By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — Two longtime Inglewood neighbors will face off for a seat on the Inglewood City Council in a runoff election March 7.
Incumbent Councilman George Dotson will face Gloria Gray, a 17-year member of the West Basin Municipal Water District board seeking to represent residents in Inglewood’s District 1.
Gray served on the Inglewood school board prior to being elected to the water board, and Dotson was a member of multiple Inglewood commissions before being elected to the City Council.
He served as a Planning Commissioner for 20 years, and was on the Parking & Traffic Commission for five years before that.
Residents dissatisfaction was evident during the Nov. 8 election when Butts narrowly avoided a runoff after capturing 54% of the vote and Dotson only received 31% of the vote, forcing him into the runoff with Gray who received 23% of all votes cast.
The candidates were asked what their top priorities are if elected.
Dotson is running on a platform of the success achieved during his nine years on the council in maintaining local hiring goals for construction projects, which provide workers with a livable wage.
“I’m focused on addressing crime, small business growth and traffic and equally concerned with parking, our school district and making sure the community is aware of the process of executing changes within the city,” Dotson said.
Dotson was a small business owner for decades and understands how vital they are to the community.
“I will be working diligently with the small business community to make sure the city assists them in achieving their goals,” said Dotson in his campaign statement.
The city recently secured $407 million from state surplus funds to use towards the construction of the proposed Inglewood Transit Connector.
The project will uproot many small businesses and potentially residents living in multi-family residential housing along the project route.
The city also adopted a $5 million Business Interruption Fund last year to assist small businesses that may become displaced by the project.
Gray’s top priorities are transparency, an open government and accessibility to information.
“I want to make sure we have an open government, making sure City Hall is available to the residents and transparency is very important and to do that you have to be able to participate with the decision-making process,” Gray said.
In 2015, an audit of the West Basin Municipal Water District recommended that the board schedule its meetings when members of the public could attend, which Gray and her fellow board members rejected twice.
“We have meetings when everyone can come, it’s not a closed meeting,” Gray said when asked to clarify the recommendation and the board’s position.
Like the city of Inglewood, the water board meets during the day, which doesn’t allow working members of the community to attend in person.
The board justified its decision to ignore the recommendations by saying most of its customers are either businesses or public entities, so daytime meetings make more sense. Their customers are also ratepayers, which includes residents of Inglewood. The board finally agreed to record and make the meetings available online in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic after being urged by elected officials served by the water agency.
Candidates were also asked what they felt were the biggest concerns of the residents.
Dotson says he is aware of the residents’ desires regarding school closures but reiterates the City Council has no jurisdiction over those decisions.
“I understand the community’s concerns for families in the school district which is certainly a very high priority and I want to remind the community that the City Council has no control over the school district,” Dotson said. “It’s in receivership and controlled by an administrator appointed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. I’ve lived in Inglewood for 54 years and this is extremely important to me.”
During protests held by community members to not close the last school in District 1, Dotson attended some while Gray did not.
Since 1999, Inglewood residents have approved close to $500 million in school bonds towards upgrades that the district is lagging in addressing. The district has also not disclosed how it spent $85 million received in federal funds related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dotson touched on his desire to work more closely with residents and the city’s traffic department to “ensure the best possible parking and traffic plans are implemented.”
Gray said residents want a change in what they’ve experienced thus far.
“Residents want a more transparent government and access to City Hall,” she said.
Despite being on the water board serving Inglewood residents for nearly two decades she has not made any efforts to attend City Council meetings to keep residents informed about water issues, particularly when there were calls last year to not water yards for weeks while pipes were being repaired or discussions about the drought, which impacts residents across all the cities the water agency serves.
Residents are also vocal about their displeasure with the city’s decision to implement a citywide permit parking program without input from the Parking & Traffic Commission or residents.
“This program was put together so fast, there was no committee,” said Butts.
As a direct result, the city is requiring residents to pay to park in front of their homes and obtain parking permits for their guests. Residents don’t see where the economic benefits are from the multiple sports teams that have been approved as legal bills continue to pile up to defend Mayor Butts in lawsuits related to his driving and a consensual sexual relationship he had with a subordinate.
Both Dotson and Gray were asked if they would continue to vote in favor of paying Butts’ legal fees which have already cost taxpayers nearly $500,000, according to some estimates.
They were asked if they support payment of legal bills related to an ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the mayor’s ex-aide, who he has confirmed to being in a consensual sexual relationship with, in violation of the city’s sexual harassment policy that they attended mandated training on every two years over the course of their employment.
“The city has an absolute obligation to defend itself against anyone filing frivolous lawsuits against it, particularly when no malice or injury was caused directly by the city or its citizens,” Dotson said. “I intend to stick with the city and its citizens on defending its future however, any individual lawsuits filed against any members or employees of the city is very questionable, and whether I’m going to support city compensation on items that don’t involve the city directly.”
Gray, on the other hand, seems unsure of what her authority is on voting on the payment of the legal bills despite being on the record for having “no tolerance for sexual harassment or discrimination in any form.”
“I would have to find out exactly what my authority would be as a council person and I can’t just directly answer that question because I don’t know what authority the council has to support any personal issue,” Gray said.
While Gray was chair of Metropolitan Water District, the agency was slammed in a 2022 audit for a workplace where its employees were exposed to racial discrimination, sexual harassment and engaged in unfair hiring practices that drew former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez to threaten to sever the city’s relationship with the MWD if the agency ignored complaints of harassment.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office has notified Inglewood residents that ballots went in the mail Feb. 6.
Residents can return their ballots through the mail or vote in-person between Feb. 25 and March 7 at the Church of Hope gymnasium located at 9550 S. Crenshaw Blvd. between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Polls are open Election Day, March 7 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
