Inglewood, Rams owner declare victory amid split in early billboard, tax election results
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- SoFi Stadium owner Stan Kroenke and other Hollywood Park venue operators may avoid a ticket tax change that Inglewood supported.
- The sports venue operators, however, are on track to lose their push to remove advertising from large billboards in Inglewood.
- Incumbent Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. is expected to go to a runoff with City Councilmember Gloria D. Gray.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said he holds no grudge against the operators of SoFi Stadium, even as they apparently are helping fund a PAC working to unseat him.
“I have no animus at all,” Butts told The Times on Wednesday, as returns showed voters rejecting dueling ballot measures that have served as a dividing line between the city and the $5-billion NFL stadium.
According to results posted by the Los Angeles County registrar as of early afternoon Wednesday, Measure BB was losing, 52% to 48%, a margin of 808 votes; and Measure AT was losing 51% to 49%, a margin of 402.
Measure BB — short for “Billboard Blight” — would bar the city from allowing billboard advertising on sidewalks, medians and the like. Owners of SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome and the Forum, who have their own sponsorship deals, backed that measure.
Measure AT would mean more ticket taxes for big events in Inglewood by eliminating a $15-million cap on the 10% admission tax on ticket sales that the stadium pays.
Butts said the apparent defeat of BB preserves billboard revenue that funds free kindergarten classes for low-income families, a mobility and diagnostic center for seniors, and a one-time $500 property-tax rebate for every homeowner in the city.
“That’s good that is not taken away from the residents,” he said, rejecting the idea that the measure soured the relationship with the venue owners, calling them “great business partners.”
Ballot measures regarding billboards and ticket sales highlight a protracted dispute between Inglewood and its NFL team the Rams.
The four-time incumbent is fighting for his job, as City Councilmember Gloria D. Gray was leading him in the mayoral race as of Wednesday, 32.6% to 29.2%, setting the stage for a spring runoff. Hollywood Park has backed Gray.
“The big story is that Inglewood voters are delivering a stunning rebuke to Mayor Butts,” said John Shallman, the political strategist working with Hollywood Park and the other venues. “He’s a 16-year incumbent sitting at just 29% while his huge tax measure is losing.”
The ballot measures were spawned by a spat between Inglewood and Hollywood Park, the nearly 300-acre development anchored by SoFi Stadium and owned by Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The fight started last year over billboards. Inglewood signed a deal with WOW Media for 60 digital signs carrying 108 screens, some of them bus-shelter-sized kiosks. Others are street displays up to 22 feet tall on sidewalks and medians.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts held a news conference denying allegations that he inappropriately touched a high school student while posing for a group photo at a community event last week.
SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome and the Forum sued to block the deal, arguing the signs would undercut their individual sponsors who paid for exclusivity. A judge sided with the city and an appeal is underway.
Measure BB aimed to restrict billboard advertising on public property. It qualified with nearly 13,000 signatures.
The WOW deal runs 20 years with two 10-year options, so it could be around for 40 years.
“It’s biblical in length,” said Shallman, managing the “Yes on BB” campaign. “You go back 40 years. We didn’t even have the internet. We didn’t have cellphones.”
Shallman said the fate of BB could be moot because of conflicts with the California Department of Transportation. A day before the election, “Yes on BB” released CalTrans notices citing four WOW Media billboards along the 405 near La Cienega for violating the state’s Outdoor Advertising Act, with potential fines of $40,000 plus back assessments.
Skip Miller, lead attorney for the city, said the Inglewood kiosks “blend in with the surrounding areas” and connect to a network that provides traffic and safety information.
Measure AT is a citizen initiative funded by WOW Media. Hollywood Park sees it as punishment for challenging the billboard deal.
Butts distanced himself from the measure, saying: “The city did not put that initiative on the ballot and it had nothing to do with me.”
The billboard fight led to a bigger one. Last month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled void the 2015 development agreement that cleared the way for SoFi Stadium, citing a 2018 Moreno Valley decision.
Under the 2015 agreement, Hollywood Park paid up front for roads, water lines, streetlights and event-day police and emergency services, with the city agreeing to eventually reimburse Kroenke for those expenses. Now that the agreement has been voided, the city argues it isn’t required to pay.
