INGLEWOOD – Rep. Maxine Waters has come out against the proposed Inglewood Transit Connector project due to its displacement of businesses along the proposed transit route.
“I should have paid more attention early on, so that I wouldn’t have discovered so much about it late,” she said.
“I just think that when our constituents look at how we make decisions and what our priorities are. This is the worst example.”
The opposition is a major break for Waters, who three years ago wrote in support of a $20-million grant for the line. Waters said she changed her mind as she learned that dozens businesses would be forced to move, and that the cost per station was more than double that of the nearby K Line.
Last June, the members of the city council pleaded with stadium owners, Steve Ballmer and Stan Kroenke, to put up funds to build the transit connector since they will be the primary benefactors of it which Waters pointed out in her letter to Buttieg.
“It will not provide convenient connectivity to employment or public services for local residents,” she said. “The ITC is designed primarily to allow public transit users to connect the extra 1.6 miles from Metro’s K Line to sports and entertainment venues. Shuttle buses could most likely accomplish the same goal at a fraction of the cost, but have not been seriously considered as an alternative.”
Buttigieg’s federal agency has committed $1 billion to the project, about half its expected cost. But after the letter went out to members of the the House appropriations subcommittee, its chair, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), stripped $200 million — an installment of the full funding amount — in a draft budget bill.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. is the self-appointed sole source of negotiations for all big ticket projects coming into the City and was tapped to lead the efforts to convince the venue owners to pony up funds towards the transit connector’s construction costs.
“The mayor is continuing to lead negotiations with the venues for their contributions to operation and maintenance, in consistency with our plans, and the negotiations are ongoing and collaborative,” said Lisa Trifiletti, who is the lead consultant on the project.
The 1.6 mile elevated automated people mover is designed to connect riders from the Metro K Line to the Inglewood Sports and Entertainment District which houses the Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theatre and the Intuit Dome.
Residents have drawn the conclusion that Butts has failed to convince the owners to contribute towards the costs while encumbering Inglewood taxpayers with the burden of shoring up the funding gap after the council voted to pledge $10 million annually, from taxpayers, for ongoing maintenance and operation costs.
“This is an ongoing process and we are making this commitment now because we have to do this because there are deadlines to be met to show where the operations and maintenance money would come from,” said Butts. “The reality is I am still actively engaging the venues but what we cannot do is negotiate with a firearm to our head because we have to meet a deadline for the FTA.”
Due to skyrocketing construction costs, which at one time swelled to nearly $3 billion, and the appearance that no private funds will be used to build the people mover, it appears the project could be in jeopardy of being built.
During a city council meeting held in October 2022, Mayor Butts was very matter-of-fact on what would happen should they not secure all the funds needed to build the bold project.
“If we don’t receive all the funds we will halt the project where it stands,” said Mayor Butts.
The current finance scheme being used for the work performed thus far has been through “reimbursements” from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) where Mayor Butts serves on the board of directors.
According to the City’s most recent Consolidated Annual Finance Report for 2022, Metro owes Inglewood millions in funds that taxpayers have front-loaded with anticipation of being reimbursed.
It is unknown if all monies have been received or if the figures have swelled as residents await the release of the 2023 Consolidated Annual Finance Report.