Redondo Beach Library

La Paz, Redondo strengthen historic bond

They are two seaside cities separated by a national border and a thousand miles. But La Paz and Redondo Beach have for a half century forged a special bond as sister cities, one that was renewed with gusto Tuesday as dignitaries from each city joined together to launch a campaign aimed at bringing a spotlight on Mexico’s “city of peace and abundance.”

In an unusual joint press conference at the Historic Library in Veteran’s Park, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and La Paz Mayor Esthela Ponce joined a coalition that included the Rotary Club and Sister Cities Committee in order to bring attention to the La Paz Tourism Board’s comprehensive awareness campaign declaring “peace on the United States.”

The Tourism Board is touting significant ongoing economic development and a new study that found that La Paz’s crime statistics would rank it as the third safest city of its size in California — behind only Murrieta and Mission Viejo and ahead of Huntington Beach and Torrance.

“Our relationship, between Redondo Beach and La Paz, has gone back many years,” said Ponce. “And we want to thank you for holding this event in this great city…to let everyone know about the quality – and quality of life – that surrounds La Paz.”

“It is telling how La Paz has brought so many of us together,” said Gin. “…If you have not visited La Paz, go down and visit. It’s a place of amazing beauty, and unforgettable memories.”

La Paz is a city of 240,000 located along the Sea of Cortez and is the capital city of Baja Sur. The city has more than $1 billion in planned “eco-friendly” development over the next five years, and the Tourism Board is touting a recent study by the Irvine-based firm Competitive Analytics that found the city’s murder and manslaughter rates among the lowest when compared to all similar sized cities in North America.

But Agustín Olachea, the president of the La Paz Tourism Board, deemphasized the statistics. He said to understand the feeling in La Paz – which literally translates as “peace” in English – one must walk along its waterfront promenade and see families and tourists mingling and talking late into the night.

“Numbers and statistics, they are pretty cold, as you all know when you talk about numbers,” Olachea said. “When you visit La Paz, you feel that safety.”

The relationship between Redondo Beach and La Paz grew out of the People to People initiative launched by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower, a former soldier weary of war, wanted to forge closer ties between nations based upon cultural exchanges. In 1961, he called upon private citizens to formalize such exchanges and gave rise to the sister city movement.

Musical Mondays at Redondo Beach Library | Paints and Playdough

I love to read.  I read on average about 4-5 books a week if not more.  One of the things I am very  happy to pass down to Brandon is a love of the written word.  At 17 months Brandon spends hours every day voluntarily reading with me and with Ken and what is more fun is that it is Brandon who grabs our hands, drags us to his bookshelf and gets the books that he wants to read.  I am well known at all of the local libraries and now that Brandon is here, he is popular with the librarians.  Today is one of our favorite (and free) programs available at the Redondo Beach Library.  Every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month is Musical Mondays, a half hour to 45 minute long sing-a-long with guitars, and other instruments.  Check out www.redondo.org for more information.   Some of the kids dance, some of the others sing and play with the instruments and others explore the perimeters of the room in which the sing-a-long is held.  It is a fun community event catered towards the little ones.

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