Snoopy and the mayor draw a warm reception in chilly South Korea
By Chris Smith/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Mayor Ernesto Olivares has sent along photos from Santa Rosa’s sister city in South Korea, where he and his delegation have dedicated a public Snoopy sculpture and their hosts have named a lovely park path “Santa Rosa Way.”
Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares, directly left of the newly dedicated Snoopy sculpture, and Vice Mayor John Sawyer, to the right of the piece, mark the 15th year of the Santa Rosa/Jeju City sister-city relationship with fellow Santa Rosans and their hosts.
The island on which Jeju City is located is sometimes called the Hawaii of east Asia, but you’ll see in Olivares’ photos there are no swimsuits or palm-shaded luaus. It’s bitter cold and snowy there right now, but the Santa Rosans are enjoying a warm reception.
The locals are in Jeju City to celebrate the 15th year of the sister city relationship. Over the years, Santa Rosans have traveled several times to the island to participate in its famed fire festival, and Jeju has in turn sent goodwill delegations of adults and teens to Sonoma County.
Participating in Tuesday’s dedications in the wintry park were Olivares and Vice Mayor John Sawyer, Railroad Square restaurateur and sister-city stalwart Don Taylor, Korea-born Santa Rosa businessman Peter Suk and dance-school owner Vicky Suemnicht, who brought with her a dozen students to perform at the fire festival.
The Santa Rosans and the hosting Koreans gathered at a park near Jeju City’s government complex and unveiled a bronzed Snoopy figure alongside its new home, a sculpture of a traditional Korean house. The assembly also dedicated Santa Rosa Way, a meandering pathway through the park.
On this side of the Pacific, gifts from Jeju include the sculptures of traditional Korean figures that adorn a swath of park across Sonoma Avenue from City Hall and a fountain at the mural-graced breezeway on Fourth Street that wears the name Jeju Way.
(See more photos from the Santa Rosa visit to Jeju)
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I sure hope this trip wasn’t funded by the tax payers. Even if it wasn’t, aren’t there more important things to worry about here in Santa Rosa than a trip to some meaningless “sister city”? Maybe one day we’ll get a local government that doesn’t have its head up it you know what…
How much is this costing taxpayers to send Mayor Olivares and his “delegation” to South Korea.
I didn’t know the city had so much money laying around for such frivolousness.
We’re having a budget crisis and the mayor and his entourage get an all expense paid vacation on Joe Sixpack’s dime? What’s going on? It’s not mentioned in the article, yet I know damn well these ‘elected representatives’ did not pay for this out of their own pockets. When is the revolution going to begin? Give me the time and place and I’ll bring the tar, pitchforks, etc.
As a longtime resident, I am aware of the importance of the sister-City program and relationship. I am very disappointed however, that in this time of layoffs, service reductions and other severe cuts in the City’s operating budget that funds for this travel were approved. While it is a nice thing to continue, ANY city funds spent on this venture were totally misappropriated. How about taking care of our parks instead?