City Council rejects commissioner over porn job

DOWNEY - Council members on Tuesday voted to deny Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Alvarez’s appointment of Sean Berrios to the Planning Commission, citing concerns with his professional connection to the porn industry.

Berrios is a product licensing manager with Hustler magazine according to his Linkedin profile.

It was Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa who threw up the red flags on the appointment.

“I think from a perspective of being a Character Counts city, we really want to think about the appointments that we vote on for the various commissions,” she said.

“We recently – and when I say recently, within the last two years – found ourselves in a position to have to establish codes of conduct for every commissioner serving in every committee, as well as for all of us on council. I think we agreed collectively the importance of having certain parameters and certain codes of conduct.

“Again, as I have indicated, I don’t know the individual being appointed. What I do know, and what has been verified, is his employment, and I have some concerns regarding that. I have concerns, there’s been so much that has been discussed regarding the restaurant that is coming into town, and I don’t approve; I don’t believe it is in our city’s best interest to appoint someone who is employed by the porn industry to the planning commission for the city of Downey.”

The vote was 2-0-1, with Mayor Pacheco and Councilwoman Frometa voting against Barrios’s appointment and Councilman Mario Trujillo abstaining, wishing instead to table the decision until Alvarez – who was absent from the meeting – was present.

District 3 is currently without a planning commissioner.

Alvarez’s previous planning commissioner, Arturo Montoya ,recently resigned after moving out of the district. However, he was appointed Tuesday as Alvarez’s representative on the Public Works Committee.