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Hector Sosa Newsletter — April 5, 2026
📬 Councilmember Hector Sosa — District 2, Downey — April 6, 2026
Dear Downey Neighbors,
Every now and then a week comes along where the best news in Downey is not coming out of a council chamber. It is coming out of a classroom, a hospital, a theater, and a watch party. This was one of those weeks.
For instance, Daisy and I had the chance to hear a young composer named Flora Cheng perform at UCLA back in 2024, and we walked away impressed. This week I learned that Cheng will premiere her newest work, "Moth," right here in Downey on April 18, performed by our own Downey Symphony Orchestra. That is not a coincidence. That is what happens when a city takes its artists seriously.
There is a lot in this update, so let me get into it.
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 Block Captain Meeting — Tomorrow Night: The Downey Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Program holds its 11th annual Block Captain Meeting on Tuesday, April 7, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Downey City Library, 11121 Brookshire Ave. Officers will share what they are seeing on the ground when it comes to vehicle burglaries and other neighborhood crime patterns, walk through prevention strategies, and take questions directly from residents.
→ 🎯 Why I keep flagging this: Neighborhood Watch is one of the highest-leverage public safety tools we have because it costs the city almost nothing and delivers something nothing else can replicate: neighbors who actually know each other. If you have ever wondered whether your block could use a captain, or whether the role is right for you, walk in tomorrow and find out.
💰 Budget & Finance
🔹 Looking Ahead to the April 14 Council Meeting: Our next regular session is Tuesday, April 14 at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers at Downey City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Ave. Agendas post in advance on the city website, and I always encourage residents to take a look before the meeting rather than after. Whether you show up in person, submit written public comment, or watch the livestream, that meeting is where the real work happens.
→ 💡 A note on the compensation measure: As I shared two weeks ago, the Council voted 4-1 to send a charter amendment to the November 3 ballot. I cast the dissenting vote. That conversation now belongs to the voters, not to the five of us on the dais, and I will keep doing my part over the coming months to make the numbers plain. Reimbursements and salaries are not the same thing, and as a financial services professional I think residents deserve clarity on the difference long before a ballot lands in your mailbox.
👉 View agendas and city documents
🔹 New Leadership at Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center: Kim E. Kaiser was named the new chief administrative officer of Downey Medical Center this week, bringing decades of healthcare leadership experience to one of the largest employers and most important institutions in our city. Coming on the heels of the new Bridge Clinic opening last month, this is a meaningful moment for Downey's growing identity as a regional medical hub.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: Healthcare is not just about hospitals. It is about jobs, neighborhood stability, and the property tax base that funds the services every resident relies on. Strong leadership at Downey Medical Center is good for patients and good for the city's long-term fiscal health.
👉 Read more
💼 Economic Development
🔹 Artemis II Watch Party Packs the Space Center: On Wednesday, the Columbia Memorial Space Center was full to the walls as Downey counted down the launch of Artemis II, NASA's first crewed journey around the Moon in more than 50 years. Thank you to the Columbia Memorial Space Center team for hosting, and to every family who showed up to be part of a genuinely historic moment.
→ ⚡ Why this matters for Downey: Aerospace is not nostalgia here. It is living, breathing economic identity. The Space Shuttle Endeavour's mid-body was built on this soil, and the Space Center expansion we recently broke ground on is designed to carry that legacy into the next generation. Wednesday night was a preview of what that future looks like.
🔹 World Cup Energy Building Across the Region: A new Street Soccer USA park is opening in neighboring South Gate by April 16, part of a Visa, Bank of America and Street Soccer USA partnership building community soccer fields in every U.S. World Cup host city. Two professional-grade fields, lighting for night play, after-school academic support, and workforce programming for local youth — all designed to outlast the tournament itself.
→ 🎯 My take: This is exactly the kind of regional momentum I have been saying World Cup 26 would unlock for Southeast LA. Downey's own designation as an official LA Fan Zone, with our June 20 live match viewing event, sits inside a much bigger wave of investment landing in cities just like ours. The job now is to make sure our restaurants, our shops, and our young athletes are ready to ride it.
👉 Read about the South Gate street soccer park
🎭 Schools, Youth & The Arts
🔹 Griffiths Middle School Drama Club Brings Wonderland to Life: Last month, the sixth grade Drama Club at Griffiths Middle School staged two performances of "Adventure Through Wonderland," an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice classic, with a cast of 18 students. Teacher Natalie Knox built an after-school program so any sixth grader could audition, regardless of their elective schedule, and even helped convert Room 92 into an intimate 85-seat studio theater.
→ 🎯 Why this one hits home: I walked the halls of Griffiths as a student. Two weeks ago, I shared that Griffiths had earned California Distinguished School recognition, and stories like this are exactly why. A teacher who builds a stage out of a classroom. Kids who get to feel what it is like to be part of something bigger than a worksheet. This is the kind of work that quietly shapes a generation.
👉 Read the story on Griffiths' production
🔹 Downey Symphony Spring Concert — Saturday, April 18, 7:00 PM, Downey Theatre, FREE: This concert is a moment for our city. Music Director Sharon Lavery has built a program that opens with the Baton Auction winner conducting an orchestral arrangement of Tupac's "Changes," moves into the world premiere of "Moth" by Warren High alum and indie film composer Flora Cheng (who will be on piano), and closes with Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Liszt's "Piano Concerto No. 1" featuring USC Thornton standout Andrew Edwards.
→ 💡 A personal note: Daisy and I had the chance to hear Flora Cheng perform at UCLA back in 2024, and we left impressed. She is someone Downey can be proud of, and you can tell she is passionate about her craft. The chance to see her newest work performed at home, by our own orchestra, free to the public, is the kind of cultural moment that does not come around often.
→ 🎯 My commitment: Councilmember Pemberton and I have pledged, as Downey residents, to do more to rally support for the Symphony among the service groups and the broader community. The arts are part of what makes a city worth living in, and the Downey Symphony has earned that support for 68 years and counting.
👉 Read the full Downey Symphony preview
📅 Coming Up
🔹 ♻️ Compost & Shredding Event: Saturday, April 11, 8:00 to 11:00 AM at Independence Park. Bring up to 30 gallons of compost and 3 banker boxes of documents for shredding. ID required. A great way to spend a Saturday morning keeping sensitive paperwork out of the wrong hands and organic waste out of the landfill.
🔹 🏛️ City Council Meeting: Tuesday, April 14, 6:30 PM, Council Chambers, Downey City Hall.
🔹 🎼 Downey Symphony Spring Concert: Saturday, April 18, 7:00 PM at the Downey Theatre. Free. Doors open at 5:30 PM for the accompanying art exhibit on the mezzanine, themed "The Gentle Warrior: A Loving Tribute to Dr. Jane Goodall."
📱 Stay Connected
Got a pothole to report, graffiti to flag, or a service request to submit? The Downey Connect App is the fastest, most direct path to getting things done. Available for both Apple and Android.
👉 Download the Downey Connect App
Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more real-time updates, event highlights, and a look at what I am working on between newsletters.
The thread running through this week is the one I keep coming back to: a city is the sum of the people who decide to invest in it. A teacher who turns a classroom into a theater. A composer who comes home to premiere her best work. Neighbors who trade Saturday morning sleep for a sidewalk cleanup. A police department that asks residents to lead the conversation about safety. None of that shows up on a budget line, but all of it is what makes Downey, Downey.
I hope to see some of you tomorrow at the Block Captain meeting, on April 11 at the park, on April 14 in chambers, or on April 18 at the Theatre. As always, questions, concerns, or ideas? Hit reply. I read every message.
