Inglewood City Council should fire City Manager Artie Fields

The state controller has audited the financial controls of the city of Inglewood after numerous news media reports of high bonuses were paid to executives authorized by City Manager Artie Fields.  Fields submitted the numerous bonuses, for council approval, despite admitting he was aware that Mayor Butts and his assistant were involved in a “consensual relationship” and she would benefit from the bonuses Butts & Co. were voting on.

Fields also authorized Mayor Butts 24/7 usage of a city vehicle which is not provided to him by voters.  The mayor and council are allowed auto allowances that are not taken by any of them.  Butts is the only one provided use of a city owned car, fuel, maintenance and auto insurance at Fields’ behest.

The audit includes a response by the city, allegedly signed by Fields, that states many steps the city would take to comply with the states findings.  Fields submitted a similar response to the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury in 2012.   Fields signature is presumed to have been forged, as many staff reports bearing his alleged signature indicate, and there is growing concern that he is neither qualified for the position of city manager nor the bonuses heaped upon him.

The Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury recommended the city create an Investment Audit Committee to which Fields agreed to create.  Eight years later that has not been done and cited as an issue in the current audit.

The 2020 state audit found the city failed to write off bad debt, related to Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT), totaling nearly $450,000.  The city responded the item was due to be placed on the April 7, 2020, council agenda to request being written off and a review of the agenda showed that wasn’t done.

The 2020 audit determined that city departments did not have backup documentation for over $700,000 in executive bonuses that were paid out which violates a section of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations Manual which deems destruction of city records a violation that could lead to termination of employment.  No member of the executive team has been disciplined for destroying city records.

A 2016 audit of the housing authority also saw nearly $800,000 in federal money vanish, with no supporting documentation, under Fields tenure.

Fields is not maintaining control over city assets, has not updated administrative policies and procedures, while maintaining the city is doing well because they convinced the Girl Scouts and the NFL to move their offices to Inglewood?  That’s the standard nowadays?

City Manager Artie Fields is deceiving a grand jury and state auditors and is quite frankly embarrassing Mayor Butts and the entire council.  As a former police officers, Butts and Councilman Alex Padilla are held to a high standard of ethics and integrity that Fields is trampling over.

Fields is putting the mayor and city council in a precarious position, with no regard of possible legal consequences that the council and city staff could become entangled in for the sake of maintaining his $477,169.11 compensation package.

You have to wonder what work is Fields actually doing in his 9th floor office.

Treasurer Wanda Brown also eluded to Fields incompetence during a council meeting where she stated she and Councilman Ralph Franklin discussed his lack of financial acumen.

Jimmy why are you letting Artie play you, the council, city employees and taxpayers for a fool?

The only logical explanation is he is doing what you told him to do and if that’s the case, you both need to be escorted out of city hall for incompetence, negligence and misappropriation of taxpayer funds.

The council majority are all up for re-election and if they don’t collectively get rid of Artie Fields NOW then voters can get rid of them in November.