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Riviera Beach reads proclamation to reestablish sister‑city ties with Freeport, Bahamas
Summary
Mayor Douglas Lawson and the Riviera Beach City Council ceremonially read a proclamation recognizing a sister‑city relationship with Freeport, Bahamas and said staff will present a draft resolution for formal consideration at a later meeting.
Riviera Beach Mayor Douglas Lawson ceremonially read a proclamation Wednesday establishing a sister‑city relationship with Freeport, Bahamas and welcomed a visiting Bahamian delegation to the city.
The proclamation — read and signed during the council meeting at the Marina Event Center — recognizes a relationship that city leaders said first began under former Mayor Thomas Masters and that was interrupted by Hurricane Dorian and the COVID‑19 pandemic. City staff told the council they will provide a draft resolution to codify the relationship for review at a future meeting.
Why it matters: Council members and staff characterized the reconstituted relationship as a framework for cultural, educational and economic exchanges that city leaders hope will create opportunities for trade, tourism and emergency‑management cooperation.
City Manager Jonathan Evans briefed the council that city departments and the mayor’s office hosted the Freeport delegation during the week and discussed “economic development, trade, emergency management” as possible areas of cooperation. Evans said staff provided council members a draft resolution to consider and asked the council to review it before formal action.
Bishop Thomas Masters — identified at the meeting as the originator of the 2019 sister‑city connection and as international ambassador for the World Conference of Mayors — was invited to join the mayor in presenting the proclamation. A member of the Freeport delegation urged the council to make the relationship “more than just a signing of a piece of paper,” and said the delegation wants the partnership to be “intentional” and to “grow together.”
The mayor said the proclamation recognizes May 21, 2025, as the date of reestablishment and encouraged residents to participate in future collaborative efforts between the two cities. The mayor also asked staff (including Chief of Staff Mr. Range and Tekasha Wells, who worked with the delegation) to bring a resolution back to the council for formal codification at a later meeting so council members could review the language before any vote.
No formal ordinance or binding contract was adopted at the meeting. The council took the matter ceremonially and directed staff to return a drafted resolution for council review and potential formal action at a subsequent meeting.
