DOWNEY – Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa will lead Downey as mayor for 2023.

Frometa, who was sworn in to her second term on the council on Thursday last week, was selected to lead the council on a 3-1 vote, with councilwoman Catherine Alvarez in opposition.

Councilman Mario Trujillo was selected unanimously to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.

This is Frometa’s second stint as mayor. She previously served in the role in 2021 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, at her Mayoral swearing-in, Frometa took time to highlight some of the goals, initiatives, and projects that Downey can look forward to in the upcoming year.

Likely the most urgent of all will be to fill in many of the holes that have sprouted at the city’s executive level over the past year.

“The first item of business for us as a council will certainly be to find a new city manager, so that we can move into the next phase of Downey, what Downey is going to look like for the next few years,” said Frometa. “As a council, that is really one of our first priorities, collectively.

“We have some executive positions that we will also be focusing on. We realize the strength of a city is, of course, incumbent upon the stability of its council, but also it really relies on having a city manager that has a vision and that understands what Downey’s mission is.”

Frometa doubled down on her effort to push back on the rising fentanyl threat, which she first announced during her campaign.

“We are going to be deploying Narcan to our various city facilities. As a council we voted on that some weeks ago, and that is going to be moving forward,” said Frometa. “We’re also going to be collaborating with, as I indicated, our school district; we understand from a school district perspective, we do have Narcan in our schools, but we need to do a more concentrated effort in terms of educating our parents and our community, overall our youth about the dangers of these pills, these pills laced with fentanyl.”

The groundbreaking of the Space Shuttle Inspiration expansion of the Columbia Memorial Space Center is also scheduled to happen within the next year, along with continued progress towards the West Santa Ana Branch Light Rail Line (part of the Rancho Los Amigos South Campus) and the development of the former NASA Vultee building.

Hector Sosa sworn in

Councilmember Hector Sosa officially took his place on the dais as the council’s freshman member.

Sosa, who was also sworn in last Thursday, said it was “an honor, a blessing, and a privilege…to be serving as a councilman for the city I grew up in.”

He said he “wants to do right” by constituents.

“I heard their concerns, and we’re going to be working from day one,” said Sosa.

Hector listed his goals as bringing stability back to city hall, tackling the homeless issue, addressing rising crime, speeding, equitable access to city fields for youth sports organizations, and collaboration with the school district.

He closed by thanking his district.

“I want to thank the District 2 residents for putting their faith in me,” said Sosa. “I realize we can’t possibly agree on everything, but at least we can have some dialogue, we can have a conversation.

“You’ll always know where I stand…Being elected to city council is a responsibility that I take I take very seriously. My pledge to you is I will lead with humility, transparency, and I’m going to keep it real with you; and that I will always put the best interest of our community ahead of anything else.”

Blanca Pacheco says goodbye

The installation ceremony also served as an official send off to former Mayor Blanca Pacheco, who officially resigned earlier in the week in order to be sworn into the State Assembly.

In her parting remarks, Pacheco was thankful to city staff, city council members, and to residents.

“It has been a true pleasure, a joy,” said Pacheco. “Sometimes we’ve had difficult days, but we did it together, and that’s what it’s all about.”

She added that “she will not be going far.”

“I will still be here, you can’t get rid of me,” said Pacheco. “I want to represent you well. I want to do my best for our Downey at the State level, as well as those eight other cities.

“But just know, I live here in Downey, my heart is here in Downey, my family is here in Downey, and all of you are truly like family to me. Thank you for this opportunity; thank you for everything.”