Who will be Downey's next mayor?

Mario Trujillo, Claudia Frometa and Hector Sosa.

DOWNEY — Downey’s next mayor will be selected Tuesday evening. Whoever that ends up being, the choice will speak volumes for the current state of the city council.

Downey’s mayorship – in a lot of ways – is more symbolic than anything else; the mayor gets to lead meetings, give the yearly state of address speech, and serve as the overall face of the city for a year. The Mayor Pro Tem fills in where and when the mayor cannot.

Usually, both positions rotate around so that every council member gets a chance, with the mayor stepping down, the mayor pro tem becoming the mayor, and the next in line becoming mayor pro tem, though it doesn’t always pan out that way; most recently, former councilwoman Catherine Alvarez (who was facing recall at the time) was skipped over as mayor after serving as mayor pro tem in 2022.

That said, there are really only three options for the city going into their decision: Mario Trujillo, Hector Sosa, and Claudia Frometa.

If you follow the traditional pattern, it would make sense for Mayor Pro Tem Mario Trujillo to be selected as the next mayor. In addition to having served in the number two role for the last year, he is the second-most senior councilmember behind Mayor Claudia Frometa.

Trujillo has not been entirely without controversy during his term (mostly due to his connection with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon). He and Frometa have also butted heads from time to time.

But a Trujillo snub would have larger implications than just a skipped term or difference of opinions. At a time when Downey’s favorite buzzword for the last few years has been “stability,” opting not to follow Trujillo into 2024 risks rattling the cage for another year longer (when then council member Sean Ashton was passed over to be mayor pro tem for 2017, he filed a complaint and alleged that a Brown Act violation had occurred, and that was at a time where the city was considered more “stable” than the present).

At the very least, it would indicate that despite filling its holes, the city council is still split between two separate camps (a fact that was very clear during this past special election). This would most assuredly spill into next year’s election, likely having consequences on the campaign trail not just for Trujillo, but for newcomers Horacio Ortiz and Dorothy Pemberton as well, both of whom will not even have had a full year on the city council before facing another election.

If the city council chooses someone other than Trujillo, then the most logical next choice would be Hector Sosa.

Sosa has not served as mayor pro tem, however has still proven himself to be a level-headed, thoughtful, and calculated leader in just one year on the city council. While a little unconventional in terms of timing, an argument could be made to tap Sosa to lead for the upcoming year.

Still, it remains to be seen if Sosa would even accept a nomination for mayor. Sosa has already proved that he is willing and capable to make sacrifices and work with just about anyone for the good of the city (he previously tried to dialogue with Councilwoman Alvarez on certain issues, and agreed to compromise when appointing Councilman Timothy Horn to the District 1 seat earlier this year), and may prefer to avoid the friction that might come with jumping ahead of Trujillo.

You have to go back to the 1950’s and 60’s to find someone who served more than two terms as mayor in Downey (Ben D’Crobin and Thomas H. Morton served three, Scott E. Temple served four), but conceivably Frometa could join that list.

Frometa has established herself as one of the pillars of the city since being elected, especially while leading the city through the Covid-19 pandemic as mayor pro tem and mayor in 2020 and 2021 respectively. She has also been of the few symbols of stability during a time where the city has been in – to say it nicely - transition. She is, without a doubt, a strong, able leader.

But one of the benefits of the mayoral transition is it promotes fresh ideas and leadership. While it’s admittedly tough for any individual mayor to enact any major changes or projects in just one year’s time, the yearly change encourages each outgoing and incoming mayor to work together and cooperate as a whole council.

There would be nothing inherently wrong with a third term with Frometa as mayor, but it would be a disservice to her colleagues and to the city.

If I had to give it my best guess, I’d assume we end up with the obvious: Trujillo becomes mayor, and Sosa steps in behind him. There may be a few fireworks to get to that point, but all other scenarios feel too clunky.

But politics in Downey hasn’t felt quite the same in the last few years, and what should be a business-as-usual decision feels more like a crossroads. Ultimately, it’ll be up to the five people on the dais to decide if they want to play nice, or hardball.