On a weekly basis, residents from the city of Compton appear at city council meetings with the same questions: when will our streets be repaired and why are our water bills so high? The city implores the residents to be patient and be willing to entertain taxing themselves, again, to pay for services. Problem is, the city finances are a real mystery. The agendas fail to state all of the revenue taken in and more importantly, fails to disclose all payments going out.[adsenseyu2]
EVERY council agenda fails to adequately delineate how the taxpayers money is being spent and where is it going.
By power of a city resolution, the city manager has the discretion and authority to sign checks, out of the public view, for any amount that doesn’t exceed $25,000.
In turn, when you view a city council agenda, the public will only see how much is spent, when the $25,000 threshold is crossed.
Viewing neighboring city’s council agendas, warrant registers are attached and viewable by the public, prior to the council meeting.
The city council agenda for February 9th listed only two checks totaling $62,361.92.
On the February 2nd agenda, the warrant register section was empty. The city doesn’t owe SCE, SCG or anyone else?
Compton residents have no clue how many checks are being cut out of the city managers office, for council members travel, expenses, conferences or payments to vendors. Submitting a public records request for the warrant register is just as troubling. The controller’s office fails to respond.
Is that transparency?
The lawsuit between the Compton Unified School District (CUSD), against the city, for failure to enforce their ban on illegal marijuana dispensaries, rages on.
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speak for your self maybe you cant afford the movies but citizens in Compton goes to other cities and spend a lot of money to watch a movie else where. i hope they make it happen we need it.Compton residence not as poor are your saying.
You just asked the same question that citizens have been asking for the past 3 years. Where is the money going? They claim they are being transparent, but it is obvious they are not. Too many deals being made behind closed doors. Kinda like tonight’s public hearing about the movie complex. On the agenda there was no mention of any theater company who operates theater complexes, but they gave a presentation about how wonderful their 14 screen complexes are. Families in Compton can’t afford to go the movies. How do they expect to fill 14 theaters? Are there even 14 movies worth watching at any given time? These families can’t even afford to buy a box of popcorn let alone take the entire family to a movie. And, even though the city is still paying off a $50 Million deficit, they want to spend another $35 Million+ on this project.
We go to the movies MAYBE twice a year. That includes dinner and drinks and sometimes shopping. Ralph wants to see many, many movies and I just roll my eyes…
If there was a theater so close by, I’m sure I’d be seeing more along with rolling my eyes before and after…The poor service at TGIF’s Compton has made it out of the question for dinner and cocktails…If sales tax increases, shopping in Compton is going to become a lazy luxury (for us, anyway.) Less travel time means less time leaving the property and pets unattended…Lots of things to consider here, but I do think people will use the theater.