Arandas, Jalisco, México becomes Hayward’s sixth Sister City

On Tuesday, July 1, the City of Hayward entered into a Sister City agreement with the Municipality of Arandas, Jalisco, México.

Officially signed by the Mayor of the City of Hayward, Mark Salinas, and the Municipal President of Arandas, José Socorro Martínez Velázquez, the agreement solidifies the friendship between the two cities and establishes an official framework for cultural, economic, educational and humanitarian collaboration.

Representatives from both cities met at Hayward City Hall for a signing ceremony and to discuss their shared goals for the partnership.

"Today is a powerful reminder of our Sister City relationship," Mayor Salinas said at the ceremony, "two cities, two mayors, two councils and two administrations working together, across borders, to build bridges of friendship, culture and cooperation."

The agreement binds Hayward and Arandas to policies established for Sister City relationships by Sister Cities International, the global organization governing Sister City pairings, which traces its origins to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's formation of the People-To-People Citizen Diplomacy program in 1956. More information about Sister Cities International is available on the organization's website here.

Arandas is Hayward's sixth Sister City, following Funabashi, Japan; Faro, Portugal; Yixing, China; Ghazni, Afghanistan; and San Felipe, Mexico. Discussions of the Hayward-Arandas pairing date back to 2018, when the Hayward-Arandas Sister City Committee first met.

City staff prepared a video commemorating the occasion, available here.