DATE: August 15, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution to Authorize the Mayor to Enter into a Sister City Agreement with the City of Faro, Algarve, Portugal
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Sister City agreement with the City of Faro, Algarve, Portugal.
SUMMARY
While City Council adopted a resolution proclaiming the City of Faro, Portugal as a Hayward Sister City in 1965, the two cities have yet to sign an official agreement announcing their Sister City relationship, a document required by Sister Cities International. With the City of Hayward delegation’s visit to Faro upcoming in September, City staff of Faro and Hayward drafted a Sister City agreement (Attachment III) to be signed while in Faro to commemorate this long-standing friendship. If Council approves, the Mayor will execute the agreement on behalf of the City of Hayward during the delegation’s visit to Faro.
BACKGROUND
In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, initiated the Sister Cities program to nurture friendship and understanding between municipalities in the United States and municipalities from around the world. Among Hayward’s Sister Cities is the City of Faro, Portugal.
Faro and Hayward’s long-standing friendship dates to the 1960s. The Hayward-Faro Sister City Committee first started in 1965 by Julio Bras, a former Hayward Councilman. In March of 1965, Hayward’s City Council adopted a resolution proclaiming the City of Faro, Portugal as a Hayward Sister City in the spirit of strengthening world peace as proclaimed by the Sister City program. Following this proclamation, Mayor John Pappas, Edward C. Massa, Chairman of the Faro Sister City Committee, and City Manager Ray Doran traveled to Faro to present the resolution to Faro officials.
As Hayward approached its centennial celebration in 1976, the Hayward-Faro committee wanted to honor its Portuguese settlers with a Julio Bras Portuguese Centennial Park. The committee worked with Faro to acquire azulejos (Portuguese tiles) and calcada (Portuguese mosaic stone flooring) to adorn the park, and the City of Faro sent two stone masons from the Algarve to lay the delicate calcada.
In 2022, the revitalized Hayward-Faro Sister City Committee and representatives from both Faro and Hayward celebrated renovations to the Julio Bras Portuguese Centennial Park and its refreshed ornamentation. During this visit, the City of Hayward and the Hayward-Faro Sister City Committee hosted a delegation from the City of Faro and the University of Algarve with the intention to strengthen this Sister City relationship. As a response, the Faro delegation extended an invitation for the City of Hayward to join them in Faro, Portugal in early September 2023 to celebrate their annual Faro Day and commemorate this friendship.
DISCUSSION
The City of Hayward delegation is visiting Faro, Portugal in early September 2023. During this visit, the City of Faro would like to officially sign a Sister City agreement recognizing the good relationship between our peoples and commitment to this lifelong friendship.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves, the Mayor will execute the agreement on behalf of the City of Hayward during the delegation’s visit to Faro. This agreement will be shared with Sister Cities International as documentation to officiate our Sister City relationship.
Prepared by: Emily Hwang, Management Fellow, City of Hayward Recommended by: Regina Youngblood, Assistant City Manager Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
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