INGLEWOOD – Late last year an article ran in the Los Cerritos News about the “school bond” hustle that possibly conflicted with other LA County agencies. The article peeled back the layers of how a parent at Parent Elementary School managed to raise nearly $100,000 from folks outside of city limits in a relatively short period of time.
The campaign committee’s first report covered 9/20/20 to 10/17/20; two people put their names on the documents, Roy Rivas signed on as Treasurer and David L. Gould as Assistant Treasurer.
No one knows who Roy Rivas is, he is not the owner of the Inglewood house he listed as his residence on the Measure I Cover Page.
Roy Rivas is a member of the PTA at Parent Elementary School. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment as to why he used Councilman Alex Padilla’s Parks & Recreation Commissioner Jacob Fragoso’s address for filing campaign finance forms on behalf of the Inglewood Residents for Yes on Measure I.
Rivas also did not respond to inquiries as to whether he is an actual Inglewood resident.
David Gould is also listed on the filing documents. Gould has previously served as treasurer for Mayor Butts’ 2015 re-election committee. On of the mayor’s filings, it showed a $2000 campaign check made payable to the former VP of the Inglewood Police Officers Association, who has since been indicted on drug trafficking charges. The mayor alleges the check was issued without his knowledge, despite his signature being on the forms in question.
The Parent PTA gets special perks like earning money from vending stands at SoFi Stadium, and the members were also photographed attending the Super Bowl. Padilla’s home is a stones throw from PTA behind the old Service Merchandise.
Public records requests were submitted to Inglewood Unified’s attorney of record, Orbach Huff & Henderson LLP, requesting campaign documents and to determine if the district is paying companies/consultants close to the mayor, and they have delayed providing those records for months.
OHH contributed $5,000 towards the measures passage.
A trip to Norwalk was scheduled with the forms being produced.
The forms indicate no money was collected from residents of Inglewood, outside of a $500 check from former school board member D’artagnan Scorza. The campaign committee refunded him the full amount.
Mayor James T. Butts, and Councilman Alex Padilla and George Dotson are up for re-election this November and typically claim to “stay out of” school district matters.
Padilla regularly accuses the community for making “false” assumptions and spreading “misinformation” to the residents. It is our sincere hope that Councilman Padilla will speak with his commissioner and publicly report back to residents about the “shamalama” stuff going on between Rivas and Fragoso who appear to have duped residents into pledging their property taxes towards the school district, while County Administrator Dr. Erika Torres is dismantling it school site by school site.
A complaint submitted with the Los Angeles County District offices found that although a conflict could exist, it didn’t amount to a criminal offense so the case was closed.
Apparently the bond hustle is consultants, construction companies, and vendors make a fortune from cost overruns, change orders, etc. in exchange they appear before a handpicked bond oversight committee whose job is to rubber stamp every request or face removal.
In other words: wash, rinse, repeat. Are you tired yet?
1 Comment
Thank YOU
Again 2 urban girls has put in the research time and effort in an attempt to let residents know who the players in this traveling snake oil act.
The architects and lawyers wanted continued income so they paid strategists to sell us the myth that buildings teach.
Sadly half the voters fell for the lie and homeowners are on the hook for years to come and we will paid handsomely for those empty promises
There was a time Inglewood Unified was about educational opportunity but since Measure K it has been a cash factory for contractors and lawyers.