INGLEWOOD – The Daily Breeze continues to amplify Inglewood voices by reporting on an unprecedented move by the Inglewood city clerk to demand live scans from potential candidates for mayor and city council in upcoming elections which was first reported by 2UrbanGirls.
Related: Inglewood City Clerk’s office appears compromised
The newspaper also pointed out that City Clerk Aisha Thompson, who was elected in 2020, didn’t have to submit a live scan to be on the ballot despite her defending asking others to do so.
In an email, City Clerk Aisha Thompson said she was amazed she was “being questioned, especially when all I am doing is asking each potential candidate to do a Live Scan to clear them so if, in fact, someone is a convicted felon, it would not cost our Inglewood tax payers.”
She pointed to the prohibited felonies outlined in the state Elections Code as the authority for the background checks. Thompson, who previously served as the city’s deputy city clerk, did not respond to questions asking when the change was made, who decided on it, or why candidates did not receive earlier notification about it.
She also said candidates must make appointments to pick up and turn in their nomination papers so that she can go through the paperwork with them, a process that takes about a half-hour.
Multiple potential candidates were interviewed and described the over reaching authority of the request and also question where there personal information will end up.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts has usurped total control of both City Hall and the Inglewood Police Department and is alleged to be abusing his power as a former chief of police with access to residents personal information via both entities.
Treasurer Wanda Brown alleged the mayor began stationing IPD officers near her home after she began speaking out on the City’s finances.
His ex-aide Melanie McDade accused the mayor of following her and through text messages she released to the public he admits to following her to a Bellflower hair salon to check “water under her car”. It is further alleged he misappropriated City resources when he commandeered a squadron of twelve police officers to shut down a local businesses grand opening when he learned she was there.
McDade has filed a subsequent claim with the City alleging stalking that continues despite her not being employed with the City since late 2019.
It is become a typical pattern that Inglewood officials only provide email statements to local press, leading residents to believe the statements are written by the mayor and not the person they are attributed to. The City routinely denies answering follow questions on matters such as why the city manager authorized the mayor to have a 24/7 car from the fleet of IPD when voters give him an auto allowance, or any matter involving the City’s finances.
Campaign finance reports released by the City, after making multiple requests, detail the mayor has $175,000 cash on hand which was received through a combination of labor unions, companies with the two dozen electronic billboards throughout the City, and other businesses.
Read the full Daily Breeze article here.
