Our Sister Cities Commission Proposal

Montgomery, as Alabama’s capital city, one of its largest metro areas, and home of the Maxwell Air Force Base, has a large international draw. In the past it has developed a Sister City relationship with Pietrasanta Italy, but we feel that a city of our stature should grow the number of formal connections with other cities across the world. When looking at cities of similar size across the nation, the majority tend to have more than one, and our two closest major cities, Mobile and Birmingham both have closer to 15 each. We don’t advocate for that many, as we feel a narrower focus on developing a few strong, active connections is better than just having a long list of barely active connections. Our current goal is to add two new solid connections. Ideally one of which will be in South Korea.

It is also important to us that these connections be easily accessible to the city at large, not just a select few. We want there to be events that the whole city can easily participate in, for little or no money. 

Structure

Our proposal is the development of a public-private partnership between the city of Montgomery and interested parties from across the city, to form a Sister Cities Commission. This non-profit organization would be staffed by a mix of community volunteers and two representatives appointed by the city, with the following goals:

1. Selecting other cities for consideration of Sister City status. They will establish contact, gauge interest, and develop the connection for the city.
2. To organize activities and exchanges between current and future Sister Cities, and to grow the bonds of friendship between them and our City.
3. To fundraise in the aid of the above goals.

Looking at other cities, our proposal is that the leadership board consist of seven members. The majority will be volunteers, but we propose that the city should have two representatives on the board. One will be appointed by the Mayor, and one by the City Council President.

This could also be done as a totally free standing non-profit with no real city involvement. But we like the idea that there are people from the City whose job it is to make sure that even if the current batch of volunteers all lose interest for some reason, that there is still a record of contact information, agreements, and activities that resides at the city should the board need to be reconstituted.

Potential Activities

Just what sort of activities could our proposed Sister City Commission organize? We’ve looked to see what other cities have done with theirs, and here is a short list of possible ideas:

1. Many cities do annual poetry exchanges.
2. Within the city there could be quarterly international meetups, where international residents and visitors are encouraged to attend.
3. Quarterly zoom calls between a representative from each city centered on a theme, such as politicians, chefs, artists, etc. These discussions could be recorded and shared on the Sister City website or YouTube channel.
4. An annual picnic could be held on the MMFA grounds near the statue from Pietrasanta.
5. There could be a book exchange, featuring works by resident authors. The city Library could maintain a Sister City section.
6. Some cities set up a pen pal program between schools.
7. Whenever a race or marathon is held, sometimes runners from sister cities are invited to attend.
8. There could be an annual international festival held at the train shed, featuring food, music, and other related activities from our Sister Cities.
9. Natural connections could be strengthened and expanded, such as Ravello Ristorante’s Culinary Exchange Program.
10. 2029 will be the 20 year anniversary of our relationship with Pietrasanta, and would be a great event to celebrate.
11. A recipe swap between our home chefs.