Billionaires Steve Ballmer and Stan Kroenke are fighting back against Inglewood Mayor James Butts and his campaign donor WOW Media to stop the over proliferation of digital billboards in the City.
Mayor Butts and WOW Media erected digital billboards in the public right-of-way and are using them to launch an ad campaign attacking the owners of the Intuit Dome and SoFi Stadium.
Inglewood does not have any campaign finance limits that will allow competing interests to pump millions of dollars into the upcoming November 6 election with Butts seeking a fifth term in office.
The INGLEWOOD NOT FOR SALE campaign states:
1. Inglewood Is NOT For Sale
Inglewood public streets and sidewalks should serve residents — not billboard corporations. But that didn’t stop City Hall from signing a 40-year, no-bid contract giveaway of our public space to a private billboard company. 40 years of massive, Vegas-style digital billboards flooding our neighborhoods!
2. Public Spaces Belong to People
Inglewood taxpayers spent millions beautifying streets and medians—planting palm trees and expensive landscaping. Now those improvements have been ripped out to make way for digital billboards that block our skies, create light pollution and clutter our streets.
3. Bad Deal for Inglewood
Inglewood is one of the most valuable entertainment markets in the country. But cities like Santa Monica (with fewer residents) negotiated better deals—fewer billboards, stronger protections, and way more money for city services. The money guaranteed Inglewood is barely enough to pay for the landscaping they ripped out.
4. Power to the People of Inglewood
This is about our power, our voice and our right to vote. When a longtime Inglewood resident tried to bring this to the ballot, the city sued to stop her— using our taxpayer money. Fortunately, City Hall and the billboard company lost. A judge said the people deserve a say and now we’re making sure they get it.
If you see your public space being taken over, send us a photo.
To stay informed and stop Mayor Butts and his corporate donors from taking over public spaces visit INGLEWOODNOTFORSALE.COM which is funded by Forum Entertainment and HP Security Co.