayor dissolve the relationship.
The Californian city’s committee claimed that a 2018 delegation to Dingle “did not feel all that welcome”, despite reports from the Santa Barbaran side at that time praising the reception. They claimed “There have been a couple of exchanges but very little reciprocity,” and that the Dingle committee is made up of just one couple: Máiréad and Brian de Staic.
Dingle’s Committee secretary Máiréad de Staic last week claimed that her committee was not contacted in relation to the dissolution before, during, or after the process.
This week, however, Santa Barbara has moved to defend its decision, with Tom McCool of the Santa Barbara committee writing to the ambassadors to explain how the dissolution came about.
“When I returned to California, I was asked to assist in organizing the Santa Barbara Dingle Ireland Sister City Committee and have done so since then as part of a governing board comprised of local volunteers with an interest in Irish culture and business,” Mr McCool said in the letter, seen by The Kerryman.
“Once we were able to install a formal organization in Santa Barbara, we focused on the relationship with Dingle using the guidelines established by the national Sister Cities organization.
“This process entailed numerous communications with Maireid [ sic] and Brian de Staic... We sent a 25-member delegation to Dingle in 2018. During
this visit we met with Maireid and explained our goal, i.e. to verify that an organization was in place consistent with formal sister city requirements.
“We asked for information related to governance i.e. bylaws, officers, policies, meeting minutes, etc. None was provided, so we offered to assist in moving them into compliance with these standards,” he claimed.
“All we received was a memo telling [us] they had everything they needed and no help was required. This resulted in the realization that there was little to no organization in Dingle,” he further claimed.
“In June of 2019 I again had the opportunity to speak with Consul General [Ciaran] Madden and said we were actively considering seeking another sister city in Ireland. He contacted Ciaran Fitzgerald, a member of the Kinsale Chamber of Commerce in Kinsale who contacted me to discuss having Kinsale as a potential sister city for Santa Barbara. We have had several communications with him since that time.
“After verifying that it was not possible to have two sister city relationships in the same country our board made the decision to inform the Santa Barbara Sister City Committee... of our desire to establish a viable sister city relationship in Ireland.”
Dingle – which last week defended all claims made against it – have a second sister in the US: West Springfield, Massachussetts, which is seemingly contrary to Santa Barbara’s guidelines. But The Kerryman has since learned that Kinsale itself also has a robust sister city relationship with another US city: Newport in Rhode Island.
Ms De Staic has denied that the Dingle committee is made up of just herself and her husband, saying there are in fact six people on the board.
Former Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Scheider told this newspaper that she hopes the city’s decision to end the relationship with Dingle will be recognised as a mistake and reversed.
Ms Schneider served as Mayor from 2010 to 2018, and she told The Kerryman that she now regrets not intervening in the situation.
She said she followed the lead of previous mayors by staying clear of involvement in city affairs after her term ended but is “deeply saddened” at what has transpired.
“I believe Sister Cities provide a valuable service in creating international bonds and fostering mutual respect and understanding among all peoples, which is why I chose to serve as a member of the Sister Cities International (SCI) Board of Directors after leaving my position as Mayor,” she said. Ms Schneider added that she visited Dingle as part of a 2017 delegation and “loved” her stay.
“I did attempt to subtly dissuade some members of both the local Sister City Committee and the City Council to change course, including asking them to confirm that those in Dingle fully understood the situation and knew this recommendation was moving forward.
“I do now regret not directly intervening to prevent this action,” Ms Schneider added.
The Kerryman also contacted a former key figure of the Santa Barbara board, Erin Graffy, who was instrumental in setting up the relationship in the early noughties.
Ms Graffy said the relationship was “always fantastic” between the two regions and expressed her sadness at what has fallen out in recent months.
“You must remember this: the rank and file members of the sister-city in Santa Barbara had no idea the steering committee/executive committee was going to pull the plug,” Ms Graffy claimed.
“All the people who had been to Dingle formally or informally have nothing but praise for it... The reasons given to us [for dissolution] clearly do not make any sense.
“On the last delegation that went [in 2018], the committee described it as feeling un-welcomed. This did not sound like Dingle people to me.
“I was absolutely perplexed when I read that, as I recall one of the couples at that time... saying they had a great time in Dingle and the people in town were so friendly.
“So, just a few weeks ago, I called another lady who went on that trip (not a member of the steering committee) to ask for her review.
“She told me, ‘ Oh it was fantastic! They treated us like royalty. They had so many things for us to do”.