City Partnership with St. Maarten Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary
September 22
Local Leaders to be Honored for Building Lasting Relationship with Sister City - Wednesday, September 23, marks the 10-year anniversary of the Sister City relationship between the City of Tallahassee and the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. To celebrate, the City will host a reception on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the Tallahassee Room of City Hall.
St. Maarten, lead by their Head of Government, Commissioner William Marlin, will present 25 Tallahasseeans, including Mayor John Marks, Commissioner Andrew Gillum and City Manager Anita Favors Thompson, with plaques for their continued efforts at building a lasting and fruitful sister city relationship and to commemorate this milestone.
Then Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox; Maria Henry, Tallahassee CCI President; Island Commissioner Theo Heyliger; and Arthur Lugisse signed the Tallahassee-St.Maarten Partnership on September 23, 1999.
As a result of the partnership, the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Foundation (TLH-SXMF) was formed. It is a citizen-driven not-for-profit organization that has successfully promoted educational ties between the two governments.
One of the accomplishments of the TLH-SXMF and Sister City relationship has been the ability for students from St. Maarten to pursue higher education in Tallahassee at the in-state tuition rate. According to Lugisse, now executive director of the TLH-SXMF, 60 students from St. Maarten are pursuing degrees in Tallahassee, which helps contribute to the local economy on a yearly basis.
The City of Tallahassee is a member of Sister Cities International, which provides a framework for the establishment of partnerships between international communities. In addition to St.Maarten, Sister City relationships have been established with Sligo, Ireland (1995), Krasnodar, Russia (1989), Ramat-Hasharon, Israel (2006), and Konongo-Odumasi, Ghana (2008).
These relationships strive to promote cooperation and partnership in areas such as health and medicine, education, cultural arts, sports and economic development.
Contact
Carrie Blanchard, Chief of Staff for Mayor John Marks, 891-2000; or Lizzy Kelley, Communications Department, 891-8533
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