As my Mayorship sadly comes to an end this week, I want to thank you, Downey, for allowing me to serve as YOUR 47th Mayor this year. It has been an honor. Serving Downey, the city I have called home for over 30 years, has been one of the greatest highlights of my life. 

If you recall, in my November column, I indicated I would provide an overview of 2021 accomplishments in two parts. The first part was provided last month, and here is the second and final part. There were significant and historic accomplishments for our city this year amidst changing guidelines, uncertainty, vaccination efforts and the Covid-19 pandemic still raging.

Many of the historic and transformative projects accomplished in 2021 were part of my Mayoral goals. I want to extend my appreciation to my council colleagues for supporting the below initiatives. Most importantly, I want to extend my appreciation and gratitude to our City Manager Gilbert Livas for his unwavering and steady leadership, vision, and guidance through the most unprecedented time in recent history. While cities around Southern California struggled to pass balanced budgets, maintain services, eliminated jobs, and struggled to keep the doors open for business, The City of Downey managed to weather the storm and turmoil of the last 21 months almost unscathed. 

Strong cities like our Downey don’t just happen; it takes the solid experience, business acumen, ethical and sound judgment of a City Manager, and Gilbert continues to provide us with that, along with the leadership and stability of a council. Downey’s historic gains, development, and strength have been due to steady vision and sound strategic planning.

I had the distinct pleasure of inviting 13 former Downey mayors to commemorate the City of Downey’s 65th birthday since its incorporation. We paid tribute to our rich aerospace legacy as the birthplace of the Apollo Space Systems and celebrated Downey becoming a regional medical hub with renowned medical centers such as Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center, Kaiser Permanente, and PIH. The solid leadership and vision of former Mayors were key to reinventing Downey over the years. I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge these fine men and women who have served our city with distinction. 

A Focus on Fiscal Responsibility: Our city refinanced the CalPERS unfunded actuarial liability resulting in a gross savings of $55 million. This change increased our City’s Pension Funding from 67.1% to 85%. We continued with prudent financial practices through Covid-19 recovery and adopted a balanced budget for the seventh consecutive year.

Public Safety: Year-to-date, our Downey PD issued 229 speeding citations, 273 driving citations, 19 arrests, and 55 vehicle impounds. Year-to-date, PD has responded to 51,643 calls. We focused on increased patrols in our parks for transient activity and speed enforcement throughout our city. Thanks to Measure S, we officially re-opened the remaining new fire stations. To date, the Fire Department responded to nearly 10,000 calls; that is a 7.5% increase from last year.

Homeless Outreach: Downey PD conducted 10 homeless outreach operations, close to 100 individuals experiencing homelessness were contacted and offered services through partnerships with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), People Assisting Homeless (PATH), Kingdom Causes Bellflower, Salvation Army Veterans Assistance Team and LA Dept. of Mental Health.

Legacy and Transformative: The city is currently working to restore the former NASA Vultee building. This will be the home of the S.T.E.M. incubator program, a conference center, and the home of the Downey Museum of Art & Historic Preservation space. Also, the Columbia Memorial Space Center expansion is currently underway, where the home of our mock shuttle INSPIRATION will be housed.

Quality of Life: The city broke ground on a historic project, reducing the city’s carbon footprint and enhancing our environmental sustainability. The city is in the process of installing solar panels on all our government buildings at a savings of $10 million over the next 20 years and $150K savings the first year alone. 

Street Improvements/Rehabilitation Infrastructure Project: Year-to-date, 14 miles of residential streets were rehabilitated/repaved following our City’s Street Management Plan. Thanks to our City Manager and my council colleagues, we were able to approve a bond measure that will allocate over $30 million to rehabilitate all our streets over the next three years.

On Economic Vibrancy: Even through this pandemic and the recovery efforts, we welcomed 482 NEW businesses to our city! 

Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and Ongoing Housing Resource Fairs: City staff are currently working on the creation of such an ordinance to facilitate the balanced inclusion of affordable housing for all future housing developments. Community meetings have been held to present findings to our residents. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 13th at 6 pm at the Barbara J. Riley Senior & Community Center.

Mental Health In-person Counseling: We partnered with The Whole Child to provide in-person counseling for youth ages 14-24, struggling since the onset of the pandemic. I believe helping our youth cope with increased anxiety and mental health struggles brought on by the pandemic is crucial to helping our families in our community with overall recovery.

Historic Preservation Ordinance: I asked city staff to conduct a study and prepare a presentation for such an ordinance. It is important for Downey to preserve our history, and I will continue to support it. I look forward to this Ordinance in early 2022. 

Final Overview on Covid-19 response: Thanks to additional funding through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act, the city allocated $950,000 for a Rental Assistance Program that provided a 3-month rental subsidy to qualifying households. The program distributed 2,062 applications, a total of $775,698 has been distributed and, 238 households have been assisted. We held 4 Food Distribution events in partnership with county and state representatives. These events served approximately 12,103 households.

For our Seniors: On-going weekly wellness checks are conducted, year-to-date, 14,190 wellness checks have been done, and 45,465 meals have been distributed to our seniors.

On Vaccination Efforts: I continued to support vaccination efforts in our city. The latest figures released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (from 12/02), indicate the vaccination rate for Downey residents 12 years of age and older is now 82.6%. For adults 65 years of age and older, it is now 97.3%.  

ON-GOING

Downey’s anti-litter campaign #BINIT, this education campaign will continue after my Mayorship is over. An unprecedented 1008 tons of illegally dumped trash has been picked up year-to-date! Cal-Met: 258 tons, our Public Works: 750 tons, without adding staff. I asked Code Enforcement to increase patrols throughout our city. However, it is up to all of us to do our part. To report illegally dumped items to the City of Downey, please call 562-904-1161. If you would like bulky items removed, please call CalMet at 562-259-1239 (option 3) and save these numbers on your phone. Please download the Downey App on your mobile device. Through this App, you will be able to immediately report illegally dumped items, street repairs, trash, graffiti removal, neighborhood light repairs, etc. 

Well, Downey, this is it. As we turn the page and get ready to welcome Mayor #48, Blanca Pacheco, and a new year, I look forward to continuing to serve you. Thank you to my council colleagues for your collaboration and the city staff for your hard work. 

A special thank you to the most important people in my life, my family, my children: Daniel, Emily, Sarah & Jessica, and my husband of 25 years, Nolveris. Without my family’s support, I would not have been able to accomplish all that was done for YOU, Downey.

Please contact my office with any questions or concerns at 562-904-7274 or email me at CFrometa@Downeyca.org I welcome appointments for in-person visits. You can also follow my Facebook page for regular updates at Claudia M. Frometa Mayor, City of Downey, along with our City’s Facebook page, City of Downey Government Agency, for regular updates.

#DowneyStrong, #EngagedCommunitiesAreStrongCommunities, #ThisIsDowney, #UnitingForce, #MayorFrometa