Questions remain regarding Senior Citizens’ alleged petition for daytime city council meetings

A petition allegedly signed by 131 Inglewood residents remains under investigation for the document’s validity.

The petition was the primary subject during the January 15 city council meeting. A number of those whose signatures were alleged to have been in favor of the daytime meetings have had relatives speak out against what they feel was a deceptive measure to acquire the signatures.

“The people on this so-called petition were the same people who signed in and attended a holiday party at Westchester Villa,” stated Diane Sambrano. Sambrano’s mother was one of those who claimed to have not signed the petition but signed a holiday party sign-in sheet. The elder Sambrano’s signature is at the top of one of the sheets.

The topic that appeared to be of interest to many people commenting was item DR-1 on the January 15 agenda. Titled “Modification of City Council Meetings,” the item claimed that “[o]n December 17, 2012, the City Clerk’s Office received a petition from an Inglewood senior citizen signed by 131 senior citizens regarding a requested change in meeting times of the Inglewood City Council.”

When asked who submitted the petitions, City Clerk Yvonne Horton responded, “I don’t know. It was an old woman.” When asked if due diligence was performed regarding the validity of the signatures, Horton would say only that they were “checked against the voter lists.”
The result was quickly instituted. The first regularly scheduled daytime city council meeting since 1993 was held on March 5.

At the January 15 city council meeting, a number of alleged residents spoke during both comments segments.

One speaker announced her name as Lisa Alarcon and claimed to be an AARP representative. Alarcon departed immediately from the podium after her comment and could not be reached for comment.

Another speaker in favor of the daytime meetings was Derek Steele, who spoke during both the meeting’s public commentary periods.

At the open comments segment of the meeting, Steele admitted that “the people who didn’t come, who probably signed the petition, want [their] meetings.”

Steele went on to express his desire to drive seniors to the daytime meetings once they started.

Mr. Steele, reached by telephone days after the January 15 meeting, said, “People go to the city to present the opinions of others, which I was down there to do that night.”

Steele is the Civic Engagement Programs Director at Social Justice Learning Institute, a non-profit to which D’Artagnan Scorza is Executive Director and Founder.

Scorza was recently featured on the front page of Inglewood Today, the official newspaper of the City of In- glewood. Scorza’s non-profit regularly works closely with the City of Inglewood.

The paper receives significant General Fund money via the city clerk, Yvonne Horton. Horton is frequently and regularly featured in Inglewood Today.

At the March 5 meeting, which was held from 2 p.m. until approximately 4 p.m., approximately 20 senior citizens were brought in on City of Inglewood busses driven by city employees. Only one person, Tricia Crenshaw, attended to the group. Nearly every one of the senior citizens used walkers, wheelchairs and canes.

Derek Steele was not at the March 5 daytime city council meeting.