State of the City

Ugly came first and consisted of the economic vulnerability of the city in respect to the economy. With regional un-employment and lowered tax income, the City has had an annual tax income shortfall of $2.5 million.

It is the old story of expenditures going up and income going down.  The Bad is the fact that the response to less income has had to be reductions in city staff; three full-time positions and half of another. Anticipating a further reduction in return of monies from Sacramento back to Downey, five more full-time positions may have to be cut.

The rest of Brossmer’s speech consisted of the Good: Goals and Achievements.    First, staff enthusiasm is high, the mayoral transition has been smooth, and staff meetings have everyone in place, city manager, police and fire chiefs, Parks and Rec.  

The City now is needs to bring in businesses, fix potholes, spruce up the parks.  We have an exciting new web site under construction that tells the citizens how we’re progressing.  We have done much in “city branding,” giving Downey an identity so businesses will want to be located here. 

We have established a veteran recognition goal, “throwing a salute” to those who protect and defend us.  At each Council meeting, a service person is recognized, and we also have a new   statue at the Civic Center. 

There is increased citizen commitment and we are kept aware by such members of the Fourth Estate as The Downey Patriot, Downey Beat, The Wave, and the Chamber of Commerce monthly publication.

Emergency preparedness continues.  The City has given out free water barrels, contributed by Coca Cola, and emergency preparedness committees are being formed.

Properties which are vacant because of foreclosure or abandonment and therefore not paying taxes, are signs of urban blight, and the City is hiring an outside vendor to chase down the owners of these properties.

Downey faces an exciting future. There is the development at Tierra Luna of upscale living, office and recreational opportunities, such as restaurants and a movie house.  Increasing this tax base is a” home run” for the city, said Brossmer.

The Gateway project at Firestone and Downey will bring in new businesses and restaurants.  Rancho Los Amigos campus, the south part of the property, needs to be developed.

The City plans to attract car dealers, and Raytheon has already settled here.  We look forward to patronizing Ray Brown’s new entrepreneurial venture.

The Columbia Memorial Space Center is now a Smithsonian affiliate which means exciting exhibits from other museums can come here.  Thanks to Dr. Mary’s Stauffer’s s contributions, school groups can go and learn hands-on.

A renaissance in the arts in Downey, all citizen-volunteer based, is evidenced by the Downey Arts Coalition, an umbrella group whose activities includes monthly exhibits of works of art, poetry readings, photography displays, plans for little theatre space and productions.  Thanks to the City Council, Downey Arts Vibe is going to have a downtown space to set up a gallery to show off a rotating collection from our Downey Museum of Art.

As for art in public places we already have the veterans’ sculpture, and the amusing trompe l’oeil “mock” front for the defunct Avenue Theatre, and art disguising utility boxes which are now painted to look like stacks of books.

Upcoming projects include street improvements along Florence Avenue and also Firestone Boulevard’s  “Disgusting, terrible conditions,” said Brossmer.

Upcoming events include the GOOD luncheon on April 18; the Downey Hall of Fame ‘s new inductees ceremony, April 26;, the Street Fair April 28, and in May, Kids Day in Furman Park on May 12, the Memorial Day tribute in the Downey Cemetery on May 28, and in June, the Relay for Life at Columbus High School campus.

A hot new development, Brossmer confided to us, is a project to Bring History Back to Downey, in an Apollo One National Monument, honoring the astronauts who lost their lives in the Apollo One Mission effort: Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White.  Their surviving spouses have approved the idea.  “There is danger to all aspects of life,” one was quoted as saying.

The scarred Apollo One capsule which was recovered is stored “somewhere in Langley, Virginia.”  It was built by Rockwell here in Downey, and the idea is to bring it back to Downey.  It will be a visual explanation as to why the newest shopping center is called The Downey Landing.