City Council - Regular Meeting

Right.

There you go. Not a pretty

Everything we talk about is deep. Okay, we're going to call to order of council meeting of the 24th of February, 2026. We place a right hand over our heart. I begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with all. Madam City clerk, you call the role. Former is present mayor for city council successor agency housing authority and joint powers authority.

We're at public comment. Any persons wishing to address the city council successor agency housing authority or the JPA on any item on the agenda may do so at this time for a maximum of three minutes. Are there any comments on any item on the agenda? [snorts] Go right ahead.

Yes. Good afternoon, council. Mr. Mayor, my name is Kyle Patterson. I'm a representative with the West Council. Today I'm here speak a something that's much needed in the community when it comes to transparency on construction projects [snorts] large scale and private and and public and when it comes to these kind of projects. You guys are making a um monumental move today by reading this and ultimately hopefully approving it because it will help to stop wage theft and cheating contractors that exploits workers. And it's just like it says in the name of it, it's transparency. If a contractor is doing business in the city, [snorts] it's something to where at least we can all know who's playing in our backyard, especially when they're And this right here with the mechanisms that's in place uh in this ordinance, it would also help to fund uh any additional uh staffing or um uh monetary uh costs that may be associated when it comes to holding folks accountable. So, I want to thank you again for working with us in the community and making sure that we prioritize our local residents and our contractor partners. Thank you.

So, Kyle, let me ask you something. Are these guys dressed like you? Are they feeling the same way about this? Okay. Okay. Well, you know, we we could say some time and I could say some noted, but if you'd like to all speak, go right ahead. Yeah. I think we're not gonna all speak for this. a few of us. Okay.

We just wanted to make sure we articulated it to you all and let you know how how passionate we are about this. We got other city councils that have also taken up this measure and it's something where it's going to really help improve construction projects and the lives of workers that's being exploited on the job. So, thank you, Mr. Mr. Mayor, council members. We really appreciate you all and as we go forward, Mr. Mayor and board. I would just like to say that, you know, everything can always use a little bit of touchup and clean up. So, as we move forward, we can always make adjustments to it if needed.

Thank you. [clears throat and cough] [snorts]

Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My name is Aaron Contrus. I'm a representative with the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters. Speaking in support of this ordinance on behalf of the members of the city of Inglewood. This policy is important because it protects responsible contractors who follow the law. Too often, contractors who cut corners on labor costs gain an unfair advantage over those who do things right. By requiring disclosure of recent labor violations, the city helps the playing field and ensures bids are not artificially low because workers were cheated or safety rules were ignored. This ordinance does not slow down development, nor does it stop projects. It helps them move forward without disruption. Honest contractors should welcome transparency because it rewards compliance instead of cutting corners. While some may claim this creates new labor rules, this [clears throat] ordinance relies only on existing state and federal federal labor law findings. It creates new no new labor standards, only disclosure of violations already determined by enforcement agency. Others will say it's unfair to contractors. This policy actually protects contractors who follow the law by preventing bad actors from undercutting bids through wage theft and labor violations. We urge you to support the smart and responsible balanced policy. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. I don't get a clean mic. Aaron, no. Play. Yeah. Sorry. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, uh, city council mayor. I just want to reiterate from with brother Kyle and brother Aaron here and uh the rest of our members who are here, journeymen and apprentices who uh left their job site today, came over here, make their way over here instead of going home to show you all the that we care that we care about responsible contracting in the city of Englewood. We understand that this transparency ordinance is going to cover large city funded projects and we thank you for that. We think uh obviously tax taxf funed projects should be built correctly by responsible contractors, contractors who don't cut corners, right? And this transparency all it does is if they have cheated workers, they have to disclose it when they're applying for that application to build. That's all it does. It doesn't stop progress. It [snorts] shouldn't scare developers away. It shouldn't scare contractors away. All they're doing is disclosing on whether or not they've been involved in any wage violations in the past 5 years. So, it's a good thing. It's a good step forward for the city of Inglewood. We know growing and thanks to you all is going to continue growing. We have apprentices here who are probably going to build a family here in Englewood and hopefully one day purchase a house here in the city of Inglewood or at least have a job or construction job that'll allow them to rent or buy a home if they choose to stay here, right? We've seen it happen. We were just sharing with this with the brother Aaron earlier. Look what happened at the Staple Center in the city of LA. Staple Center was built and then everything else around it started growing, right?

It provides good jobs, good wages, and good benefits for those that choose to work there. That's what you all are doing here in Englewood, and we thank you for that. We applaud everything that you guys do in the community. But growth has to also be done responsibly, and with the transparency ordinance, it's the right way of doing it. The only thing that we ask here today is that in the future, if you see that this helps the community and it helps the workforce, why not expand it from just city funed projects, why not expand it to all projects being built in Anglewood?

Construction workers shouldn't be cheated on any projects, whether it's privately funded or funded by the city. So, once again, thank you for uh supporting this ordinance. We have a lot of construction workers here today that thank you for that and uh we hope that in the future it could be expanded. Thank you again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Uh my name is Bruno Williams. I'm a resident of Inglewood for 35 years. Um I live right now on 104th in Prairie. Um, I was able to turn my life around and have a second chance through the trades. Um, I've been in the trades since 2020. I was able to work on Intuit. I was enable I was able to work on SoFi. I was able to work on the Noikia theater. I was able to complete my apprenticeship through this this apprenticeship program through the Carpenters. And for me, it was a blessing. It was a blessing from the streets. And it was a blessing that I didn't have to struggle and commit crime and go back to support my family. I'm able to support my family financially. Uh my daughters have medical care. Um I don't want for nothing. I don't look back. I don't think about crime. I don't stress at night wondering where my money coming from because these jobs that have these PLAs that we getting taxpayer dollars from, they have local hires. So if we if more individuals like me could benefit from this, why don't we look at that? because I rather my neighbor be financially educated and be fi educated and then have some neighbor that I don't know that we don't have or whatever the case may be. And the people that we have building these projects are coming from out of town and as soon as they leave and as soon as that project's complete that money is gone. But if we have the individuals that live in this city working on all of these projects, you have individuals that will grow with the city and that's what the city want to do. If the city want to be an entertainment capital, that's that's cool. That's fine. You look at Vegas. Vegas is built on the back of the carpenters. So if you really want something great like that, then why not have this all across the city that can benefit and help the community and the people that need to be uplifted in the community? Cuz everybody can make money off of it. It's a 100redyear lease. That's generational wealth for many of people. The people building it, why why settle? Why leave them out just because it's in the moment? Just because it cost so much. Nah, price shouldn't matter. We should be in the business of changing lives and helping lives and building the

community. And that's what I believe Inglewood is about. And I believe we should continue that. And I believe you should support this. What was your name again, sir? Bruno Williams. Bruno, you you realize that uh all of our major development agreements have a 35% local hire provision, right? Did you know that? So, so, so what I'm saying is we agree with you. That's all I wanted to tell you. Oh, thank you. All right. [applause] [laughter]

Good afternoon, Englewood. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council members. Um, I just want to say thank you. You heard it from a resident himself. I too live in Inglewood off of 112, not too far from 104. But what he's talking about, this creates unison. In the last 25 years, I've seen how much Inglewood has changed. And look at all the different people here together today. And we're all speaking in favor of the same things. We appreciate all the great work that you guys do in Englewood and we would like to just see it forward with some transparency so we could have more success stories like this young man here. Thank you. [applause]

Okay, you guys, we really not supposed to applaud because I don't let people applaud when they're against us and I don't let them applaud when they're for us. But we hear you. Uh with that we'll uh close public comment and we'll move on to item one CSA 1 and H1 warrant register. Oh it's to appear on the next agenda. Oh my goodness. Okay. Consent calendar items 2 through 8. Move. Second. Madam city clerk. Council members Padilla I. Morales I. Fog. I. Mayor Buds

I1. Staff report recommending the mayor and council members adopt adopt ordinance number 26-04 designating certain portions of the city as an event zone in order to regulate certain activities in connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches and related events. Motion to wave further reading. Second. Madam city clerk. Council members Padilla I. Morales I. Fog. I. Mayor Buds I move adoption. Second, Madam City Clerk, council members Padilla, I Morales, I Fog, I, Mayor Buds, I O2,

staff report recommending the mayor and council members introduce an ordinance amending chapter 11 of the Ingwood Municipal Code to include sections 11-92.1 through 11-92.7, which requires contractors and subcontractors on large-scale construction projects to obtain a permit. and disclose any recent labor violations, thereby promoting public confidence in the construction permitting process, preventing wage theft and exploitation, and maintaining quality assurance throughout development. Motion to wait for the read. Second, madam city clerk, council members Padilla I. Morales, Fog I,

Mayor [clears throat] Buds, I I'll introduce A1. Yes. Thank you, mayor, members of the city council. The record should reflect that the mayor and the city council recess into close session. All members being present with the exception of councilwoman Gray. With respect to all five items, the mayor and the city council received a briefing from the city attorney's office. Direction was given but no final action was taken. A2. Nothing to report. Mayor CM1. Nothing to report. Mayor CC1.

Yes, mayor. Thank you. First of all, I would like we didn't have a meeting last week. So, I would like to wish our city manager Lewis Atwell a happy belated birthday. Not only that, but my son Quinton his birthday. He shares a birthday the same day with our council member. So, I would like to also wish my son a happy birthday. I attended uh Councilwoman Fox's uh town hall meeting. Fantastic event. So nice to catch up with our residents and and you know, say hello to them. Um, shout out to our Taste of Englewood. I mean, they did a phenomenal uh job with the Oh, there's my son on the screen. Uh, they did a phenomenal job with Taste of Englewood. I mean, excuse me, with the All-Star weekend. So, I want to give kudos to them. And then, uh, our city treasur is having a home buyers workshop. Can't wait to be there. It's the first time here in our city. I'm so excited, uh, to be a part of that. And lastly, to end Black History Month, I wanted to just say, "Walk like you know who you are. Stand on what you believe. Don't shrink for comfort. Don't dim for approval. You were built for more, so act like it." Michelle Obama. Thank you, Mayor

CT1. Monthly treasures report for the month ending what? November 30th. November 3rd, 2025. Receive and file success successor agencies in session CSA2. Monthly treasures report for the month ending November 30th, 2025. Receive and file adjourn the successor agency. The housing authorities in session H2. Monthly treasures report for the month ending November 3rd, 2025. Receive and file adjourn the housing authority. The JPA is in session JPA1. Monthly treasures report for the month ending November 3rd, 2025.

Receive and file adjourn the JPA. There are no appointments to boards, commissions, and committees. Public comment regarding other matters. Any person wish to address the city council on any matter connected with city business not elsewhere considered on the agenda may do so at this time for one minute. Hearing no comment, we'll move on to mayor and council remarks. Councilman Padilla.

Great. Thank you, Mayor. Uh again, I just want to uh thank uh Councilwoman woman Fox. She did a great presentation last week for her town hall. Very well uh uh represented by our community members and business owners uh to to hear all the good things that are happening here in the city of Inglewood. I want to thank our carpenters union folks for coming out. They always come out to support us. Matter of fact, I'll let you know. Back [clears throat] in December, our police and fire department have the Santa sleigh. And I had called out and reached out to Kyle. Kyle's still here or there you are. And I said, "Hey, Kyle, man, can your folks help me out? Some of our reindeers, you know, they need some work, right?" and without hesitation, he came down to City Yards, looked at it, took some of that woodwork back, came back, and our Santa sleigh looked amazing. So, I want to thank you and your crew for doing that, giving back to the community, and that's part of what you do. So, thank you to the union folks for being out there for our children to help bring a cheer, a smile, and cheer to their face. Thank you. Uh, I also want to let folks know that, uh, Taste of Inglewood, David Rice and his crew put that together over the, uh, NBA All-Star weekend. Great event, opportunity to show cast all the uh, vendors that we have in the city, all the restaurants, all the food. I mean, just some delicious food that was out there. There's some some pictures out there with some of the people. Uh, again, another amazing community event put together by Taste of Englewood. followed by this past Saturday with our Black History Month celebration. Again, amazing the entertainment, the vendors, the community out there. Uh again, some delicious food. I'm one of those folks I

always say that is an emotional eater, right? Food always is the comfort thing for me. And man, you want to talk about comfort, it was there. But I also want to shout out to our young Ingwood Unifi School District students. You see a picture of some of them in in here where they received recognition for their uh speech contest. Uh the funds were donated by the LA Rams. So a shout out to the Rams organization for helping us do that. And I want to thank all our city staff that made both of those events a huge success being out there at Old Dark 30 and staying till till the very end to make sure everybody had a fun-filled and safe event. And again, a special shout out to our police and fire uh departments for being out there and keeping everybody safe. So, thank you so much. Uh coming up, uh save the date, March 10th. I'm teaming up with an organization called Cause with the K and they're going to provide uh diapers, uh uh formulas, all these things for for babies and infants and it'll be at Rogers Park, but you have to sign up. So, please, you know, the flyers, I'll have some put out here on the table, but call my office and get more information at 310412861. And then, uh, Saturday, no, I'm sorry, Friday night. You know, I always say, you know, my wife and I had enjoy going to concerts, but one of the best concert sites is right here in Inglewood at the Miracle Theater, and we had a chance to go to an all brass uh concert. Mary, can I get a minute?

And Owen Smith and his wife, I mean, they put together an amazing event again at the Miracle Theater. If you want to go somewhere and enjoy a great concert and do it right here in our backyard, Miracle Theater, that's where you need to be. Uh, so the mayor, we did a presentation a while back about some of us seniors trip and fall being a big issue. And uh I I sadly hate to report that, you know, I've had a family friend of ours uh our family priest, Father Perry Lyker. Uh he actually married Stella and I back in 1983 and he's done so many of our baptisms and everything for our family. uh he retired a few months back and decided he was going to live by himself uh close by in an apartment and unfortunately he took a fall and never recovered and passed away on on Valentine's morning on the 14th. So it's really something where you know we we're offering this service to our residents, our seniors at the senior center and and take it to heart. It's a free program for all our seniors. take advantage of it, you know. And mayor, if you would close in the memory of Father uh Perry Lyker, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

We'll go to uh Councilwoman Dion Faulk, District 4.

Okay. Thank you, Mayor. I want to quickly acknowledge all of our Western State carpenters that came out. Thank you for always representing. And um you know, um we do take to heart uh initiatives like that. And so um we um are very happy to be able to support uh positive efforts like what you're doing and so those initiatives are very important to our colleagues here on the deis in the city of Inglewood. So thank you all so much for coming out. Um I want to uh quickly uh thank everybody all my colleagues here on the days for coming out and supporting my town hall last week. uh our mayor, our council members, uh city clerk, city treasurer, um our city manager, our assistant city manager, and um our chief runer, public works director, um and uh let's see, we have Bernard McCrombie who also uh gave a presentation, Lee Ing, Tony Omos, and Dr. Morris from Ingua Unified School District. um our emergency services, Brian Walker and his team, they um actually uh were able to give out some um some raffle prizes and uh inform our community residents about emergency services and then also um uh Bernard Mcomery and his team also gave out some prizes. So, I want to thank you all so much. I can't do this without everybody here making it a team effort. And so I got a lot of positive feedback. I appreciate you all so much for um just always being so very supportive of my town hall. So thank you. Um also I want to acknowledge a um the Black History Month event that we just had last

weekend. Uh Thomas, you all and his team um put together a lot of work to bring that um forth on Saturday. And I want to congratulate our speech contest winners. Um, we have McKenzie Moore, [snorts] Malia Anthony, uh, Kylin Crowwell, and Jaden Harmon. Those were the winners of the speech contest, and their speeches were amazing. And then I also want to thank our commissioners uh Cheryl Shaw Williams and Lois Hail for all their work of um actually going through and um judging the speeches and coming up with the winners. So it takes a lot to put those um those speech contests together. So um but it was um very very well done. So thank you all so much. And then uh I want to wish happy birthday to Alani Perkins here in our social media team. It was her birthday recently and um we weren't able to wish her a happy birthday. I believe it was last week we missed it. [snorts] And then uh I want to close mayor in honor of two um um two individuals. First is uh George Dealantes and he was the founder of Broly Hut on Crenshaw Boulevard and that is a landmark um in here in the city of Englewood and uh he uh founded the Broly Hut 60 years ago mayor [snorts]

and so uh he recently passed and so we want to acknowledge him and if I do get information about his funeral services I will share that here. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the death of a a great Jesse Jackson. And I did put together a quote for the LA Seno that I would like to read. Uh in the six in the 1960s, Jesse Jackson's fight for civil rights alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s courageous leadership against racial injustice would forever positively change the trajectory of these United States forever. [snorts]

Jesse Jackson will forever be remembered for his contributions for a more fair and just society. Although our fight continues to this day, his legacy will live on in all of us forever. Happy [snorts] Black History Month. Thank you so much, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman Ellen Morales, District 3.

Thank you. And I'll just uh continue with that. uh the Black History Month. I mean, I I think it's appropriate that cities like ours really take the time to celebrate it, invest in it, and create the kind of atmosphere that matters. Uh Thomas, I know you're out there somewhere, but um I have to tell you, you know, staff, we we just say what we want, and they just make it happen. It just it's work all day long and we appreciate you and your staff, Thomas. Uh but it's also appropriate, you know, that um you know, Councilwoman Faulk just mentioned Jesse Jackson during this time. I mean so many of us that you know I'm not black but the introduction of what a little bit a little bit [laughter]

oh my god something we don't know [laughter] all right thank you for noticing sort of blackish

blacksick um no the uh uh the introduction to civil rights and so many things comes on the news right when they these things get introduced and and he was a pivotal figure, you know, he's such a big personality that I do remember him from when I was young kind of watching TV and kind of getting educated on what was going on and everything else. And it's those things that make you pay attention. And then being raised in the city of Inglewood, I mean, it just created this this whole thing that I thought was going on everywhere. But so I'm very fortunate of being raised here and I'm very happy that we're a city that celebrates it. So, I just wanted to continue on that. Your dad was on the first committee.

Yeah. And my dad was on the first uh Martin Luther King uh committee here in the city of Ingua, which is a big deal for all of us. Thank you for that. Um Dion, great job with your town hall meeting. I always enjoy it. Thank you. From the comfort of my own home. Thank you [laughter] so much.

The uh but uh couple things happened since then. Of course, the taste of Binglewood. Really have to give it out to to David Rice. was mentioned, but he's a fan of the city and he [snorts] just does a great job of kind of showcasing who we are as a city and inviting the outside world in. So, good job on All-Star weekend uh for putting us out there in the news. Uh the Little League had its opening that same weekend and I'm amazed at how many folks just continue to come out and and kind of sign up as a as a family. And really, it's a party. Whenever it's opening day out there, it's a party. lots of food, lots of music, everything else. Um, in regards to to the city, uh, I just want to say how how we've become that city that you you can bring a national event like Allstar Weekend and it just kind of happens in the midst of a city and a community moving around. So, uh, gone are the days that, you know, we don't anticipate what's happening and we don't know what's going on. Uh, and we prepare for months and months. it just happens to everybody takes it in stride. So kudos to the police department and our staff that handles so much. Um then we had uh our Black History Celebration which which you know just to add on to what I said earlier, you know, it's it's a it's at the end of the day it's it's an expense and cities choose where to spend their money. and here uh we don't we don't really bo at at celebrating our cultures and that's a beautiful thing. So, you know, I just wanted to give even f further kudos to everybody that's a part of it. Um and then of course I wanted to thank the carpenters for coming out. Thank you guys for coming out. uh at the without all of of the folks that obviously are

part of these big huge projects, uh we can't exist. But, you know, I want you to know just as the mayor said, I this council's on your team. It's on your team and we're going to continue. That's what ordinances are. You know, they're they're you know, they're they're a living document and we continue to make them better and better and we're we're open to that. uh and we hope that that uh this ordinance but uh uh showcases uh our support for you all but more importantly um the fact that when we go in and we start talking about projects you know we have jobs in mind we have labor in mind uh so it's a it's a good thing and so thank you guys for being out here and then finally mayor um there is our our emergency office sir uh what is the Office of Emergency Services, Brian Walker, who's here, whose department is doing a smoke alarm save lives event uh this Saturday at Saminsky Park, uh February 28th, 10 to 1 over at the park. They meet up there and then they just go with volunteers doortodoor handing out uh fire alarms. It's a great event. I have to say there's never enough. Everybody's always happy to get a new fire alarm. So, you know, you guys uh thank you guys for volunteering. The American Red Cross does a great job of teaming with uh Brian Walker's team and getting it done. So, thank you guys. We hope to see you out there on Saturday. That's it, Mayor. Thank you.

Okay. [snorts] [cough] I don't want to be redundant, but I do want to uh congratulate Councilwoman Faulk on her town hall meeting. Uh she always has a lot of people there, but she does have the best food there. So, I don't know, but it's it's all it's just always a good turnout and people are so happy and so congratulations, Councilwoman. Thank you.

Um, you know, Alloy and Alex talked about um, you know, what's going on in the city. We're not a part of big things. We're the center of big things. Ingleerwood is transition from the place where people avoided to the place that everybody wants to be. But that doesn't mean anything if the residents don't benefit, if workers don't benefit, if our school children don't benefit. And so, as I said before, Kyle, you know, we uh we have uh development agreements at state. We require 35% local hire. We also work with the unions to make sure that our local residents jump up on the seniorities ladder so they can work on local projects. And this has worked out well for everybody. There have been tens of thousands of jobs generated here both short and long term over the last seven eight years and we're proud of that. So you know when we have ordinances like this is just to make sure that prevailing wages do prevail and that uh our union people are part of the mix and that's always going to continue. We talked about um George De Levantes. Now I know Broly Hut was here 60 years ago because I was eating there in 1972 when I was a community service officer in the police department.

That was just a place that's that's where you went when you went 108. You went to Broly Hut. And so we're sorry to hear that he passed.

Jesse Jackson, I met him several times. actually the first time I was I was in Santa Mon with a chief in Santa Monica and uh he means a lot to black history and and Inglewood you I don't know if everybody knows this from 1922 to 1937 Inglewood was the headquarters for the Southern California chapter of the Kullex clan and the first blacks that bought in Inglewood in 59 and 60 could only buy through a white straw buyer because the homes had a covenant that said you could not sell to a colored person. That's how much Inglewood has evolved and changed over the years and it's because of people like Jesse Jackson. So with that, we're going to close in the name of Father Perry Leer, George De Levantes, and Jesse Jackson. And we're adjourned.

Amen.