CITY HALL NEWS : INGLEWOOD : Planning Committee Member Davis Ousted
The City Council dismissed Planning Commissioner Art Davis, accusing him of misrepresenting the city in negotiations between Inglewood and Bo, a city in the West African country of Sierra Leone.
Councilman Garland L. Hardeman, who appointed Davis to the Planning Commission, asked the council to remove him. Hardeman said Davis, also the president of the Bo sister-city committee, used his title of planning commissioner to promise Bo delegates development projects without permission of the council.
Davis denies the allegation. He also said his actions as Bo sister-city committee president didn’t bind the city to pay for the development projects that included a new fire station and road construction.
In a document signed by Davis in February, several private U.S. companies agreed to help fund the development of the tiny West African nation.
Davis also was blamed for an incident in April in which a miscommunication between officials in both cities left a delegation from Sierra Leone stranded at an airport for more than a week.
On June 2 Davis resigned from the sister-city committee at Hardeman’s request but refused to leave the Planning Commission, city officials said.
Hardeman recommended Davis for commissioner in 1990. The position is voluntary and receives no salary or benefits, said City Atty. Howard Rosten.
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