By Kenneth Miller | Publisher
The race for West Basin Municipal Water District Division II has taken a turn for the worse for incumbent Gloria Gray after Attorney General Rob Bonta allowed for her to be sued by Inglewood residents to remove her from the board, it was disclosed by Westin Basin District II candidate Tyron Turner on Oct. 15 at City Hall South Lawn.
“The problem is, there’s an inherent conflict between these two elective offices. The West Basin board sets rates for water and sells that water to all the cities within its jurisdiction, including Inglewood. And then Inglewood has to pay those rates for its residence and its businesses. She basically sits on both sides of the same transaction. selling the water and buying the water. That is a clear and inherent conflict,” stated attorney Jim Sutton who filed the suit on behalf of two Inglewood residents.
According to Sutton, The Attorney General has issued numerous opinions, saying that someone who sits on a local waterboard can’t simultaneously sit on a city council within the waterboard’s jurisdiction. A court of appeal, just a few years ago, issued a decision right next door to former Carson Mayor Alfred Robles, saying that he could not sit on the Southern California water replenishment district board, because of this inherent conflict.
South Bay Black Journal sent a text to Gray’s personal cell phone for comment, and while she indicated he would provide a statement in regards to this matter, SSBJ had not received such a statement at press time.
Gray is currently an elected sitting board member of West Basin District II and also serving as Inglewood City Councilmember in District 1, but is campaigning for mayor in the City of Inglewood.
The former immediate past president of the Board at West Basin which imports, recycle, use water effectively and educates according to its mission statement, Gray, 82, and current president Jim Dear, 83, are the longest tenured and oldest members serving on the board.
Gray was elected to the board in 2006, and to the city council in 2023 when she ousted late former Councilmember George Dotson.
Turner, 49, an Inglewood resident who is also local business owner decided to challenge Gray for the board position when he was having issues water in my home.
“My kids were born, they had skin rashers on their skin, it was because of our water, our water quality. We had to put filters on our shower heads to stop that. I had a company come out to my house and give me an estimate for a whole home water home system. It was over $8,000,” he explained.
On another occasion Turner encountered a resident in Vons grocery market.
“One day, I was shopping at Von’s Market, a lady in front of me, a senior citizen lady. She was talking about how high the groceries were. And she said, And even my water build is expensive now.”
He said that when he decided to do some investigating into water provided by West Basin.
“I discovered how the rates have been going up every year since Councilwoman Gray been in office. I said, let me investigate this more. Let me do something about this. In lieu of the situation that was going on with my water at home. So that’s when I found out more about it. Like, well, what is she doing? So the rates have substantially went up from the time she became a council member. They went up. That is really trouble. It is. It is. And so, you see. when she voted to raise the rates at West Basin, of course, the seat of Inglewood didn’t have a choice but to raise the rates on us. So they can cover the cost.”
According to West Basin documents provided by Turner campaign, when Gray was elected to the board in 2006 to water rate was $547 per month and in 2026 the rate is $2,099 per month.
The Turner Campaign also displayed two oversized makeshift checks detailing financial payments made by the taxpayer to Gray from West Basin from 2023-2026 of $330,870 and from Inglewood City Council from 2023-2025 of $256,014, but those numbers have not be independently verified by South Bay Black Journal.
According to West Basin own financial disclosure, board members total roughly $12,482.59 annually, but through other financial disclosure documents it is reported Gray receives an annual salary of $89,642 per year from West Basin and from 2023-2025 roughly $184,792 from the City of Inglewood.
“Why is she doing this to us? What’s her legacy gonna be? And I’m here today to ask you to do the right thing to resign from your constituents. I’m one of your constituents. What are we going to do? You can’t have one foot in City Hall and one foot at West Basin. I’m pleading with you to resign today and do the Democratic thing and respect our community. What are we gonna do? I promise to fight for you, to lower water rates, provide safe drinking water, and bring that information to the community. When I’m out canvassing, knocking on doors, most people never even heard of a waterboard or its function. That’s a failure,” Turner declared.
