Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - April 9, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................3 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............2 Food.......................................8 Legals............................4, 6-7 Police Reports.....................3 Seniors..................................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 64˚/54˚ Saturday Sunny 68˚/55 Sunday Sunny 68˚/55 Questing for an Eagle at Alondra Midday golfers out to lower their score at Lawndale’s Alondra Golf Course. Photo by Peter Thornton, jp.thornton58@gmail.com. Inglewood Voters Support Incumbents at City Hall, Elect New School Board By Cristian Vasquez new levels when the district was poised to In a big night for the City of Inglewood, run out of money by December 2012 due voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of the to a significant decline in enrollment, cuts incumbents at city hall, reelecting Councilman in state funding and poor financial decisions Ralph L. Franklin, Eloy Morales, Jr., City made by the district’s officials. A $55 million Clerk Yvonne Horton and City Treasurer state loan was attached to the state takeover, Wanda Brown. These unofficial results were but took away all of the district’s board of provided as of 10:11 p.m. on election night education powers, leaving members in an but included 100 percent of the votes counted. advisory capacity only. In addition, the city was asked to decide which candidates were to fill four of the five seats on the Inglewood Board of Education, the first time since the state take over in 2012. For Seat 1 voters elected Margaret Richards-Bowers over Dionne Young Faulk; Melody Ngaue-Tuuholoaki, who ran unopposed, won Seat 3. Seat 4 was taken by challenger Margaret Turner Evans, who beat out incumbents Rene Talbott and Graciela Patino, as well as challenger Darius Leevy. Seat 5 was won by Founder and Director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, D’Artagnan Scorza who beat Henry C. Brown. Richards-Bowers earned 2,863 of the 4,636 votes cast to edge out Young Faulk. For seat 4, the most contested of the four seats, Turner Evans obtained 2,193 votes, more than doubling the runner up Patino who obtained 1,074 votes with Leevy [884 votes] and Talbott [495] garnering the rest. In the race for seat 5, Scorza obtained 2,788 votes against Brown’s 1,824 votes. The Inglewood Unified School District, which was bailed out of near bankruptcy by the state, has not had an election in almost four years. The crisis in the district reached Within a year and a half, May 2014, the district had already used more than half of its emergency loan and managed to end the 2013-2014 school year with a $10 million deficit. After two failed appointees by the state, Dr. Don Brann, the district’s top administrator, who was appointed by the state to help turn things around. Since then Dr. Brann has turned the financial crisis around, without having to touch any of the remaining loan money, which for all amounts used must be paid back with interest. The election for school board members does not mean an immediate transfer of power back to the board, but it’s the first time since 2012 that the district shows signs of moving toward regaining its independence from state control. The election results for city hall were a resounding nod of approval for current elected officials, marking a drastic turnaround from voter sentiment of distrust and inconformity that reigned between 2009 and 2011. In 2009, then Mayor Roosevelt Dorn stepped down from office after pleading to guilty to corruption charges and set the city into a two-year cycle of instability and historic financial woes. With the election of Mayor James T. Butts in 2011, the city council has slowly turned the city’s fiscal situation around and has approved lucrative business plans such: as the revitalization of the Forum through a partnership with Madison Square Garden and the newly approved land development for a football stadium to host an NFL team in the city. Councilman Franklin, who was first elected to the city council back in 2003, continues to be reelected by his constituents and this year he ran unopposed for his seat. Also running unopposed was city treasurer Brown, who earned 4,296 votes. City Clerk Horton, who has been serving the City of Inglewood for the past 12 years had a dominant win Tuesday night and obtained 4,202 votes against her opponent Kesha Mitchell’s 469 votes. In District No. 4 incumbent Morales, Jr., who was first elected to the council in 2003, also had a strong showing of support having earned 1,040 votes, to beat out challengers James A. Spencer [88 votes] and James Marcantel [43 votes]. • The election results for city hall were a resounding nod of approval for current elected officials, marking a drastic turnaround from voter sentiment of distrust and inconformity.
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