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DOWNEY 2013 LA Press Club Award Winner for Best Investigative Newspaper in Los Angeles.
Serving Downey and surrounding communities • Published every Friday • September 13, 2013 • Volume 1, No. 13 • DowneyCommunityNews.com
Norwalk Resident Killed in Collision with 54 Year-Old Cerritos Man
Downey Gathers to Remember 9/11
Downey Mayor’s Corner By Mario Guerra Greetings Downey Family, I hope this finds you well and that you all had a wonderful summer. As always, I enjoy having the opportunity to reach out to you through my Mayor’s corner and brief you on some of the exciting things happening in our City. Jobs are so important. And we know where they come from. Our City Council just passed a new ordinance creating a Downey Red Team (DRT). It is aimed at meeting with the City’s largest employers and revenue generating businesses to ensure that their needs are being met by the City. DRT members include myself as the Mayor, Community Development Director, the City’s business advocate, and a member from the Chamber of Commerce. It is an Economic Development ordinance
By Kristin Grafft Marc Gomez, a 22-year-old Norwalk resident was killed in a traffic collision involving another Norwalk resident and a 54-year-old Cerritos resident on the morning of Friday, September 6. The accident occurred at 3:45 a.m. just before dawn in the intersection of Marquardt Ave. and Artesia Blvd. Gomez was in the front passenger seat of a small Nissan heading south on Marquardt Ave. when, officials say, it appears the driver ran a red light and hit a Toyota pick-up truck that was heading east on Artesia Blvd. The driver of the pick-up trick was a 54-year-old Cerritos resident on his way
See NORWALK page 1
Remembering 9/11: [l-r] Capt. Steve Garza, Downey City Manager Gilbert Livas, Downey Mayor Guerra, and Asst. Fire Chief Mark Gillespie.
Taste of Downey Arts and Wine Festival Set By Kristin Grafft Residents are invited to celebrate the 4th annual ‘Taste of Downey’ Arts and Wine Festival on Thursday September 19 in Downtown Downey. All ages are welcome to enjoy the food, drinks and desserts of local Downey restaurants. There will also be a beer and wine garden, as well as musical entertainment for the whole family. Some of the participating restaurants include Green Olive, Habana Cafe, Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, Porto’s Bakery, Olive Garden, Narai Thai, Starbucks and many more. The ‘Taste of Downey’ will also be working in conjunction with Stay Gallery. The gallery is just a few feet from the event, and residents are invited to attend the closing reception of the photog-
raphy exhibit APRODUCTOF, featuring local Downey artist Andrew Quesada. The Arts and Wine Festival is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. and will end at 9 p.m., located on Downey Avenue between 2nd and 3rd street. Tickets for food tasting may be purchased in advance at a price of $20 for 10 tastes. Tickets may be purchased over the phone at (562) 861-8211, or online at http://www. downeytheatre.com. They can also be purchased in person at Downey City Hall, The Barbara J. Riley Community & Senior Center, the Parks and Recreation Office or the Downey Civic Theater Box Office. For more information on the event or to participate as a vendor, contact Kimberly Sodetani or Jessica Flores at (562) 904-7151 or e-mail taste@downeyca.org.
See MAYOR page 8
Editorial COMMERCE EMPLOYEE RUNS POLITICAL MACHINE ON TAXPAYER DIME By Brian Hews It is election season, the time when candidates running for local city council offices and school board seats jaunt around to seek out endorsements from other elected politicians, powJason Stinnett erful union bosses, and other self-proclaimed political king makers. These “kings” help deliver neophyte candidates large bags of campaign cash, guarantee vast amounts of votes, and bring in endorsements from other politicians who hold powerful offices like Congressional Members, Assembly Members
and State Senators. These kings can make or break a candidate’s chance of winning. Hews Media Group-Community News has learned, and takes issue with, an apparent local political “king” here in Commerce, Interim Public Information Officer Jason Stinnett. We have never spoken to Mr. Stinnett, and not for a lack of trying on our part. The main job of a Public Information Officer is to talk to members of the media and to serve as the official spokesperson for the public agency he or she in employed with. Stinnett has never returned a phone call from this news organization. Not one. We take issue with the Mr. Stinnett who is attempting to build a political empire while on the city’s payroll; he should
See STINNETT page 7
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STINNETT
Continued from page 1 be doing the work on behalf of the people of Commerce. Stinnett is paid a lofty salary that includes full medical, dental, retirement,
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and other perks. He applied for the PIO position that will pay over $100,000 HMG-CN has learned that within the past few weeks, Stinnett has played king and met with elected officials or attended meetings during regular business hours that have nothing to do with the business of the City of Commerce.
One such meeting was with current Maywood Mayor pro tem Felipe Aguirre. In an interview with HMG-CN Aguirre said, “it was at South Gate Farmers Market, around 11:00 a.m. I met with him because he was backing Ishmael Ververa, a candidate for Maywood City Council who is a police officer in the City of South
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013
Gate. Ververa recently moved into the city of Maywood to run for city council.” Aguirre went on to say, “I wanted to find out why Ververa was running. Mr. Stinnett was representing Ververa and his campaign, and he said that he was running
[See STINNETT page 9]
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MAYOR
Continued from page 1 to continue to enhance the 8,000 new jobs our City has created over the past 4 years. Our first meeting already created an avenue to help one of our large local businesses. We will also be meeting with local small business and employers in our community. We will continue to be pro active when it comes to jobs, attracting and keeping businesses in Downey. Using the latest technology, the Downey Police Department has launched a new community notification service designed to deliver important and timely information. Nixle is a secure service that allows the Police Department to disseminate public safety and community event notifications via web, e-mail, text message, and mobile application. The public can sign-up by simply sending a text message with “DOWNEYPD” to 888777 and you will be instantly registered to receive text messages from the Downey Police Department. I’ve signed up for it, it’s easy and a great tool. The City also has an updated “My Downey App” that allows residents to report items such as graffiti and pot holes. Very convenient and easy to use. The app can be downloaded for from any smart phone app store for free. It is a valuable resource and I encourage you all to use it! I use everyday to make sure we continue to tackle the issue of graffiti in our City. And it is easy to report potholes. The Downey Civic Theatre recently announced its 2013-14 season. Log-on to www.downeytheatre.com for more info. Don’t forget Taste of Downey Arts & Wine Festival is scheduled for Thursday, September 19th. This year we are moving the event to Downey Ave, between 2nd
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and 3rd Streets. This will be great for our downtown area and we once again expect a great turnout. Restaurants confirmed include Portos, Green Olive, Narai Thai, and Pacific Fish Grill and many others. Great event with great food, lively entertainment, local artists and beer and wine area. And thanks to our lively and active arts community for putting on some special items that evening. Come out and join us! We are pleased to now offer residents online registration for Parks & Recreation classes and activities, as well as the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Online registration is now available for Fall, so sign-up now at the City’s website www. downeyca.org and click on classes and activities. You can view the Fall City News and Parks and Recreation Guide on the City’s website as well. Next Thursday, September 12th, I will be installed as the new President for the Independent Cities Association (ICA) during a special installation dinner at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. ICA is an organization made up of full service cities (cities that provide their own police and/ or fire services), all coming together to represent the best interests of our citizens. We represent 53 cities and 7 million people. I am proud and honored to help lead such a fine organization and look forward to seeing all of our local representatives from surrounding cities at the event, including a special guest, Honorable Mayor Tom Crosby from Roscommon, Ireland, birthplace of Gov. John Gately Downey and our newest Sister City. Mayor Crosby will be visiting our great City next week and it is a privilege to be able to show him what Downey is all about. Thanks again to all our Healthy Downey Partners for continuing to make our City healthier. We continue to educate Contuned on NEXT PAGE
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and enhance the wellness of our City for our families and our youth. Last Saturday, Kaiser and Albertsons teamed up with our YMCA to offer “ Shop With A Nutritionist “. Learning about food is a big part of our journey to a long and healthier life. As of our last Council meeting weigh in, I have now lost 75 pounds since being sworn in as your Mayor. I feel great and I know my family is healthier. Come join me on Walking Wednesdays with the Mayor. Downey Family and Friends, our City is doing very well. Thanks to our awesome community and your help. Financially we are sound and our future looks great. Many great things coming. I hope this finds you well and feel free to contact me at anytime. My personal cell number is 562-706-4114 my email address is MGuerra@DowneyCa.org. All my best, God bless. Mario A. Guerra Mayor of Downey
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not make it as well.” Officials are still awaiting toxicology reports on the driver of the Nissan. However, Detective Britt said that nothing “outwardly indicates he was under any influences, other than the way he was driving – running a red light.” Officials are still unsure where the passengers of the Nissan were coming from at that hour, but Detective Britt indicated there is a possibility they were involved in another, but minor, accident in Norwalk that occurred not long before the collision.
NORWALK
Continued from page 1 to work. Detective Tim Britt of the LA County Sheriffs station in Cerritos said, “Both (Gomez) and the driver were severely injured and (Gomez) succumbed to his injuries… But the impact of this accident was so great I’m really surprised that the driver is even still alive.” Gomez was taken by ambulance to the University of California Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he later died, at around 10 a.m. that same day. Detective Britt said they cannot release the names of the drivers because the investigation is still ongoing, and because, “their injuries were also very severe and there’s a good chance that they may still
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STINNETT
Continued from page 7 the campaign for Vervara as well as appointed City Councilman Edward Verela, and challenger Eddie DeLa Riva.” Aguirre said Stinnett repeated that he was running their campaigns in their conversation that lasted around 30 minutes. “I have no idea if Jason is running these campaigns out of Commerce City Hall, but I do know that he is indeed running these campaigns here in Maywood,” Aguirre said. “Jason did not threaten me during our conversation. I don’t even know the guy, but he was telling me that he is running against Art Chacon next year for Central Basin Water District, and that he was doing whatever he could to build up support for his campaign.” “This does not surprise me,” said one city employee who declined to be identified, “He is never here at work, in fact, I called him once, left a message on his city machine, and he told me that I never answer that machine call me on my cell.” HMG-CN has obtained records of Central Basin Water District meetings that show Stinnett’s signature on the attendance sheets. Most of those meetings occur at 10 AM. When informed what Stinnett was doing, long-time Central Basin Municipal Water Director Art Chacon commented, “as a resident and taxpayer in Commerce, we should expect our city employees to be dedicating their work time to city business and improving our community, not to exploiting their position to promote their own political agendas. City Staff and Council need to hold their employees accountable, especially those in upper management positions.”
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Recently, Stinnett declared his candidacy for the CBMWD’s Division 3 seat currently held by Director Chacon. Stinnett is actively raising money for his campaign and has already raised $1,200 in contributions, including a $1,000 donation from the local AFSCME (Commerce city) employee union he controls. More recently, Stinnett traveled to a meeting of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to argue to the powerful political wing not to support current Montebello Unified School District President Hector Chacon. Stinnett did this during business hours when he should have been at Commerce City Hall. Sources tell HMG-CN that Stinnett and one of the union leaders, “almost went to blows,” over Stinnett arguing not to endorse Chacon. After the argument the union employee got up and left the meeting and the union eventually voted not to endorse Chacon. Stinnett is putting his political clout behind Loni Cupchoy to beat Chacon in the upcoming November 5, 2013 election. Cupchoy is also being supported by well-know Calderon lackeys Mario Beltran, Sergio Infanso, Carlos Illingsworth, and Julian De La Torre; so now it is official, Stinnett is a Calderon minion. Yes, it is election season, and Stinnett is in full campaign mode. We would like to remind Mr. Stinnett that the people of Commerce and the media are paying attention, especially in these times when political corruption is out of control in Southeast Los Angeles County.