Inglewood Mayor James Butts is routinely observed taking daily walks around the City which gives him a birds eye view to how the city looks to passerbys. He is however, “Ray Charles” to the trash left behind from attendees leaving SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum which is part of his normal walking route.
The treasurer of the HOA attended the Oct. 18 regular city council meeting to explain to the City it isn’t the gate communities responsibility to pick up trash left on their property.
“I’m here to beg for some help,” said Phyllis Gillian. “When they have concerts at the Forum and games at SoFi Stadium they [attendees] leave trash all over our property and we can’t get anyone to help us remove the trash and we don’t think that we should be responsible financially for doing this when we are not the ones enjoying the profits from all of this.”
“We want the City to help us with the Forum and stadium to clean up the trash around our property, we never had this before both of these opened,” Gillian said. “It looks like a freakin’ ghetto when they leave and we need help.”
The mayor asked for the exact location of the trash she was referencing.
“It’s right along Manchester, Pincay and Kareem Court which is the portion of grass surrounding the property where they throw trash there when the cans get full,” Gillian said.
He then asked how long does it stay there because that’s his walking route and “he hadn’t noticed it”.
“We just had our landscape clean it but most of the time it’s there forever because nobody is cleaning it up,” Gillian said.
The mayor said he would “talk to” SoFi about that but Gillian said the Forum needs to be addressed too.
“When those people put their tents up they have food and stuff that they leave behind,” Gillian said.
“I definitely see the tents on Kareem Court when they’re there to get their tickets,” said Butts.
Councilwoman Dionne Faulk chimed in on the issue of the trash as well.
“I’ve been working really, really closely with our Public Works department because the Renaissance community has also expressed concerns about the trash,” said Faulk. “We’ve picked up the trash collection and working with our team on the major thoroughfares around SoFi Stadium after every event.”
“This is a concern of all the gated communities,” said Faulk.
Faulk is also a resident of Renaissance.
Butts then asked Assistant City Manager Luis Atwell about a contract service the City uses to clean up after events and if they were still utilizing that service.
“No mayor we are not using that service we are using Public Works forces,” said Atwell who also serves as the Public Works director. “The issue was that it was $10,000 after every event, which comes out to $50,000- $60,000 per week.”
The council continues to laud the alleged “financial benefits” that come from the opening of the Kia Forum and SoFi Stadium but the financial burden continues to fall on the backs of residents.
According to the stadium petition the council approved in Feb. 2015, the admissions tax revenue is capped at $15 million annually which is absorbed by costs associated with law enforcement, traffic control, and the fire department. The agreement doesn’t call for additional resources for trash pickup.
The agreement did call for Hollywood Park Co. to pick up the costs for signage related to the citywide permit parking program, however, the general fund paid for it via a interdepartment fund transfer to the parking authority.
When exactly will Inglewood residents see the benefits of the stadium?
Mayor Butts campaign slogan is “promises kept, results you can see” but obviously we aren’t looking at the same picture.
