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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.

Apr 14, 2026

city council

The council voted 2-3 to reject a travel authorization (Item 5) totaling $1,623 structured across three separate General Fund line items — $1,000, $548, and $75 — for elected officials to attend the 67th Annual Municipal Seminar in Indian Wells in May 2026, with Mayor Sharif, Spicer, and Bowers voting no and Duhart and Darden voting yes; the three-way split of expenditures for a single event is a pattern flagged in the structured agenda. A right-of-entry and access agreement with nonprofit Connecting Compton for a former landfill site at 2815–2901 West Alondra Boulevard (Item 6) was tabled 4-1 (Bowers dissenting) after council members raised concerns about soil contamination, the city's disclosure of two unresolved competing access challenges filed against the city, and the revelation that vendor NV5 holds an active city stormwater-sampling contract at the site yet has produced no reports to the council. Staff was directed to bring NV5 before the council for a full presentation, explore a request for proposals for soil site analysis, and contact the EPA directly, with all three components targeted to return by mid-May 2026. The closed session on public employee discipline — concerning the city manager currently on administrative leave — was referred to outside retained counsel Enzo Law with no additional reportable action; two members of the public addressed the closed-session item before it convened, both speaking in support of the city manager.

Apr 7, 2026

city council

The council's two largest expenditure approvals were a combined $1,129,333 to Savi Construction, Inc. — structured as an $847,000 three-year citywide red curb painting contract plus a separate $282,333 first-year purchase order to the same vendor — approved 5-0 with Councilmember Bowers voting yes while stating 'reluctantly'; and a $801,642 two-year sole-source lease with Flock Safety, Inc. for 74 automatic license plate readers and 37 PTZ cameras, approved 5-0 despite opposition from at least four public speakers who cited privacy concerns, potential conflicts with California's SB 34 and SB 54, and the sole-source designation of the contract. The consent agenda — which included a $62,100 contract to Mariposa Eco Consulting for SB 1383 implementation, acceptance of a $32,208 LA Dodgers Foundation grant paired with a $24,000 contract to Harold Johnson (an amount that sits just below the $25,000 council approval threshold), and two sets of meeting minutes — passed 5-0 after item 7, a $5,662 Grainger purchase order for portable evaporative coolers at Wilson Park Gymnasium, was pulled for separate discussion and then approved 5-0. At the close of the meeting, following a reconvened closed session, council reported that the city manager was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Item 12, a discussion on facilities honoring Cesar Chavez, received no council direction and died; item 11, scheduling public hearings for the FY 2026-27 budget, was tabled to be returned with printed dates.

Feb 3, 2026

city council

The council's only spending approval was a contract with EUNA Solutions for a payment kiosk platform at three city locations: $50,220 for the first year from the General Fund, plus a renewal option of $47,970 per year — that recurring figure sits $2,030 below the $50,000 council approval threshold, and EUNA Solutions is named in both line items of the same agenda item; the vote passed via electronic ballot with no individual tally verbally stated in the record. Three law firms — Alvarez Glassman & Colvin (serving as special counsel since July 2024), Hawkins, and Le Altrejo — gave informational presentations for potential outside legal counsel and bond counsel roles, but no contract was awarded at this meeting. The council made five board and commission appointments: Gerald Griffin and Joshua Baker to the Charter Review Board (5-0 each), Delores Holbrook to the Charter Review Board (5-0), and Dr. Johnny Withers to the Olympics Tourism Committee (5-0); Brunell McDaniels was appointed to the Public Safety Committee 4-1, with Bowers dissenting. Approximately 24 members of the public addressed the council, with multiple speakers raising concerns about ICE enforcement activity in Compton, Richland Farms parking permit enforcement, and critically low fire department staffing; the city manager's performance evaluation was conducted in closed session with nothing publicly reported.

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 16, 2025

city council

No new spending was approved at this September 16, 2025 meeting. The council voted 3-0 — Council Members Duhart and Bowers not recorded as voting, with Bowers confirmed absent by a public commenter — to enter closed session covering the City Controller's performance evaluation and three active lawsuits (Nicole Hill, Fred Brown, and Adrianna Shrem vs. City of Compton); upon reconvening, the city attorney reported only that the city controller was directed to provide specific information to all council members, with no further reportable action taken on any of the three litigation matters. The council received an informational grants department presentation describing prior expenditures — over $1.5 million on park improvements at Wilson and Ludus Parks, more than $650,000 distributed to 22 small businesses, and $350,000 committed to a second round of housing rehabilitation for 10 applicants — but no vote was taken on any of these figures, and no new vendors or contracts were approved. Eight members of the public addressed the meeting; multiple speakers questioned a $450,000 lawsuit payout referenced in prior records but not on this agenda, raised concerns that approximately $10 million in city investment returns had not been formally amended into the adopted budget, and criticized campaign contributions from World Oil to several council members in connection with an ongoing environmental permit matter.

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.

Feb 18, 2025

city council

No new spending was approved at the February 18, 2025 Compton City Council meeting; the only action item — a procedural vote to schedule a fireworks workshop and public hearing for February 25, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. — passed 5-0 (Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, Darden, Sharif). The council reported out of closed session that the city manager was retained following a performance evaluation, with no financial terms disclosed publicly. Approximately twelve residents spoke during public comment, with recurring concerns centered on sole-source waste contractor Republic Services: one speaker alleged the city received $300,000 from Republic Services following a service performance review, while the city manager stated the actual figures were a $25,000 check designated for Cesar Chavez Park and a separate $100,000 payment, and further stated that the council has not yet decided how those funds will be spent. Speakers also questioned a general plan contract cited at $1 million — one speaker noted a councilmember had identified a $300,000 in-house alternative — and raised questions about lease arrangements for nonprofits operating in city-owned facilities; neither item was on the agenda for a vote.

Jan 28, 2025

city council

No new spending was approved at the January 28, 2025 Compton City Council meeting; the consent agenda carried no items, and the closed session covering the City Manager performance evaluation (Item 1) was cancelled and tabled after an initial quorum failure — the transcript does not record a complete vote tally for either procedural motion, with only three of five council members' votes captured on the recess motion and two of five on adjournment. The city manager delivered an informational ARPA spending report showing $29 million disbursed to date, with individual line items including nearly $5 million for fire apparatus replacement, approximately $1.5 million for tree trimming, and $199,910 paid to California Labor Solutions for HR services against a $200,000 council authorization — a figure $90 below the full approved ceiling, which represents a threshold-adjacent pattern worth noting. The Measure A report disclosed over $1 million directed to pool maintenance at Gonzales and Luders parks, and the city manager stated he intends to return to council to shift a previously approved $450,000 Cesar Chavez park playground allocation from Measure A to CDBG funding; separately, approximately $3.3 million in prior-year CDBG funds remains unallocated and the city manager stated it is at risk of federal reduction or clawback under current HUD rules. Eleven residents spoke during public comment, including one speaker who cited a $1,253,279 animal control contract with LA Animal Care — approved September 24, 2024 — and stated the vendor had not responded to a dead animal pickup request placed days earlier, and another who raised questions about undisclosed spending totals for the recent election and Christmas parade.

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.