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The Soul of the City • Can the Arts Help Restore Rance and Defensive of It

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The Soul of the City • Can the Arts Help Restore Rance and Defensive of It West Nile virus Life of service Downey residents in Downey for Don Cuevas mourned See Page 2 See Page 3 See Page 4 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Vol. 12 No. 11 8301 E. Florence Ave., Suite 100, Downey, CA 90240 Digital MAYOR’S CORNER billboard THE SOUL OF THE CITY • Can the arts help restore rance and defensive of it. Small has an Downey celebrates Downey’s identity? exaggerated sense of self-importance. gets OK The insularity of small eventually cre- ates a morbid condition. A functional balance between the All America City in Downey By Lawrence Christon two worlds, home and away, has been Contributor DOWNEY − A 55-foot tall, LED something a lot of people in Downey, billboard will rise high alongside the and not just its civic leaders, have award been thinking about, because in the I-5 Freeway and residential neigh- DOWNEY – What do you think breach lies Downey’s elusive, dwin- borhoods this year after the Downey when you think Downey? dling identity. On returning last week Planning Commission last Wednes- That’s a question that’s been seep- • City of Downey recognized from Denver, where Downey officials day agreed a digital billboard could ing into local consciousness for well for being a unique, prosperous successfully lobbied the National Civic provide financial gain for the city over a decade, like that mysterious gas- community. League for the designation “All-Amer- with minimal impact to surrounding eous smell that periodically drifts over ican City,” Councilman Alex Saab re- areas. the region, drawing complaints from flected, “Identity seems to be a prob- The proposed sign, which would the population and head-scratching lem with a lot of other cities too.” perplexity from officials who can’t sit on a nine-acre maintenance yard But it’s particularly acute here. By Mario Guerra seem to track down its origin. Mayor of Downey owned by the Los Angeles County Why? Because in the absence of any A couple of online Realty compa- Metropolitan Transportation Au- natural scenic wonder, of defining riv- style design. The lucrative industry nies have run Yelp-like commentary thority at 7878 Telegraph Road, will ers, streams, woodlands, mountains or that gave us the Apollo Space program from visitors who have considered be the first such billboard in Downey grand oceanic views, Downey’s claim and the Space shuttle also gave us renting or buying in Downey. Dear Downey Family and should reach out to others from an off the Santa Ana Freeway. to fame is based on a history that’s good schools, good restaurants with “A pretty nice residential commu- City officials granted applicant been completely disrupted. silverware and linen tablecloths, and Friends, economic, cultural and mutual ex- nity surrounded by a lot of crappy cit- Allvision, LLC a conditional use The all-American designation is a social and cultural life. The 748 seat Hope this message finds you well, change of ideas, it was historic. In ies,’ wrote one. permit, which approved the sign’s fine. It’s helpful. But it’s based on lim- Downey Theater was built in 1970. in good health and good spirit. I am 1960 when Downey and the City of “Nice but bland and boring,” wrote location, and a code variance, which ited criteria. Anyone today who calls The Downey Symphony was good excited to share some of the many Guadalajara became the first Sister another. “They should call it Debbie allows the billboard more square Downey a great city needs to have enough to play the Dorothy Chan- great things that have happened in Cities in the history of the United D ow n e y.” footage on its two displays and an his head examined. Just drive around dler Pavilion. One of David Hockney’s the last few weeks. States, it was historic. When Gover- Small town? Small city? Downey’s extra 20 feet in height. and have a look at its drab, disparate first local showings took place at the Our great City, along with nine nor John Gately Downey left Ireland civic leaders like to emphasize the idea commercial architecture, its weird Downey Museum of Art. other communities across the na- at age 14 and became the first foreign Commissioners also voted in fa- of small because it underlines the im- mix of odd old buildings and indiffer- By 1999, shifting congressional tion, won the 2013 All America City born Governor of California at age vor of a development agreement with portance of community, of people who ent sprawl, its forgotten-in-time look. priorities and changing economics award! Known as the “Nobel Prize” 32, it was historic. Metro, who is now expected to over- know each other, have a few laughs Or the generic, cheap-o appearance led to the collapse and withdrawal of for civic engagement, the All Amer- We continue to be a leader in so see the construction and operation together, help each other out, share of its newer structures. Downey was not just our greatest taxpayer, but our ica City award recognizes top cities many ways. And I am so proud of our of the sign, which is 475 feet away experience, answer to each other if never great, like Florence is great, a source of pride and our sense of who across the country who turn chal- history, and making new history for from adjacent residential homes. need be, which altogether gives them a city people visit from the world over we are. Downey has never recovered. While the agreement allows Met- sense of place in time in a livable spot lenges into opportunities and work many generations. Progress occurs for splendors that can’t be experienced A brief flirtation with Tesla Motors, ro to operate the “V”-shaped bill- on the earth. hard to improve and better the qual- when we come together for a com- anywhere else. But it’s been brushed which restored our flickering hopes, board without further discretionary This is a commendable notion, ity of life for their residents. mon good and seize the opportunity with greatness. ended in heartbreak. A changing de- review, the city will receive a devel- when you consider how our post-in- There were only 20 finalists in to change things for the better. We Downey was founded in 1873, mographic and an aging, diminish- dustrial, post-modern global village, the entire country and we were the need to continue, just like our fore- opment fee of $80,000 every year, or but up to the mid-twentieth century, ing Anglo population--along with the fuelled by the ruthless engines of mar- only city from California selected. fathers, just like Governor Downey, 25 percent of the sign’s net revenue. it was essentially a rural commu- sense of history and continuity elders ket forces, has seen its miracles in sci- I am proud to represent a city like to have the vision and conviction to The city will also be afforded the nity. Early aviation pioneers began to bestow on the young--have left us in a ence and technology, health and com- Downey, a city that is committed to dream and inspire, and the energy right to advertise on the billboard, change that in the 1930s, but in World state of flux. The art museum is closed, munications, gained at the expense of its residents and that is made up of and passion to make things happen. which will not display ads for tobac- War II, when a relatively defenseless the Civic Light Opera at the Downey those down home values. We’re living a unique group of individuals who We are proud to have Roscom- co or other adult purposes. West Coast mobilized to fight the Theater is finished, and the symphony in an era of increasing corporate de- If approved by the City Council, Japanese forces in the Pacific, military is struggling to survive. work to make Downey such a great mon as our newest Sister City and personalization lived within a near-vi- the development agreement will re- aircraft production shifted into high Is there anything that can turn it place to live. look forward to maintaining a long olent centrifuge of speed and change, main valid for 20 years, with the pos- gear. After the war, and into the era around? In the next few installments, My sincere appreciation goes out lasting relationship. We are already change we can’t keep up with, change sibility of a one-time, 10-year exten- of commercial aviation and aerospace we’ll look at some of the develop- to the staff and volunteers who par- seeing unexpected early dividends that skews our values and our sense of sion. technology, outfits like Boeing and ments that are brewing, particularly in ticipated in making this happen. We from our newest Sister City. In the what constitutes the good, meaning- However, some nearby residents North American Rockwell, and their a younger, energized arts community, were recognized because we all work last week, we have been working ful life—even our sense of reality. Are are unhappy with the decision, pro- sub-contractors, stayed on to design because if there’s anything that art is hard in making Downey the special hard with our local art gallery, Stay Facebook friends true friends? Does and manufacture airplanes and space about, it’s possibility. place we call home. And now the rest Gallery Downey, for a delegation of testing the LED billboard, which anyone believe that reality shows are technology that fed the nation, and the I leave you with this image: A few of the country will know it too.
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