After nearly a decade of on-and-off negotiations, a twinning agreement between Chapala and the city of Pico Rivera, California was finalized on Thursday, June 27.
Interim Chapala Mayor Gamaliel Soto Pérez, Mayor-elect Alejandro Aguirre Curiel and other local officials traveled to Los Angeles County last week to join Pico Rivera Mayor Andrew C. Lara and his city councilors in formalizing the Sister City pact.
The objective of twinning is to exchange information and experiences in commercial, cultural, environmental, professional, technological and educational matters of mutual interest.
The intention to twin the two cities emerged during in the 2015-2018 administration of Javier Degollado González. The initiative was resuscitated and then fell by the wayside during the 2018-2021 term of Moisés Anaya Aguilar.
It was reactivated by Aguirre with the creation of a Sister Cities Committee.
In August 2023, Aguirre and former Pico Rivera mayor Erik Lutz penned a pledge to push ahead on the twinning agreement. That same month the Chapala City Council gave the green light for the arrangement to go ahead.
Now it’s finally a done deal, constituents on both ends will be watching for concrete results in their respective communities.
Chapala previously established ties with Jin-Xi, China in 1994.
All it has to show for the relationship was the naming of the section of the highway running through La Floresta as Boulevard Jin-Xi.
Other Sister City pacts, including the 2008 agreement with Barrhead, Alberta, have proven even less fruitful.
However, Pico Rivera has the potential for a better outcome. It has the advantage of being home to many residents of Mexican descent, among them plenty of native Chapalense immigrants and their offspring.