The Inglewood City Council convened for their regular city council meeting on June 16th to approve a consultant to negotiate the city’s trash contract, setting a Public Hearing related to short-term rentals, acquisition of vehicles for the newly created Housing Protection Department and setting Inglewood elections for November 3, 2020.
Despite the anticipated delay of opening the Housing Protection Department, which will be funded by exorbitant “fees”, the city is moving forward with spending $170,000 from the General Fund for (5) vehicles. The city has acknowledged the 2019-2020 budget will have serious deficiencies, but are still spending money that we haven’t taken in yet.
HF&H Consultants, LLC have been tapped to negotiate the city’s trash contract for $100,000. The city’s current trash contract made the news when several companies told The Times that it was made known to them Mayor James T. Butts Jr.’s brother was in need of a job. Butts’ brother secured employment with the company that was ultimately selected, Consolidated/Republic Services.
The city’s current contract expires July 31, 2020, so it is unclear why the negotiations would begin two years prior.
Related: Inglewood mayor profited from brother’s job with city trash hauler, records show
The companies shared a “third party” made them aware that the mayor’s brother needed a job, which many believe that third party was Melanie McDade-Dickens.
McDade-Dickens employment ended earlier this year and it is expected she will file a wrongful termination claim with the city before the July 1st deadline.
The city has established June 30, 2020, for the Public Hearing related to short-term rentals.
City Clerk Yvonne Horton has officially consolidated Inglewood elections to coincide with Presidential elections November 3, 2020. All of this week’s staff report contain continued variations of City Manager Artie Fields’ signature. Fields earns in excess of $450,000 per year and should be perfectly capable of signing his own name on official city documents.
Finally, Treasurer Wanda Brown continues to peel back the layers of corruption in City Hall. She has provided weekly comments related to an overpayment to Pinner Construction for the Inglewood Senior Center.
Mayor Butts finally summoned Asst. Finance Director Sharon Koike, and not Finance Director David Esparza, to provide the explanation as to how Pinner was indeed overpaid $77,418 that was then deducted from a future payment but the overpayment was actually residing in the General Fund, in the Section 108 account?

Koike further explained that because of COVID-19 they couldn’t move the money back despite Pinner completing the Senior Center construction back in January 2018.
The overpayment occurred around September 2017, and Koike discovered the error around January 2018, so it’s impossible that COVID was a factor since the disease wasn’t first discovered in the United States, by the CDC, until January 2020.
You can listen to her explain by clicking here.


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How come you don’t have patrion?