INGLEWOOD – The price of doing business in the city of Inglewood has increased exponentially under the leadership of Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and this is not the good news you would think it is.
In 2015, the Inglewood City Council voted to adopt an initiative that brought a $5 billion NFL stadium to the middle of the City. According to Mayor Butts, NO public money would go towards the project but the developers, that include Stan Kroenke and San Francisco-based Wilson Meaney, expected to recoup $100 million towards public infrastructure costs.
The documents submitted to officials in Inglewood, where the stadium would be built, say that if annual tax revenue to the city from the completed project exceeds $25 million as expected, the developers, including a company controlled by the owner of the St. Louis Rams, would be entitled to reimbursements for funds they invested in streets, sewers, parks and other projects deemed dedicated to the public.
Mayor Butts loved the deal because the City would reap revenue from Property, Sales and Parking Taxes.
“Ordinarily, when you have a development that has public roads, public parks, public infrastructure, the city has to absorb those costs. Instead, the developers say they’re picking up those infrastructure costs, that are estimated at about sixty million dollars,” said Butts.
Somehow, those costs have swelled to $376 million for work that stretched OUTSIDE of Inglewood’s city limits.
“You’ve sent us a capital expenditure bill asking for payment of $376 million,” wrote Butts in a letter to Stan Kroenke dated Aug. 20, 2025.
According to a newly filed lawsuit against the City, by Kroenke, the City provided a $20 million “good faith deposit” towards those costs.
Mayor Butts then leaned on his “police powers” to ask for the money to be returned under California Penal Code Section 424 which relates to misappropriation of public funds. Only problem is it was the City that misappropriated the funds, not Kroenke.
According to former Inglewood treasurer Wanda Brown, no funds can leave Inglewood City Hall without the treasurer’s knowledge.
The $20 million controversy stems from a 2025 lawsuit filed against the City over a long-term digital billboard lease with WOW Media. According to Mayor Butts, the City learned that the 2015 Developer Agreement with Hollywood Park/Stan Kroenke was void as they prepared to defend themselves.
Please know that it’s not the City saying the Hollywood Park DA is void without basis. Again, in preparing to defend the City against your lawsuit; it became clear that the California Court of Appeal decision in the Moreno Valley case applies. Additionally, the California courts have found that the 2018 Moreno Valley case applies retroactively with respect to a DA enacted prior to2018. We recently learned about Moreno Valley in preparing our defense to the WOW lawsuit. I’m surprised that your legal counsel did not advise you of the implications of that case prior to filing.
We’ve therefore got to deal with it. But make no mistake, the City is very happy with what you’ve done with SoFi and related facilities at HP. We don’t want to disturb them in any respect. But, by law, we have a void DA going forward. So we’re talking about the future, not what’s already been built.
It is not known what method of payment was used to pay the $20 million to Stan Kroenke, but this is not good look for Mayor Butts and Councilmembers Gloria Gray and Alex Padilla as they prepare to ask Inglewood voters to re-elect them on Nov. 3.
Gloria Gray has notified her constituents in Council District 1 that she is in rehab and will not be available for public duties or attending city council meetings for an unknown period of time.
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