INSIDE INGLEWOOD-Inglewood’s Mayor, James T. Butts, has made statements at a February 11 city council meeting that appear to directly challenge actions taken by LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. Butts was formally notified of violations of California state law regarding his behavior in a letter from the DA dated November 12, 2013.
Moreover, the video footage of the comments clearly appears to have been edited in an unethical fashion to prevent the DA from observing the full scope of the mayor’s insults toward Lacey’s decisions. Most Inglewood City Council meetings are posted on the city’s Web site and YouTube channel two days after the respective city council meeting. For the meeting that recorded Butts' controversial remarks aimed at the District Attorney, the city did not post the video until a full 10 days afterward.
Once posted, it was noted by Inglewood residents that there was at least one strong comment by the mayor in an apparent attempt to defy her letter but that a significant segment of the footage was inexplicably missing. The missing segment, according to residents who attended the meeting, were insults aimed at the DA's attempt to restrain Butts' unlawful behavior at city council meetings.
The letter states that Butts’ “actions at [two city council] meetings violated the Brown Act” and that the DA’s decision is to “ensure that the Council does not repeat these violations.”
In response to the DA's admonishments regarding illegally having residents forcibly removed by police officers, the mayor announced, “I’d do it again!” after loudly stating that “Here’s the way it works: the District Attorney doesn’t find that anyone broke the law. District attorneys give advisory opinions.”
The video is titled “02-11-14 City of Inglewood Council Meeting” and can be seen here. The break in the 2.5-hour video can be observed at the 2:33:44/45 (hour/minute/seconds) mark, right after the mayor’s remarks about DA Lacey.
LA County DA Deputy Bjorn Dodd responded to an earlier concern regarding the Mayor’s editing of earlier city council meetings that “[w]hile selective editing of a recording certainly raises concerns, the Brown Act is silent on the issue.”
According to the Ralph M. Brown Act 54953.5 Ch. V, “The Public may obtain a copy, at cost, of an existing tape recording made by the legislative body of its public sessions, and to listen to or view the body’s original tape on a tape recorder or viewing device provided by the agency.”
During the Mayor’s bizarre although far from typical rant, he chastises residents who dare to investigate documents made public by the California Department of Finance. He violates Robert’s Rules of Order and the city’s own rules of decorum by personally addressing residents by name in an obvious attempt to intimidate other from researching the corruption that appears to be the mayor’s policy. And he remains adamant that he … and only he … will decide if someone should be thrown out of “his” city council chamber.
(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 18
Pub: Feb 28, 2014