August 1, 1996 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune
BY Gregory Gross, Staff Writer

The cities of San Diego and Tijuana took a step yesterday toward solidifying their relationship with the signing of a pact continuing several cross-border initiatives between the two and adding new ones.

The Agreement on Binational Cooperation, signed yesterday in a brief ceremony, formalizes certain joint efforts, such as cooperation between the two police and fire departments, which have been going on for years. The new pact commits the two cities to mutual cooperation in six general areas:

• Libraries, arts, recreation and culture.
• Public works and service.
• Public safety.
• Planning and land use.
• Environment and recycling.
• Economic development.

San Diego Mayor Susan Golding, along with her Tijuana counterpart, Mayor Guadalupe Osuna Millan, signed the one-page agreement before a batter of television news cameras from both cities. Interpreters translated the remarks of the two mayors into English and Spanish.

"The areas of environment, economics and public safety are all extremely important," Golding said. "One of the most important things is the fact that Mayor Osuna is here and desires to continue this relationship and build on it ... and that is historic."

For San Diego, it meant a continuation and strengthening of the San Diego-Tijuana ties first forged in 1993 between Golding and then-Tijuana Mayor Hector Osuna Jaime (no relation to Osuna Millan).

The two first began working together during the floods that struck the region in January and February 1993. Their friendship evolved into a working relationship between the two city governments for the first time ever. Officials and staff members from the cities have met regularly ever since.

Together, they sent letters to the federal governments of the United States and Mexico, criticizing them for not consulting with local governments in planning major construction projects in the two cities.

Yesterday's signing ceremony represented the first major cross-border foray of Osuna Millan, who had maintained a somewhat lower profile than his predecessor, whom he succeeded last fall.

"We are building bridges and unbreakable ties," Osuna Millan said yesterday.

The ceremony was attended by numerous officials from both city governments, including San Diego police Chief Jerry Sanders and his Tijuana counterpart, Jorge Alvarez Barriere.

In the area of public safety, the agreement calls for ride-along exchanges between San Diego and Tijuana municipal police, as well as shared intelligence on street gangs and cross-border weapons trafficking.

The agreement formalizes a 24-hour emergency communication link and a program during flooding season to aid American citizens stranded by floodwaters along the south bank of the Tijuana River, an outgrowth of the 1993 experience.

In the area of economic development, the two cities will conduct a binational campaign to promote economic development and tourism, possibly with Golding and Osuna traveling together in Asia to promote San Diego and Tijuana as a regional ceter for economic opportunity.

At the heart of this binational promotion is a cluster of four major businesses: Telecommunications, environmental sciences, electronics manufacturing and tourism.

The agreement also calls for expansion of the Geographic Information System, a computerized map that includes a zoning and land-use database from both cities.

The San Ysidro port of entry figures prominently in the agreement. Both cities will look for ways to improve the appearance, transportation and land use on both sides of the border crossing in an effort called Project San Ysidro Gateway/Puerta Mexico.

The environmental portion of the agreement includes cooperation on waste reduction and pollution prevention within the maquiladora industry on both sides of the border on Otay Mesa, as well as exploring possibilities in binational recycling.

One possible result could be a recycling market development zone to combine and recycle items generated in both cities, such as scrap metal and used tires.