Downey : Out-of-State Move Cancels Mayor’s Reelection Plans
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Downey Mayor Barbara J. Hayden said she will not seek a second term in the city’s June 2 election because she is moving to Kansas City, Mo., where she is relocating the family business.
Hayden, 51, received a construction grant from the state of Missouri to help relocate her family business later this year. The company manufactures bullet shells and casings.
The announcement was unexpected; Hayden had been particularly active, and controversial, in the past several months.
The mayor proposed studying whether Downey could save money by abolishing its Police Department and hiring sheriff’s deputies for law enforcement. She also proposed a two-term limit for City Council members. Both proposals were rejected.
“This is kind of sudden,” Hayden said. “At the time I raised the issues, I thought I was going to be here.”
Two Downey Planning Commission members, Joyce L. Lawrence and Steve Allen, have filed candidacy papers to run for Hayden’s at-large District 5 seat. Since Hayden will not be running, the deadline to apply to run for the seat was extended to March 11.
Hayden, a Downey resident for 23 years, was elected to the council in 1988. Previously, she was a member of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees.
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