City Council - Regular Meeting

No one told us. No.

Council meeting of March I think the 3rd. Yes. 2026. We stand for the pledge of allegiance. Put your hand right over your heart. 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 liberty and justice for all. I hear a different voice out here. Pretty strong. Okay.

Madame city clerk, could you call the role? Yes, Mayor Quorm is present for our city council, successor agency, housing authority, finance authority, parking authority, and joint powers authority. Lewis. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Uh, Miss Ad Lamar of KJLH radio will be given a presentation.

Hello. Uh, thank you all for having us. My name again is a de Lamar 102.3 KJLH. Uh, your neighbor right across the way here, our radio station owned by Mr. Stevie Wonder. And, uh, for 2026, we have decided that we have a few wonderful people in our community that we to need to acknowledge their work and efforts. Uh, one of our 2026 proven achievers is your mayor, our mayor, Mayor James T. But Jr. [laughter] [applause]

I am so hopeful that you guys listen to the radio station 102.3 KJ because uh there he is in all his splendor. How about the number to your photographer, bro? [laughter] Yeah. and I I was getting ready to stand up and accept the award. I know

we have been singing his praises uh all over the radio station and folks have been calling in. But just to say a few words, good afternoon to uh the city council. Thank you all for having us, all the distinguished guests here and leaders. Uh, Mayor Buds, your innovative leadership has elevated the city of Englewood into one of the most recognized and thriving cities in the nation. Under your direction, the city has experienced remarkable economic growth, major, major development, and renewed energy that has captured the nation's attention. You have led with experience, discipline, and a clear sense of responsibility, ensuring that progress is strategic and sustainable. Your ability to navigate challenges while keeping the city focused on learn long long-term success has strengthened the city and the civic pride. On behalf of KJH, our owner, Mr. Stevie Wonder, our general manager, Karen Slade, the entire Air Force and staff. We thank you for your leadership and honor you as a 2026 proven achiever. Congratulations, Mayor. [applause] [applause]

I'm going to come up in a minute, but I want to thank you. Um, it has definitely been a a big 15 years as I'm in my 16th year as mayor. But but I have to tell you this, when uh I came back and Eloy was the only one left from that council, uh you know, we were we were nowhere and headed to being nowhere nowhere. And so, but I want to acknowledge the um collaboration of people like George Dodson, Ralph Franklin, Aloy, who's been here from the beginning, Alex Padilla, who's been here since almost the beginning and most lately the unf.

I was wondering if he was going to even say a little something. [laughter] Okay. But the the the point that I'm making uh the point that I'm making is that um the city structured and set up with the mayor as the head and and and I accept that. But it has really been been such a a great effort from everybody on the council and uh while I've been acknowledged in a lot of realms, I've been listening to KJLH since I was I think I was young at the time and uh this is a big honor to me and I want to thank you. [applause]

[applause]

We do. Yes, we did.

That was first.

Congratulations. Thank you all for having us. [applause]

Hey, let's hear from Stevie Wonder and KJH. Stevie. [applause]

So, we go to uh public comments. Any persons wishing to address city council, successor agency, housing authority, finance authority, and the JPA on any item on today's agenda may do so at this time. Very nice. Okay. Hearing no comment, we'll go to item one, CSA1 and H1. Want register? We'll receive and file M1. Approval of the minutes of the meetings held on December 9th and December 18th, 2025. Move approval second. Madam city clerk, council members Padilla I. Morales I. Fog. Hi. Mayor Buds I. Consent calendar items 1, two, three, and four. So moved. Second.

Madam city clerk. Council members. Padilla. I. Morales. I. Fog. I. Mayor Buds. I DR1.

Staff report presenting the fiscal year 2025 through 2026 first quarter review report. Now, that's a receiving file. But before that, I wanted to call up Kona Buchanan to answer a couple questions, and thank you, Mr. Buchanan. Um, I saw in one of these little throwaway blogs something about the first quarter report that intimated that uh our admission taxes and sales taxes were down like 80 or 95%. Now, is that true? [snorts] That is not true in that entirety is not true. No.

Okay. Was the issue one of reporting or actuality of receipt? It was one of reporting. Okay. Can you explain why it would not make that report? It did not make that report because we were specific to a particular moment in time and that was October through December. as well as some financial transaction matters in December that took course in January. Okay. With um the funds to be posted, what is the actual comparison between receipts of admission tax and sales taxes?

Now that we've had those postings that were delayed, they are now in line with what we expected. The revenues for sales tax are now in receipt at the exact amount comparison to last year would only be about a $100,000 difference which makes it relatively flat. Okay. Thank you very much. All right. And with that, we'll receive and file DR2. Staff report recommending the mayor and council members adopt a resolution amending the fiscal year 2025 through 2026 operational budget to upgrade three positions, one in each department, administration, emergency management, and protective services and police to support the execution of goals and objectives set forth in the city's current budget documents. Move adoption.

Second, madam city clerk, council members Padilla. Hi. Morales, I fog. Hi. Mayor Buds. I DR3 staff report recommending the mayor and council members approve a memorandum of understanding with the city of Los Angeles for the 67th Street and West Boulevard civil improvement project in the amount of $1,548. Excuse me 1,548,000. [laughter] My apologies. That was a bargain.

That's a deal. I'm sorry. [laughter] My apolog um so that we make it clear this 1.5 million is the city's portion of uh streets that ab butt with Los Angeles. Is that right Mr. All right madam city clerk I don't have a second mayor. Oh second. Thank you madam city clerk. Yes. Mayor council members Padilla. Hi. Morales. Hi. Fog. Hi. Mayor Buds. I 01

staff report recommending the mayor and council members adopt ordinance number 26-05 amending chapter 11 of the Inglewood 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. process, preventing wage theft and exploitation and maintaining quality assurance throughout development. Move motion to wave further reading. Second, madam city clerk. Council members Padilla I. Morales I Fog I. Mayor Buds I move adoption.

Second. Second. Madam city clerk. Council members Padilla. Hi. Morales. Hi. Fog. I Mayor Buds I. A1. Nothing to report mayor. Thank you. CM1. Mr. Mayor, congratulations on your award. Thank you, sir. CC1, no report. Mayor, 1.5 million, [laughter] we better take your temperature. That's it. [laughter] MR1

staff report recommending the council members adopt a resolution granting permission to the count to excuse me granting permission to council member grade to be absent from council meetings pursuant to government code section 36513A and Inglewood City Charter article 36 excuse me 36 section 7 move adoption second madam city clerk council members Padilla. Hi. Morales. Hi. Fog. Hi. Mayor Buds. I. The successor agencies in session CSA2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on December 9th, 2025. Move. Approval. Second. Second. Madam city clerk. Successor agency members. Padilla. I. Morales. I. Fog.

I. Chairman Buds. I will adjourn the successor agency. The housing authorities in session H2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on December 9th, 2025. Approve. Second. Second. Madam city clerk. Housing Authority members Padilla I Morales. Hi Fog. Hi. Chairman Buds. I move. [clears throat] Housing authority. The finance authorities in session F1. Approval of the minute of the excuse me approval of the minutes of the meeting held on December 9th, 2025. Approval. Second. Madam city clerk. Finance authority members. Padilla. I. Morales. I. Fog. I. Chairman Buds. I will adjourn the finance authority of the parking authorities in session P1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on December 9th, 2025. Approval. Second.

Madam city clerk. Parking authority members. Padilla. I Morales. I Fog. I. Chairman Buds. I within the parking authority. We have too many authorities. You know what? We got to look at this. Okay. The joint JPA is in session. Uh JPA1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on December 9th, 2025. Move. Approval. Second. Madam city clerk. Joint powers authority members. Padilla. Hi. Morales. Hi. Fog. Hi. Chairman Buds. I will adjourn the JPA appointments to boards, commissions, and committee. Um, council member Dion Faulk nominates and I appoint Cheryl Mlelen uh to the housing authority board.

Second. Madam City Clerk. Council members Padilla. Hi. Morales. Hi. Fog. I. Mayor Buds.

I. Public comments regarding other matters. Persons wishing to address the city council on any matter connected with city business not elsewhere considered on the agenda may do so at this time. [snorts] One minute. Hello. Uh thank you for having me. My name is John Barry with Awesome Pettic. Um congratulations on your award today. Uh, thank you, city council, for seeing me. Um, I'm here because I would really like the opportunity to do business legally with my pettic [snorts] cab fleet or some of it. Uh, this is like a major hub for the whole area for events, sports, concerts, everything comes through here. World Cup, I guess, Olympics, I'm supposing. Mhm.

And uh I just would love to be able to legally ride here and comply with all the rules. Um I've been here before. I was here way back when they were still building the stadium. Had a deal on the table with Madison Square Garden and uh I was, you know, they said fill out the paperwork and we'll see. And so I did and then they said no pettic cab companies. Uh there's no bike lanes. So I just went away. But now there are three companies. Um, and I would like to be one of them. I'm not, you know, some rich guy. I know you guys got a lot of rich guys coming in here want to be part of the part of all the exciting things happening here, but that's not me. I started with one petty cabin and bought them all one at a time by selling rides. So anyways, thank you for your time.

Okay, sir. What was your name again? John Barry. Okay. John, can you leave your information with the sergeant-at-arms? Because, you know, there are state laws that regulate where petty cabs can travel and they can't travel where the speed limit is 35 m hour or greater. And so, I'm trying to understand what you're saying about we authorize three companies because we can't authorize them to operate in violation of state law.

We currently have an ordinance that allows petty companies. We are limited to, I believe, two or three. Um, and they're they're only allowed to travel on, as the mayor says, they're not allowed to travel on highways, but we do currently have two or three companies, but I think we're we're limited to those and when it opens up again, it would open to an application from yourself. But please understand this, sir, the issue is is that you want to take people to the forum so far and into it, and Prairie is the main arterial. So, you're not allowed to take them on prairie, but as the councilman observes, we do have three, but they can't travel on prairie.

Okay. [laughter] Oh, yeah. I think the the main issue is that it has to open up to allow more or one of them has to drop off. And at that point there'll be I'm sure we'll have send out a proposal for that. Any kind of idea that's going to happen? Well, no, there's no that's not going to happen this time, but you can leave your name and we'll have uh staff contact you and let you know what the situation is. You're welcome.

Good afternoon. My name is Yita Gonzalez and I'm a resident in District 4. Since last summer, I have been coming to voice my concerns around all the ongoing ice raids and activity in Englewood. And I continue to reiterate that we need to take action now, especially given the big events that are coming to our city, such as the World Cup and the Olympics. We already witnessed ICE agents in our city during the last Super Bowl that was hosted in Englewood in 2022, and the ICE presence back then caused fear amongst our immigrant community, and now the political landscape is worse. and we have seen ICE agents in Englewood kidnap people without warrants. This is a public safety issue and as city leaders, you have the responsibility and power to create more protections for your constituents that go beyond state and federal law. Therefore, we urge you all to stand alongside immigrants in England and agendaize and vote to pass a sanctuary policy that would include important protections for immigrants such as limitations to any collaboration with ICE, prohibitions against city resources from being used in immigration enforcement, restrictions to access for immigration authorities in non-public areas of city property, limitations around inquiring about collecting and sharing residents sensitive information, and prohibitions entering into any new contracts with any contractor that provides data directly. or indirectly to immigration authorities. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Good afternoon. My name is Marita Medina. My family has been here since the 1970s. I was born and raised in Englewood and live here today. First, I want to congratulate Councilwoman Dion Faulk on her recent town hall. I wasn't able to attend in person, but I watched online and was truly inspired by the engagement and transparency. It was powerful to see residents show up and feel heard. That actually led me to look into district 3. I couldn't find anything concrete about a recent town hall, Councilman Morales, and I believe hosting one would have a meaningful impact on residents. There's a clear interest and I'm confident with community support, we will get strong numbers. We still have time to make that happen this year. Lastly, Mayor Buts, I watched your interview with TMC Sports regarding potential ice activity during the World Cup. You stated that ICE would not be a part of the federal major.

Actually, I did not say that. I'll tell you what I said. What I said to to this point is not my knowledge they're going to be part of the federal matrix. What they're going to do, I don't know. So, you have to look at the words exactly as I said. I I did take a great quote, sir. Okay. You stated that ICE would not be a part of the federal matrix as you just stated again for the event. Given that you previously mentioned not being in communication with ICE, I'm hoping you can clarify how that assurance is being guaranteed. I'm not assuring you of anything, ma'am. What I said was to my knowledge they're not part of the federal security matrix and that's what it means. Yes, we're aligned on that sir. All right, I'll finish my comment.

This is exactly why many of us believe a sanctuary ordinance is necessary to protect immigrant families in Inglewood and ensure there is no form of collaboration that puts our communities at risk. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. With that, we'll close public comment and we'll go to the mayor and council remarks. Councilman Padilla. Thank you, Mayor. And again, congrats on your well-deserved recognition. Welld deserved. Thank you, sir.

Uh so, coming up next uh next week on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at Rogers Park, uh I'm having a ribbon cutting for an organization called Cause. Uh I'm teaming up with Cause. We as a city are teaming up with Cause. They're an organization that's providing uh baby food, toddler diapers, clothing, uh things for babies and toddlers free of charge, free to all community members. You just have to register online so that you can come to this event. you come into the uh Rogers Park uh auditorium and there'll be plenty of tables where folks will be set up to assist you in getting you food or supplies for your family. Again, this is a free community event. You just need to register and uh to be a part of it. And I want to thank Thomas, you all, and parks and rec staff for helping us get this thing through. Uh it's been a while, you know, since we've been working on it. But again, thank you uh Thomas and your staff and looking forward to seeing you there for the ribbon cutting next Tuesday at 10 a.m. as we help our families that are in need. Uh I'm going to switch real quick. You know, people talk about, you know, we're all concerned with ICE and we can't continue to keep telling you how much this impacts all of us at different levels. We're all impacted. each and every one of us up here. And I will tell you, as much as some folks will continue to say that we need to do this and we need to confirm this and confirm that, and we have said it time and time again, we are not collaborating with ICE. ICE doesn't check in with our city or any other city. It does not check in with the police departments in our city or any other city. This federal

branch does what they're going to do and they don't check in. They come, they do what they're going to do and they scadaddle. They're out, right? Do we coordinate? We don't. Do we share sensitive information with ICE? No. None of that. And I can't tell you, you know, keep telling you time and time again. And even if those cities that did a sanctuary ordinance, it's not going to stop ICE or any federal branch from doing what they're going to do. It's not. But what are we doing? We're working with our families. We're working with our nonprofit organizations. We're working with parents and their children to ensure that they feel safe, that they are safe when they're at home, when they're going shopping, when their kids are going to school. We work with our Inglewood Unified School District, our police departments, and even our fire department because they're out there as well. And so, we are doing everything we as a city can do to keep our community safe. And so I just want to make sure folks understand that. Uh with that, I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday at the ribbon cutting. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Dion Faulk, District 4. Thank you, Mayor. Um I want to congratulate you on your award and that fabulous picture that [snorts] you took. And we all want that photographer information called AI [laughter] Man. Woo. [snorts]

Um, I want to um quickly thank you for uh coming out again and um addressing um the [snorts] ICE situation. Um again, I I say that all the time that it is um this is a black and brown city. We're family here. We're family on this day. We're family in the city. And um you mentioned the town hall and it was interesting. We had kids there and I think part of my efforts is to try and to convince them and express to them how important it is to vote because our vote is what makes the difference and how we are able to make a difference in this world especially when it comes to situations like that. So we all feel the same and there is definitely no collaboration with the federal government. I can promise you that. [snorts] So um we're not doing that. Um okay. Uh also I want to wish all the women um happy um women's history month. We are very excited because um this is a month that's important to women. Um as you all know women are um you know we have had a a challenging history just like African-Americans just like uh Latino our Latino um family. So everybody has had their journey here in in in America and so women have too. And so but we've made a big difference in um how we have shaped the United States of America. And um we broke a lot of barriers here. And so I want us women to show up and show out. And so please check out my tapins that I do weekly. I'm going to make sure that our women are represented in my tapins because we're going to be showing up and showing out. Um, so happy Women's History Month. Also, uh, the city clerk and I, we are on our third year for Women Rock Empowerments. I said fifth, I said fifth. Oh, I'm

sorry. I'm tripping. Fifth year. Got too happy. Fifth year. And so, we're going to show up and show out with the women rock this year. And so, we're looking forward to that. Save the date. May 2nd from 9 to 2. We will have our handsome gentlemen up here on the deis here for a short period of time. And then after that they they will have other things to do. [snorts] And so [laughter] and then um lastly I do want to acknowledge that the uh ITC is um doing some workshops on Thursday. Uh there is going to be the local business workshops. um Thursday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then uh Thursday afternoon from 5:00 p.m. to 700 p.m. So um for more information, feel free to reach out to uh my office, but you I will be out there. I know the mayor and council members will be out there to support the ITC project. And then also I want to wish um my uh district for library commissioner uh well um Jacqueline Cochran. She had recently had surgery. So, wish her well on uh getting well soon. And also, I want to express that um I wish our council woman Gloria Gray um continued uh well wishes to get well soon as well. So, that's all I have. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Councilman Morales. District.

Thank you. Um want to start by uh thanking Brian and his department office of emergency services who had a smoke detector uh event over in my district, District 3 on Saturday. They did a really great job and you know I have to say they did a good job of bringing out with with Red Cross some great volunteers and it every time I I uh first of all you know I want to say it highlights some of our parks. That's a great little pocket park in the neighborhood but aside from that it gives an opportunity for folks from outside the area to come and volunteer, get to know our families and they take with them, you know, an image of Inglewood that isn't the one you always saw back in the day. So it's a great opportunity. Thank you Brian for that. Um then uh the ICE thing, you know, Alex said it best. You know, we're we're all on the same page here. You know, we may not uh you know, react as though you want us to or do the things exactly how you want us to, but we're all on the same page. Okay? Any reassurances you need, we can do them. You can call us, whatever. As a matter of fact, uh you know, we're setting up a meeting with someone uh uh that I met before and I know she's going to come around for the office, wants to share some of her experiences, great. We'll do that. Um you know, you're you're also welcome to my office, you know, whenever. And and it's like, you know, that's part of what we do. Get to know us, get to know kind of where we're coming from, and it'll show you kind of who we are, right? After that, you think what you think. Okay. Um, in regards to town hall meetings, some of us do them, some of us don't. I prefer to go to folks homes, just went to one this weekend. They gather up a bunch of neighbors. We we talk, you know, you're welcome to invite me as well. Like I said, any concerns, come to my office. Uh, I also like to do my own translating, so I like to do some in Spanish, some in English, and that's why having larger ones is a little more difficult. Um, that being said, so you

know, welcome here anytime. Continue to give us your point of view. Uh but that's where we stand. We're all on the same side on this thing. Uh in regards to Oh, and that's it. And then my buddy JB right here. Congratulations on your award, buddy. I mean, uh I'll have to say, you know, as the years go by, you know, these accomplishments grow and everything else and you forget to stop and pause how great these things are. Uh and it was a great team effort, but at the same time, you know, you you were the head and you deserve that credit of being the head. And and I'll tell you, I've worked with a number of mayors here. Um, and that's the truth. You know, it took a lot of of of moments where we had to be in the right place to make the right decision and move on. And not everybody has the courage to do that. So, congratulations for that. I'm sure you've gotten a lot of awards. This is one of the only times we're in front of it. And, you know, we get to comment on that. So, congratulations.

Hey, well, I I appreciate you, my man. um had a great career and worked for three different cities. Um never had uh [snorts] better partners in making things happen. I want to, you know, I want to talk about this ice thing for the last time though. So come on, my man. Gonna have to call you back. I'm making a big speech right now. [laughter] All right. my homeowners insurance guy [laughter] probably won't get the policy now. Um, you know, [sighs and gasps] I get like when I I do interviews now, everybody's got their ice twist. And I'm going to tell you what reporters want to do. See, they want a controversy and they want to lead you into saying stupid stuff. So, let me tell you something. ICE has added 12,000 new officers and agents. They're 22,000 strong. They're the biggest law enforcement combined in the country. Their funding has expanded significantly and they're increasing their detention pan capacity to 116,000 beds. They're a federal agency. Their authority supersedes the state and local governments. Now, to my knowledge, we really haven't had any big ICE operations here. To my prediction, there is no reason to have some massive operation at the FIFA World Cup when

over 100,000 people will be coming here from other countries. That's my logic. Now, have I heard that they're going to be part of the enforcement matrix? No, I haven't. [snorts] has the head of uh that division said they plan on invol being involved in the uh FIFA World Cup games. I guess he said it. I read it myself. But here's what I don't do. I don't pick fights with people that outnumber our law enforcement a agency over 10,000 to one, over a thousand to1. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that to please anybody. What I'm going to do is I'm going to conduct myself in a way that keeps it rolling. And so I've never been the kind of guy that says what people want him to say. And I'm never going to be that guy. So for for anybody that feels that way, for the reporters, you're not going to bait me into saying stupid stuff. So here's what here's what I do know. I do know that we've had some ice activity here. I've seen it on social media from time to time. I feel very bad for people that lose their bread winners that are doing nothing but working, honest work and paying taxes. My job, my commitment is to minimize the impact on Ingwood residents. My comrades have told you we don't have any policy of preemptively collaborating with ICE as an entity and we're going to keep rolling in this bubble that we have that's Englewood. That's our hope. So now with that I'm going to tell you I

went to um Kelso Elementary and uh I read a story. Now here's the thing. This book was about a crow and this crow had an interaction with a mouse, a cat, another bird. And the weirdest thing is it ends up he blows these other animals off because he's going to get in a space capsule and he's going to go up with lasers and shoot a meteor that's fallen to Earth. And so having been an engineer, I was able to explain to the kids that the reason you got to break the meteor up is so that when it hits the atmosphere, it burns up when it comes into the atmosphere. I was so grateful my dad was an engineer cuz this story made no sense. But I just want to tell you, I had a great time. The kids asked a lot of great questions and you know, this is the best time in the history of Englewood that I know of. and I've been here since 1972. Been coming to uh Sentinella Park since I was 7 years old. So, congratulations to the city of Inglewood and thank you KJLH and Stevie Wonder. And with that, we're adjourned.

Thank you, Mayor.