By: Emilie St. John
Two long-time Inglewood neighbors will faceoff for a seat on the Inglewood City Council in a runoff election scheduled for March 7.
Incumbent Councilman George Dotson will face Gloria Gray, a 17-year member of the West Basin seek to represent residents in Inglewood’s District 1.
Gray served on the Inglewood School board prior to being elected to the water board, and Dotson was a member of multiple Inglewood commissions.
He served as a Planning Commissioner for 20 years, and was on the Parking & Traffic Commission for five.
During both of their tenures, Inglewood was in a downward spiral in both the school district and City as Mayor James Butts took over after the 2011 election.
The City then began a rapid transformation in 2015 after the city council voted to approve SoFi Stadium which set off gentrification, higher rents, and parking and traffic issues that have become the bane of resident’s existence, particularly those in the council district Dotson and Gray seek to represent.
To respond to the uptick in rent hikes, in 2020 the City was forced to adopt a Housing Protection Ordinance, covering rent control, which sunsets in 2025.
Residents dissatisfaction was evident during the Nov. 8 election when Butts narrowly avoided a runoff after capturing 54% of the vote and Dotson only garnered 31% which forced him into the runoff with Gray who received 23% of all votes cast.
The question now posed to voters is where do the candidates stand on current issues as more construction is headed to the City, the shrinking of our police department, and the ongoing costs of defending the mayor in several legal matters.
The candidates were asked what their top priorities are if elected.
George Dotson is running on a platform of the success achieved during his 9 years on the council in maintaining local hiring goals for construction projects which provides workers with a livable wage.
“I’m focused on addressing crime, small business growth and traffic and equally concerned with parking, our school district and making sure the community is aware of the process of executing changes within the city,” said Dotson.
Dotson was a small business owner for decades and understands how vital they are to the community.
“I will be working diligently with the small business community to make sure the City assists them in achieving their goals,” said Dotson in his campaign statement.
The city recently secured $407 million from state surplus funds to use towards the construction of the proposed Inglewood Transit Connector.
The project will uproot many small business owners and potentially residents living in multi-family residential housing along the project route.
The city also adopted a $5 million Business Interruption Fund last year to assist small businesses that may become displaced by the project.
Gray’s top priorities are transparency, an open government and accessibility to information.
“I want to make sure we have an open government, making sure City Hall is available to the residents and transparency is very important and to do that you have to be able to participate with the decision-making process,” said Gray. “
In 2015, an audit of West Basin recommended the board schedule its meetings when members of the public could attend which Gray and her fellow board members rejected, twice.
When asked about it she said we got it wrong.
“We have meetings when everyone can come, it’s not a closed meeting,” said Gray.
Like the city of Inglewood, the water board meets mid-day which doesn’t provide working members of the community to attend in person.
The board justified its decision to ignore the recommendations by saying most of its customers are either businesses or public entities, so daytime meetings made more sense. Their customers are also ratepayers, which includes residents of Inglewood. The board finally agreed to record and make the meetings available online in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic after being urged by elected officials served by the water agency.
Candidates were also asked what they felt were the biggest concerns of the residents.
Dotson says he is aware of the resident’s desires regarding school closures but reiterates the city council has no jurisdiction over those decisions.
“I understand the communities concerns for families in the school district which is certainly a very high priority and I want to remind the community that the City Council has no control over the school district,” said Dotson. “It’s in receivership and controlled by an administrator appointed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. I’ve lived in Inglewood for 54 years and this is extremely important to me.”
During protests held by community members, Dotson attended a couple of the meetings, and Gray didn’t as homeowners pleaded with the district to not close the last Inglewood Unified school in District 1.
Since 1999, Inglewood residents have approved close to $500 million in school bonds for upgrades that the district is lagging in addressing. The district has also not disclosed how they’ve spent $85 million received in federal funds related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dotson touched on his desire to work more closely with residents and the city’s traffic department to “ensure the best possible parking and traffic plans are implemented”.
Gray says residents want a change in what they’ve experienced thus far.
“Residents want a more transparent government and access to city hall,” said Gray.
Despite being on the water board serving Inglewood residents for nearly two decades she has not made any efforts to attend city council meetings to keep residents informed about water issues, particularly when there were calls last year to not water yards for weeks while pipes were being repaired or discussions about the drought which impacts residents across all the cities the water agency serves.
Residents are also vocal about their displeasure with the City’s decision to implement a citywide permit parking program without input from the Parking & Traffic Commission or residents.
“This program was put together so fast, there was no committee,” said Butts.
As a direct result, the City is requiring residents to pay to park in front of their homes and obtain parking permits for their guests. Residents don’t see where the economic benefits are from the multiple sports teams that have been approved as legal bills continue to pile up to defend Mayor Butts in multiple lawsuits.
Both Dotson and Gray were asked if they would continue to vote in favor of paying Butts’ legal fees which estimates to have already cost taxpayers nearly $500,000.
They were asked if they support payment of legal bills related to an ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the mayor’s ex-aide, who he has confirmed to being in a consensual sexual relationship with, in violation of the city’s sexual harassment policy that they attended mandated training on every two years over the course of their employment.
“The city has an absolute obligation to defend itself against anyone filing frivolous lawsuits against it, particularly when no malice or injury was caused directly by the city or its citizens,” said Dotson. “I intend to stick with the city and its citizens on defending its future however, any individual lawsuits filed against any members or employees of the city is very questionable, and whether I’m going to support city compensation on items that don’t involve the city directly.”
Gray, on the other hand, seems unsure of what her authority is on voting on payment of the legal bills despite being on the record for having “no tolerance for sexual harassment or discrimination in any form…”
“I would have to find out exactly what my authority would be as a councilperson and I can’t just directly answer that question because I don’t know what authority the council has to support any personal issue,” said Gray.
While Gray was Chair of Metropolitan Water District, the agency was slammed in a 2022 audit for a workplace where its employees were exposed to racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and engaged in unfair hiring practices that drew former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez to threaten to sever the city’s relationship with the MWD if the agency ignored complaints of harassment.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office has notified Inglewood residents that ballots went in the mail Feb. 6.
Residents can return their ballots through the mail or vote in person between Feb. 25 through Mar. 7 at the Church of Hope gymnasium located at 9550 S. Crenshaw Blvd. between 10 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Polls are open Election Day, Mar. 7 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
