“Nazar Kooner addresses the gathering at the Sikh temple on South P Street with Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall and sister-city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora of Amritsar to his left earlier this month in Bakersfield.” (source: Bakersfield Californian)

In August 2011, the city of Bakersfield, California, announced a “sister-city” association with Amritsar, Punjab, India, the center of the Sikh faith and home to Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s central Gurdwara).

Recently, the Mayor of Amritsar visited Bakersfield, an unassuming city 100 miles north of Los Angeles that contains a large Sikh population and is economically based on the agricultural industry:

Amritsar, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora told the Hindustan Times, is a far cry from the squeaky clean, law-abiding and “utterly honest” Bakersfield, given the monumental garbage heaps, rampant violation of traffic laws, instances of crime, and political support afforded to lawbreakers in Amritsar.

Consider the Mayor of Amritsar impressed. Read more at the Bakersfield Californian.