Mayor to visit Sister City Seattle

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker will make his first Sister Cities visit to Seattle from Sunday 6 – Wednesday 9 January as part of a relationship that promotes friendship and goodwill between people of different countries and cultures.

Christchurch and Seattle have enjoyed a formal link since 1981 – a link that aims to promote and develop trade, tourism, commerce, sport, education and science on a people-to-people basis. The Mayor’s visit will take in the following over the three days:

Monday 7 January

• A visit to Chief Sealth High School – a sister school to Burnside High School – accompanied by Seattle’s Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith.
• A visit to Boeing.
• A meeting with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, following the observation of a Seattle City Council meeting.
• An address to the Seattle Emergency Operations Forum.
• Dinner with the Seattle Trade Development Alliance.

Tuesday 8 January

• A visit to the Pacific Science Centre, a science museum with links to Christchurch’s Science Alive.
• A visit to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.
• A visit to HamiltonJet Inc, a subsidiary of Christchurch-based CWF Hamilton & Co Ltd.
• Dinner with the Sister City Association.

Wednesday 9 January

• A visit to McChord Air Force Base, home of the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft key to Operation Deep Freeze.

In August 2012 the Council approved travel for the Mayor to visit Christchurch’s Asia/Pacific Sister Cities. A tour of Christchurch’s Asian Sister Cities is scheduled for March.