MAYOR'S CORNER: A stronger, safer, more vibrant Downey

Keeping Our Downtown Safe

There is something special about our Downey. It is a city that knows how to celebrate its past, embrace its future, and most importantly, come together as a community.

Our downtown is thriving with restaurants and entertainment, attracting residents and visitors from throughout the region. But a vibrant downtown must also be a safe downtown. We have heard concerns about disorderly conduct, fights, and other disturbances occurring after establishments close, particularly on weekend nights.

We are addressing it!

The City is working closely with the Downey Police Department, Code Enforcement, our City Attorney and downtown businesses on a targeted late-night public safety strategy. This includes increased patrols during peak hours, focused enforcement in areas experiencing recurring problems, analysis of calls for service and crime patterns, stronger coordination with businesses, and additional security and crowd-management measures where warranted. Safety and security plans of downtown establishments are being addressed. This week, I filmed a video with PD Chief Loughner to inform our residents what is being done to address the concerns.

Our message is clear: Downey welcomes responsible businesses and a vibrant nightlife, but violence, criminal behavior and disruption of our neighborhoods will not be tolerated. Downey PD will hold accountable those responsible for criminal and/or disruptive behavior and will identify repeat offender locations/establishments for further action.

A Legacy of Fiscal Responsibility

At a sold-out State of The City luncheon last week, I spoke on one of the most important accomplishments of the past several years, one that does not always make headlines: Downey’s financial strength. Downey adopted its 15th consecutive balanced budget this year and while many cities throughout our region continue to confront multimillion-dollar deficits and difficult choices about reducing services, Downey is financially solvent.

A balanced budget means we can continue investing in public safety, streets, infrastructure, parks and essential city services without passing today’s problems on to tomorrow’s taxpayers.

It means protecting our reserves. It means maintaining our AA bond rating. And it means having the financial flexibility to respond when our community needs us most.

During my tenure, we also took decisive action to address the City’s long-term pension obligations. In 2021, (my first Mayoral term), Downey refinanced approximately $113.6 million in CalPERS pension-obligation debt, with gross savings of approximately $65 million over the life of the obligation. The refinancing helped strengthen the City’s pension funding position.

Fiscal responsibility wasn’t just a slogan for me. It’s a record. That record gives Downey a stronger foundation for the next generation.

Investing in Downey

That fiscal discipline has allowed us to continue making major investments in our community—including approximately more than $30 million in street and alley improvements since 2021, as well as a plan to install 246 new streetlights on priority streets starting in 2026 through 2029.

We are also seeing significant economic investment, the new Costco development and opportunities that will strengthen Downey’s economic tax base for years to come.

This is what I believe responsible leadership should look like: protecting the taxpayer, maintaining essential services, investing in our infrastructure, and planning beyond the next budget cycle.

Also, during the State of the City, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn who gave a brief welcome, participated in a signing ceremony to mark the partnership between Downey and LA County for the future mixed housing development at the Rancho Los Amigos South Campus.

Celebrating Our Community

And while we work on the serious business of governing, we should never forget to celebrate what makes Downey special.

Last week’s 11th Annual Havana Nights brought over 10,000 people together in our downtown to celebrate music and culture. The I Love Downey Festival held recently, brought our community together to celebrate the people, businesses and traditions that make Downey special. We also celebrated the city’s 70th Anniversary from incorporation. And, the Downey Symphony fundraiser last month, reminded us of the importance of supporting the arts and our own symphony which enriches our quality of life.

This Friday, one of Downey’s greatest traditions is back—the Warren vs. Downey football rivalry. I encourage everyone to come out and support our students and celebrate the incredible school spirit that makes this game special. Tickets are available for purchase, including VIP opportunities benefiting the Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities (DFEO) supporting educational opportunities for Downey Unified students.

These events remind us that Downey is more than a city. We are a community.

As I enter the final months of my public service and as Mayor, I am proud of the progress we have made together, and I remain focused on the work that lies ahead. As I reflect on my three terms as Mayor, I am proud of the foundation we have built: a city that is financially stable and strong, investing in its infrastructure, supporting businesses, celebrating its culture and working every day to keep its residents safe.

This is our Downey. And together, we are building a legacy that will last well beyond any one term of office.

A Final Thought on Local Elections:

The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content, videos and images being used to misinform, misrepresent and mislead voters, is dangerous. Social media unchecked ghost accounts are being weaponized against good people, and ultimately hurt voters. These social media ghost pages are spewing false information to misrepresent, mislead and label people in an attempt to discredit them for the sake of winning an election. I urge our residents to Not be misled. A candidate’s strong track record, relationships build over many years of service, and the people supporting them is a clear indication of how they will govern. Character does count in this city. Running dirty partisan campaigns especially at the local level, is wrong! Our streets, our lights and sewers are NOT partisan, local elections shouldn’t be either.

Choose wisely Downey. Our city’s future is your vote.