By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — Mayor James T. Butts will face five challengers in the Nov. 3 municipal election.
Butts will be asking Inglewood voters for an unprecedented fifth term. Inglewood’s elected officials do not have term limits, and a proposed ballot measure on the matter failed to garner enough signatures to make the ballot.
Butts is being challenged for the mayor’s seat by his council colleague, District 1 Councilwoman Gloria Gray, who is also seeking to retain her seat on the West Basin Municipal Water District’s board of directors. Arturo Martinez, Fre’Drisha Dixon, Raina Carrillo and Joseph Soto round out the candidates who have qualified after receiving the requisite number of signatures on their nomination forms.
Gray currently serves as the District 1 councilwoman and, after declaring her candidacy for mayor, has effectively given up her council seat. Keokia Childress, Yolanda Davidson, Leonard Redway, and William Perez have all qualified to run to fill the seat.
District 2 Councilman Alex Padilla will face Subrina Miller.
As the Inglewood Unified School District continues to inch closer to returning to local control, several seats are on the ballot with two incumbents seeking reelection to its advisory board.
Trustee Area 1 incumbent Joyce Randall will face Cheryl Williams.
Trustee Area 2 incumbent Carliss McGhee is not seeking reelection.
Joe Bowers, whose late wife Margaret previously served on the board, and Shelby Richardson are seeking McGhee’s seat.
Trustee Area 3 incumbent Brandon Myers will face Yartiza Gonzalez.
Inglewood voters also will weigh in on three ballot measures.
Inglewood Unified is seeking voter approval of a $396 million bond to continue repairing the remaining 14 schools in the district. Demolition of Inglewood High School is currently underway; however, there are insufficient funds to build the new state-of-the-art school. This bond was scheduled to go before voters in 2028, but was moved up to the upcoming election. Property taxes would be levied at $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
The bond needs 55% of voters to approve its passage.
The city is seeking to amend its Admissions Tax through ballot measure AT. If approved, the current $15 million cap on Admissions Tax generated from Hollywood Park would be eliminated, and a tiered system of rates of 10% and 2.5% would be implemented based on venue seating capacity. The new rates would not apply to the Intuit Dome due to its development agreement with the city.
Ballot measure BB asks voters to weigh in on the digital billboards that have sprouted up in and around the Inglewood Sports and Entertainment District. Voters will be asked to amend the general plan and Inglewood Municipal Code to eliminate the city’s authority to allow advertising on the public right-of-way and certain available properties. If the measure passes, it would not affect the existing billboards.
A proposed ballot measure that would have brought more accountability to the Inglewood Police Department in the wake of the March in-custody death of Bryan Bostic failed to garner enough signatures to be placed on the November ballot.
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
