Compton potholes: Outrage at town hall meeting over city-wide problem

By Jory Rand

COMPTON, Calif. (KABC) — Hundreds of Compton residents attended a town hall meeting Thursday night, upset they are still living in what they call a pothole nightmare.

The town hall was hosted by Congresswoman Nanette Barragan.

“Potholes, street re-pavement on a residential level (is) not generally a federal issue,” she said.

But Barragan said potholes are one of the main issues she hears about constantly from her Compton constituents.

“It’s a public health concern. When you have first responders, fire and police telling you their response time is taking longer because of the street conditions, that’s not acceptable,” she added.

Barragan quizzed a panel of city officials about the progress being made and the money being spent.

Eyewitness News spotted a highly damaged street about a month ago in Compton. A city manager said it’s been fixed. But dozens of miles of city streets still need repairs, and many Thursday night walked away frustrated.

“Year after year. I’ve been here for over 30 years, and the city of Compton has been on a steady decline,” said Compton resident Elzora Mickles. “And it’s always somebody stealing the money, people being overpaid, or overspending. I’d like to know where the overspending happens.”

One of the problems for the city of Compton emerged when the state controller audited the city finances and found there was a budget deficit for years. The city is still digging out of that and that has caused a delay in some of the repairs. But city officials maintain that progress is happening, residents just have to have patience.