Pasadena Council To Receive Update On Potential Sister City Ties With Guanajuato, Mexico

[UPDATED] The City Council will receive an update on the effort to establish a Sister Cities partnership with Guanajuato, Mexico, following a request by Councilmember Steve Madison. This comes after Guanajuato Mayor Samantha Smith Gutiérrez invited Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo and councilmembers to visit Guanajuato in the fall to explore forming a formal city relationship.

A Pasadena Delegation, affiliated with the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee’s Guanajuato Proposed Affiliation (PA) Committee, previously visited Guanajuato to examine the prospect of becoming sister cities. Earlier in the year, Mayor Samantha Smith Gutiérrez visited in Pasadena for meetings hosted by Mayor Victor Gordo and Lena Kennedy, president of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee, to discuss the potential partnership.

Smith later thanked Madison for hosting the Guanajuato group during the Rose Parade and other events, including tours of major Pasadena locations. In turn, Smith extended an invitation for Pasadena officials to join a delegation visiting Guanajuato from October 31 to November 7.

Raul Ibannez, a commissioner on the Pasadena Police Department oversight commission, also plans to participate, encouraging broad council involvement in the exchange. He noted Guanajuato officials’ gratitude for the hospitality shown during their prior visit.

Guanajuato, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is recognized for its colonial architecture and historical significance, sharing similarities with in Pasadena in culture, education, and tourism. Both cities have comparable populations: Guanajuato holds about 194,000 residents; in Pasadena, around 140,000.

Currently, Pasadena’s sister cities include locations in China, Germany, Japan, Finland, Armenia, and Dakar-Plateau, Senegal—the city’s first African partnership. To date, there is no official sister city relationship with any city in Mexico.