AURORA, Colo. — This week, Ana Valles witnessed the moment she has been waiting for the last year and a half: Chihuahua, Mexico is Aurora's fourth sister city.
Valles is originally from Chihuahua, and moved to Aurora 11 years ago.
“I definitely saw the potential of this partnership and collaboration, so I know this will be very beneficial for both cities,” she said.
She brought a proposal to Aurora City Council to make Chihuahua and Aurora sister cities.
On Saturday, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman returned home from a trip to Mexico to finalize the deal. Coffman, Valles, and several others spent five days in Chihuahua making it official.
“They are so excited," Valles said. "Everyone is very like, I think very hype."
Aurora's other three sister cities through Aurora Sister Cities International are in South Korea, El Salvador and Ethiopia. Coffman said Mexico’s is a little different.
“It's really our largest immigrant community,” he said.
“There's a large population from Chihuahua in Aurora, so I think that's one of the biggest differences,” Valles said.
Now, Coffman is looking at what lessons Aurora can take from Chihuahua.
“A lot of business-to-business meetings with their Chamber of Commerce, and visiting four different factories that they have. Two were aerospace related. Two were in the automobile industry,” Coffman said.
Chihuahua, Mexico, named Aurora’s fourth sister city.
“Several components -- I think one was government to government and take a look at how their government is structured, particularly their law enforcement,” Coffman said. “They have a robo system of cameras and the ability to integrate that information in real-time from a law enforcement perspective. So that's something we are going to take a look at.”
He said the biggest impact will be culture.
“What’s important to those communities is to maintain ties to their respective countries of origin,” Coffman said.
Valles said this partnership makes her feel seen.
“Creating a sense of belonging and community and just kind of unifying us in a city that we now call home in Aurora,” Valles said.
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