On July 15, reports of hostility from the city towards long-time Inglewood residents was the talk of the town. The reports were published by a fairly well-known and popular community blog-type website, which claimed that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Rams owner Stan Kroenke were set to offer certain Inglewood residents $1 million for their homes. The blog post claimed that there had been a Zoom call on July 13 with homeowners in Carlton Square, where the proposal of buying the SoFi Stadium-adjacent homes was brought up.
According to Inglewood Mayor James Butts, this claim by the popular blog is completely false. No such Zoom call has happened, and residents in Carlton Square have not been incentivized to sell their homes, and Mayor Butts wants to make that clear.
“The claim is completely false and utterly without foundation. Quite simply, it is a lie. The concept makes no sense economically or socially. The city would never allow the rezoning of residential neighborhoods. The owners cited have never approached the city with any such proposal. It appears that the writer is intentionally trying to generate fear and contention in the community. Inglewood continues to move forward for its residents and children,” says Mayor Butts.
The article went on to target the mayor in the debacle, claiming that if Carlton Square residents refuse to sell, Mayor Butts will then invoke eminent domain. The mayor intently denies such claims.
The lack of validity in the article’s claims are evident, as it includes quotes from residents who “refuse to be identified”, and even the blanket amount of $1 million for each home in the area isn’t logical.
Hours after the blog’s original article was posted, it was updated to state that “no offers have been made to owners, however, select residents were shared plans of what’s to come.”
