Menton, on the southeast coast of the French Riviera, becomes Laguna Beach’s first sister city.
By CHRISTA WOODALL
The Orange County Register
Menton, France, was officially adopted as Laguna Beach’s first sister city at the City Council meeting Tuesday night.
The council unanimously approved partnering with the village through a program that will be run by the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau.
Located on the southeast coast of the French Riviera near the Italian border, Menton is similar to Laguna Beach in geography, population and culture.
In such a partnership, the cities’ residents and businesses would engage in cultural exchanges and share information about governance, energy, water, economic development and environmental conservation.
Karyn Philippsen and Pat Kollenda, who visited Menton in November with Councilwoman Toni Iseman and Carolyn Reynolds, praised Menton as an ideal partner to Laguna Beach.
“It mirrors everything – art, business and tourism,” said Philippsen, president of the Visitors and Conference Bureau. “This gives us the opportunity to create world citizens.”
The partnership idea generated some controversy in December when all four of Iseman’s council colleagues chastised her for not including them in the proceedings, which informally began last May.
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