By: Marvin McCoy
Can I say that I’m genuinely excited about the future of Inglewood for the first time since Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr.’s arrival here in 2011 because if we can take any lessons learned so to speak from the City’s last election in November and the upcoming District 1 runoff election scheduled to take place on March 7th, is that Inglewood residents disdain and displeasure with this elected body’s governing style that one time, was nationally renowned and celebrated has been exposed as a fluke.
Mayor Butts barely avoided a runoff to retain his seat for Mayor against lesser-known candidates, with limited financial resources and network to defeat an incumbent such as Butts, who although it is well documented he is morally and ethically corrupt continues to deliver for the multimillionaire developers and donors whom in which in a sense he sold he political “soul” to so to speak by not only landing two NFL teams and the Los Angeles Clippers but also ushering in gentrification, speculation and upon further examination, exasperating not only the City’s growing homeless population but Los Angeles County-wide as rent prices skyrocketed beyond the average taxpayer’s ability to pay rent further causing housing instability.
I hope Inglewood residents are paying attention to the fact that 2UrbanGirls points out that the current rent protections that are in place will expire next December. You don’t have to believe what you read but the video is on their YouTube channel if you want to hear it come from the city council’s mouth directly.
Are we better served collectively, as a City, with the possible election of long-time waterboard member and former School Board Trustee, Gloria Gray who although claims she wants to bring transparency to the council but has and according to 2UrbanGirls long-time coverage of her actions on the West Basin board, struggles with transparency issues herself that are well documented in both the Daily Breeze and Los Angeles Times.
It must be bad if former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez threatened to sever ties with the agency and Supervisor Janice Hahn had to rally other elected officials to force Gray and her colleagues to take action.
With that being said like the late great singer Sam Cooke said “a change gonna come” and as with all changes that usually originates from a sense of necessity, so to speak for change that started with a small but silent cry of dissent at the polls where residents resoundingly defeated Measure I and as a result cost the Mayor and Council a brutal defeat as passage and proceeds of that measure were anticipated to pay for the day to day operations of the Inglewood Transit Connector scheduled to break ground for construction in 2024.
This upcoming runoff election is an extension and/or referendum so to speak of Mayor Butts and his leadership style although arguably effective in delivering for his multibillionaire donors, it’s these same skills and or talents one may that finds him at a crossroads with his most crucial donor base; the homeowners.
The position that Councilman George Dotson finds himself in is highly predictable and as with all great kingdoms and in this case “administration” must come to an end it’s the once-celebrated leadership style of the Mayor that may ultimately bring his demise because the financial gains and “perks” of doing business with the Mayor allowed us to turn a blind eye to some very obvious character and leadership flaws in which Dotson, one can argue, may eventually pay the ultimate price should he lose to Gloria Gray March 7th.
Make no mistake, the mayor is wielding substantial control over access to the gold in City Hall. He doesn’t want new eyes to have access to the candy store. It is well documented that the City moves at a snail’s pace to release documents under public records requests. The new hustle is denying records to requestors that have already been provided to others. The mayor practically lives on the 9th floor and has installed a new emergency operations center that he is believed to be manning himself.
In closing, I ultimately believe that as flawed a candidate as Gloria Gray is maybe her arrival to the Inglewood City Council is almost, prophetically predictable so to speak because try as they may the sins of the Mayor and his “leadership” style has consequences and fortunately or unfortunately George Dotson will ultimately, in my opinion, become one of those consequences.
The only problem is Gray was not definitive in a recent interview published on this website where after her many decades as an elected official and voting on official matters finds herself not understanding her “authority” to vote on payment of the mayor’s legal bills related to his consensual affair with a subordinate in violation of the city’s sexual harassment policy.
That tells me she’s not a protector of the very women the mayor has a history of bullying, publicly. Barbara Ohno, Margarita Cruz, Diane Sambrano, Wanda Brown, Melanie McDade, and the list will go on if he isn’t stopped.
Women are the least protected in the workplace and sadly you don’t have prominent Black women elected officials speaking up on their behalf which is pitiful.
District 1 don’t forget to vote March 7. You can vote by mail or in person at the Church of Hope gymnasium at 9550 S. Crenshaw Blvd. from Feb. 25 through Election Day.
