Police officers receive promotions

DOWNEY - The City Council heard Police Chief Roy Campos confirm the promotions of five of his police officers who he said are destined to fill important leadership roles in the months and years ahead.Campos, who is retiring at year's end and himself closing out a wonderful career, once more pointed out the close camaraderie and teamwork, even a sense of family belonging, that pervades the Downey police force as mainly responsible for the department's effectiveness, and which has won the approbation of other cities. The officers and their new ranks: Sgt. David Zimmerman, Sgt. Kevin McCaster, Lt. Randy Wells, Lt. Dean Milligan, and Capt. Stephen Garza. The ceremony was witnessed by family and friends. In other action, the Council: •Approved the one-year agreement between the city and Graffiti Tracker, Inc.(GTI) by which the latter will capture, analyze, and provide the Police Department with intelligence for purposes of reducing graffiti vandalism; equipped with global positioning system (GPS), GTI's tracking system will allow the department to identify the most active graffiti vandals, and record the areas of greatest graffiti vandalism, paving the way for better methods of enforcement; a web-based program, it can be accessed 24/7 by law enforcement personnel and city administrators; •Approved the agreement with the Downey Chamber of Commerce for $24,500, whereby the latter will promote the city's welfare and growth in 2009-10; services will include: a) promotion of the city's industrial commercial development, involving the gathering and dissemination of information on demographics of value; b) stimulation of local buying, emphasizing the importance of sales tax revenue to the local economy; and c) community public information, providing public information services to benefit local businesses and residents; •Accepted the new street improvements and maintenance responsibility for the continuation of Steve Horn Way constructed by Kaiser Permanente between Imperial Highway and Bellflower Blvd. as agreed upon by the city and the hospital, which is due to officially open for public use today; the improvements will provide access not only to the hospital but to Discovery Sports Complex, the Columbia Memorial Space Center, and also to the Downey Studios site; •Adopted an ordinance amending Article V, "Sanitation," of the Downey Municipal Code, which thereby amends Chapter 8, "Construction and Demolition Waste Management"; the ordinance regulates the waste management practices of private and public building projects in the city to ensure that 100 percent of inert materials and 50 percent of the remaining waste materials form these projects will be diverted from landfills by way or reuse or recycling, as mandated by the California Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939); •Approved the amendment to the agreement with Delphi Productions in the amount of $218,951 for services related to phases I and II of the exhibits for the Columbia Memorial Space Center; according to executive director Jon Betthauser, installation of phases II and III exhibits will be basically complete in time for the Center's anticipated opening Oct. 23; •Received and filed deputy city manager Mark Sauter's report on flu season preparedness, which noted that the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu viruses each require different flu vaccines, with the latter requiring at least two shots; the programs are for city employees and the community; community preparedness information will be disseminated accordingly; •Approved the appointment of Councilmembers Roger Brossmer and incumbent mayor Mario Guerra to serve in the Ad Hoc City Council Civic Theatre Review Committee, which will review with staff theatre operations and usage; •Heard the mayor proclaim the month of September as National Preparedness, Literacy, and National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery, Month; •Heard Councilmember Luis Marquez issue a certificate of appointment to Alexander Lopez as District 5 representative to the Traffic Committee; and •Heard Kaiser Permanente Hospital's public relations officer Beth Trombley announce the grand opening of their new hospital in Downey on Sept. 15. The next regular public meeting of the City Council will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Ave.

********** Published: September 11, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 21