Dear Downey Residents:I hope this message finds you all well. Let me first start off by highlighting some recent events that have taken place in our fine City. Earlier this month, I had the privilege of honoring six of our local hometown heroes at our City Council meeting held on March 13. These extraordinary individuals, who serve in our U.S. Military, have returned home safely after serving our Country overseas. Each person was presented with their own military banner and we will continue to honor our local service men and women at upcoming City Council meetings throughout the year. I am also proud to announce that a Downey Veterans Memorial is currently in the works and will be installed right outside City Hall later this year. This special memorial will serve to honor and pay tribute to all of our Veterans who have so honorably and bravely served our Country. Thank you for making us so proud. As you may know, Downey is proud to be a Character Counts! City. For this reason, we held an unveiling event for our new Character Counts! signs to be installed throughout various locations in our City, specifically close to our local schools. My fellow Council colleagues and I, along with members of the Downey Unified School District, unveiled these wonderful signs that will serve to remind us all of the Six Pillars of Character. The new signs to be installed include: Character Counts Court, Citizenship Court, Fairness Lane, Respect Road, and Trustworthiness Trail. We currently have a Responsibility Row sign located by our City Council parking lot and a Caring Way sign over by Kaiser Hospital. I was humbled to have participated in the "Mayors for Meals" event on March 21. On this designated day, American Mayors across the country show their support for the Meals on Wheels program by delivering meals to local seniors. It was a very rewarding experience for me and I was glad to be a part of something that helps those less fortunate. Thank you to the Human Services Association and the Meals on Wheels Association of America for coordinating this program. This past Monday, the Columbia Memorial Space Center was honored to host Rona Ramon, wife of Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon, and Lani McCool, wife of Columbia astronaut William McCool. I cannot begin to tell you how touching this experience was for not only Mrs. Ramon and Mrs. McCool, but for myself and staff at the Space Center. It was an honor to be able to explain our Center's history and our tribute to the Columbia STS-107 crew. Both women left feeling a sense of extreme gratitude for what we have done here in Downey. Once again, the Arc Walk was a huge success! Thousands gathered at Stonewood Mall last weekend to help support children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our City team was there as well to support this great cause. Many thanks to those working over at Arc for putting this event together. It seems to get bigger and bigger every year! We also had both a ribbon cutting and groundbreaking to celebrate the completion of a street improvement project and the beginning of another. The ribbon cutting was to acknowledge the completion of the Lakewood Blvd Improvement Project and the groundbreaking event was for the much needed and long awaited Florence Avenue Truck Impacted Intersection Project (near Studebaker Rd and 605 & 5 freeways). Construction for the Florence Ave Project is scheduled to begin early next month and be completed by June 2012. We are very proud of the continuation of improving our major corridors through our City for our residents and businesses. Despite these extraordinarily tough economic times, we will continue to look at creative ways to improve our infrastructure. Another exciting project is underway in Downey! Construction has begun for Downey Gateway, located at the corner of Firestone Blvd and Downey Ave. It will feature 13 tenant spaces, comprised of restaurant and retail uses. Starfish Sushi, Pacific Fish Grill, Round Table Pizza, and Yogurtland are some of the anticipated tenants. We also have several other events taking place in the near future. Mark your calendars for: G.O.O.D. Luncheon - April 18 Street Faire -April 28 Kids Day - May 12 Memorial Day Tribute - May 28 Relay for Life - June 2 Log-on to our City website's calendar at www.downeyca.org for more details on these great events! I would like to take a moment to thank all of those who attended the State of the City event this past Wednesday. This event provided the opportunity for me to give an update on what is going on in our City and I appreciate all of those who took the time to come out and express their support. Special thanks to the Downey Chamber of Commerce for putting together this great event. Sincerely, Mayor Roger C. Brossmer

********** Published: March 29, 2012 - Volume 10 - Issue 50