Inglewood Gets Dinged: Another $2.2 Million Down the Drain

INSIDE INGLEWOOD-The California Department of Finance (DoF) has determined that the City of Inglewood, on behalf of its dissolved Redevelopment Agency (RDA). is on the hook for approximately $2.2 million.    

The revenue loss was the result of a resolution that Inglewood’s Mayor, James T. Butts, adopted approving the use of Redevelop [sic] Agency Tax Increment funding to reimburse HUD for the HOME funds that had been expended on the [Locust Street Senior Center and Senior Residences] project” located at 111 North Locust Street in Inglewood, CA 90301. 

This was noted in the document titled “City of Inglewood 2010-2011 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER)” published in December, 2011.   

The clawback may be the first of many actions the DoF may take throughout the year. A number of recent closed and confidential city council sessions with the DoF regarding potential litigation over letters the state agency has sent to former RDA apparently prompted Butts and other city officials to be in Sacrament the weekend of February 14 for a Meet and Confer.   

At city council meetings during the last two months, Butts has repeatedly stated that the DoF has allowed for a number of Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS) approvals. As he is also the chair of City of Inglewood Former Redevelopment Agency Oversight Board, Butts could face a conflict-of-interest concern for this and future determinations.   

The DoF, however, has yet to rule on whether the ROPS approvals will remain.     

Reached via e-mail, neither Butts nor Redevelopment Manager Margarita Cruz responded.

 

(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a monthly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com) Photo credit: Teka-Lark Fleming.

-cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 12 Issue 23

Pub: Mar 18, 2014