Earning 3,998 votes in 2016, Arturo “Art” Gonzalez, running for District 5, stated at the Downey City Council Candidate Forum on Oct. 1 that he is running a grassroots campaign and connecting with voters all around him, focusing on issues, such as neighborhood safety as well as maintaining transparency through the Quality Insurance Review Committee to better the City of Downey.

On the issue of rent forgiveness, Gonzalez wants more negotiation between tenants and landlords to ensure that renters are paying for what they can afford upfront to supplement the income the landlords that live off of it as he believes the well-being of the landowners should also be taken into consideration as part of the first step to address this issue.

On the issue of Covid-19, Gonzalez compared its handling to the handling of coyote attacks in the City of Downey that concerned residents last year since not only the city but also the community was involved through neighborhood watch committees and frequent communication between residents and city officials. 

He explained that there needed to be more oversight during the pandemic, such as ensuring that those who were infected were quarantined and ensuring that they were receiving the healthcare they needed to keep the community safe.

On the issue of neighborhood safety, Gonzalez argued at the forum that he is one-hundred percent against defunding the police as he believes that Downey is a great city and that the police provide the protection and safety that residents need. Therefore, he proposed that because the police provide this valuable resource, the city council should be protecting the police the same way police protect residents.

The city council elections are on Nov. 3. Due to unavailable contact information, all information was obtained from the Downey City Council Candidates Forum.