Letter: San Diego welcomes a new sister: Panama City

By Toni G. Atkins, Christine Kehoe and Todd Gloria

San Diegans who have only a casual relationship with local or world history might not know that Balboa Park was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the explorer who’s credited as being the first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, in 1513. The park’s name emerged from a contest that was part of the run-up to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and San Diego’s role as its first port of call for westbound ships.

San Diego’s iconic park, along with the event held there 100 years ago that made it what it is today, created an unbreakable bond between Panama and San Diego. You might say it made us sisters forever.

Now, finally, a century later, on Saturday, July 18, 2015, in Balboa Park (naturally), San Diego and Panama City, the capital of Panama, are going to make it real: We’re going to be sister cities. Panama City Mayor José Isabel Blandón and Municipal Director of Urban Planning Manuel Trute will be our guests for the official signing. We’re looking forward to their visit, when we’ll get to show off beautiful Balboa Park.

San Diego and Panama City have much more in common than a temperate seaside climate and roughly the same number of residents. Obviously, both are important working-port cities. Both also enjoy thriving tourism economies and boast rich cultural experiences for visitors and denizens alike. Each is a lovely, vibrant coastal city.

And both San Diego and Panama City can point to the opening of the Panama Canal – and the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, in San Diego’s case – as crucial catalysts for a century of economic growth. Currently, German steel products, Norwegian fertilizer products and European, Japanese and Korean vehicles, among other goods, make their way through the canal to the Port of San Diego.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, “the U.S. is Panama’s most important trading partner,” comprising nearly one-third of the import market, and Panama’s economy is expanding rapidly. The types of products hauled from the U.S. to Panama have heavy industry representation in San Diego, such as aerospace, electronics, high-tech, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

Not coincidentally, Balboa, an enclave in Panama City, Panama, located at the canal’s Pacific entrance, is also named for the Spanish trailblazer who’s immortalized in San Diego. And the physical heart of Balboa Park is the Plaza de Panama. One could argue that no other international city can lay a stronger claim to San Diego’s legacy.

And we’re continuing to strengthen ties. As we spend this entire year celebrating the park and the centennial anniversary of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, we can also get excited about a developing story inside Balboa Park: Nine of the House of Pacific Relations’ international cottages are in the process of seeking construction approval, and one of them is the House of Panama.

Unlike many of the other international cottages, the House of Panama, which has existed since 1989, doesn’t have a permanent physical cottage to hold its events and exhibitions. Supporters, buffeted by the contributions of generous donors, are hoping to win City Council approval this year and hope to break ground early next year. They believe it would be a fitting addition to the park and put a nice finishing touch on this centennial year.

Ideally, the sister-city agreement between San Diego and Panama City will pave the way for our city governments and each city’s community, nonprofit, trade and business organizations to engage with one another, exchange ideas and information, share and cooperate in ways that will enrich the people of both cities.

In the meantime, we three representatives of City Council District 3 – past and current – would just like to say to Panama City: Welcome to the family.

—Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) is speaker of the state Assembly. Christine Kehoe is a former state senator representing San Diego. Todd Gloria is the District 3 San Diego City Council member.