La Cañada Flintridge has found its match.
At their meeting Tuesday, City Council members made it official, authorizing LCF to execute a Sister Cities Agreement with the Spanish township of Villanueva de la Cañada.
A Sister City relationship is a long-term, cooperative relationship — registered with the U.S. State Department — between cities in different countries, with elements of cultural, educational, business and technical exchanges.
LCF’s nonprofit Sister Cities Association was started last year and is staffed by volunteers and led by Vicki Schwartz, whose experience with the organization dates back to when she was 16 and spent a year on a student exchange in Regensberg, Germany, the sister city of her hometown of Tucson, Ariz.
She thought students in LCF should have the same opportunity, and now that a connection has been made, they will.
“[This is] the next step toward a formal agreement with Villanueva de la Cañada, if you can believe the name,” said Mayor Jonathan Curtis, noting that the cities had even more in common.
“The interesting thing about it is that it actually has a major facility for the European Space Agency, so there’s a tremendous amount of crossover there and one of the reasons the city was attractive — in both directions,” added Curtis, referencing LCF’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
LCF’s Sisters Cities Association is accepting applications for student ambassadors to travel to Spain, as well as families to host eight Spanish students who will be staying in LCF beginning in early July. The group also is seeking students to participate in the Youth Leadership Summit from July 12-16 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Applications are available in the offices at local high schools, at City Hall and online at lcfsistercities.org.
SQUATTERS GONE
Lt. Marjorie Jacobs told the City Council that the squatters who had been living at a bank-owned home on Harter Lane had left after three of them were arrested on burglary charges earlier this month.
Councilman Dave Spence asked whether the Sheriff’s Department — which doesn’t act on charges of squatting because it’s legally considered a civil matter — is keeping an eye on the property.
“We have that address,” Jacobs said. “That address is known and … deputies can look up the address and it pops up as doing extra patrols.”
BUILDING CODES OK’D
The City Council adopted new codes to align with the state’s green building standards.
Some of those codes include mandating that new structures install underground capacity for future wiring for electric vehicles, setting the minimum of construction waste recycling at 65% and ensuring that the parking spaces dedicated for electric vehicle charging meet the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.
