Palm Springs moves forward with sister city partnership with San Miguel, Mexico

Palm Springs is moving forward with its sister city program with a city in Mexico.

As we first reported on June 9, Palm Springs was considering a sister city partnership with San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

On Thursday, the city council unanimously agreed to move forward with the program. City staff will work on a letter for Mayor Lisa Middleton to sign to approve the agreement.

“I would be very happy to support this initiative,” Middleton said.

The city rose to the top of the list of potential sister cities for Palm Springs under consideration by a committee made up of Palm Springs business people, tourism officials, LGBTQ advocates, and others.

Downtown shop owner and city council candidate Jeffrey Bernstein is leading the charge.

“We invited a number of stakeholders throughout the city, from the Chamber of Commerce, arts, LGBT organizations, hospitality – to get their input,” Bernstein told News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia. “And there was great support.”

The goal of the program is to generate economic development through tourism and cultural exchanges.

Bernstein told the council on Thursday the program comes at no cost to the city apart from legal work as the mayor approves the agreement. There is no other financial commitment, it’s all driven by the committee and volunteers.

San Miguel de Allende is located in Mexico’s central highlands in the state of Guanajuato, about 4 hours from Mexico City.

Other cities considered for the sister city program included Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and Aix en Provence, France

Middleton mentioned during the meeting that she was hoping to make a push to add Victoria, BC, Canada to the program.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.