Will Inglewood mayor retaliate against members of local community group

Inglewood Mayor James Butts could be viewed as “petty”.  This derives from his mistreatment of residents who do not fall in line with how he runs the city.  He has used public funds to sue a resident, has told a resident to “choke herself” and excluded certain residents from the recently enacted city-wide permit parking program.  Now he is perceived to have demanded disclosure of members of a community group called Inglewood Residents Against Takings & Evictions (IRATE) who sued the city over the proposed Clippers arena.

Joseph Texeira caught the wrath of Mayor Butts when he began using the mayor’s own words against himself.  In a series of altered city council meetings, residents were entertained by the contents showing the mayor misrepresenting the truth.  Butts’ lawsuit cost Inglewood taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Related:  Inglewood must pay $117,741 for ‘meritless’ lawsuit against critic, judge rules

Next, came residents who were against the Grace Park project at the site of the former Daniel Freeman Hospital.  The developers were forced to make concessions and now residents interpret the non inclusion of their street as part of the recently approved city-wide permit parking permit program, as an act of retaliation.

The city-wide permit parking program was approved during the May 5th city council meeting which will require residents to apply for parking permits as a way to discourage event attendees from “free parking” during concerts and NFL games.  A similar program was already in existence on the West side of Prairie, across from the forum.  The exclusion of their street means they have no protection from attendees parking there during said events.

Finally, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that five lawsuits related to Mayor Butts’ allegedly “tricking” MSG out of the use of valuable parcels along Century Blvd included an interesting caveat that wasn’t known to the public, which could cause them to also be retaliated against by Mayor Butts.

Among the caveats in the agreement for MSG to sell the Forum is the requirement for the company to provide a list of “every person, entity, or organization, who is, or has ever been, a member of IRATE.”

It is unclear if the name of every person would be of concern to Steve Ballmer or why he would agree to force lawyers to disclose their membership roster, but it would for a mayor who has a documented history of going after residents.

The usually outspoken lawyer representing IRATE, Doug Carstens, was unavailable for comment.