Search

Apr 27, 2026

city council closed session

The Compton City Council held a closed session to discuss the evaluation and potential dismissal of the City Manager. The council reaffirmed a prior 3-2 vote from April 7 to place the City Manager on paid administrative leave, with Council Members Spicer and Duhart dissenting. The council also voted to appoint Jerry Grooms, a retired annuitant, as acting City Manager during the leave period, with a contract to be brought back for ratification. During public comment, multiple residents raised concerns about transparency, alleged [Brown Act](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=54950.) violations, a disputed $300,000 check related to [Republic Services](https://www.republicservices.com), and demanded the removal of appointed Council Member Spicer. Council Member Duhart stated on the record that she disagreed with the actions, citing a state audit that highlighted instability in the City Manager position.

Jan 27, 2026

city council

No new spending was approved at this January 27, 2026 session; the informational item on outside legal counsel services (Item 3) was tabled to the following week without presentation, and the city manager stated during council reports that a roughly $1.7 million street sign replacement contract will come before the council at a future date with no vendor named on the record. The consent agenda covering four sets of meeting minutes passed 5-0; City Attorney Eric Perrodin's resignation effective December 8, 2025 was received and filed separately 5-0; the council voted 5-0 to extend its meeting beyond four hours and adopted a Comprehensive City Council Training Policy mandating state-required ethics, harassment prevention, Brown Act, and fiscal oversight training 5-0. Twelve appointments were approved: Rashina Young to the Planning Commission (5-0) and Juanita Wright to the Planning Commission (4-1, Bowers dissenting); David Colbert, Jessica Hunter, and Virginia Brown each to the Olympic Committee (all 5-0); to the Charter Committee: Lamika Butler, Rodney Lister, Dolores Williams, Dr. Crystal Williams, Mack Warren, and Shirley Gideon (each 5-0), plus Fidel Marquez (4-1, Spicer dissenting); acceptance of Inez Atkins' resignation from the Public Safety Committee passed 5-0; four charter committee seats remain vacant and the application deadline was extended to January 29. The city manager stated the city would rotate multiple law firms to present on the charter review process — a pattern a public commenter flagged by asking how many law firms currently hold agreements with the city and who oversees them, a question that received no on-the-record response. More than twenty residents addressed the council; approximately eight to ten speakers — including the president and vice president of the Compton Latino Chamber of Commerce — demanded the city disclose any coordination with ICE and provide immediate community guidance following enforcement activity in Compton that day, while additional residents raised unresolved concerns about city credit card misuse and the absence of a seated city attorney.

May 6, 2025

city council

The only new spending approved at the May 6, 2025 Compton City Council meeting was $1,468 in travel costs for elected officials to attend the 2025 Annual Municipal Seminar in Indian Wells — structured as three separate General Fund line items of $950, $443, and $75, a split-payment structure the agenda does not explain — approved 5-0. The consent agenda passed 5-0 after brief council discussion about bike lane classifications; it included a resolution adopting SB 1-funded road projects for FY 2025-2026, but the $2.43 million attached to that item is recurring grant revenue from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, not a new city expenditure, and should not be read as money the city spent. Two public speakers, Wayne Bone and Mark Smith, addressed the travel item, each questioning whether council members have ever fulfilled a reported obligation to disclose to residents what they learned or how they spent public funds at past conference trips. Council member Duhart separately directed the city manager — without a new vote — to return the April 27 approval of the Ayleshire & Wyner law firm to the May 13 agenda for reconsideration following allegations of a Brown Act violation; no spending was authorized on that item at this meeting.

Apr 30, 2025

city council

No new spending was approved at this April 30 special meeting; the sole action item was a resolution to rescind Resolution 26,231, which the council had passed one week earlier on April 22 designating law firm Lashare & Winder as special counsel at $325/hour for general services and $375/hour for litigation — the same firm that already held a retainer contract signed in October 2024. The meeting was dominated by competing legal opinions on whether the April 22 action constituted a Brown Act violation: Lashare & Winder attorney Sonny Sutani argued no violation occurred, while Deputy City Attorney Merle Green argued there were multiple violations that day, including an improperly noticed subsequent-need item and an unagendized presentation by Sutani. The original motion to rescind, moved by Council Member Duhart and seconded by Council Member Bowers, was withdrawn; a substitute motion to modify rather than rescind Resolution 26,231 without admitting a Brown Act violation passed 5-0 (Duhart yes, Spicer yes, Bowers yes, Darton yes, Sharif yes), with a closed session and subsequent public vote scheduled for May 6. Seven members of the public spoke during public comment, the majority raising concerns about the Brown Act dispute, the appointment process, and spending on legal representation. A pattern flagged during discussion: the city carries approximately five to six active outside counsel contracts, and Sutani stated at least two of those contracts bill at $450/hour, above the council's own $440/hour resolution cap — a claim Green disputed.