From Fiscal Collapse to Global Destination

Mayor James T. Butts, Jr.

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By Dr. Gloria Zuurveen, Publisher, PACE NEWS / Inside Inglewood

 INGLEWOOD — In the heat of an election season, it is common for biased political commentary to be used in an attempt to rewrite history. But facts are stubborn things. When James T. Butts Jr. took office in February 2011 as mayor of Inglewood, the city was not the global destination it is today. It was a municipality already in a state of economic Armageddon and on the precipice of fiscal collapse.

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At that time, the city’s financial obligations ($18 million deficit) had far outpaced its revenue streams. Contracts had been negotiated that were unsustainable, and the municipal budget was weighed down by commitments with no foreseeable funding. The city’s financial structure was buckling under the strain of unrealistic agreements and unchecked spending.

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Without decisive intervention, Inglewood was already sliding toward fiscal receivership—a condition in which the state steps in to take control of a city’s finances because its leadership can no longer sustain the basic responsibilities of governance. In plain terms, the city was on the brink of losing control of its own destiny. What happened next is the part of the story that critics deliberately leave out. Immediately, under the leadership of Mayor Butts, working in coordination with a City Council that chose cooperation over chaos, the city made the difficult decisions necessary to restore fiscal discipline. Wasteful spending was cut. Unsustainable agreements were revisited. New revenue sources were developed.  One of which was the advertising agreement, which evolved into a reliable revenue stream that funds City services (More on that later). City priorities were realigned with economic reality. These actions were not glamorous, but they were essential to stabilizing a government that had been drifting toward insolvency.

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Once stability was restored, Inglewood began to experience a transformation that few cities accomplish within a generation, let alone a single decade. The Mayor’s strategic vision opened the door to historic development opportunities, including the reconstruction of the Kia Forum, the construction of the new SoFi Stadium, and, later, the Intuit Dome, turning the city into a global destination for sports, entertainment, and major international events.

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The results are not just theoretical—they are visible in residents’ everyday lives.

Before 2011, median home prices in Inglewood often hovered between $225,000 and $ 250,000, reflecting a city still recovering from the Great Recession. Today, many homes in the city command prices approaching or exceeding $800,000, and Inglewood now has several neighborhoods where houses sell for in excess of $1,000,000.  Jobs – The Unemployment Rate in Inglewood was 17.5% in 2010 and has fallen as low as 5%, one of the lowest rates in a minority-majority in the United States.

For workers and longtime homeowners, these accomplishments represent something far more meaningful than statistics—it represents generational wealth built through their community’s growth. That growth did not happen by accident. It happened because Mayor Butts made difficult fiscal choices early, protected the city from financial collapse, and then worked in unison across the council districts to position Inglewood for opportunity. The residents of Inglewood remember where the city stood in 2011. They remember the pot-holed roads, the crime, the gangs, the untrimmed trees, and raging unemployment. They remember being on the brink. They remember the discipline that was exercised to stabilize the city’s finances. And they can see the results today in rising property values, global recognition, and a city whose name now carries weight far beyond its borders.

Now, as election season unfolds, voters must decide whether those who stood up for the City during its most difficult moment should continue guiding its future—or whether others with no apparent qualifications, who appear after the success has been achieved, should take the reins. For those who truly care about the city’s future, the answer is crystal clear, and the record speaks for itself.

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The Southern Truth is that prosperity attracts attention. It also attracts envy and false criticism, particularly during election seasons when new contenders want an unearned come-up, eager to inherit the very success they now conveniently question. It is always easier to inherit prosperity than it is to build it.

The prosperity now visible across Inglewood did not arrive through slogans, lawsuits, or election-season commentary. It came through leadership, vision, strategy, fiscal responsibility, and the ability to execute when the city needed it most. The people of Inglewood remember that moment.

And they can see the results today on nearly every block of the city.

The Southern Truth is simple: when a man stands with a plan and refuses to let his city collapse, history records the results.

And in Inglewood, the results speak for themselves.

Big example: when the weather maps on the major television stations announce the weather, they always have the temperature in Inglewood, the City visited by over 5 million people per year.