Long Beach has a new Sister City — Mombasa, Kenya — thanks to Tuesday night’s vote by the City Council, and Randy Terrell of LBPost.com foreshadowed the latest addition to our international family with a funny bit that examined the resemblances between our old town and its new kid sister. Terrell points out that, Like Long Beach, the East African city of Mombasa is a port city of a half-million people with diverse culture, entertainment, tourist attractions — and lots of poverty.

Terrell also amusingly speculates about how the cities’ governments might be similar by portraying an imagined Mombasa city council meeting as the officeholders are arguing over whether or not to hold a public referendum on a proposed ban on big box stores, in this case a Mega-Mombasa-Mart. At one point, the imaginary Councillor Mohamed Daud becomes impatient with a colleague who supports expanding the Wal-Mart-style store: “Silence!” says Daud, through Terrell. “We must protect the tribal bosses, I mean, uh, the people, from the terrible business practices of Mombasa-Mart.”

Very funny, truly, and although I think Councillor Mohamed Daud is right — or would be, if he actually existed — I think he could have been even righter. Mohamed Daud could have more-convincingly trumped the argument about lower consumer prices by itemizing the negative impact of those prices on those who would work at Mega-Mombasa Mart–those prices ultimately come out of the poorly paid workers’ wages and lack of benefits–as well those in other businesses who would be put out of work. And would the council offer corporate welfare to the Mega-Mombasa Mart to entice it to become the disappointing centerpiece of a new downtown Mombasa Place retail center? That would really make Mombasa resemble its new sister city of Long Beach.

Tags: kenya, Long Beach, Mombasa, Sister City, Wal-Mart