Dear Editor:"Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment • Volunteer" According to the Character Counts organization, these are what good citizens do to demonstrate the pillar of "Citizenship". I believe that those of us who attended the Downey City Council meeting this week were promoting good citizenship by voicing our opinions during the public comments portion of the meeting. Each citizen is allowed five minutes to share their ideas and feelings. Most of us were there to ask the city council to provide the citizens with more time, more opportunities to share our ideas for our beloved, historic NASA site. We wanted our council to listen to our wants, wishes, and dreams for this site and for our city. Our mayor, Mr. Roger Brossemer, appeared to be quite upset by our words. He said that hearing people say that the city is not honoring the history makes him "want to puke." I couldn't believe that the leader of our city spoke to his people in such a rude and disdainful manner. It is difficult for citizens to maintain respect for authority when we are treated disrespectfully. As the editor said last week about the Tierra Luna Marketplace, it "isn't what we expected. I would have to say the same with what I heard last night from our mayor. In a city that proclaims itself as a Character Counts city, we expect character to really count, everywhere, all the time. We expect to be treated with respect. -- Kathy Perez, Downey

********** Published: January 12, 2012 - Volume 10 - Issue 39