Livas declines offer to have Dennis the Menace Park renamed for him

Gilbert Livas, pictured at a city council meeting last December, declined an invitation to have a city park named in his honor. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

DOWNEY — A move to rename a city facility after longtime city manager Gilbert Livas failed to get off the ground Tuesday as the soon-to-be-departing official declined the honor, saying “there are others who are more deserving.”

The suggestion was that of Councilman Mario Trujillo, who at Tuesday’s meeting said that the initial discussion was to possibly rename a park after Livas, specifically mentioning Dennis the Menace Park.

However, Livas rejected the offer before council had the chance to discuss the proposal.

“As a 28-year public servant doing this job – 14 of them for the city of Downey – the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was give back to the community in which I served. I’ve done that as best to my knowledge and best to my abilities as I have,” said Livas.

“While I appreciate the gesture to have a facility named after me, I am sure there are many more who deserve this honor much more than I,” he added. “My service to the great residents of Downey and working with some of the best employees anywhere in the southeast – or for that matter in LA County – is all the recognition I need.”

While Mayor Blanca Pacheco and Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Alvarez agreed that it would be appropriate to honor Livas’s wishes, Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa took it a step further, suggesting it would be inappropriate to bestow such an honor in light of the circumstances of his departure.

“I don’t support this particular item. I don’t support what may be viewed as hypocrisy,” said Frometa. “I do believe that the contributions that Mr. Livas has made over his tenure in this community have been very significant. I would like at some point to have a special plaque placed in his honor in the Downey Promenade… I would move in that direction, but certainly not naming anything, at least not at this time because it would be hypocritical.”

Livas will leave the city July 1. His departure follows an attempt to fire him last December, which according to sources at City Hall, had support from Trujillo, Alvarez, and then Councilman Sean Ashton.