Mayor Rejects Councilman’s Plea to Break Sister-City Tie with Anti-Gay Russian Town
Yesterday, I posted a letter City Councilman Jim Kenney wrote to Mayor Nutter, asking him to break Philly’s sister-city tie with anti-gay Russian city Nizhny Novgorod. The response? CBS Philly reports that Nutter gave him a big fat “no, thank you”:
The mayor’s spokesman, Mark McDonald, says Nutter wants the sister city relationship to continue — so that Philadelphians can send the Russian city a message.
“We think that maintaining ties with Nizhny Novgorod gives us the opportunity to show them what diversity and western values are all about. For that reason, we’re not going to cut off communications,” McDonald said. “We’re going to urge people to use social media to deride the policies in that country and city, and show what a great city Philadelphia is.”
The article reports that Kenney may follow up the denial with a formal resolution so his City Council colleagues can weigh in on the decision. “Would we have a sister city relationship with a city that discriminates against people because of their race? Or because of their gender?” Kenny asked CBS Philly. “I don’t think that we should be putting our stamp of approval on cities that make these kind of rules.”
Sounds like the battle is far from over. Stay tuned for the latest updates.
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