Mayor Myrick Reads Sister Cities Proclamation
See Youtube video of Common Council meeting; proclamation is in the first six minutes.
Mayor Svante Myrick:
Are there any additions to or deletions from the agenda? Seeing none, we can move straight to a proclamation, a very special proclamation, a proclamation I am very excited about, which is a Sister City proclamation.
So Sister Cities if you don’t know, are informal agreements made between two communities, usually by the chief executives of each community, from two different countries. Sister Cities was founded for a particular purpose, post World War II, which was to bring communities together, recognizing that cities, especially, can play a really special role bringing people together, that even when nations are disagreeing, and, even when, as is sometimes the case, politicians at the federal level are disagreeing we find that at the local level we have more in common than we do apart. So Sister City relationships are usually formed between cities that have some sort of similar characteristics, they usually are marked by educational exchanges, possibly even trips back and forth from representatives of those communities.
[I'm] very excited about this relationship because of the ties that already exist, and I want to thank Seth Sicroff, who is here and is going to receive this proclamation, and I want to thank anthropologists David Holmberg and Kathryn March, who, through their work at Cornell University for a very long time – and in fact this past year, in December, at Southside Community Center, we held a great recognition event where they received the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal for their many decades of friendship and assistance to Nepal and for their leadership in educational exchange programs between Nepal and here in Ithaca.
And so, if I may, I’d like to read,
City of Ithaca Proclamation
WHEREAS Ithaca NY and Pokhara, Nepal, share an array of basic characteristics, including exceptionally scenic lakeside landscapes; multiple prestigious institutions of higher education; diverse and tolerant populations; important tourism and agricultural sectors; and
WHEREAS Ithaca and Pokhara both serve as gateways to recreational regions, Ithaca to the Finger Lakes, renowned for our spectacular state parks, magnificent gorges, waterfalls, world class wine and beer producers as well as fine dining, and features an exceptional array of cuisines, and has diverse public events and celebrations; and Pokhara to the Annapurna Area Conservation Project, the most visited mountaineering and trekking area in a country that is itself synonymous with mountain tourism and a destination universally recognized as one of the Last Best Places on Earth ;
The trekking in particular, I should say… I’m really proud to be issuing this proclamation, but [Acting Mayor] Laura [Lewis]... cinch your boots tight, because these treks to the mountains are apparently... uh... vigorous!
WHEREAS both Ithaca and Pokhara offer the advantage that, as partners, they provide a multiplier effect on account of long-established academic, commercial, political, and organizational linkages with other urban centers as well as numerous smaller municipalities, an advantage that will be greatly enhanced by the ongoing improvement of both local airports to handle international flights, so that in establishing a privileged relationship with Pokhara, Ithaca will be effectively bonded with the entire nation of Nepal; and
WHEREAS linkage with Pokhara, and through it Nepal, will motivate educational exchanges for Ithaca’s high school students and research opportunities for university students; enhance recreational and cultural tourism through pre-travel contacts so that short-term adventures are more likely to generate lifelong friendships and facilitate entrepreneurial ventures; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Ithaca NY and Pokhara, Nepal, should be recognized as Sister Cities under the terms of and with the objectives prescribed by Sister Cities International.
Very exciting! I do think Seth is here… Julie, if it’s possible to promote Seth to a panelist so he can accept the proclamation…
Seth Sicroff:
I just want to first thank [former] Alderperson Seph Murtagh and Mayor Svante Myrick for carrying the ball on this. This has been a long project, and we’re looking forward to even more complications in the years coming. There are many many different types of projects that could be facilitated through the Sister Cities rubric. If anybody out there has suggestions, or projects that they would like collaboration on, or if they would like to participate as members of the Steering Committee, please write to me at SisterCities@mountainlegacy.org, and I’ll get back to you.
Mayor Svante Myrick:
Thank you very much, Seth. Thank you for all your hard work marshaling Seph and I, and really being such a great ambassador to the Nepalese community here in Ithaca, which is small but mighty … and growing.
Contact
Do you have suggestions or other feedback? Contact Mountain Legacy Projects Coordinator Seth Sicroff at sicroff@mountainlegacy.org
511 W. Green St., Ithaca NY, 14850 USA; (607) 256-0102.