My name is Mario A. Guerra and I am Vice Chair of the Measure S Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. Last week I presented to the city council the semi-annual report regarding expenditures and management of Measure S funds. I thought our residents would want to know more about Measure S.

Here is a little background and history to start.

In 2016, the Downey City Council approved to place, Measure S , a ½ sales tax increase with a 20 year sunset, on the ballot to generate approximately $9 million dollars in additional tax proceeds with one half of that amount earmarked for directly maintaining and enhancing the police and fire departments’ operations and the other half to be utilized for securing funding through bond proceeds to complete the much needed improvements at many of the City parks and facilities.

In November 2016, the citizens of Downey approved Measure S. 

The operational enhancements for the Police and Fire Departments started immediately through hiring of 10 additional police officers and augmenting personnel level in both departments. Other than hiring of additional personnel, purchasing state-of-the-art communication equipment and devices was one of the first orders of business to enhance operation of the City’s public safety personnel.

In 2017 the City leveraged the additional $4.5 million a year in revenues set aside for improving City parks, facilities and other infrastructure, and the City secured $50 million in bond proceeds. This enabled the City to embark on its most robust capital improvement program ever to address deficiencies and improve its parks and public facilities. In doing so, the City benefited from not losing the value of its annual revenues due to inflation and doing more by utilizing economies of scale in completing the designated capital improvement projects.

In December of 2017, the City secured a little over $50 million in bond proceeds. This was great news however, the influx of available funds for projects posed a serious challenge to staff, as the bond covenants required that at least 85% of the total funds (about $40,000,000) be used before the end of December in 2020. This meant that planning, design, and construction of 22 capital projects had to be completed in 2 years. Typically, the planning and design phase of a public works project takes anywhere between 10 to 16 months and the construction phase takes another 8 months to little over a year to complete.

Throughout the course of last year, starting in November of last year with the ribbon-cutting at Apollo Park, we have celebrated many other accomplishments at Golden Park, Dennis the Menace Park, Independence Park, Furman Park , and grand re-opening of new Fire stations 1 and 3 to name a few. With a number of other projects ready for delivery including the much awaited City Library and the last two major projects which are the modernization and expansion of Fire Stations 2 and 4 which is expected to be completed by May of 2021 , the City will complete its Measure S  Parks and Infrastructure Improvement Program with a  great sense of gratitude to its citizens for making it possible.

The results, 7 park renovations, 4 new fire stations, a new modern library, civic center improvements, theatre renovations and ADA improvements, police station upgrades and additional new officers, updated public safety equipment and various improvements throughout the city. Our city will benefit from these projects for many years to come. Each one is important, but when combined together, they really are an amazing testament to what was accomplished together as a community.

Although COVID-19 has not allowed us to conduct in person community celebrations for some of the recent completed projects, the City has been innovative in producing various “virtual” grand opening videos to share with residents.  The City plans to have a big Measure S Celebration Day in 2021, if the County health order allows for in person gatherings by then. 

When Measure S passed it required that an advisory committee be established to review on a quarterly basis, the cities expenditures and revenues generated by Measure S. In June 2017, the Downey City Council established the formation of this committee.

The committee consists of Dorothy Pemberton, Donald LaPlante, Carrie Uva and now Michael Murray was recently added. I am Vice Chairman and our Chairman, elected by us, was former Mayor Dave Gafin. He was a dear friend and recently passed away which broke our hearts but not our spirit to continue this work. I choose not to take the title of Chair in his honor. He will always be the Chair of this committee in our hearts.

Our Oversight Committee shares the passion and dedication with our council and staff to make sure that Measure S funds are distributed appropriately and always for the best interest of our residents.

At our quarterly meetings city staff, (Assistant City Manager John Oskui, Finance Director Anil Gandhi and Juddy Montenegro) have provided us updates on expenditures for public safety personnel and equipment, as well as status on the various parks and facilities improvement projects.

The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee has verified that Measure S funds have been used to enhance the quality of services within our community. As of June 30, 2020, the city has expended $42,197,703 for Measure S projects. By the end of December 2020, staff expects to spend all the bond proceeds. To be able to do this in such a short time is amazing and they are to be commended.

This committee has worked well together and with staff and it has been an honor serving. I personally want to thank Councilman Saab for appointing me to this committee and I am sure I can speak for the others that they appreciate the opportunity to serve also.

Our committee has been very inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. Our city staff has always been able to satisfy the requests for information and verification of the funds used. We have completed a comprehensive review of the financial reports detailing the revenues and expenditures.

We want to commend the City Council for the vision of the projects and what they mean for our community. And we also want to let you know that what our city staff has accomplished, in three years, is nothing short of astonishing. They are to be recognized for their hard and diligent work on behalf of all the residents of Downey.

It’s been said that true strength lies in a person’s determination. Well, our council, staff, committee, and city have lived up to very high expectations set and we should be very proud of the results. Future generations will also get to enjoy the transformative results from Measure S. If you have any questions about Measure S feel free to look up on the city website or email me at Mario@Guerrains.com.

Mario A. Guerra is the former mayor of Downey and vice chairman of the Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee.