Inglewood appoints Luis Atwell as new city manager

By Emilie St. John

Contributing Writer

INGLEWOOD — The city has named Luis Atwell as its new city manager upon the Dec. 31 retirement of Mark Weinberg.

Mayor James T. Butts Jr. announced the selection of Atwell during the Dec. 17 City Council meeting.

“I am nominating to the council that we select Luis Atwell, assistant city manager,” Butts said. “He came to Inglewood at a time that we were on the verge of bankruptcy and has now been five years as an assistant city manager … and its my recommendation that we stay inside and I nominate him for selection.”

Councilman Eloy Morales asked for a friendly amendment that the mayor negotiate in line with terms discussed within closed session to formulate and sign the contract.

Atwell was supported by the full council on a 5-0 vote.

Atwell joined the city as the public works director in 2012 and was promoted to assistant city manager in 2019. Since his promotion, Atwell has served as both the public works director and assistant city manager in charge of city operations.  

Atwell is a professional civil engineer and has nearly 24 years of municipal services and 10 years of professional consulting firm experience.

Atwell led the successful developments of the multi-billion SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome projects and has guided a significant upgrade of the city’s infrastructure consisting of street paving across several major roads as well as an aggressive tree trimming strategy.

The city’s parks have also seen major improvements through partnerships with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, 40 Love Foundation and park restrooms have undergone major renovations under Atwell’s leadership.

Atwell also worked alongside the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the K-Line that runs through Inglewood to the airport.

The city is still undergoing major developments with the announcement of new hotel projects, the refurbishing of Crenshaw Boulevard and the relocation of city water wells.

Promoting from within allows the city to have a seamless transition from Weinberg to Atwell which is a bonus for Inglewood residents and business owners, officials said.

Prior to joining the city, Atwell was with the cities of Downey and Los Angeles, as well as the Las Vegas Valley Water District. In previous years, Atwell served as a vice president in a “top 500” civil engineering firm where he was in charge of the firm’s west region water infrastructure division. 

Atwell is a native of California.

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

       
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