Greetings Downey! As your new mayor, it is my pleasure to be able to connect with you through our great community newspaper, the Downey Patriot.  I am happy to continue this tradition of the monthly Mayor’s Corner and will do my best to provide you with valuable information about our city.  I am humbled and honored to be serving as your mayor and these monthly articles provide a great venue for me to keep you informed about what is happening in our community.

We received great news last week! For the first time in our city’s history, we were awarded the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for our fiscal year 2014‐15 budget. This is such a great accomplishment for our city because it recognizes the hard work we put into developing a comprehensive budget document that meets the highest standards in local government budgeting.  Fiscal responsibility has always been one of our top priorities and it’s great to know that we were recognized by a highly regarded institution such as the GFOA.

Last year, we had the honor of being selected as an official host town for the Special Olympics World Games L.A. 2015, which is taking place this summer.  This will be a great opportunity for us to showcase our community and foster relationships with some pretty amazing athletes.  We have a committee in place already planning our big welcome for the delegation we will be hosting and we will officially announce the country we will be partnered up with sometime next month.

All the fun will take place July 21‐24, 2015 and I invite you to get involved. If you’re interested in volunteering or helping sponsor this event, please call our Parks & Recreation Department at (562) 904‐7238.

Our city is in the process of developing a Parks & Recreation Master Plan and we need your help! Your input on the needs of our city’s parks, facilities, programs and open space is an important step in helping us develop our parks master plan.  I invite you to join us for our third and final community workshop scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Golden Park.

Speaking of master plans, Downey’s Bike Master Plan is just about done and will be presented for adoption next month during a regular City Council meeting. During the last year, city staff has been working with a consulting firm to develop this official document that will guide the development and maintenance of bicycle-friendly roads and bikeways in our city. One of the goals for this Bike Master Plan is to encourage more people to bike for transportation and to provide an attractive and healthy transportation option, helping to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

I had the opportunity of attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., from January 21‐23.  It was a great experience that allowed me to connect with mayors from all over the country and share all the great things happening in the City of Downey.  It was also very insightful to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak on the many important issues affecting our cities.  Overall, great experience!

Our business community continues to thrive, with recent grand openings and anniversary celebrations in our city.  I attended ribbons cuttings for Mister Luxury, Miller Mies Mortuary, Mariscos Choix and the one-year anniversary of Joseph’s Bar & Grill. We pride ourselves in being a business-friendly city and thank the Downey Chamber of Commerce for all of their help in welcoming our new businesses.

I invite you to nominate someone which you feel would be deserving of my Mayor’s Courage Award. This year, I want to recognize individuals in the community who have performed an outstanding act or good deed, or who have demonstrated longstanding contributions in community service and volunteerism in Downey. This award is open to all Downey residents and individuals who work or volunteer in the city. I will recognize individuals monthly at our City Council meetings, so please feel free to nominate an individual who deserves this special recognition.

Please call the City Council office at (562) 904‐7274 or email at council@downeyca.org for an application. The application is also available on our city website at downeyca.org/gov/council/marquez.asp.

I always welcome your input and ideas, and encourage you to contact my office at (562) 904‐7274 or email me at lmarquez@downeyca.org. If there is something you would like for me to start including in my Mayor’s Corner, please feel free to let me know.

Looking forward to connecting with you next month.

Sincerely,

Mayor Luis H. Marquez

 

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Published: Jan. 29, 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 42