Butts’ vote breaks deadlock at Inglewood City Council meeting
His initiative policy gets approval
Mayor James T. Butts’ City Council Initiative Policy to increase transparency, reduce Council member grandstanding, and reprimand to those who submit initiatives without doing their homework first, was passed with his deciding vote.
The four Council members were split over the policy. Two of them took offense, believing that it infringes on their right to free speech and insults their work while the other two thought it enhances the city’s governance.
“It’s a ludicrous policy. My initiatives are always well-thought out and none of them are frivolous,” said Councilman Michael Stevens.
Among Councilwoman Judy Dunlap’s many objections was the time limit placed on elected Council members who represent the people, whereas the mayor’s appointees can speak at length without time restraints.
However, Councilman Eloy Morales Jr. said, “the mayor’s policy is asking for the city manager’s staff to handle citizen complaint’s during normal business hours, instead of during Council meetings. It’s a productive way to do business.”
And Councilman Ralph Franklin stated, “We can’t do our due diligence when we’re handed initiatives at the last minute. We can’t make these on-the-spot decisions. We need time to vet them.” However, he did object to the policy giving the city attorney veto power over elected officials’ initiatives.
Three other agenda items were approved. The $25,000 reward for information leading to Crystal Crawford’s murderer was renewed. Crawford was shot on May 31, 2009. There are currently five awards being offered to help resolve open cases.
Also, housing rehabilitation for 33 disabled adults was approved to begin phase II for $120,000. It’s part of a program that invests in affordable housing. And all members voted to approve the $300,000 for legal advice from Gergman Dacey Goldsmith.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Authorities today identified a man who was fatally shot by Inglewood police after he allegedly smashed the windows of eight squad cars with a sword in a police station parking lot.
The shooting occurred Saturday night, after the man damaged the vehicles using a sword that was thicker and heavier than a machete, police said. The dead man was identified as Charles Curl, 46, of Los Angeles, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.
The Crenshaw Subway Coalition is gearing up for a possible showdown over additional funding for the Crenshaw-to-LAX light rail line, including a Leimert Park Village Station, but may have to await a May 23 decision by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board on just how bruising—or necessary—a showdown will be.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — A man was found shot to death today in a vehicle in Inglewood, the apparent victim of homicide, authorities said.
The 35 year old man was pronounced dead at about 12:30 a.m. in the 600 block of West Hardin Drive, according to Coroner’s Chief Craig Harvey.
Authorities withheld the name of the dead man, pending notification ofhis relatives. The circumstances of the shooting were under investigation.
Candidates running for Inglewood City Council seats bring a diverse collection of experiences to the contest to win a seat to govern in the “City of Champions.” On April 2, at the end of the day, they hope to be the ones left standing so they can deliver a pot of gold to residents in the form of paved streets, quieter airplanes, sewers free of tree branches, and a return to yesterday.
District 1 candidates George Dotson, LeRoy N. Fisher, Felicia Ford and Daniel Tabor, are running against incumbent Mike Stevens.
South Los Angeles resident Evans Davidson has to make arrangements to bury his wife for a second time after the Simpson Family Mortuary in Inglewood inadvertently switched her body with someone else’s.
Davidson says he repeatedly told officials that the woman in the casket didn’t look like his wife, Darlene Davidson, but they claimed it was a result of embalming.
A few days after the funeral, Davidson got a call from the mortuary asking him to come identify a body.
