Community Contributor
Over the last year, members of the Downey community have been watching with increasing horror as the City government tries to silence criticism from the community.
First, then-Mayor Blanca Pacheco limited public comment from a maximum of 5 minutes to 3. Then she and now-Mayor Claudia Frometa tried to establish an ad hoc committee “to do something” about residential picketing, which was promptly rejected by an unlikely alliance between the politically conservative Council Member Alex Saab and the more liberal Sean Ashton.
Now, in the midst of a pandemic that may reasonably get residents more interested in attending City Council meetings, Frometa has declared that public comment section cannot go over 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the new Council Member from District 3, Catherine Alvarez, has actively tried to get more people involved, particularly on her banner issue of rent control.
On this, she was attacked by Vijay Patel, an L.A. City Attorney who resides in Downey, for his perception of her conflict of interest on tenant protection discussions at City Hall given her status as a tenant.
Community members likely read Patel’s piece in Downey Patriot with great interest, and also likely enjoyed reading the counter-piece written by Carlos Aranibar and published by Downey Latino.
This is what Democracy is all about, and—as we might expect—the debate in the local papers soon turned to verbal spats at City Hall.
At the last meeting of the Council, the views of Patel and Aranibar came to a head during public comment, when two other speakers, like Jessica Sandoval, accused Patel of domestic abuse, and Aranibar said he was concerned about these allegations.
Patel referred to Aranibar, who serves as Alvarez’ appointee to the Public Works Committee, “an extension” of Alvarez, suggesting a concerted case against him by Alvarez and Aranibar.
Following the meeting, Patel took to Facebook to accuse Alvarez of “having her Commissioner false accuse me of a serious criminal offense in a public forum” and tagged Aranibar, saying “I do not need any defending, but I foresee you will based on the statements made during the February 24th, 2021, Downey Council City meeting,” he wrote in the Downey Community Corner Facebook group.
It appears that Patel believes he is the target of defamation by Aranibar. But there are major issues with Patel’s claims, which must be brought to the attention of the Downey community.
Let’s start with an odd fact: As a result of inexplicable internal delays, the newly appointed Public Works Committee members have not actually taken their oath of office yet.
They noted as such in the Public Works meeting on March 2nd the Commissioners are set to take their oaths at the next Public Works meeting. In other words, contrary to what Mr. Patel has been stating on social media and at City Hall, Carlos Aranibar is not a member of the City government.
Rather, Aranibar is a regular citizen voicing concern about allegations made against Patel during a public meeting by other members of the public, and responding with concern regarding the claims made by other speakers seems to be well within the limits of protected speech.
And here’s where things quickly turn on Mr. Patel. Unlike Aranibar, Patel is a member of the City government—a small fact that Mr. Patel has either forgotten or is completely clueless about.
He was appointed by Alvarez’ predecessor, Rick Rodriguez, on March 13th 2018, to serve on the Personnel Advisory Board, and according to the Downey Municipal Code, “The members shall serve so long as they continue to be domiciled within the district from which they were appointed during their term, and until their respective successors are appointed and qualified.”
In this case, Alvarez has not appointed any successor to this Board, effectively leaving Patel in office.
Of course, appointees serve largely at the pleasure of Council Members. They are supposed to be advisors to the Council, providing feedback and support.
In this case, Patel—acting unilaterally without input from the rest of the Personnel Advisory Board—is doing the exact opposite.
He is attacking the Council Member he serves under, all the while attacking a private citizen who can only be considered a legal member of the Public Works Committee once he takes his oath of office.
Stated differently, what we have here is a member of the government (Patel) claiming that a member of the public (Aranibar), is engaging in defamation.
Mr. Patel would be advised to remember back to his first few months of law school. N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan is clear: “no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence.”
The theory of “libel on government” is not tolerated by the Constitution, see Rosenblatt v. Baer. Mr. Patel is a member of the Downey government, and cannot be defamed, for the People have an inalienable right to criticize government.
Of course, it’s not too surprising that Patel is attacking Council Member Alvarez. He stated in his public comment at the contentious meeting that “Council Member Alvarez’ appointees are an extension of herself.”
By the same projection logic, it appears that Patel is an extension of Rick Rodriguez, who adamantly pushed to silence the public by reducing the time allowed for public comment. Patel’s attacks on Aranibar’s speech are certainly in the Rodriguez tradition of attempting to silence the public.
Where do we go from here?
The attacks against Alvarez, her supporters, and Downey’s working-class families, are likely to continue.
Never before in Southeast L.A. history had a millionaire landlord been replaced on a City Council by a tenant advocate who once slept on the streets of the very same city that elected her.
It is possible that, as time goes by, many Downey residents will get to know and appreciate the unlikely person representing District 3.
Bravo to democracy. Bravo to Downey.
