Sacramento ‘builds bridges, not walls’ as it officially partners with Mexican city
The Sacramento City Council chambers saw rare joy and color Thursday afternoon as it celebrated a new sister city partnership with Morelia, the capital city of the Mexican state of Michoacán.
The city of Sacramento welcomed 35 representatives from the city, including Mayor Alfonso Martinez Alcazar, to formalize the cultural alliance with the Mexican city.
Morelia will join 12 other cities in Sacramento’s “family“ of sister cities. The program’s mission is to develop mutually beneficial cultural, educational, social and economic relationships between the city of Sacramento and its sisters.
In his opening remarks welcoming Alcazar, McCarty acknowledged “division” between the United States and Mexico, saying that he wanted to move in a different direction than federal leaders.
“This ratification is more than just a paper, it’s an opportunity to further strength going back decades, if not centuries, between the people of California and the people of Mexico,” he said.
Councilmember Eric Guerra, one of 300,000 people in the Sacramento region of Michoacán descent, spoke about the city’s history of independence and liberation. Morelia is named after José María Morelos, a revolutionary priest and key leader of the Mexican War of Independence.
Guerra said that when faced with the decision of joining the North or South during the Civil War, Californians looked to Michoacán history and its rejection of slavery.
After both mayors signed the memorandum of understanding formally establishing the partnership, the men rung a replica of the bell rung when Mexico established independence. Moments after, they unveiled the sign pointing to Michoacán on the pole pointing to all of Sacramento’s sister cities outside City Hall.
“While some are focusing on building walls, including the leaders of our country — today in Sacramento, we are building bridges,” McCarty said.
Sacramento’s sister cities
Sacramento established its first sister city relationship in 1961.
- Manila/Pasay City, Philippines, 1961/2006
- Matsuyama, Japan, 1981
- Jinan, China, 1984
- Hamilton, New Zealand, 1988
- Liestal, Switzerland, 1989
- Chisinau, Moldova, 1989
- Yongsan-gu, Korea, 1997
- San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua, 2006
- Bethlehem, Palestine, 2009
- Askelon, Israel, 2012
- Mexicali, Mexico, 2013
- Morelia, Mexico, 2026
