Citizen Voice
November 3rd was an election day like no other, while the incumbent Donald Trump held an early lead, former Vice President Joe Biden ended up winning both the popular and electoral votes needed to certify him as the 46th president of the United States.
Locally, in what was seen as an upset, President of the Downey Tenants Union Catherine Alvarez defeated Downey Patriot Editor Eric Pierce and student Dalejuan Peevy to win the race for Downey District 3.
Alvarez was considered an outsider as she ran a grassroots campaign and was seen as the voice of the renters in Downey as opposed to candidates like Eric Pierce and Carrie Uva who received major donations from property management companies.
It should be no surprise that Alvarez is now getting attacked from both her political opponents and local Downey property management companies. Eric Pierce resumed his duties at the Downey Patriot and was one of the first to publicly attack Alvarez.
Although filed under the “News” section of the Downey Patriot, his piece read more like an Op-Ed. Aside from calling Alvarez vulgar and vilifying the fact that she was an active protestor against the Downey City Council’s inaction against renter protections, he speaks to the fact that he does not think that the council will not give Alvarez any levels of authority.
Additionally, a website was created on November 10th called DowneyCrime.com with the mantra that it will expose corruption within the city of Downey. The site slanders Alvarez, accusing her of lying about her personal life and calling for a recall of her seat on the council.
I wasn’t sure who would go to such lengths to slander a city council member who has not even assumed office yet, so with the help of a friend I did some digging. As a disclosure I should add all this information is public information. After signing up for their mailing list I received an email to confirm my email address.
This email address is linked to a Joseph T. Bartolo of Downey, California. Bartolo also happens to own a property management company based in Downey, called Bartolo Management. While I cannot 100% confirm that Joseph Bartolo, owns Bartolo Management based in Downey. it does raise a few eyebrows.
I can only make this assumption: Catherine Alvarez will face many attacks from both the political establishment and property management companies for her role in helping fight for renter protections. It is up to the renters of Downey to fight back and call out when they see corporate corruption.
Robert W.
