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Dec 10, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending decision was a $2,914,000 contract with R2Build (dba R2B Engineering) for tank farm reservoir upgrades, funded from ARPA dollars the city manager stated must be obligated by December 31, 2026; the vote was 5-0. The council also approved a $215,438 purchase order to Yunex Traffic for outstanding invoices covering traffic signal and street lighting maintenance performed after that vendor's contract expired and before a replacement contract was in place — a pattern one public speaker questioned directly — on a 4-0 vote with Councilman Bowers not appearing in the recorded roll call. Acceptance of the Citywide Road Repair Services VII project, releasing $102,828 in contractor retention to Hardy & Harper, Inc., passed 5-0, and a $14,347 Human Resources budget amendment adding two new positions while eliminating two vacant ones passed 5-0. A first reading of an ordinance creating a new Compton Arts Commission passed 4-1 with Councilman Bowers dissenting; one speaker objected that existing commissions are not fully operational. Twelve members of the public addressed the council, with speakers raising questions about late vendor payments, the scope of the tank farm contract, and the city manager's prior use of a personal credit card to pay a tax lien on city-owned property ahead of a council-approved purchasing card.

Nov 26, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a $2,389,600 contract with R2Build (dba R2B Engineering) for a chlorination system upgrade at the Municipal Water Department, passed 4-0 with Spicer absent after water department staff described the existing system as over 20 years old. The council approved a $76,832 final ARPA-funded payment to 72 Hour, LLC DBA National Auto Fleet Group — the same vendor held a prior $221,707 contract for the same fire command vehicle, totaling $298,539 across two line items — because the original purchase order was closed at fiscal year-end without the remaining balance paid, passed 4-0 with Spicer absent. Elevate Public Affairs received a $103,800 contract extension for public relations services (3-1, Bowers dissenting, Spicer absent), with Councilwoman Darden citing uncompleted deliverables including the city newsletter and digital billboard management; the city manager's representative stated the city currently owes Elevate for outstanding invoices and that the contract's 30-day termination clause will be used once a public information officer — currently being recruited — is in place. Geary Floors, Inc. was approved for $36,000 in gymnasium floor repair at Lueders Park split across three line items — a $30,000 contract and a $6,000 budget allocation, both from Measure P Capital Outlay — as part of the consent package passed 4-0 with Spicer absent. A proposed city purchasing card program ($25,000 budget allocation) was pulled from the agenda and will return at a future meeting after at least three of six public speakers specifically criticized it; the FY 2021-2022 audited financial statements were received and filed 4-0 as an informational item — no new spending was approved through that action.

Nov 12, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a $272,043 contract with P31 Development Corporation for Heritage House restoration (Item 13), funded through CDBG grants and Capital Outlay, passed 4-0 with Councilwoman Darden absent; the council also approved two roof replacement contracts with Rite-Way Corporation — $183,360 at Burrell MacDonald Park from ARPA funds (Item 11, 4-0) and $134,925 at Tucker Park from Capital Outlay (Item 12, 4-0) — making Rite-Way the recipient of $318,285 in contracts across two separate agenda items at this meeting. The consent agenda passed 4-0 (Darden absent) without individual item discussion and included $66,771 to TRC Investments LLC DBA SERVPRO, split into two line items ($61,073 and $5,698), for emergency repairs at Fire Station One, along with $93,945 directed to Gateway Cities Council of Governments across three separate agenda items covering annual membership dues, corridor studies, and an Alondra Boulevard street study. A $67,500 basketball court resurfacing contract with Epic Surfaces (Item 9) was pulled from the consent agenda at staff's request and received no vote at this meeting. Nine residents spoke during general public comment — raising concerns about property tax levels, Republic Services billing discrepancies, two street lights at Pauline and Caldwell reported down for over 16 years, and limits on public comment time — and no public comment was taken on any individual spending item. The state audit status update (Item 10) and Republic Services service report (Item 2) were informational presentations only; no spending was approved in connection with either.

Nov 6, 2024

city council

The council's largest single expenditure was a $527,000 agreement with SoundThinking, Inc. (formerly ShotSpotter) for gunfire detection services, approved 5-0 after a vendor presentation with no public comment on the item; the contract spans four line items, including a recurring $99,000 charge sitting just below the $100,000 approval threshold and two sub-$100,000 items summing to $109,000 — a pattern the structured agenda flagged as a possible split payment. The council also approved a multi-year tax and audit consulting contract with HDL Companies totaling $695,647, with $240,800 authorized for the first year from the General Fund, passed 5-0; at council direction, the contract term was reduced from five years to three years before the vote. A generator installation agreement with Express Energy Services, Inc. totaling $266,271 across three ARPA-funded line items for Fire Stations 1 and 3 was approved 5-0 after council members questioned the replacement timeline for generators at the city's other two stations. The council accepted a $130,192 LA Metro grant for transit data reporting — incoming funds, not a new spending approval — and the Successor Agency approved a $2,000 seasonal license with Santa's Christmas Trees, both 5-0; minutes from two February council meetings were pulled from the consent agenda and deferred to a future meeting.

Oct 22, 2024

city council

The council's largest approval was a three-year contract with MV Transportation, Inc. for Renaissance Transit System operations — $6.85 million for year one, with the vendor appearing across seven line items in this agenda totaling $19.07 million from Proposition A Local Return funds — passed 5-0; the council also approved $1.86 million to MDJ Management LLC for City Hall fire alarm and sprinkler system replacement using ARPA funds, with MDJ appearing in four agenda line items totaling $3.72 million, also 5-0. The council further approved $159,084 to End-Point Wireless Inc. for a security camera system at four locations (CDBG-CV and General Fund, 5-0); a contract amendment adding $283,651 to Mark Thomas & Company's Artesia Bridge agreement plus a $335,333 state grant budget allocation (5-0), with subcontractor Atlas receiving $24,492 — just below the $25,000 approval threshold; and General Fund travel expenses of $725, $315.96, and $292 for a Sacramento Legislative Tour, with four members indicating attendance (vote tally not clearly transcribed). A sheriff substation lease with CLPF Gateway Towne Center LP was approved 5-0 listing $47,001 as an expenditure — just below the $50,000 council approval threshold — though the sheriff's captain stated the current monthly cost to the city is $0, a discrepancy with the structured agenda amount; consent-agenda items included $23,097 to BigBelly Connect Services and a related $23,764 recycling-station purchase, both just below the $25,000 threshold, approved in the omnibus 5-0 consent vote. The First Quarter FY2025 Investment Report — showing the city's $246 million portfolio already exceeding its full-year interest earnings budget projections within three months — was received and filed 5-0 and is a financial reporting item, not a spending approval; the city treasurer stated that interest earnings projections in the budget need to be revised upward.

Jul 23, 2024

city council

The council's two largest spending approvals were a subsequent-need vehicle lease of $1,002,434 with Enterprise Fleet Management (5-0) and a multi-year enterprise software contract with CentralSquare Technologies totaling approximately $1.01 million ($613,859 contract plus $398,951 first-year purchase order from the General Fund), approved 4-1 with Spicer dissenting; the Water Department also authorized a sole-source, ARPA-funded control valve repair contract of $322,839 with CLA-VAL Company (5-0). Additional spending approvals included a $224,500 bond disclosure services agreement with BLX Group LLC (consent, 5-0), $169,165 for agenda management software with Hyland Software (5-0), and a $135,000 debt collection agreement with Evergreen Professional Recoveries (5-0) — where Evergreen's first-year purchase order was set at $22,500, just below the $25,000 approval threshold, and projected first-year revenue of $90,000 sits just below the $100,000 approval threshold; across all five service vendors on this agenda (CentralSquare, BLX Group, Hyland Software, Evergreen, and transcription vendor Melvinna Sharp), each item paired a multi-year contract with a separate same-vendor expenditure line, a structure repeated consistently across the entire agenda. On a 3-2 vote (Darden and Sharif opposed), the council approved placing a November ballot measure to make the city attorney position appointed rather than elected, with a 10-year municipal law experience requirement; the council also voted 3-2 (Spicer and Bowers opposed) to place delinquent solid waste accounts on the county tax roll, following a public hearing in which more than a dozen residents addressed the council demanding cancellation of the Republic Services contract over weeks of missed pickups across all four council districts. The council voted 5-0 to raise the city manager's per-transaction spending authority from $25,000 to $75,000 — with a $200,000 emergency limit — for the month of August while the council is in recess.

Jul 16, 2024

city council

The council approved a $1,104,105 contract with Enterprise Automation for a SCADA water system upgrade funded from ARPA, with the vendor appearing across two separate budget-source line items for the same contract, voted 5-0; it also approved a $900,000 contract amendment with Dudek for continued environmental remediation at Fire Station 1 — sole-sourced, with the city manager stating no alternatives exist and the contractor having been on site since 1998 — split $450,000 for FY2023-24 and $450,000 for FY2024-25, also 5-0, with Dudek appearing across 10 line items in the same agenda item totaling $2.70M, including one sub-item of $48,000 sitting just below the $50,000 approval threshold. Two identical purchase orders of $66,509 each to Camino Real Chevrolet for vehicle equipment — flagged as a possible split payment totaling $133,019 — passed 5-0, as did a CDBG-CV federal grant reallocation of approximately $1.67M that included allocations of $92,184 and $47,000 sitting just below the $100,000 and $50,000 approval thresholds, respectively. At least three residents — Rodney Lister, Clarence Tate, and Lynn Bone — addressed Item 8, a municipal code amendment to agenda preparation procedures, before it passed 5-0 on floor-amended language that differed from the backup materials; no members of the public addressed the vehicle purchase, the Dudek contract amendment, or the SCADA contract before those votes.

Jun 25, 2024

city council

The council's largest approved expenditures at its June 25, 2024 meeting were $600,000 to United Pacific Services for tree trimming using ARPA funds (5-0), $322,839 sole-source to CLA-VAL Company for water control valve repairs from ARPA (5-0), $252,405 to Johnson Controls — a vendor the city manager's office stated the city has used for roughly 17 to 18 years — for City Hall HVAC maintenance drawn from Measure P fund balance (5-0), $167,145 to ChargePoint for fleet charging stations (5-0), $100,000 to The Blue Diamond Company for asphalt materials (5-0), and $84,465 to Carson Chevrolet for a 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe for the fire chief (5-0). The council withdrew without a vote the meeting's largest single item — a proposed $1.82 million multi-year agreement with Yunex Traffic for traffic signal and street light maintenance — after members cited service deficiencies and noted only one vendor had responded to the solicitation; a $100,500 investment advisory contract with Chandler Asset Management was also pulled by staff before a vote, and a $763.36 GovConnection computer equipment order was pulled by a council member over invoice calculation discrepancies. Two approved contracts involved split-payment structuring across multiple line items: Govinvest Inc. received $227,056 total for software management services (5-0) and MGT of America Consulting received $48,688 total for Senate Bill 90 consulting (5-0); B-Adair Consulting & Administrative Services was approved on the consent agenda for $24,900 in grant reconciliation services — $100 below the standard $25,000 council approval threshold — as part of a 5-0 consent vote. The FY 2024-2025 budget passed 4-1 with Councilwoman Darden dissenting, fireworks stand permits were approved 4-1 with Mayor Sharif voting no, and approximately 20 residents addressed the council during public comment, raising concerns about fireworks safety, a video shoot that blocked local businesses without advance notice, trash collection reliability, and the recurring selection of the same nonprofit organizations for CDBG grant funding.

Jun 18, 2024

city council

The council approved $33,880 to Day Wireless Systems for 50 Code Enforcement portable radios (consent, 5-0) and $775 in General Fund travel for elected officials to the League of California Cities conference (5-0); five larger spending items totaling more than $1.7 million — including a $600,000 tree-trimming purchase order to United Pacific Services, a $322,839 ARPA-funded contract with Cla-Val Company, a $651,950 EV charging station purchase with ChargePoint Inc. split across three line items (flagged as a repeat vendor), a $48,688 two-line-item consulting contract with MGT of America, and a fire chief vehicle purchase with competing bids from three Chevrolet dealerships ranging $81,080–$84,787 — were on the agenda but not acted upon before the meeting was continued. A fireworks permit vote for eleven nonprofit applicants failed: Spicer voted yes, Duhart, Bowers, and Darden abstained, and Mayor Sharif voted no, after approximately nine members of the public addressed the item, the majority opposing the permits. A public hearing on placing roughly 130 delinquent commercial water accounts on the Los Angeles County tax roll was pulled after Republic Services' designated presenter left the chambers before making a presentation, drawing objections from approximately eight speakers. The meeting was continued to the following week following a floor dispute between the city attorney and city manager over the city attorney's right to deliver an oral report from the dais, with the continuation passing on a 2-yes tally (Duhart and Mayor Sharif), Spicer and Darden absent, and Bowers' vote unrecorded in the transcript.

May 21, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a contract amendment with Biggs Cardosa Associates, Inc. for Artesia Boulevard Bridge engineering services totaling $495,870, structured across four separate line items ($271,878, $124,824, and two payments of $49,584 each — one from state grants), with all amounts going to the same vendor under a single agenda item and both $49,584 figures falling just below the $50,000 individual approval threshold; the item passed 5-0 with no council discussion and no public comment. The council also voted 5-0 to release $99,974 in retention to Big Ben Engineering upon acceptance of the Pearl Avenue and Chester Avenue emergency sewer repairs — an amount $26 below the $100,000 approval threshold — after Councilmember Darden, who pulled the item from consent for discussion, confirmed that an independent inspection firm had been engaged to verify completion; a separate $20,000 purchase order to Secure A Door for fire station emergency door repairs was pulled from consent by the same councilmember and approved 5-0 following discussion about whether ARPA funds could be used for full door replacements rather than continued repairs. The council also authorized the county to collect two recurring revenue assessments — approximately $4.19 million for the Lighting and Landscape District and $913,506 in sewer service charges, both for fiscal year 2024-2025, placed on property tax bills — which are revenue collections, not new spending approvals; both passed 5-0. During the two accompanying public hearings, at least six residents questioned where the roughly $20 million collected over five years through the lighting and landscape assessment has gone given the condition of medians and landscaping citywide, and the city manager attributed the funds to recurring operational costs including approximately $1.5 million annually for street lighting electricity, over $700,000 for street sweeping, over $400,000 for tree trimming, staff salaries, and county administrative fees.

May 7, 2024

city council

The council's largest new contract approval was $996,368 to ACCO Engineered Systems for HVAC systems and security cages at eight city facilities (Item 16, 5-0); ACCO appears across five line items in two agenda items (Items 16 and 17), totaling approximately $3.44M including ARPA-funded budget allocations, making it the meeting's most prominent repeat vendor. Additional spending approved included a $210,707 payment to The Arroyo Group for an MTA-funded transit-oriented development plan (Item 17, 5-0), a $226,000 contract with the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority for the Artesia Bridge project (Item 19, 5-0), release of $317,918 in contractor retention to All American Asphalt upon acceptance of Street Rehabilitation Phase 2B completion — a project with $6.36M in prior expenditures to that vendor (Item 18, 5-0) — and a $100,000 grant to Cressey Park Legends for a baseball memorial at Gonzalez Park (Item 15, 5-0). A $46,000 purchase order to El Gran Torino Corporation for street sweeping signs appeared on the action agenda sitting $4,000 below the $50,000 threshold that triggers additional council scrutiny; a $75,000 budget amendment for temporary staffing at the City Controller's office (Tandym Group LLC and Robert Half International Inc.) was pulled from the consent agenda by staff and received no separate vote, with at least one speaker questioning why the city repeatedly funds temp agency contracts rather than making permanent hires. The lease agreement with CHIRLA for city-owned space at 700 North Bullis Road — generating approximately $39,139 annually in revenue to the city — passed 4-1 with Councilman Bowers dissenting, after the city manager recommended striking 'civic engagement' language from the staff report. More than twenty residents addressed the council during public comment, raising concerns about gun violence response, prostitution near Long Beach Boulevard, street conditions, controller's office staffing, and difficulty contacting city officials.

Apr 16, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending commitment was a $1.53 million package for National Plant Services, Inc. — a recurring vendor appearing across three line items — consisting of a three-year, $1.07 million sewer cleaning and video inspection contract, a $356,730 purchase order for the first year of service, and a $100,000 purchase order to cover outstanding invoices already owed to the same vendor, approved 5-0. A $228,000 graffiti abatement contract with Urban Graffiti Enterprises, Inc. — a one-year agreement with two extension options — passed 3-1-1, with Council member Spicer voting no and Council member Duhart abstaining after Spicer identified the company as the highest bidder and noted it is based outside Compton; the city manager stated that competing bidders were disqualified for lacking required state contractor licenses. The council additionally approved, each on a 5-0 vote, $116,212 to Quinn Power Systems–Caterpillar, Inc. for generators at Fire Stations 1 and 3 (ARPA-funded), $112,000 to JMDIAZ Inc. for pool repairs at Gonzales and Lueders parks (Measure A-funded), and a $57,600 three-year landscape contract with Zorro Landscape Inc. for two water storage tank sites (ARPA-funded) — a vendor whose contract is structured across four separate line items, all below $100,000, summing to $136,000. A $93,688 Justice Assistance Grant budget amendment — an amount that sits just below the city's $100,000 council approval threshold — was approved 5-0 to fund mobile surveillance trailers. Nine members of the public addressed the council during general comment on topics including street conditions, graffiti, pool access, and the continued absence of AEDs in City Hall, but no public comment was recorded on any individual spending item.

Apr 9, 2024

city council

The largest approvals at the April 9, 2024 meeting were multi-year (2019–2024) labor agreements: AFSCME Local 3947's agreement carries recurring annual costs of $712,620 and $524,290 plus $87,631 in additional costs (Item 2, 5-0); CMEA/AFSCME Local 2325 carries recurring costs of $413,691 and $373,169 plus $74,248 and $53,814 (Item 3, 5-0); and a companion salary plan amendment for unrepresented employees was also approved 5-0 (Item 4). The council additionally approved, all 5-0 with limited floor discussion: $29,000 to Impact Overhead Door Service for water facility gate repairs (ARPA-funded); $40,000 to Sherwin Williams for anti-graffiti paint; $25,000 to BP Ford of Long Beach for Ford fleet maintenance; $11,000 to O'Reilly Automotive for auto parts; and $7,485 to Maven Roofing Company for a Luders Park skylight repair drawn from an insurance recovery account — while a $57,600 recurring landscaping contract with Zorro Landscape Inc. (Item 6) was pulled by staff before a vote, with staff stating it needed clarification and would return at a future meeting. Structured agenda data flags that several vendors appear across multiple line items totaling amounts above their stated resolution ceilings: Impact Overhead Door Service totals $87,000 across four line items against a $29,000 authorization; Sherwin Williams totals $80,000 across two line items against a $40,000 authorization; and BP Ford totals $50,000 across two line items against a $25,000 authorization — no council member raised these discrepancies during discussion. Twelve residents spoke during public comment on topics including street prostitution near schools, fire station conditions, inoperative security cameras, potholes, graffiti, and the absence of an AED in city hall, but none addressed any of the spending items voted on that evening.

Mar 12, 2024

city council

The largest spending approved was $499,462 to L.N. Curtis & Sons for firefighting equipment for four new fire engines and one ladder truck, passed 5-0; the amount sits $538 below a $500,000 threshold, and Councilmember Duhart asked why ARPA funds were not used — the fire chief stated ARPA rules excluded this category of purchase. The council also approved $28,950 to Cevac Facilities Services for emergency sewer pump replacement at City Hall, drawn from the Insurance Recovery Fund, passed 5-0 with a minor clerical date correction; a separate $655,255 item involving Lexington Insurance Company was an insurance recovery receipt — revenue, not a spending approval. A salary range of $60,792–$71,292 was set for the Security Services Supervisor classification as a recurring budget allocation, approved 5-0 with no discussion. Emergency standby council member appointments passed 5-0 for Districts 1 (Patrick Ferguson), 3 (Melanie Franklin Franks), and 4 (Mona Jones); District 2 declined to make an appointment and the mayor deferred hers to the following week. Approximately fourteen members of the public spoke during the comment period on issues including a delayed sheriff welfare check that preceded a resident's death, deteriorating road conditions, and election integrity concerns; the Sister City Seychelles presentation was tabled to the following week.

Jan 23, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a three-year agreement with General Pump Company for water well and booster pump services, passed 3-0 (Spicer, Darden, and Mayor Sharif yes; Duhart and Bowers absent); the structured agenda shows General Pump Company across three separate line items — $1.62 million, $540,471 (recurring annual), and $194,450 — all drawn from ARPA funds, totaling approximately $2.36 million directed to a single vendor. The council also approved a purchase order with UniFirst Corporation for public works uniforms, with the structured agenda showing two line items totaling $28,258 ($20,000 recurring and $8,258), passed 3-0 on the same vote configuration. A $149,718 HVAC replacement contract for Priority Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., to be funded from the Insurance Recovery Fund, was continued to a future date because it requires a 4/5 vote and only three of five members were present; a discussion item on the NAACP's request to use council chambers was also continued. Two residents — Lynn Boone and Cordell Marquez — questioned Item 4 during public comment, citing the absence of any public accounting of prior ARPA-funded well work and asking why the contract addresses only a portion of the city's wells; a staff member responded that the agreement covers maintenance across a total of eight wells.

Jan 16, 2024

city council

The council's largest spending approval was $404,470 to The Garland Company, Inc. for fire station roofing materials, divided across two ARPA-funded line items ($216,344 and $188,126) on a single agenda item and approved 5-0 with no discussion; the council also approved 5-0 a total of $45,000 to Screamin Eagle Services, Inc. for illegal dumping cleanup split across three separate payments ($22,500, $14,580, and $7,920) — the largest single payment sits just below the $25,000 approval threshold, and a company representative appeared during public comment to report invoices going unpaid for 45 to 75 days. A three-year elevator service agreement totaling $39,060 with Pacific Coast Elevator Corporation DBA Amtech Elevator Services (Measure P funds), with Councilman Bowers raising but not pursuing a question about whether a ramp should replace the serviced wheelchair lift, and $31,185 in Gateway Cities Council of Governments membership dues were each approved 5-0. A proposed twelve-month lease with CHIRLA — structured as revenue to the city, not a spending item — was pulled by the city manager, who cited ambiguity between two listed rent figures in the agreement and Surplus Lands Act concerns about undercharging. A council motion to remove Barbara Baker from the Federal Grants Advisory Board failed 1-2 with two abstentions (Spicer in favor; Duhart and Bowers opposed; Darden and Mayor Sharif abstaining), and approximately fourteen members of the public addressed the council on illegal dumping, unpaid vendor invoices, budget transparency, potholes, and public safety.

Jan 2, 2024

city council

The council's two approved expenditures at the January 2, 2024 regular meeting were $28,700 to Major League Infields, Inc. for Dodgers Dreamfields maintenance at Gonzalez Park — staff described the amount as covering five months of past-due invoices plus two additional months at the vendor's $4,100/month rate — approved 4-0 with Darden absent, and $20,085 to the State Water Resources Control Board for a state-mandated recurring annual waste discharge permit, also approved 4-0 with Darden absent. Item 5, which would have directed $432,689 in ARPA funds to The Garland Company, Inc. for fire station roofing materials structured across three separate line items ($216,344, $188,126, and $28,219 to the same vendor), was pulled by staff before any vote and tabled to a future meeting. Thirteen residents spoke during public comment, the majority addressing street takeovers and the looting of Ruben's Bakery; the city attorney stated a draft street-takeover ordinance is in process but provided no date for when it would return to the council for a vote. On board matters, Louisa McCrary was removed from the Federal Grants Advisory Board (4-0, Darden absent) and Barbara Baker was appointed to that board (4-0, Darden absent); Councilman Bowers's motion to expand the Public Safety Commission by one seat to add a candidate he described as having over 30 years of public safety experience failed for lack of a second, and the related PSC appointment item also failed for lack of a second.