Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Alvarez will face recall election

DOWNEY – The Downey City Clerk confirmed Wednesday that enough signatures were collected and verified to send Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Alvarez to a recall election.

More than 4,500 signatures were submitted earlier this month in a second attempt to recall Alvarez, who was elected to the Downey City Council in November 2020, representing District 3.

Opponents of Alvarez said they are seeking a recall election because Alvarez failed to disclose her prior felony charges of welfare fraud and lying under oath - as well as stealing from the Michaels Store in the Downey Landing – when she ran for her seat in 2020.

This will be the first recall election in the City of Downey’s history.

With the signatures verified, the city council must now schedule a special election. Voters will decide only if Alvarez should be recalled – no candidates will be included in the recall vote.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa said Downey residents “want stability and elected officials with integrity and values that represent all in Downey.”

“Unfortunately, Catherine Alvarez does not represent the values District 3 residents want,” Frometa wrote. “We cannot teach our children about character, honesty, responsibility, hard work and integrity when the Mayor Pro Tem of their city has a lengthy criminal record…This recall has nothing to do with political affiliation, or partisan politics (as is continually and wrongly stated). What Catherine Alvarez continually fails to admit is her lack of honesty, her constant harassment of many people (myself included, on the dais and on social media). This recall has always been about her lack of honesty and transparency.”

Former Downey mayor Rick Rodriguez said the recall is “solely about the right of voters to know who they are electing to public office.”

“Downey is a community that values ethics and good character, and we believe the election could have had a different outcome had residents known Catherine Alvarez was a convicted thief,” he said.

The Committee to Recall Catherine Alvarez issued a statement Wednesday echoing that voters deserved to know about Alvarez’s criminal record before the election.

“More than 4,500 District 3 residents signed the petition to recall Catherine Alvarez because they know she is a liar and a bully who was unfairly elected to city council,” said Mario A. Guerra, a former two-time mayor of Downey. “We pushed for this recall because she failed to disclose to residents her welfare fraud conviction, her two warrants for her arrest, and her shoplifting arrest at Michael’s. Having all that new information, voters will now have an opportunity to determine if they want Catherine Alvarez as their city council representative.”

Alvarez released her own statement, claiming the recall is political retaliation for her efforts to enhance rent control measures in Downey.

“I want to make something obvious. Regardless of what the recallers claim, this recall is happening because I have been pushing for rent control—a policy that the majority of the residents want but which the council does not,” Alvarez said. “This recall is being pushed by the wealthiest, most privileged people in the City of Downey. People like Rick Rodriguez and his friend Mario Guerra. They have donated much money to remove me because they are landlords. They sit around being landlords while working families struggle to pay their monthly rent.

“When a working-class person —ME — pushed back, they didn’t like that. But we won anyway.

“Even if this recall is successful, rent control is going to happen. No matter what Mario Guerra and Rick Rodriguez, and Claudia Frometa say, and even if I am removed, I’ll come back. I am not going to give up fighting for my community. We are going to have rent control in the City of Downey, and we are going to have a new council that cares for the entire community, not just for the landlords.”

The first attempt to recall Alvarez fell 35 signatures short in February. This time, recall organizers said they were more careful in verifying the signatures they collected.

“Today is a great day for the City of Downey,” said Dorothy Pemberton, who helped lead the recall. “This was a grassroots effort led by concerned citizens who have Downey’s best interests at heart. Catherine Alvarez deceived the residents of her district and now she will face them again in a true and honest election.”