What is going on in Downey? It’s a valid question that is being asked with greater frequency these days.

The City Council was thrown into further disarray this week when Councilman Sean Ashton announced his resignation – effective March 18 – citing a promotion at FedEx. Ashton’s departure comes at a critical time for Downey.

After seven years in office, Ashton was Downey’s most senior councilmember. Partly for this reason his colleagues voted him mayor pro tem last December, hopeful he would be a calming influence on a city council that has grown increasingly divided over the future of the city.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Ashton joined council members Catherine Alvarez and Mario Trujillo in successfully ousting city manager Gilbert Livas without explanation. Livas’s preference was to serve Downey a few more years but instead he will retire July 1.

Alvarez herself is facing another recall effort after her opponents came 35 signatures short of triggering a special election. Now armed with a certified list of valid signatures, organizers are confident they can secure the three dozen additional signatures they need.

Meanwhile, Mayor Blanca Pacheco is a leading candidate in the race for the 64th Assembly District. If successful, Pacheco would resign her District 1 city council seat. Oh, and Councilmember Claudia Frometa is up for re-election in District 4.

There are a lot of moving parts to process, so to recap:

District 1 - Pacheco will resign if elected to the state Assembly.

District 2 - Ashton has resigned effective March 18.

District 3 - Alvarez faces a potential recall.

District 4 - Frometa is up for reelection this November.

We haven’t even mentioned that Downey is currently without a mayor pro tem.

As it stands, District 5 councilman Mario Trujillo is the only stable representative on the city council. Elected in 2020, he has another two years left before he can seek reelection.

Ashton’s resignation means the four remaining council members can appoint someone to finish the eight months left on his term. But whether they can agree on a qualified replacement remains a question mark. Alvarez and Trujillo are liberal Democrats, while Pacheco and Frometa are moderates, and their political differences have become more pronounced in the past year.

Ashton’s replacement will be a swing vote on the council and have an important voice in who Downey hires as its next city manager, a tall task for a rookie council member.

It cannot be overstated how important a stable city council is to a city. It affects the quality of employees a city is able to attract, from white collar workers at city hall to police officers and firefighters. It affects quality of life in Downey, from our parks to our streets. It affects our fiscal health. It affects property values.

Ashton’s resignation creates an opportunity for Downey to appoint a civic-minded resident who will cast votes and make decisions in the best interest of the entire community, and whose values align with the majority of the constituency. Above all, residents should demand a council member who is truthful and transparent about their goals for Downey.

As for Ashton’s legacy, what can you say? He curiously left a teaching job to deliver packages for FedEx, and never leveraged his position of influence to affect great change in the city. He claimed ignorance when it was revealed the county was building transitional housing at Rancho Los Amigos (his district), and he was secretly criticized by city officials for missing meetings or leaving meetings early. He aligned with protestors who used bullhorns outside council members’ homes, frightening their families. Most egregiously, on his way out the door, he forced out a beloved and respected city manager without saying why.

Ashton leaves the city council with his legacy tarnished and our local government in disarray. The onus is now on our four council members to put their differences and personal ambitions aside and do what’s best for the great city of Downey.