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Jun 22, 2026

charter committee

The Compton Charter Review Committee held a special meeting to continue reviewing Section 500 of the city charter, focusing on three major issues: whether to recommend restoring the elected city attorney position removed by Measure CA, whether to return to citywide at-large voting instead of district-based elections, and total compensation for the mayor and city council. Committee members learned that council members receive a $600 monthly stipend, $650 auto allowance, $100 phone allowance, $20,000 annual discretionary event funds, and lifetime medical/dental/vision benefits after five years of service — with Commissioner Baker raising concerns about insufficient safeguards against cronyism in discretionary spending. No formal votes were taken; staff was directed to research total compensation details, the 2012 redistricting settlement agreement, and residency requirements for an elected city attorney, with responses expected at the June 29 meeting.

May 12, 2026

city council

At the May 12, 2026 meeting, the Compton City Council approved several key items including a $200,000 CalTrans grant to continue the city's Clean Team cleanup program, a $309,495 contract for asphalt pavement rehabilitation at various locations, a $67,500 contract for dirt removal and dumping cleanup on city-owned parcels near the 710 freeway, and an $874,908 cost-sharing agreement with the City of Carson for street improvements on Central Avenue. The council also adopted a schedule for upcoming community budget workshops across all four districts, with an additional Saturday session being explored, and scheduled a public hearing for the HUD 2026-27 Annual Action Plan on June 9. During public comment, residents raised concerns about street conditions, Republic Services trash pickup delays, transparency and financial accountability, the Compton Unified School District bond measure, and a credit card misuse investigation — with the city manager announcing that a full report and the investigator will be presented at next week's meeting.

Mar 19, 2026

personnel board

The Compton Personnel Board unanimously approved six items at its March 19, 2026 meeting, with the most significant being the authorization of temporary firefighter appointments to address a severe staffing shortage in the fire department. Fire Chief Donald reported 10 current vacancies across captain, engineer, and firefighter ranks, with retired fire captains and firefighter paramedics being brought in temporarily while the department works to fill 20 positions. The board also approved eligible lists for city clerk technician, street maintenance supervisor, and associate civil engineer positions, abolished a building inspector eligible list due to unsuitable candidates, and extended the fire captain eligible list for six months. Compton College's upcoming fire academy, expected to launch in fall 2026, was noted as a future pipeline for local firefighter recruitment.

Mar 10, 2026

city council

The council's two largest spending approvals at the March 17, 2026 meeting were a $204,116.70 amendment to an existing professional services agreement with Bowman Infrastructure Engineers Ltd. for additional construction management and inspection on road repair project phase nine—passed with four affirmative votes and one abstention—and a contract not to exceed $98,375 with Silbert Perkins Design for municipal branding and marketing consulting, passed 5-0; the Silbert Perkins amount sits $1,625 below $100,000, which analysts typically flag as a potential threshold-adjacent figure, though Compton's specific contract approval threshold is not stated in the meeting materials. Bowman Infrastructure Engineers is a repeat vendor on a multi-phase road project, with this item adding funds to an existing agreement whose original contract value is not disclosed in the available materials. A Special Legal Counsel Authorization Resolution (Item 2 on the structured agenda) was also approved as part of the consent agenda, 5-0, with no dollar amount appearing in the available materials. More than fifteen residents addressed the council during public comment on non-spending matters—including pothole damage reimbursement denials, parking enforcement disputes, code enforcement complaints, and questions about commissioner eligibility to run for office—while no members of the public addressed either the Bowman or Silbert Perkins spending items before those votes were taken.

Jan 13, 2026

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a $350,000 budget amendment appropriating California DOJ tobacco enforcement grant funds — $332,000 of that amount designated for overtime — passed 4-1 with Bowers dissenting; the council also approved a $220,493 contract amendment with NV5, Inc. for the Wilmington Avenue pedestrian and bicycle project (5-0) and an $82,500 grant administration agreement with Corelink Consulting (5-0, voted in a block with items 10 and 11). Three separate consent-calendar items each totaled exactly $50,000: a purchase order to TV Pro Gear, Inc. for council meeting production equipment (5-0), a purchase order to TAJ Trading Corporation DBA TAJ Office and School Supply for small business workshop supplies (4-0-1, Bowers abstaining, after two public commenters stated the recipient businesses were not identified in the agenda package), and a purchase order to Sherwin-Williams for anti-graffiti paint (5-0, in the block vote) — three contracts at an identical dollar amount spanning different departments and vendors. The meeting also included approval of $54,716 in recurring annual fees to the State Water Resources Control Board and $9,900 in Charter Review Committee stipends (both 5-0), while the March 2025 minutes were tabled due to the packet not being included. Outside of spending, the council voted 5-0 in open session to recruit a city controller following closed session, received and filed Bishop Guillory's resignation from the Public Safety Commission (5-0), denied Commissioner Inez Adkins a six-month leave of absence (5-0), and heard competing presentations from Oliveras Madruga, Nassiman LLP, and Sanders Roberts for special legal counsel services, with no contract awarded at this meeting.

Sep 29, 2025

town hall

The Compton [NAACP](https://www.naacp.org) and City of Compton hosted a town hall with LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who outlined major policy reversals from his predecessor, including removing blanket non-prosecution directives for homeless encampment crimes and juvenile misdemeanors. Hochman detailed his office's priorities on fentanyl enforcement, human trafficking prosecution, wrongful conviction reviews, and retail theft deterrence, while emphasizing a 'hard middle' approach that rejects both mass incarceration and decarceration. The DA disclosed that his office has reduced a backlog of over 10,000 unfiled cases to under 6,000 and revealed that a single apartment raid in Downey seized 50 pounds of fentanyl—enough for 11 million lethal doses. Hochman stated his office does not coordinate with ICE and expressed concern that federal immigration enforcement is deterring victims and witnesses from appearing in court. He committed to an open-door policy with the Compton [NAACP](https://www.naacp.org)'s Court Watch program and pledged to return for future community engagement.

May 27, 2025

city council

The single expenditure approved at the May 27, 2025 Compton City Council meeting was a $27,000 purchase order to Sherwin Williams for anti-graffiti paint, drawn from the Measure P Fund and passed 4-0 with Councilmember Duhart absent throughout the meeting. The council also approved first reading of an ordinance requiring labor violation disclosures from contractors on large construction projects, passed 4-0 (Duhart absent) after the full text reading was waived; three Western States Regional Council of Carpenters representatives spoke in favor before the vote and no members of the public opposed. Three scheduling items were approved without new spending: a public hearing on an AB 2561 vacancy rate review for June 3 (4-0, Duhart absent), a hearing on solid waste delinquencies for collection on the LA County tax roll for June 17 (passed — one public speaker and Councilmember Darton each stated opposition to placing trash bills on the property tax roll, but Darton voted yes after staff clarified the item applies only to multi-family and commercial accounts), and a HUD five-year consolidated plan hearing for June 24 (passed). The meeting also included informational-only presentations on coyote management, the ShotSpotter program (45 activations since going live in March 2025), and a new cellular-based citywide camera system intended to replace a 2007 system that staff stated is 95% inoperable; no spending was approved in connection with any of these presentations.

Mar 4, 2025

city council

No new city spending was approved at the March 4, 2025 Compton City Council meeting; the two substantive action items were lease authorizations under which the city collects rent for space at the Neighborhood Center (600 North Alameda Street). The council approved a lease with Shields for Families at $3.02 per square foot (~$18,295 per month), 4-0 with Bowers not voting, and a lease with Volunteers of America at the same per-square-foot rate (~$10,301 per month), also 4-0 with Bowers not voting — the Volunteers of America motion was first withdrawn and recast after Council member Darden identified multiple resolution errors, including a wrong termination date (April 30, 2027, corrected to April 30, 2028), a misidentified tenant name in one section, and an improperly placed whereas clause. Volunteers of America is flagged as a repeat vendor, appearing in five line items across two agenda entries with a combined contract value of approximately $1.03M; both organizations had been operating under expired leases — Shields for Families for approximately two years and seven months at a prior rate of $1.40 per square foot, and Volunteers of America for approximately four years and eight months at $1.00 per square foot. Four members of the public specifically addressed items 3 and 4: Craig Henry identified himself as a Volunteers of America employee and stated he did not oppose the $3.02 rate but objected to the full 50.7% increase being applied at once rather than phased in; two other speakers called for the Mayor and Council member Spicer to recuse themselves, citing their appointment of Henry to city advisory and personnel committees as a conflict of interest.

Feb 25, 2025

city council

The council's largest contract authorization was a $945,688 professional services agreement with NV5, Inc. for the Center Avenue Green Street Project, funded by a $10 million state grant, which appears to have been approved on the consent agenda without recorded discussion or a separate roll call. The council also approved $724,021 in payments to Insight Public Sector, Inc. — the sole vendor across all four line items — for a Microsoft 365 software license renewal and migration, broken into a $378,881 recurring contract, a $172,570 expenditure, a $103,155 recurring expenditure, and a $69,415 expenditure; Council Member Darden asked whether a competitive bid process was required, the city manager stated it was not because Microsoft is a proprietary platform, and the item passed 4-0 with Council Member Bowers not recorded as voting throughout the meeting. Two lease agreements at the Neighborhood Center — Volunteers of America ($10,301 annually in revenue to the city) and Shields for Families ($18,793 annually in revenue to the city) — were tabled after the city manager identified calculation errors in both resolutions; these are payments the city receives, not funds it expends. The council voted 4-0 (Bowers not recorded) to schedule a new fireworks public hearing for March 11, 2025, after the originally scheduled hearing was tabled earlier that day.

Dec 17, 2024

city council

The council's largest approved expenditure was $290,095 to Everfence Corporation for fencing services on successor agency-owned parcels, approved 4-0 with Bowers absent in the regular session and then ratified again 4-0 in the successor agency session held the same evening; Everfence appears in two separate line items in the structured agenda, flagging a combined total of $580,190 for a single contract scope. The council also approved $192,000 to City Fabrick for a vacant-lot planning services agreement funded by Measure A, 4-0 with Bowers absent, with City Fabrick likewise flagged across two agenda line items totaling $384,000. The consent agenda passed 5-0, bundling a fraud hotline services agreement with Light-House Services LLC split across three line items — a $15,500 contract, a $3,500 expenditure, and a $3,000 recurring expenditure — totaling $22,000, along with a $36,393 recurring storm water permit fee to the State Water Resources Control Board; a $50,000 revenue audit contract with Eadie and Payne LLP was pulled from consent and approved separately, 5-0. A proposed three-year lease of city-owned property at 920 N. Alameda Street to the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce died for lack of a second after three members of the public spoke against it.

Nov 19, 2024

city council

The largest spending decision of the evening was an $80,000 settlement in Susan Hill v. City of Compton — a slip-and-fall claim involving a defective roadway and curb due to an overgrown tree at Evers and Popular Street — agreed to in closed session with no public roll-call vote. The Cal-Card purchasing program (Item 6), which structured five tiered credit card spending limits ($25,000 recurring, $25,000, $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000) under the city manager's authority, was pulled before a vote after the city attorney noted the resolution directed council only to 'receive and file' the policy rather than formally approve it; both the motion and second were rescinded and the item is scheduled to return the following week with corrected language — two members of the public had already raised questions about the program during general comment, citing the city's prior history of credit card misuse. The second reading of the speed limit ordinance passed 5-0 following extended discussion in which the Sheriff's captain disclosed the city has operated with one active motorcycle officer for approximately 18 months under a two-officer contractual arrangement, with the second position not expected to be filled until March 2025. The Workers' Compensation Claims Administrator reclassification — which transferred supervisory authority from the city attorney's office to the city manager's office — passed 5-0; the city manager stated it fulfills an audit requirement and was not kingdom-building. A Small Business Saturday proclamation for November 30, 2024 passed 5-0 with no discussion, and approval of minutes from two prior meetings passed 5-0 on the consent agenda.

Sep 24, 2024

city council

The council's largest expenditure approvals were a recurring $5 million payment to the Water Replenishment District of Southern California for groundwater assessment fees (5-0) and a $1.96 million road repair contract to Hardy & Harper, Inc. from Measure P funds (5-0), followed by a recurring $800,000 purchase order to the Metropolitan Water District for imported water (5-0). A $203,944 youth counseling services contract was approved 4-1 with Bowers dissenting — but only after the city manager disclosed on the floor that intended vendor VCH Prosperity Consulting DBA Compton Wellness ($92,600, just below the $100,000 approval threshold) had active state licensing board issues; the council substituted St. John's at the same amount while retaining Nimble Thoughts Counseling at $111,344, with Bowers noting that vendors were not adequately vetted before appearing on the agenda. The council also approved $62,436 split between Safe Life Defense ($24,487, just below the $25,000 approval threshold) and Axon Enterprise ($37,949) for code enforcement vests and tasers (5-0), and $139,980 to Villarruel Architects for Jackie Robinson Stadium renovation using CDBG funds (5-0). Four public speakers asked that Restoration Diversion Services — a human trafficking services nonprofit occupying city-owned space at 206 North Long Beach Boulevard — keep its lease at $1 per year; the council approved a one-year renewal at that rate (5-0), while a second lease item for the same organization and the Sylvia Nunn Angels lease item were both pulled by staff without a vote. The citywide salary schedule amendment was withdrawn before a vote after Councilmember Darden identified errors and a missing prior resolution, and will return at a future meeting.

Feb 13, 2024

city council

The council approved, 5-0, a purchase order paying Hollywood Elite Security $10,560 for outstanding invoices; the city manager stated the payment required council approval because the underlying contract had exceeded the $25,000 threshold, a pattern in which vendor costs accumulate past the approval limit before being brought to council. Also approved 5-0 was a memorandum of agreement with SEIU Local 721 covering the Maintenance and Trades Unit and Public Safety Auxiliary for FY2023-2024, with no dollar figure disclosed in the agenda or stated on the record during the meeting. The council voted 5-0 to declare an aged fire ambulance surplus and authorize its disposal through Fire Trucks Unlimited; the fire department stated the vehicle's title could not be located and that return shipping would cost at least $1,400, making on-site disposal more cost-effective. The meeting's largest dollar figures came from an informational investment report, not a spending vote: the city treasurer stated the city received approximately $57 million in unaudited Q2 revenue and earned over $776,000 in general fund interest during the quarter — these are revenue figures, not new spending approvals. Seven residents addressed the council during public comment, primarily in response to a Compton Sheriff's Department presentation showing citywide increases in rape (36%), burglary (39%), larceny theft (36%), and arson (69%) from 2022 to 2023; no public comment was recorded on any of the spending items voted on that evening.