The Inglewood City Council is facing questions over the cancellation of its last two scheduled meetings, which came without explanation from city officials.
Regularly scheduled meetings were canceled on both October 29th and November 12th. No election was held on November 5th because of the election. The last time the body met in public was October 22nd.
The Los Angeles opinion blog 2 Urban Girls criticized the schedule changes and the lack of transparency surrounding them:
Residents have been notified through last-minute social media posts that the meetings are canceled despite members of the city council attending city events and posing for photo opportunities after residents voted in Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr.’s preferred candidates.
As 2 Urban Girls notes, Mayor James T. Butts has been under scrutiny over the 1.7-mile Inglewood Transit Connector proposal. Plans for the elevated people mover project were derailed last month after South Bay cities rejected a request for an additional $493 million to build it. The mayor has been accused of being untruthful on the federal grant application to secure funding for the project.
In addition, City Councilmember Gloria Gray recently filed a complaint with the city manager alleging a “hostile work environment” created by Butts.
Inglewood’s IT Director Matthew Chambers has also been accused of blocking residents’ emails from city servers.
The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for November 19th.