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Mayor Suzanne Jones of Boulder and Mayor Eran Doran of Ramat HaNegev met at Boulder’s Municipal Building Tuesday night (September 10) and made it official: they signed the Sister City paperwork and exchanged gifts to seal the deal.
In addition to Mayor Jones, Mayor Pro Tem Sam Weaver, Boulder City Council members Aaron Brockett, Bob Yates, Lisa Morzel and Cindy Carlisle attended, as well as Executive Director Alexis Adler and Board Chair Tara Winer of the Boulder-Ramat HaNegev Sister City Initiative. Attending from JEWISHcolorado: President and CEO Rabbi Jay Strear, Board Chair Ruth Malman, and Shaliach Itai Divinsky.
l-r: Tara Winer, Mayor Eran Doran, Alexis Adler 
l-r: Councilwoman Lisa Morzel, Mayor Pro Tem Sam Weaver, Mayor Suzanne Jones, Mayor Eran Doran, Councilman Bob Yates, Councilman Aaron Brockett, Councilwoman Cindy Carlisle 
l-r: Peter Ornstein, Alexis Adler, Josh Naftulin, Larry Cohn, Robert Winer, Tara Winer, all Ramat HaNegev Sister City Initiative Board Members; Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Sam Weaver, Councilmember Lisa Morzel, Mayor Suzanne Jones, Ramat HaNegev Mayor Eran Doran, Councilmember Aaron Brockett, Councilmember Cindy Carlisle, Councilmember Bob Yates, JEWISHcolorado Board Chair Ruth Malman and President Rabbi Jay Strear. 
l-r: Bob Yates, Josh Naftulin, Peter Ornstein, Larry Cohn, Shaliach Itai Divinsky, Shinshin Omer Pereg, Mayor Eran Doran, Sheryl Feiler, Rabbi Jay Strear, Ruth Malman, Alexis Adler, Katy Yates, Tara Winer
Mayor Doran spoke of first coming to Boulder in 2005 as part of a Search and Rescue joint training exchange and immediately recognizing that Boulderites and residents of Ramat HaNegev had much in common, even as their mountain and desert environments contrasted. He also pointed out that our two regions share common interests and expertise we can share: solar energy, water management and the environment.
Mayor Jones, expressing her interest in visiting Ramat HaNegev in the future, talked about how the Sister City program is really about people-to-people contacts, and that all 10 of Boulder’s Sister Cities bring interesting and unique ideas and vision to Boulder. Councilman Yates, who has visited Ramat HaNegev, talked about how he instantly felt at home there, and the warm and friendly people he met.
Adler told the group that the Boulder – Ramat HaNegev Sister City Initiative is working on a project involving the Search and Rescue Teams once again, and that more information would be available later this year. You can contact the organization at info@bouldernegev.org and sign up for its newsletter here.
Mayor Doran plans to meet with Governor Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser in Denver on Wednesday to discuss Colorado’s legalization of cannabis and its impacts on the state, as Israel recently decriminalized personal possession and use of cannabis, and has had a growing medical cannabis industry since legalization for medical uses in the 1990’s.
