DOWNEY – The Downey City Council held their annual Mayoral Transition Ceremony Tuesday evening, honoring Mayor Luis Marquez as he approaches the end of his year-long term.

The event was held in the Downey City Council Chambers to a nearly full house consisting of many of Mayor Marquez’s friends and family, mayors and officials from nearby and surrounding cities, past and present Downey officials, several Downey business owners, and residents.

The evening’s event began roughly around 7 p.m. and began traditionally with a roll call, invocation, and flag salute; the latter of which led by Marquez’s children.

The night’s ceremony would officially begin when Mayor Marquez stepped forward to address the room. He began by asking for a brief moment of silence for the victims of the San Bernardino shootings and fallen Downey Police Officer and U.S. Marine veteran Ricardo “Ricky” Galvez.

Marquez began his address by thanking past and present council members and city staff for continued support during his time on the city council and his year as mayor. He then recognized his family in attendance, including his parents, brother, children, and his wife Alma.

Mayor Marquez also pointed out several of the elected officials who were in attendance, including former Downey Mayor David Gaffin, Mayor Pro Tem Dan Koops of Bellflower, former Norwalk Mayor and Cerritos College Board of Trustees member Bob Arthur, Downey Board of Education members D Mark Morris and Martha Sodetani, and Downey Unified School District Superintendent Dr. John Garcia.

Marquez thanked a myriad of different individuals throughout his speech, including singling out Council Member Roger C. Brossmer, who came onto council at the same time he did.
“We came onto council and we had these goals in mind,” said Marquez. “To be seven years in and say the fact that we’ve pretty much accomplished almost everything we said we were going to do…I want to thank him publicly for all that he has done for me.”

The remainder of Marquez’s presentation was spent highlighting many of the events and accomplishments in the past year as well as many things that are yet to come. Marquez spent a good amount of time speaking on DPD.

“The city of Downey has been in the news a lot lately. We’ve been through tough times…but we’ve been strong. We’ve had a lot of support from within our community, from throughout the country and throughout the region…even with all the events that have occurred this year, it is important to remember that crime has gone down in the past five years in the city of Downey. Especially when compared to the overall LA County stats and crime going up, Downey has been able to keep it steady and keep our crime down.”

Marquez then added that the seemingly good stats didn’t mitigate Downey’s most recent events, and that the council was looking into alternatives for more funding and officers.
Marquez then went on to highlight the many positive additions to the city that were well on their way, including Vallarte Supermarket arriving in the former Beaches Market location, the Rancho campus beautification, and the Downey Promenade.

After Marquez was finished speaking, Mayor Pro Tem Alex Saab and the remainder of the council presented Marquez with a Past Mayor City Pin and an official gavel.

Luis Marquez feted as mayoral term comes to an end