Celebrating 25 Years of Service in Inglewood, Airport area Communities
City of Champions Your Community Connection Since 1994
EYE ON THE CITY Lakers December 5-11, 2019
Rams
Chargers
Clippers
& Forum
VOL. 34, No. 48
Mayor Butts lauds Clippers arena approval Inglewood is exceeding the wildest of dreams
Mayor James T. Butts Jr. franchise bolted in 1999 to downtown Los Angeles, leaving behind the outdatWhen Inglewood Mayor James T. ed Forum and legions of loyal fans who Butts Jr. was elected to office in 2011, were left with antiquated Hollywood the city was marred in 17 percent ris- Park racetrack. Inglewood was essentially bankrupt, ing unemployment and gang violence with an $18 million deficit and many dominated the landscape. On top of that the Lakers storied felt the best way forward was retail and
Proposed Clippers Arena Inglewood is on the cusp of becoming property taxes. “I didn’t buy that,” Mayor Butts ex- the sports and entertainment capitol of plained to Inglewood Today during a the world. Unemployment has dipped to about wide-ranging interview this week. “We had a plan and our goal was to 4 percent, lowest among major cities in strengthen and provide economic op- the State of California and a swelling surplus. portunity for the city,” he said. Ironically, Continued on page 2 Here we are eight years later and
Wesson goes all in on County Supervisor race
Inglewood Unified School District: The Canary in the Coal Mine
By Kenneth Miller, Publisher
Picks up another big endorsement along the way IT News Wire
Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media
For the past 7 years Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson has arguably been the most powerful and effective official in the state of California, and recently he announced his resignation from his post as council president to focus on the L.A. County Supervisor election in March 2020. While, Wesson will step down as president he will continue to serve out his term as councilman till December 2020. He will continue to serve on the City Council until his term expires in December 2020. Among his many accomplishments, Wesson is responsible for multiple increases in the city’s minimum
According to the California Education Code, all California school districts will have to submit a first interim budget report by December 15. This report compares the school district’s ongoing fiscal condition to what was projected in the budget they submitted in July. The report includes the latest student enrollment and attendance figures, data on staffing, yearto-date accounting, and projections of expenditures and cash flow. Through this review, districts assess whether they will be able to meet their obligations and are required to selfcertify whether their fiscal condition is positive, qualified, or negative (i.e.,
wage, passage of a $1.2-billion bond measure to battle homelessness and a shift in the city’s election schedule to even-numbered years, a step aimed at boosting voter turnout. Continued on page 2
will meet, may not meet, or will not be solvent over the next three years). Most schools districts will certify that they will meet their financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years, but there are a growing number of districts that will assign themselves qualified or negative certifications. Large school districts, based on their July budgets, that may be on the list of qualified and negative include Los Angeles Unified, Sacramento City Unified, Sweetwater Union, and Oakland Unified. Districts with negative and qualified certifications must come to terms with the fact that unless Continued on page 7 JOIN US ON