sujaspeaks Friday, July 23 It has been suggested in some circles—and various quarters, but mostly circles—that I write too much about my hometown of Downey. I hadn’t noticed that I wrote any more about Downey than Long Beach or Bellflower, but apparently people who keep track of this kind of stuff—funded by Lakewood money, I am told—say I post an inordinate amount of information about Downey…population 107,117. I was shocked to hear this because I believe I write an absolutely ordinate amount about Downey, as ordinate as one can ordinately be about Downey…incorporated December 17, 1956. The things I write about Downey I believe to be of the most significant importance—you know, space museums and such. But I will watch it and make sure that I only write about Downey—motto, “Downey: Who Wants Some?”—when it is absolutely necessary to write about Downey.

 Saturday, July 24 Ashley Campuzano of Downey is named Miss Downey at the Miss Downey Pageant held in the Downey Civic Theatre in Downey (Downey). Campuzano, who is 17 and attends Downey High, is a former Miss Teen Downey. Her victory means she will ride on Downey’s Tournament of Roses float, traditionally one of the parade’s best municipal entries, noted for all the elegance and sophistication befitting a city with a theatre.

 Sunday, July 25 Volleyball legend—and Long Beach resident—Misty May wins the AVP tour stop in Long Beach for the third time in four years, this time with partner Nicole Branagh. It’s nice for May but comes at a time when the beach volleyball tour in America is struggling financially, as are most sports entities not called the NFL. In fact, AVP players took part in a conference call where they were told that things had gotten to the point that the tour might soon be shortened or cancelled. It’s an amazing turn for a sport that, in the mid-90s, was the fastest-growing and hottest on the sports landscape—you listening, MMA? I’ve always felt that the tour went a little too heavy on promoting the sexiness and party aspects of beach volleyball at the expense of pushing competition and professionalism, but, the fact is, any sports tour dependent on corporate dollars, whether it’s the AVP or PGA, is going to struggle during these times. Yes, these days all you can do is hunker down, weather the storm and have no other goal than to simply break even, you know, like the Dodgers.

Monday, July 26 The Downey Police Officers Assn. voluntarily delays a promised pay hike for a year. The 70-member group puts off a 4.25-percent raise that will save the city nearly $800,000. In a time when the Bell city manager was making that much and when Long Beach’s cops are suing their city for overtime pay connected to the time it takes to put on and take off one’s uniforms, this comes as a breath of fresh air or, as we say Downey, fresh aire.

Tuesday, July 27 After weeks of talk and maneuvering and much ado about squat, the Long Beach City Council votes 8-0 to name Suja Lowenthal the city’s new Vice Mayor. It’s a vote and title that means absolutely nothing to absolutely no one except Lowenthal, who very much lobbied for the position so she could put it on campaign material when it comes time to bolt the council for higher office the way she jettisoned the her commitment to the school board several years back.  Suja Lowenthal is the most baldly ambitious and ethically lithe local politician since, well, ex-councilmember, ex-assemblymember, now congressmember Laura Richardson. Like those before her, Lowenthal looks upon the council as a stepping stone. Bill Pearl, of LBReport.com, reported that the newly minted Vice Mayor has informed the council that she will not be available for council proceedings from late August through mid-September. Pearl writes: “During her planned absence, the City Council is scheduled (as it does every year during this period) to debate and cast votes that will decide on cuts and service reductions that could detrimentally impact LB residents and businesses in the coming fiscal year (starting Oct. 2010). In these actions, LB’s elected officials will          show by their actions (their words mean little at this point) what they believe this city’s priorities should be.” Clearly, Suja Lowenthal believes it is all about her.

Wednesday, July 28 Struggle.

Thursday, July 29 We finally find out one of the ways Bell was paying all that money to all of those city employees: property taxes significantly higher than luxury communities such as Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach. In related news, Angela Spaccia, Bell’s assistant city manager, resigns as interim city manager of Maywood. As second in command in Bell, Spaccia receives $376,288. She is rumored to have quit in Maywood because she found the town not “graft-poor.”