INSIDE INGLEWOOD-Inglewood's Mayor, James T. Butts, appears to have made a deal with Madison Square Garden (MSG) to deactivate the red light traffic cameras. (Photo: Butts with Forum general manager Nick Spanpanato.)
A concerned Inglewood resident who wishes to remain unnamed investigated the matter and recorded significant video footage which clearly shows that Butts may have been deliberately misleading residents as well as endangering them so as to appease MSG to allow departing traffic to move unsafely out of Inglewood.
During a July 30 radio interview, Butts said, "We got rid of [the red light cameras] in January of this year. They have been out of operation for about six months now."
The Forum opened the same month.
The resident went on to say that the red light cameras were causing traffic accidents.
The footage was shot on Sunday, August 24, the night of the MTV's VMA Awards at the Forum in Inglewood. The video may be seen here.
This journalist wrote an earlier story regarding the mayor's secret decision.
(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 weekly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Mr. Fleming’s views are his own and do not reflect the views of CityWatch.) Photo credit: Randall Fleming-cw
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CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 75
Pub: Sep 16, 2014
P.S. photo attached: Forum general manager Nick Spamanato with Inglewood's mayor, James T. Butts, outside the Forum on April 20. (photo by Randall Fleming)