By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — Mayor James T. Butts appears headed to a March runoff with Councilwoman Gloria Gray.
Early election results on the Los Angeles County Registrar’s website show Butts trailing Gray by 700 votes.
Butts had 29% of the vote, while Gray had 33%.
The Wave caught up with Butts at his campaign party to speak with him about the importance of this election as he seeks a fifth term in office.
“Here we are at a crossroads in our history — bouncing back from bankruptcy, an 18% unemployment rate to an international city,” Butts said. “This election is the most important election since I won in 2010.
“Inglewood is now big enough and valuable enough for people to want to control it, and the billionaires we have over at Intuit and SoFi Stadium want to control all the advertising revenue and control the taxation of admissions taxes, and they’re willing to do anything to make sure that happens.”
The owners of the Intuit Dome, SoFi Stadium, and operators of Hollywood Park pledged millions of dollars behind two ballot measures — Measure AT to stop the restructuring of the city’s admissions tax, and Measure BB to stop the city from profiting from a 20-year agreement with WOW Media over digital billboards.
“They sued us three times over our advertising kiosks and traffic information network and lost, and the court voided the development agreement with SoFi Stadium, and now they’ve gone over the courts with Measure BB to disallow the city from advertising and earning $8 million per year, which supports city programming.”
According to results posted by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office shortly after 8 a.m. Nov. 4, Measure AT was losing 51% to 49%, a margin of 402 votes, and Measure BB was losing 52% to 48%, a margin of 808.
Measure AT seeks to restructure the city’s admissions taxes on venues based on seating capacity and Measure BB seeks to stop the city from earning revenue from digital billboards on the public right-of-way.
Gray, who currently represents Council District 1, declined to run for reelection, opening her seat to four challengers.
Keokia Childress, co-founder of Taste of Inglewood and a city housing commissioner, was the leading vote-getter, receiving 2,399 votes, 40%. Yolanda Davidson, an activist, followed with 1,655 votes, 28%, followed by Leonard Redway with 1,454 votes, 24%, and William Perez with 511 votes, 8%.
District 2 Councilman Alex Padilla soundly defeated his challenger, Subrina Miller, earning 69% of the vote.
In the Inglewood School district advisory board, Joyce Randall appears headed to retain her seat in Area 1, receiving 57% of the vote over Planning Commissioner Cheryl Shaw-Williams, who received 43%.
Joe Bowers received 64% of the vote to win in Area 2, a seat previously held by his late wife, Margaret Bowers. His challenger, Shelby Richardson, received 36%.
Area 3 incumbent Brandon Myers, is trailing his challenger, Yuritze Gonzalez, who received 66% of the vote over Myers’ 34%.
Inglewood residents overwhelmingly approved ballot Measure MM for a $396 million bond measure to upgrade and repair schools, despite several school closures in the last two years. The measure passed after capturing 74% of the vote.
In other local races, Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor seemed headed to reelection in the 61st Assembly District. In early results, she had 84% of the vote over challenger Brian Lockwood.
In the West Basin Municipal Water District, Gray was losing her bid for reelection. Tyron Turner was leading Gray, with 41% of the vote, with Gray receiving 37% and Carol Raines-Brown receiving 22%.
“It can be tough to challenge a longtime incumbent,” Turner said. “Some people told me not to run, but I believed the community deserved a representative focused on the issues that matter to Second District residents.
“I knocked on more than 3,000 doors and spoke with residents across the district. I’m grateful to everyone who heard me out and supported this campaign, and I’m ready to get to work,” he added.
“I’m very pleased with the preliminary results; people are voting for change, but until all the votes are counted we’ll continue to hope for the best, and as a first-time candidate, I’m feeling pretty good.”
An Inglewood resident is suing Gray for holding incompatible seats as a member of the Inglewood City Council, which buys water from West Basin. Gray missed two scheduled court hearings on the matter and is due back in court next month with an answer to the lawsuit filed against her.
If Turner wins the water board seat, the lawsuits will become moot.
Vote counting is expected to continue throughout the week and all vote totals are unofficial.
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
