Dear Editor:

I recently heard a very disturbing rumor. Some of Downey’s City Council members are advocating that the council terminate the employment of Gilbert Livas, our city’s very capable city manager. 

This would be wrong, and then could be tragic if the council next hired a criminal to replace him as did Bell in its city a few years ago. 

Gilbert Livas has been an outstanding city manager. Under his guidance, Downey has retained a balanced budget for a number of years, upgraded all of the fire stations, added more police officers to an outstanding police department, developed a state-of-the-art city library, improved and maintained many of the city streets, planted trees in many neighborhoods, upgraded many of its parks and recreation areas, and much more. 

When Gilbert was hired by Downey, he had graduated from UCLA, had a master’s degree in public administration from Long Beach State college and had previous experience with employment in other cities. I am not aware of any valid basis that would warrant his being terminated by the city. 

I urge my fellow Downey citizens to contact their council member and urge him or her to retain Gilbert as our highly qualified city manager. 

Bob Brazelton
Downey

Bob Brazelton is a former Downey mayor and 8-year council member.