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Mar 3, 2026

city council

The council's largest spending approvals came through the consent agenda — passed without individual vote tallies verbally recorded — totaling $141,115: $57,000 to UCLA Center for Prehospital Care for paramedic training, $70,560 across two line items to New West Landscaping for weed abatement (a vendor with recurring contract appearances in Compton records dating to at least 2018), and $13,355 to TAJ Trading Corporation for office furniture and counter purchases; a travel authorization totaling $1,253.24 from the General Fund for elected officials to attend the 2026 City Leaders Summit in Sacramento passed separately, 5-0 (Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, Darden, Sharif all yes). A $350,000 California DOJ Tobacco Grant budget amendment — which would have directed $332,668 of those funds to overtime pay for code enforcement inspections, $16,664 to salaries, and $668 to equipment — was tabled after council members questioned why inspection work was structured as overtime rather than regular-duty assignments; the item is scheduled to return the following week. The council discussed but did not vote on special legal counsel, directing the city manager to bring back a formal action item for three finalist firms: Alvarez-Madruga, Sanders and Roberts, and Norseman. Approximately sixteen residents addressed the Richland Farms parking permit ordinance during public comment — the night's dominant topic — with the majority demanding termination of the program and a smaller number expressing support.

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.

Jul 1, 2025

city council

The council's only spending action was approval of $4,878 in in-kind expenditures from the General Fund for the 22nd Annual Compton Stand Down for Veterans (September 19–21, 2025), with no recipient vendors named in the agenda; the item also carried three identical $813.04 budget allocations split across Council District 1, Council District 4, and the Mayor's overtime expense accounts — three separate account lines for the same amount, a split-payment structure worth noting. The consent item passed 3-0-1, with Councilwoman Bowers abstaining and Councilmember Darden absent; Bowers stated on the record that she objected to approving in-kind support for this event while the council had denied comparable support to the Compton Kids Club, calling out what she described as inconsistent treatment of nonprofits. The council also designated Councilman Andre Spicer as Mayor Pro Tem for fiscal year 2025–2026, a rotation required by CMC Section 2.1.16 that the city attorney confirmed did not require a vote; the elected city attorney disputed the legal opinion cited by the mayor, stating that any valid opinion must come through his office, not from outside counsel. At least eight members of the public addressed the council, with several speakers contesting Spicer's eligibility to hold a council seat, and others raising concerns about ICE enforcement procedures at city parks, nonprofit grant oversight, and fireworks enforcement.

May 20, 2025

city council

The council approved six spending items, all on 5-0 votes (Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, Darden, and Mayor Sharif), including $4.20M in annual lighting and landscape district assessments and $913,641 in sewer service charges for FY2025/2026 — both recurring levies collected via the county property tax roll — a $2.73M contract with HASA Inc. for chlorine chemicals structured across four line items ($1.14M, $681,711, $681,711, and $227,237), a $200,000 purchase order for fleet gasoline from Jankovich, SC Fuels and Wood Oil, and a $320,760 contract with Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino Inc. for water sample testing. Three speakers addressed the lighting assessment public hearing and four spoke during the sewer public hearing, with multiple residents questioning whether the recurring $54 annual sewer charge constitutes double-taxation given the city's outstanding 2009 sewer bond; no public comment was taken during the votes on items 11 through 13, though during the general comment period one resident questioned whether the chlorine purchase served pools and another asked what information residents receive from water sample results. Two vendor patterns were flagged: HASA Inc. accounts for all four line items under a single agenda item totaling $2.73M, and Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino Inc. has three of its four payments structured below $100,000 — $80,190, $80,190, and $26,730, summing to $187,110 of the $320,760 total — identified in the structured agenda as a possible split payment. The meeting's largest dollar figure, $300.64M, is the city's investment portfolio balance reported by the city treasurer, not a spending decision; the $2.74M mentioned represents interest earned during the third quarter of FY2025, not an expenditure.

May 13, 2025

city council

The council's sole spending action was a unanimous 5-0 vote approving Formation of Underground Utility District No. 1, authorizing underground installation of utility lines along Muroc Street (Oleander to Acacia) and Acacia Avenue (Muroc to Alondra) near Compton High School, with Southern California Edison serving as both the grant source ($5.67M Rule 20A allocation) and the sole contractor; total project expenditures are listed at $3.3M, broken across line items including $1.32M for mainline trenching and conduit (40%), $495,000 for crossings and vaults (15%), and $330,000 for street restoration (10%), with the public works director stating the project could run up to 84 months. One speaker at the public hearing questioned whether the city charter's requirement for a state-licensed civil engineer had been satisfied and whether affected property owners received legally required advance notice; the public works director stated notifications were sent per municipal code and that licensed engineering firms are consulted for work requiring a PE signature, though the speaker was not satisfied with that response. The budget workshop was an informational item with no spending approved; the city manager stated a recommended balanced budget would be delivered within days, described an approximate $275M all-funds city budget, and noted the annual Los Angeles County Sheriff's contract is approaching $29M — the city manager attributed this trajectory to escalating liability, personnel, and equipment costs built into the county's rate structure. A developer told the council that city delays in processing HUD project-based vouchers are threatening a 75-unit affordable housing project at 1434 West Compton Boulevard, which the developer stated has already received a rare 90-day extension from the state tax credit committee expiring July 11.

Apr 15, 2025

city council

The council's largest spending approval was a three-year traffic signal and street light maintenance contract awarded to Yunex LLC at $1.2 million annually, plus a separate $350,000 purchase order covering the current fiscal year's remainder, passed 5-0; Yunex has been the city's sole provider since 2018 and disclosed at the meeting that the city holds 14 loaned signal controller cabinets and that the company submitted unaddressed repair requests to city staff dating to 2021. A three-year groundwater pumping rights lease with the City of Vernon passed 5-0 at $720,000 total, and a citywide illegal dumping contract with Valley Vista Services passed 3-2 — with Duhart and Spicer voting no — at $367,270 annually plus a $122,423 current-year purchase order; a former city attorney addressed the council requesting the contract be awarded instead to Screaming Eagles, a local firm that previously held the work. Both the Yunex and Valley Vista approvals follow a split-payment structure — a recurring annual contract rate paired with a separate current-year purchase order — with Yunex appearing in two line items totaling $1.55 million and Valley Vista in two line items totaling approximately $490,000. The council voted to suspend fireworks permit issuance, passing 4-0 with Spicer abstaining, after approximately six members of the public addressed the item — including a representative of St. James AME Church opposing the suspension on grounds of nonprofit fundraising loss and several residents supporting it on safety grounds. A proposed lease agreement with the Compton Chamber of Commerce — a revenue item under which the city would collect rent — was tabled to the following week without a vote.

Apr 8, 2025

city council

The largest spending approvals came through the consent calendar, passed 5-0: $448,508 to Municipal Emergency Services for 112 sets of firefighting personal protective equipment (Item 6), and a Recreation Department budget amendment (Item 8) that appropriates a $35,640 LA Dodgers Foundation grant alongside a separate $27,000 expenditure to a named individual, Harold Johnson, both listed under the same agenda item. Item 13—suspension of fireworks permits—was pulled from the agenda before any vote; Councilmember Spicer stated on the record that Compton voters approved fireworks 57% to 43% through Measure F in 2009 and that a legal opinion is needed before permits can be restricted. Item 10 (board and commission appointments) generated extended council debate but no vote; members agreed to table it and hold a workshop to develop a standardized interview process before making further appointments, with at least one applicant already identified as ineligible for residing outside city limits. All remaining action items passed 5-0 without dissent: removal of a Parks and Recreation board member (Item 9), scheduling a public hearing on an underground utility district (Item 11), scheduling public hearings on lighting/landscape and sewer assessments (Item 12), initiating the assessment levy for Lighting and Landscape District No. 1 (Item 14), initiating sewer service charge assessment proceedings (Item 15), and—in a separate UCDC session convened immediately after adjournment—approving the five-year PHA administrative and 2025 annual plans as the Housing Authority board (5-0).

Apr 1, 2025

city council

The council approved two expenditures totaling approximately $970,000, both drawn from federal CDBG funds from separate fiscal years. A $697,517 contract was awarded to Innovative Playgrounds Co., Inc. for playground equipment replacement at Lueders Park (CDBG FY2022), approved 4-0 with Council Member Spicer absent; no contract document was attached to the agenda item at the time of the vote — the city manager stated the contract would be drafted after council approval — and procurement was routed through SourceWell, a cooperative purchasing consortium, rather than a standalone competitive bid. A $272,305 purchase order was issued to Creative Bus Sales for two gasoline-powered buses for the Dial-A-Ride program, drawn from FY2020 CDBG funds, also approved 4-0 with Spicer absent; the city manager cited the need to expend five-year-old grant funds before they lapsed as the reason gas engines were selected over alternative-fuel vehicles rather than any performance or cost basis. A travel authorization for elected officials to attend a Palm Desert conference April 30–May 1 passed 3-1, with Council Member Duart dissenting and Spicer absent. No members of the public addressed any of the three spending items.

Mar 18, 2025

city council

The council approved a $419,883 construction contract with Innovative Playgrounds Co., Inc. for the Cesar Chavez Playground Improvement Project (CDBG FY2018 funds) as an action item, passed 5-0 after the city clerk noted a correction to account codes in the fiscal impact section; the same meeting's consent agenda, also passed 5-0, included a $46,639 purchase order for touchless bottle filling stations to HD Supply Facilities Maintenance—formerly The Home Depot Pro—from CDBG-CV funds, a figure that sits $10,361 below the $50,000 council approval threshold. The largest dollar item on the agenda was a proposed citywide illegal dumping cleanup contract structured as two separate line items to the same vendor, Valley Vista Services, Inc.—a $367,270 annual service agreement and a $122,423 purchase order for the remainder of fiscal year 2024-2025, totaling $489,693—but no vote was taken and the item was continued to the following week's meeting. At least four members of the public spoke in favor of prior incumbent vendor Screaming Eagles Services, including the company's owner, and Councilmembers Spicer and Darden expressed support for Screaming Eagles on the record; the city manager stated Valley Vista was the lowest responsive bidder at $367,270 annually versus Screaming Eagles' $450,000 bid, a difference of $82,730. A motion by Councilmember Spicer to award the contract to Screaming Eagles, seconded by Councilmember Bowers, was withdrawn before any vote when Bowers requested that both vendors be placed on the following week's agenda for formal consideration.

Feb 4, 2025

city council

The council's largest approved expenditure was a $945,688 contract with NV5 Inc. for engineering design on the Center Avenue green street and storm drain project, funded by state grants and passed without discussion with Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, and Sharif voting yes and Darton's vote not captured in the transcript. A $225,000 three-year contract with JL Group LLC for fraud investigation services (General Fund) and $170,950 to Envisio Solutions Inc. for performance management software — structured as four sub-$100,000 payments, a flagged possible split-payment pattern — both passed with Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, and Sharif voting yes and Darton not recorded. The item generating the most debate was $149,863 to Eadie and Payne LLC for audit services billed outside the original contract scope, structured as three sub-$100,000 invoices including one ($24,246) just below the $25,000 approval threshold; three public speakers questioned who authorized the additional work, the city controller stated the auditor was conditioning progress on the FY2023 audit report on receipt of payment, and the item passed with Duhart and Sharif voting yes and Spicer abstaining, with Bowers and Darton's votes not recorded. The council also approved $200,000 to recurring vendors including Jankovich for fleet gasoline, with Duhart, Bowers, and Sharif voting yes and Spicer and Darton not recorded, and $30,960 to New West Landscaping for golf course maintenance, with Duhart, Spicer, Bowers, and Sharif voting yes and Darton not recorded.

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.

Oct 1, 2024

city council

The council's largest approval was a $12.60 million construction contract awarded to Palp, Inc. dba Excel Paving for the Wilmington Avenue Safe Streets project (total budget allocation $13.86 million), passed 5-0; the council also approved a $2.28 million contract amendment with Beador Construction Company, Inc. for the Artesia Boulevard Bridge Repair project, also 5-0, with Beador appearing in two line items on the same agenda totaling $6.89 million. A $1.25 million multi-year contract with the LA County Department of Animal Care and Control passed 3-1 with Bowers abstaining (Spicer voting no), with council members citing resident complaints about response times of up to five days for dead animal pickup. Additional spending approvals included $160,000 to Vital Records Control for document scanning services (5-0), $120,000 to Jankovich Company for fire department fuel and lubricants (5-0), and $21,585 to BrightView Landscape Services for turf replacement at Jackie Robinson Stadium (5-0); the Sylvia Nunn Angels property lease and the citywide salary schedule amendment were both pulled by staff before any council vote. The council voted 3-1 (Mayor Sheree no, Bowers absent) to return a previously approved $203,944 professional services agreement with St. John's Community Health and Nimble Thoughts Counseling to the agenda for reconsideration, after a public speaker alleged one vendor does not exist and a council member cited new information about the awardees.

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 4, 2024

city council

The council approved a $225,000 contract to The Scanning Company for document scanning services paid from the General Fund (5-0) and an $83,000 contract to LiveView Technologies for two mobile surveillance cameras leased over 24 months using JAG grant funds (5-0). The Scanning Company is flagged as a repeat vendor: the single $225,000 approval includes three sub-$100,000 budget allocation line items — $50,000, $50,000, and $25,000 — summing to $125,000. A $3,612 consent item for in-kind contributions to the Veterans Stand Down passed 4-0-1 with Bowers abstaining; of nine public commenters, one described the item as campaign-related spending tied only to Districts 1 and 4. A legal services retainer agreement for fiscal years 2023–24 and 2024–25, covering outside law firms at rates up to $350 per hour, was not brought to a vote after the city attorney withdrew endorsement, citing firm performance concerns and noting in-house attorneys earn $50 per hour. A motion to receive and file the FY 2020–2021 audited financial statements — a non-spending informational item — was tabled after Councilwoman Duhart requested additional review time; the city controller stated the audit identified approximately $69 million in prior-period adjustments, and the external auditor stated FY 2022 and 2023 audits are targeted for completion by December 2024.

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.

Apr 23, 2024

city council

The council approved a $101,500 contract with County Leak Services for repairs at the Luders Park city pool (5-0), though the structured agenda records two identical $101,500 line items for the same vendor under the same agenda item—one unrestricted and one from Measure A—flagging a combined $203,000 attributed to County Leak Services; no council member raised this discrepancy. Also approved were an $80,000 two-year contract with Mariposa Eco Consulting Inc. for SB 1383 compliance services (5-0) and a $50,000 amendment to an existing Cintas Corporation uniform services contract (5-0), with the structured agenda similarly showing two $50,000 Cintas line items under the single item—a pattern flagged as a possible split payment keeping each entry below the $100,000 threshold. Items 10 and 11 initiated FY2024-25 assessment proceedings for the lighting/landscape district ($4.2 million) and sewer service charges ($913,506); these are revenue collections, not new spending approvals. Personnel Board business generated the evening's most procedurally contested votes: Jennifer Grant was removed 5-0, then reappointed 5-0 after the city attorney stated that a verbal motion withdrawal does not reverse a vote already taken; Yawande Ayodele was removed 4-0-1 (Bowers abstaining); Merkelyn Black was appointed 4-1 (Spicer dissenting); and Alicia Rivers was appointed on a 2-1-2 vote (Bowers no, Darden and Sharif abstaining). Twelve residents spoke during public comment, the bulk of which addressed Long Beach Boulevard prostitution, Compton Creek maintenance, and trash pickup reliability—none addressed the spending items on the agenda.

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.