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Hector Sosa Newsletter — May 25, 2026
📬 Councilmember Hector Sosa | District 2, Downey | May 26, 2026
Hello, neighbors,
Yesterday morning we paused. Memorial Day asks something quieter than most holidays do, not celebration, but remembrance, and that is the reason this update is reaching you Tuesday instead of the usual Monday. Some mornings deserve to be still.
Now, on to the rest of the week. A regional advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. for the Southeast Gateway Line. A long-awaited verdict in a 2022 Downey murder case. New retailers opening at Stonewood Center. A public hearing tonight on the SPODS moratorium. And a quick way to hear me explain the city's partnership with our school district in my own words. Here it is.
🇺🇸 Honoring Memorial Day
🔹 Memorial Day Ceremony at the Downey Cemetery District: Yesterday, the Downey Cemetery District hosted its annual Memorial Day Ceremony, a quiet, dignified tribute to the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country. The ceremony reflected what makes Downey, Downey: residents, families, veterans, and city partners standing shoulder to shoulder to honor those who never came home.
→ 🎯 My take: Freedom is not free. That phrase gets repeated until it almost goes flat, but standing among those headstones makes it land again. We owe our Gold Star families more than one Monday in May. We owe them remembrance the other 364 days too, and a community worthy of the sacrifice their loved ones made.
→ ⚡ Why I keep showing up: During my year as mayor, hosting a traveling Vietnam War memorial at Discovery Sports Complex was one of the most meaningful things our city did. The conversations I had with veterans and their families that week, I will carry the rest of my life. Honoring those who served is not a once-a-year posture for me. It is who I want this city to be.
👉 Learn about the Downey Veterans Memorial
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 Verdict Returned in the 2022 Killing of Off-Duty Officer Gardiel Solorio: On Friday, a Norwalk jury convicted Carlos Daniel Delcid of first-degree murder in the August 2022 shooting death of off-duty Monterey Park police officer Gardiel Solorio during an attempted robbery in a Downey parking lot near the 105 Freeway. The jury also returned true findings on the special-circumstance allegations of attempted robbery and attempted carjacking, plus personal-use-of-a-firearm enhancements. Sentencing is set for August 5, and Delcid is facing life in prison without parole.
→ ⚡ Why this matters here: Officer Solorio was a rookie just weeks out of the academy, killed in our city while off duty. A case like this never really closes for the family, but a verdict gives them something they did not have before, the public record stating clearly what happened and who is accountable. I want every member of his family, and every officer who serves Downey alongside the Downey Police Department, to know this community sees them.
→ 🎯 My standing position: I support our first responders one hundred percent. That is not a slogan, it is the lens I bring to every public safety vote that crosses our dais. Public safety remains the largest line in our general fund for a reason, and the work of keeping Downey safe runs through every shift on every street, in uniform and out of it.
👉 Read the Downey Patriot's coverage
💼 Economic Development & Regional Investment
🔹 Southeast Gateway Line Advocacy Trip to Washington, D.C.: Earlier in the week, I joined elected officials and staff from Artesia, Cerritos, Huntington Park, LA County, and LA Metro on a regional advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. on behalf of the Southeast Gateway Line. One 14-hour day, dozens of meetings, and a real return on the investment of showing up in person.
→ 💡 What the project is: The Southeast Gateway Line is a planned light rail connection between Southeast LA County and Downtown LA, designed to give tens of thousands of commuters a faster, safer, more dependable alternative to sitting in traffic. Ten corridor cities are partnering with LA County and LA Metro on this. The Downey hub station is planned for the South side of the Rancho South Campus, off Gardendale Avenue, squarely inside District 2.
→ 📊 By the numbers: The project is projected to create roughly 90,000 jobs and generate about $5 billion per year in regional economic activity once operating. That is not a small number for a region whose freeways are choking on growth.
→ 🎯 My take: Regional transit gets built when local elected officials show up, ask for the meeting, make the case, and come back the next quarter to do it again. A Downey station off Gardendale changes what is possible for our residents, our employers, and the Rancho South Campus plan we have been building toward. Worth every hour on a red-eye.
🔹 Stonewood Center Adds New Stores Amid Ongoing Renovation: Stonewood Center is continuing its multi-phase renovation with several new retail additions. Windsor, the women's fashion retailer, opened May 15 near H&M. Torre & Co Jewelers is set to open later this month near JCPenney. And See's Candies is relocating into a larger space near Buffalo Wild Wings, with that new store scheduled to open May 29.
→ ⚡ Why this matters for Downey: Stonewood is one of the city's anchor commercial properties, and steady reinvestment from the mall's ownership is a signal worth paying attention to. New tenants, expanded footprints, and active renovation tell you the property is being positioned for the long haul, not coasting. Combined with the steady momentum at Downey Gateway and the World Cup Fan Zone designation, the retail picture in this city is moving the right direction heading into summer.
👉 Read the Downey Patriot's coverage
🏛️ Tonight at City Hall
🔹 Regular City Council Meeting Tonight, 6:30 PM: Tonight's regular session of the City Council is at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers at Downey City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Ave. As always, you can attend in person, submit written public comment, or watch the livestream from home. Every one of those options is part of the record.
→ 🎯 What I am watching: The SPODS moratorium, the City's interim ordinance restricting Single Price Overstock and Discount Stores, is on the agenda for a public hearing. The current moratorium expires tomorrow, May 27, and the Council is being asked to consider an extension to allow staff and the Planning Commission more time to finish their long-term analysis. My position has not changed since April. On land-use rules that will shape our commercial corridors for the next decade, I want the analysis to catch up with the policy question before we lock anything in.
→ 💡 How to plug in: If the SPODS issue, or anything else on tonight's agenda, matters to you, public comment is the most direct way to put it on the Council's radar. Pull up the agenda before the meeting, not after.
👉 View agendas and city documents
🤝 City & Schools Partnership
🔹 A Closer Look at Downey's City and School Partnership: Last Thursday, I sat down with the team at Talking Downey to walk through how the partnership between the City of Downey and the Downey Unified School District actually works, where it shows up for students and families, and why I keep pushing to deepen it. The conversation runs short and gets to the point, and a clip explaining it landed online May 21.
→ 🎯 Why this is one of my core priorities: Downey Unified is part of why my family is here. Daisy and I are Warren High alumni, our boys came up through DUSD, and Joshua is wrapping his senior year at Warren right now. I believe strong, working partnerships between City Hall and the school district translate into better outcomes for every kid in this city, no matter which campus they walk onto in the morning. If you want to hear me make the case in my own words, the link below is the fastest way.
👉 Watch the conversation (Instagram)
🔹 Coordinating Council Honors Downey Volunteers at 70th Annual Dinner: On May 14, the Downey Coordinating Council held its 70th annual Volunteer of the Year Awards Dinner at The Arc's Reagan Events Center, honoring volunteers from twenty civic, charitable, and service organizations across Downey and Southeast LA County. Among those recognized were Drs. Dan and Debra Fox of Gangs Out of Downey and Steve Roberson of Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis, two organizations I have been honored to serve with personally for years.
→ ⚡ Why this lands for me: I am past President of Gangs Out of Downey and past President-Elect of Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis. I know what it costs to keep a volunteer organization running, the hours, the late nights, the small, unglamorous work that nobody applauds. Recognition like this is overdue and well-earned. Thank you to every honoree, and to the Coordinating Council for keeping this tradition alive for seven decades.
👉 Read the full list of honorees
📅 Coming Up
🔹 🏛️ Next Regular City Council Meeting: Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 PM, Council Chambers, Downey City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Ave. Agendas post in advance on the city website. Pull them up before the meeting, not after.
🔹 ♻️ Next Keep Downey Beautiful Cleanup: Saturday, September 19, 9:00 to 10:00 AM. Mark your calendar now. No registration required, just show up ready to work. The small habit of keeping your block looking the way you want it does not need a calendar invite either.
👉 View the Keep Downey Beautiful schedule
📱 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.
One more thought before I sign off. Memorial Day yesterday, a verdict in a public safety case, a regional advocacy push in Washington, new investment coming into our commercial corridors, and a partnership with our school district that keeps getting stronger. Different headlines, but the same through-line: this city works because the people in it choose to show up, in court, in conference rooms three thousand miles away, on a school board dais, and at a Council meeting on a Tuesday night. Service is the connective tissue. Thank you for being part of it.
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