[Speakers: Veronica Briseno Assistant City Manager Kirk Watson Mayor Excepting the proclamation / speakers: Ms. Ximena Escobedo Director General, DGCP Pablo Marentes Gonzalez Consul General of Mexico in Austin]
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EVERYBODY WE'RE GONNA GET, GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
I'M AN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER HERE, AND ON BEHALF OF OUR INTERIM CITY MANAGER, JESUS GARZA AND ALL 16,000 CITY EMPLOYEES, WELCOME, WELCOME TO THE GREAT CITY.
I'VE HEARD THAT YOU'RE VISITING OTHER TEXAS CITY, AND I'M A LITTLE BIASED, BUT AUSTIN IS THE BEST.
I'VE BEEN WITH THE CITY 24 YEARS IN VARIOUS ROLES AND WITH VARIOUS ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
MY MOST RECENT ONE WAS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, AND I KNOW THEY'RE HOSTING YOU HERE TODAY.
UH, BUT THROUGH THAT DEPARTMENT, I TRULY VALUE THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE WITH MEXICO, AS WELL AS THE CULTURAL VITALITY THAT WE SHARE.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO LEARNING FROM YOU TODAY, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR VISIT HERE IN AUSTIN.
32% OF OUR POPULATION IS LATINO.
THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE AS WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE DELIVER, UH, SERVICES AND HOW WE MAKE POLICY DECISIONS, WE DO IT WITH THE LENS OF DIVERSITY THAT WE HAVE HERE IN THIS CITY.
AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT SHOWS OUR STRONG TIES AND BOND TO LATIN AMERICA AND ESPECIALLY MEXICO.
SO, I'M NOT GONNA KEEP YOU, I KNOW YOU HAVE A BUSY SCHEDULE, BUT IT IS MY HONOR TO INTRODUCE OUR MAYOR OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
MANY THANKS FOR HAVING ME HERE TODAY, AND I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE TO YOU OUR MAYOR, KIRK WATSON.
AND, UH, AND, AND THANK YOU VERONICA.
UM, IT, IT'S MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME YOU, UH, TO OUR AUSTIN CITY HALL.
UH, I, I, UM, I LOVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET SOME NEW FRIENDS, AND OF COURSE SOME OLD FRIENDS.
UH, UH, RICARDO SANCHEZ IS, IS, UH, SOMEBODY THAT, UH, WE RUN INTO EACH OTHER IN A LOT OF EVENTS.
WE, WE GO TO A LOT OF THE SAME EVENTS AND SEE EACH OTHER.
HE REPRESENTS, HE REPRESENTS YOU VERY WELL, AND
UH, IT'S, IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, MU GUSTO.
VERY GOOD TO BE WITH YOU TODAY.
UH, I WILL TELL YOU THAT, THAT, UH, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE BEEN MAYOR.
UH, I WAS MAYOR IN 1997 OF 2001, AND THEN I WAS IN THE TEXAS SENATE AS A SENATOR FOR, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
AND ONE OF THE GREAT PARTS OF BEING MAYOR THE FIRST TIME, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO IT, THE, THE SECOND TIME ARE THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT TEXAS HAS WITH MEXICO, AND MY CITY HAS WITH MEXICAN CITIES.
OF COURSE, SALTILLO IS OUR SISTER CITY.
WELL, THERE'S SOMEBODY, OKAY, UH, THAT'S GREAT.
AND, UH, I'VE BEEN, UH, AND HA AND, UH, HAD, HAD A TREMENDOUS TIME AND LEARNED SO MUCH.
AND IN THE MONTEREY, UH, WE ACTUALLY, THEY STUDIED ASPECTS OF MONTEREY FOR ONE OF OUR ART MUSEUMS, UH, HERE IN AUSTIN TO, BECAUSE WE WANTED TO, WE WANTED TO COPY
I WANTED TO SAY, WE WANTED TO COPY WHAT THEY WERE DOING WITH THAT MUSEUM.
AND I WAS JUST TELLING THE CONSULATE HENRY ISLAND THAT, UM, MY SON, I HAVE TWO SONS, AND MY YOUNGEST SON, ONE OF MY FAVORITE PICTURES OF HIM IS OF HIM.
HE STILL TODAY WEARS A, UH, SALTILLO POLICE COAT THAT THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME BACK MANY YEARS AGO.
AND, AND THE REASON I MENTIONED THAT IS BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE MEMORIES AND RELATIONSHIPS, AND IT'S THE, IT'S THE COMBINED MEMORY OF OUR CITIES AND, AND, AND OUR COUNTRIES THAT, THAT LEAD TO THE FRIENDSHIPS, LEAD TO THE TRADE, LEAD TO THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT MAKE US STRONGER.
SO IT'S A, IT'S A REAL PLEASURE FOR ME TO GET TO, UH, WELCOME YOU TODAY AND TO, TO REMIND MYSELF BY SEEING ALL OF YOU HERE, THAT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONTINUE TO BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
SO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
IT'S ALSO, IF I COULD GET THE CONS, WOULD, WOULD YOU PLEASE COME UP? CONS, HENRY, IT'S MY PLEASURE TO GET TO, UM, TO MAKE A PROCLAMATION TODAY IN HONOR OF THESE RELATIONSHIPS AND IN HONOR OF, UH, YOU BEING HERE AND, AND YOU BEING HERE.
AND I'M DIGGING AROUND IN MY POCKET BECAUSE I CAN'T READ IT WITHOUT THIS.
I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT MUCH EASIER.
BUT IT'S MY PLEASURE TO, TO PRESENT A PROCLAMATION TO, UH, TO YOUR CONS AND TO E ALL OF YOU, BE IT KNOWN THAT WHEREAS THE HISTORIES, CULTURES, AND FUTURES OF TEXAS AND MEXICO ARE FOREVER INTERTWINED,
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WHEREAS MEXICO IS TEXAS'S TOP TRADING PARTNER AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN SEEKS TO ESTABLISH MORE PARTNERSHIPS WITH MEXICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND BUSINESSES.WHEREAS THE MAYOR, COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER, AND OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS HAVE DEVELOPED ROBUST RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF MEXICO IN AUSTIN.
WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS WELCOMING MEXICAN DIGNITARIES FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND BUSINESSES TO DISCUSS OUR SHARED ECONOMIC INTEREST IN AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, KIRK WATSON, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TEXAS, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM APRIL 19TH, 2023 AS MEXICAN MAYOR DAYS, MAYOR'S DAY IN AUSTIN, AND IS SIGNED BY ME AS MAYOR OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MUCH VERY, VERY MUCH, MUCH.
SO, SO I'M NOT SURE I KNOW WHAT'S NEXT.
OH, WE'RE ALL GONNA TAKE A PICTURE TOGETHER.
WOULD WOULD Y'ALL COME UP AND LET'S DO THAT.
LET'S GO, LET'S GO AND KINDA CIRCLE AROUND THERE.
WILL YOU, UM, STAND NEXT TO ME AND HOLD THAT? OH, YES.
PLEASE SHALL INTRODUCE MYSELF.
I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR ADVISING ECONOMIC.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM? MEXICO CITY.