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City attorney’s outside counsel details $1.2 million in settlements, ongoing nuisance enforcement
Summary
Attorney David Welch told the Compton City Council the city’s nuisance-abatement program (launched April 2023) has yielded roughly $1.2 million in settlements and judgments the firm is pursuing; he cited several properties placed in receivership and urged continued coordination with code enforcement and the sheriff’s department.
Attorney David Welch presented the city council with an update on Compton’s nuisance-abatement program, saying the effort began in April 2023 and has targeted illegal marijuana dispensaries and other chronic nuisance properties.
Welch said the program has produced about $1.2 million in settlements and judgments totaling roughly $187 million ‘and change’ that the city is pursuing. He described tactics used in several court cases, including asking judges to appoint receivers to take control of properties so they can be repaired or sold to new owners who will invest in the neighborhood.
‘‘We started this program in April of 2023,’’ Welch said. ‘‘We’ve settled 10 cases against 10 different defendants, garnering for the city over $1.2 million in settlements. We’ve also received judgments in nine cases — the total judgments are about $187 million and change.’’
Welch named examples the council discussed: a two-story building at 2007 East Compton Boulevard where the first floor was an alleged illegal dispensary and the upper floor contained multiple overcrowded residential units; 1600 Tucker, a burned-out building now in receivership; a trash-choked vacant lot on the 100 block of East Raymond cleared under an abatement order and subsequent judgment; and 1806 West 136th Street, which went into receivership and recently sold to a private family.
Council members asked logistical questions about how receivership works and how abatement costs are recovered. Welch explained that a receiver takes control of property at the court’s direction and that the city’s abatement costs are recorded as a lien against the property rather than being tacked onto the owner’s property taxes. He also confirmed that the $1.2 million figure is cash the city has collected or for which it has settlement agreements.
Welch urged continued partnership with the county sheriff’s department, city code enforcement and public-works staff to identify problem properties quickly and obtain court orders when owners neglect maintenance that leads to blight, trash and encampments.
The council thanked Welch for the presentation and several members praised the tangible results while asking staff to keep providing specific receipts and follow-up timelines for enforcement actions.
The presentation and discussion were informational; no new council directive or ordinance was enacted during the session.
