Politics isn’t checkers it’s chess.
With that being said there’s no doubt in my mind that Inglewood City Councilwoman Gloria Gray will be the next Mayor of the City of Inglewood.
Isn’t transparency and accountability the staple of any elected official or body?
Forgive me if I seem skeptical but the recent actions by the Inglewood City Council to inexplicably and significantly increase the pay of the newly elected treasurer Angela Allen doesn’t in anyway, shape or form pass the smell test and simply can’t be ignored.
How can anybody of integrity and moral compass conclude that the newly elected treasurer warranted a pay increase significantly higher than her predecessor, Dr. Wanda Brown, who served in this capacity for over 30 years?
One could reasonably conclude that the actions of the mayor, city council, former city manager, and human resources director were deliberate as members of this council, including ex-members of this body, reduced the responsibility and salary of Dr. Brown as an act of retribution because she wouldn’t go along with the program and in her rightful capacity and responsibility to those who elected her to this office questioned the financial stability and questionable actions by the council that threatened the short-term and long-term viability of the City’s ability to meet its financial obligations while delivering services to the residents of the City.
In fact, these actions in itself, are alarming as the same members who voted to increase the incoming treasurer’s salary endorsed, actively campaigned, and arguably used City resources to ensure that they elected someone who was agreeable and without question would go along with their “agenda”.
For full disclosure, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the incoming treasurer but it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that with her successful campaign and subsequent exorbitant increase in salary, the fix was in.
It also shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the circumstances and optics appear so suspicious that District 1 Councilwoman Gloria Gray refused to vote on the salary ordinance increasing the salary of Allen to the tune of nearly $9,000 dollars due to, at least in my opinion, because to put it quite plainly it simply appears, in essence, appears the actions in itself to increase the salary wasn’t done in good faith but was done in collusion and in bad faith, further leading to credible allegations that those whom remain loyal to the mayor would benefit handsomely and those whom opposed him would suffer.
How is it former City Manager Mark Weinberg had no clue as to what the previous salary was or why it increased by over $2,000 of what Dr. Brown was making? Human Resources Director Sylvia Hernandez offered no explanation either.
Make no mistake, this isn’t a one-off. This is a blatant and deliberate pattern of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and his hand-picked members of the city council excluding Ms. Gray.
I argue now more than ever although an uncomfortable choice and maybe not convenient choice but Gloria Gray is the best choice to succeed Mayor Butts in 2026.
Will the Mayor run for re-election?
Well based on the mayor’s ego, history shows that the likelihood is more than likely but one could also argue that the mayor would face the most formidable and qualified challenger in Gloria Gray.
Remember this is the same Gloria Gray who defeated a well-liked opponent, George Dotson, who was backed by the mayor and won on the basis of providing accountability and transparency to the residents.
Also, it shouldn’t be lost on residents that Mayor Butts barely avoided a runoff in his last re-election bid in 2022 against unknown and underfunded candidates.
Gray is well-liked across the state and no one is batting an eye that she is holding two elected seats, that overlap one another, and that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass made it her business to be the one swearing her in back in April 2023.
The tide is turning in Inglewood and in the words of Mayor Butts “justice delayed isn’t justice denied”.
