TOOELE— Mayor Charlie Roberts is Russia-bound to visit a sister — city, that is.
Last December the City Council passed a resolution declaring Tooele and Kambarka sister cities. The two have become part of Sister Cities International, an idea that came from President Dwight Eisenhower's administration and blossomed in the Cold War era.
One driving axiom behind forming sister cities is that it's hard to shoot at people you're friends with, an idea Roberts embraces.
"There's a lot to that," he says.
With communist Soviet Union a memory and walls of prejudice against Russia essentially dismantled, "We're starting to understand each other better," he adds.
The two cities share the common bond of being neighbors with chemical weapons stockpiles, only Kambarka is where Tooele was about 10 years ago, still searching for solutions to eliminate harmful materials.
The goals are to share ideas on coping with chemical weapons in the neighborhood, learn about areas like public services, such as fire and police protection, understand each other's cultures and learn, for example, how Kambarka is able to achieve a 97 percent literacy rate.
"I never dreamed I could do something like this," Roberts says. "I'm sold on the sister cities program."