State official reviews complaint filed against Gloria Gray

By Emilie St. John

Contributing Writer

INGLEWOOD — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is reviewing a quo warranto request that seeks to remove Gloria Gray from one of her elected offices.

Gray currently serves on both the Inglewood City Council and the West Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors, which state law prohibits, according to previous opinions issued by Bonta’s office.

Either a local district attorney or a resident must file the quo warranto with Bonta’s office to seek permission to sue to remove her from one of her elected seats.

Gray is actively running for mayor and re-election to her water board seat even though the water agency’s legal counsel notified her that she is most likely holding incompatible seats.

Gray typically doesn’t draw any challengers to her water board seat, but has two opponents on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Tyron Turner, who currently serves as a community water advisor under Water Replenishment of Southern California Director Joy Langford and has a strong record of civic engagement, including service on the South Coast Air Quality Management District advisory group and as an elected neighborhood council representative and Democratic delegate, is running against Gray to ensure ratepayers have representation solely focused on water issues.

“I am running because I am entirely focused on delivering affordable, clean, and reliable water to the customers and communities of West Basin Water District 2,” Turner said. “That is my priority, and that will be my entire focus.

“Gloria Gray is a career politician running for mayor of Inglewood while also seeking to serve on the West Basin Water Board,” he added. “Holding two elected offices is a tremendous responsibility. The residents of West Basin District 2 deserve a representative who will give this job their full attention, not divide their focus between multiple elected positions.”

Turner is supported by Inglewood Mayor James Butts, Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, former county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, former Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, Hawthorne Councilwoman Katrina Manning, Inglewood Councilmen Alex Padilla and Eloy Morales Jr., and Water Replenishment District Board member Joy Langford.

Gray was served with legal notice on Sept. 1 regarding her holding two elected seats that have been defined as incompatible by Bonta.

She was served during the public comment portion of the City Council meeting after Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman declined to pursue legal action to remove her from one of the seats, despite multiple complaints filed with his office.

Inglewood resident Daniel Bookman and Conner Everts of the Southern California Watershed Alliance served Gray with a verified complaint in quo warranto during the meeting.

Quo warranto is the legal process the attorney general uses to investigate one simple question: can this double-elected official be sued for the illegal act of holding two conflicting offices simultaneously, thereby requiring removal from one of the offices?

Gray has held her Division II seat on the West Basin Municipal Water District board since 2006. She was elected to the Inglewood City Council in 2022.

Inglewood buys roughly 77% of its drinking water from West Basin.

As a result of her votes on the West Basin water board, Gray had to recuse herself from voting on the water rate increases levied against Inglewood property owners.

In 2025, Lauren Sutton filed a complaint alleging that Inglewood residents are not being properly served because Gray serves in both positions.

“According to the principles set forth in California Government Code Section 1099, and as supported by prior rulings by the [state’s Fair Political Practices Commission], a person may not simultaneously hold two public offices if the duties of either office may conflict with the duties of the other,” Sutton wrote in the complaint.

“In past determinations, similar dual office-holding arrangements have been deemed incompatible and therefore prohibited under California law.”

The state watchdog agency rejected Sutton’s complaint.

In the new complaint filed by Bookman and Everts, they allege that Gray sets Inglewood’s wholesale water rates while voting on the city’s budget that pays them.

The complaint argues that under California Government Code Section 1099, Gray forfeited her West Basin seat the moment she took the council oath, and asks a judge to say so.

Business leaders, community leaders and environmental groups are now urging Bonta, whose sign-off is needed for the case to proceed, to let it move forward.

“She’s the buyer, seller, and negotiator,” the filing says.

Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.