INGLEWOOD, Calif. (2UrbanGirls) – Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts sent an early morning email to staff alerting him he has been exposed to COVID-19 and will quarantine for seven days.
“I have been exposed to COVID-19. I have tested negative and will be in 7-day quarantine from work effective immediately,” wrote Butts in the email he sent at 5:01 a.m. “Councilman Eloy Morales Jr. will chair the city council meeting of Jan. 24.”
Butts was in court Friday, Jan. 20, on a continued hearing in his ex-aide’s request for a permanent restraining order against him. Due to the requestor not providing sufficient proof to corroborate her claims, the judge denied her request and dismissed the case that was outlined in the minute order uploaded to the court’s website.
On today’s council agenda is an item to pay an $18,000 invoice from Jan. 2022 for Super Bowl 56-related activities.
Another peculiar item is an agreement between the Inglewood Police Department and Hollywood Park for use of retail space for a police substation at the site for the cost of nearly $227,000.
The accompanying staff report is dated Jan. 24, 2023.
Police Chief Mark Fronterotta has been hospitalized since around Jan. 11. Mayor Butts alerted staff to the chief’s medical condition in a light night email he sent on Jan. 12. As the mayor provided periodic updates to city staff, he consistently noted the “chief was not available for phone calls and/or visits”.
Related: Inglewood police chief hospitalized in ICU
It is unclear if city staff went to the recovery center to obtain Fronterotta’s signature on the document for the council to approve during today’s meeting, nor does it have the signature of another police staff member FOR the chief. The mayor has not sent any updates stating the chief was at home recovering.
Who is signing the chief’s signature? Did he have his signature placed on a signature stamp for others to use in lieu of his actual signature?
It is unclear why the City is paying for retail space at Hollywood Park when the City owns a parcel on the site near Prairie Ave. Why aren’t we building our own substation, as opposed to paying rent to the Hollywood Park Retail/Commercial Investors LLC? It appears that the financial windfall the City was due to receive is going right back to the developer.
Mayor Butts has potentially exposed a wide range of people including other city staff, particularly a member of the City’s Office of Emergency Services who acts as the mayor’s personal driver.
Both he and the mayor have documented health issues that are commonly referred to as “underlying health conditions”.
Both the mayor, his driver, and attorney Mira Hashmall were observed in court not wearing masks indoors, despite the continued uptick in COVID cases throughout Los Angeles County and the public health department urging people to resume wearing masks indoors.
Butts is expected to return to City Hall next week.
