Mayor’s Corner: Welcome, Ireland!

Greetings Downey, It’s official! Our City will be hosting a delegation from Ireland for the upcoming Special Olympics World Games taking place in L.A. this summer. Before the World Games begin on July 25, the delegation will spend July 21-24 in and around Downey before competing at the World Games.

Downey has joined several other cities across Southern California as part of the Special Olympics Host Town Program and we’re excited to welcome over 100 athletes and coaches from Ireland. Hosting the Ireland delegation is even more special to us due to our City’s history ties with Ireland, and our Sister City relationship with Roscommon County, Ireland. The Host Town program in Downey is a collaboration between the City and various community partners, and together we will welcome these Special Olympics athletes and coaches, and provide them food, housing and entertainment.

The City has a complete itinerary planned for the Ireland delegation during their stay in Downey. The City is also in the process of recruiting volunteers to assist during the delegation’s stay and those interested are encouraged to submit a volunteer interest card. We’re also still accepting sponsorships to assist with this event. All of this information can be found on our City website, so log‐on to www.downeyca.org to get all the details.

I want to thank everyone who came out last Saturday, March 21st for the annual Arc Walk. Thousands of people came out to walk for an amazing cause, which is to support those with physical and mental disabilities. This is Arc’s biggest fundraiser of the year we’re proud to have this event here in our community year after year. Special thanks to Arc, Stonewood Mall and our City’s Police, Fire and Public Works Departments for collaborating and making this another successful event.

That same Saturday, right after the Arc Walk, we drove over to Apollo Park to officially open the park’s new walking trail. This is the second walking trail we’ve open in the last few months. Late last year we had the pleasure of opening a walking trail over at Furman Park. These two walking trails were made possible thanks to a $600,000 grant awarded to the City by the L.A. County Regional Park & Open Space District. It was nice to have our residents come out to help us celebrate with activities such as a dedication walk and arts & crafts for children. A special thank you to Senator Mendoza’s office, Supervisor Knabe’s office, and Assemblywoman Garcia for joining us for this event. Our City has made our parks one of our main priorities and it’s exciting to see some of the recent park improvements taking place.

Speaking of park improvements, we also recently dedicated new fitness equipment over at Furman Park. This equipment was purchased thanks to a donation made by the Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis. A sincere thank you to Kiwanis for investing in our community. We’re lucky to have great community organizations in town that care about providing opportunities that increase the quality of life for our residents.

Our City’s Columbia Memorial Space Center will be hosting the first ever City of STEM week from April 7th through April 11th. This will be a weeklong celebration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Through this event, the Space Center will present STEM programming to the community. What’s even better is that guests will be able to enjoy free admission to the Space Center for the entire week, beginning Tuesday, April 7th. This week coincides with spring break for our local schools so we hope students and their families make the Space Center one of their destinations during the holiday break. Log on to www.downeyspacescience.org to get all the details.

Don’t forget that this Saturday is the annual Bunny Breakfast & Spring Extravaganza event at Golden Park. The indoor breakfast event is already sold out, but you can still join us for free arts & crafts, carnival games, a prize walk, portable skate park and information booths. Thank you to Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis, Downey Lions Club and Boy Scout Troop #441 for helping sponsor this event. For tickets and more information, please call our Parks & Recreation Department at (562) 904-7238.

Save the date for the following events: Downey Street Faire taking place Saturday, April 11th from 10 a.m.‐ 5 p.m. There will be food, entertainment, a kids zone, and a variety of vendors. Contact the Downey Chamber of Commerce for more details at (562) 923‐2191. The third annual Healthy Downey 5K for TLC will take place on Saturday, April 18th at Rancho Los Amigos. This event helps benefit the Downey Unified School District’s TLC Family Resource Center. Registration is underway so log‐on to the District’s website at www.dusd.net to sign up. On Wednesday, April 22nd, I invite you to join my fellow Council colleague, Sean Ashton, for a very informative Town Hall Meeting. Councilmember Ashton will provide City updates and he encourages our residents to share their thoughts and ideas about our City. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Barbara J. Riley Community & Senior Center. For more information call our Council office at (562) 904-7274.

Lastly, I want to thank all who attended the State of the City Luncheon on March 4th. It was a pleasure being able to talk about our City, its accomplishments, goals and progress over the last few years. Special thanks to the Downey Chamber of Commerce for once again putting together another successful event.

Look forward to connecting with you again next month.

Sincerely,

Mayor Luis H. Marquez

**********

Published: March 26, 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 50