Treasure Island Park may get its lights

DOWNEY -- The City Council this week approved spending up to $170,000 to install security lighting at Treasure Island Park, a move city officials hope will make the neighborhood safer for residents.The action comes one week after a suspected gang-related shooting left one man dead in the secluded Treasure Island neighborhood. Francisco Josue Iniguez, 20, was shot and killed in front of his younger brother as the two played soccer on the 7300 block of Cleargove Street on March 2. The two assailants ran and disappeared into Treasure Island Park, police said. Island residents were surveyed last year and the most requested improvement was lighting, officials said. The city put in a grant request to the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy but it was denied. A second grant application - this time to the state's California River Parkways Grant Program - was held up due to the state's budget crisis. If the grant is eventually approved by the state, "the grant application can be modified to redirect funds…to other improvements," Councilman Roger Brossmer wrote in a report. The park is a popular after-hours hangout for people smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, according to police. ********** Published: March 13, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 47