Clippers Community Benefits Package includes $3 million emergency support to Inglewood residents

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s, Murphy’s Bowl LLC, has obtained final approval to build a proposed $1.3 billion basketball and entertainment arena, on September 8, 2020, during the regular city council meeting held September 8, 2020. One of the major cornerstones of the development agreement, between the city and Ballmer, was a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) valued at $100 million.

Unlike the Forum’s initial CBA when it reopened, there are neither no established community days, for the use of charitable causes nor access to games for local community groups.

The CBA also identifies a $3 million allocation of emergency support to residents, which Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts has not articulated how those funds will be used to assist Inglewood residents financially devastated by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The city has front loaded $2 million to develop two (2) COVID-19 Relief Programs to assist Low-Income and unemployed or underemployed Inglewood residents pay past due rents, due to COVID-19 impacts, and other basic needs. One program is making $500 debit cards available to approximately 2,000 residents via a lottery system.

The CBA also includes $250,000, for Capacity Building for Housing-Focused Non-Profits, where the only visible housing advocate in the city is the Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI), which was founded by Inglewood Unified School Board President D’artagnan Scorza.

SJLI provides staff to coordinate rent control petitions and affordable housing set asides, in development projects, under the auspices of the Uplift Inglewood Coalition, a collaboration between local churches and labor unions. Lawsuits filed against the Clippers project went away when Ballmer purchased the Forum for $400 million.

Terms of the settlements related to the lawsuits were never made public.

Scorza could not be reached for comment on whether the $250,000 in the Clippers arrangement will benefit his organization after his public support of efforts to stop the project.