Downey Mayor Mario Guerra sent me an open letter today about his hopes of drawing an electric-car plant to his city. Long Beach and Downey are the two finalists chosen by Tesla Motors, which is looking for a location to build its $50,000 S sedan.
You can read the article Paul Eakins and I wrote about the issue in today's paper.
Guerra's letter appears in full below:
Thanks for the extra prayers and notes lately...I am on the mend and should be recovered soon....I have been in much pain but hopefully things have turned the corner....I had a blood transfusion and had 4 pints of blood added and surgery to plug the leak......But I can type and talk this week at least...ha...And things have been happening behind the scenes for a while, especially regarding Tesla...
Attached is a copy of a story that ran in today's Long Beach Press Telegram..http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_13219648?source=email
The key individual who will be making the final determination of where the Tesla Motors manufacturing plant will be located, Downey or Long Beach, will be Tesla's Founder and CEO, Mr. Elon Musk. His selection criteria, as outlined in today's Press Telegram article, will largely involve economics, building conditions, logistics, regulatory and environmental issues....These things all FAVOR Downey....And nobody can match our legacy and the role that Downey has played in American history.
As a city we are ready to go. All the environmental reports and studies are done and we want them to continue our past of high end tech jobs in our fine city.
Mr. Musk is also the Chief Executive Officer for the SpaceX Company. SpaceX received a contract from NASA in December, 2008 that is potentially worth $3.1 billion to produce rockets to lift supplies to the International Space Station, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/25/business/fi-rocket25. From my earlier discussion with Mr. Musk, he has a keen interest in the history of space exploration and understands the significance of Downey's former NASA site in creating that history. We have emphasized our City's rich space history to Mr. Musk in many ways.
Therefore, when individuals or organizations, such as the Aerospace Legacy Foundation, service organizations, citizens and historical society members ask what you can do to help us bring Tesla Motors to Downey, I ask you all to write letters to Mr. Musk asking him to continue the 70+ years of advanced technology manufacturing history at the site. It would be best if the letter writers would use their own words, so each letter is not a duplicate of the others. This would help tremendously.
This is a great opportunity for our city to come together for something that will benefit us all for many years and continues our history as being a special place to live.
I hope you will help and please pass this along to all your friends....You will also see some other things being done from City Hall in the near future to show Mr. Musk as much " love " as possible and to let him know he is welcomed in our fine city and we would be honored to work together as a true partner in many way.
All my best....God Bless..
Dn. Mario A. Guerra
Mayor
City of Downey
