Mayor's Corner: Summer fun
Hello Downey,
This summer there are several events happening in the city to take the family to and to take a break from the summer heat.
The pool at Downey High School is open for recreational swim now until July 20. Family Fun Nights with a live DJ as well as swimming classes will be offered throughout the summer.
The Twilight Summer Concert Series will feature bands every Wednesday at Furman Park. Come out and join your neighbors for evenings promised to be full of fun and with great live music.
Also, save the date for the Havana Nights Rooftop Concert on August 30. This rooftop concert is a free event that celebrates live music and art in Downtown Downey.
Last year, the event was a huge success with a record number in attendance. This year it’s expected to be even better!
On August 4, the Summer Music & Movie event will take place at Golden Park with jazz music from the Amanda Castro Band, and the movie “Ferdinand” will be displayed on an outdoor screen.
The annual Gangs Out Of Downey (G.O.O.D) backpack giveaway will also take part at Golden Park on the same night. Bring the kiddos so that they may receive their backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming year. The first day of class for the Downey Unified School District is August 15.
Before school starts though, bring the family to the Civic Center for National Night Out. This event is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.
National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. There will be games, food and live demonstrations from the Downey Police Department. This is a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together.
The Columbia Memorial Space Center will be holding a community focused event called Rocket Fever on August 18. This will be the 8th year that the Space Center holds this event, the only one like it in the Los Angeles region.
Rocket Fever allows the Space Center to present STEM programming to the community of Downey, engaging the diverse audiences in the city and its surrounding communities. This event celebrates the City of Downey’s rich historic association with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as its investment in the future of STEM.
At Rocket Fever, guests are invited to build their own Estes rockets and watch them launch. More hands-on STEM activities, booths from some of our fellow science organizations such as the Boeing, Orange County Rocket Society, Discount Rocketry, live music and food trucks will round out the day.
At last month’s City Council meeting, my council colleagues and I passed the city’s fiscal year 2018-19 budget.
Determining the final budget begins in January at the annual council goal-setting session, then various budget meetings between department heads and executive leadership, numerous review meetings by the City Council’s Budget Subcommittee and a provision of public notice of a hearing to adopt the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The total fiscal year 2018-19 budget is $262,021,127. This includes the cost of personnel, operations, materials, supplies, capital equipment, capital improvement projects, and transfers to other funds.
The General Fund budget is $89,406,693 which covers the city’s basic services, including police, fire, public works, parks and recreation, library services, community development, and administrative services.
I would like to thank City Manager Gilbert Livas and Finance Director Anil Gandhy for their hard work in managing our city’s finances to ensure we remain fiscally sound. This is the sixth straight year we have had a balanced budget.
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.
Sean Ashton
Mayor
City Council Office: 562-904-7274
Email: sashton@downeyca.org
Twitter: @realseanashton
Instagram: realseanashton
Facebook: facebook.com/electsean4downey