ANAHEIM : Officials Look for Second Sister City

Anaheim officials are shopping for a second sister city, and local Latino leaders are encouraging them to consider looking to Mexico.

“I think it’s about time that the city of Anaheim wakes up to the tremendous, excellent relationship that exists between the two countries that are so close together yet so far apart in many ways,” said Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, an Anaheim-based Latino business organization.

David and others have suggested that the city adopt Cruz Azul, near Mexico City, which is Anaheim’s traditional sister city during the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Anaheim has one sister city, Mito, Japan, and has been looking for another. Leonard Lawicki, president of the Anaheim Sister City Committee, said it has been considering Germany, because Anaheim was founded by German settlers. But he said that having three sister cities is not uncommon.

Although the proposal for a Mexican sister city has not been formally presented, Anaheim City Council members have welcomed the idea.

Pointing to Anaheim’s constantly growing Latino population, which is nearing 45%, proponents say a Mexican sister city would help to include Latinos in civic life. It would also help foster trade relations between the cities’ business people.

Councilman Irv Pickler welcomed the idea and suggested that those who are interested in it contact the committee. “The more understanding we have of other nations an other cultures, the better we are,” Pickler said.