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Investigator: city released unredacted credit-card statements; council balks at immediate DA referral
Summary
An outside investigator told the Compton City Council the city’s credit-card statements were available on the public portal with full card numbers and found policy-inconsistent charges for one council member; council debated sanctions and a rushed referral to the police or district attorney, but a two-thirds vote to add the item tonight failed and the matter will be agendized next meeting.
An outside investigator told the Compton City Council on Tuesday that the city made credit-card statements containing full card numbers publicly available through its records portal and that, while most council members’ charges matched the city’s policy, charges for one member were not consistent with the policy.
“Those records on the public records portal contained the credit card numbers, and therefore, those were available to the public at least as of December 1,” investigator Dave Fleischman told the council as he summarized the probe his firm conducted into the city’s CalCard program. Fleischman said he could not conclusively determine how the initial statements discussed in November reached the public but confirmed the unredacted statements’ presence on the portal.
Fleischman said his review of statements from January–December 2025 found use consistent with the CalCard policy for four council members, and “with respect to the fifth council member, I determined that a number of the usages were outside the city’s policy.” He recommended a series of operational reforms — including preapproval, enhanced documentation, stronger receipt controls, monthly reconciliations, MCC restrictions and training — and noted the policy allows suspension of charging privileges for noncompliance.
Council members pressed for clarity about who maintained cards and who released the records. Councilwoman Darden said the report contained inaccuracies in its description of who held her card and asked that specific statements about her conduct be corrected; assistant city manager Bence replied that Darden’s card was returned to the city manager’s office and locked in the safe on Nov. 26, 2025.
Debate turned to next steps. The mayor moved to add a subsequent item tonight and have staff send a letter to the police department and the district attorney’s office requesting further investigation; councilman Bowers seconded. The motion ran into a procedural hurdle: adding an item to tonight’s agenda required a two‑thirds vote. With one abstention, the council did not meet the two-thirds threshold and the motion failed. The mayor and staff said the item will be included on the next meeting agenda for formal consideration.
On the record, Fleischman urged improved controls. “We would require itemized receipts for all purchases and that they be submitted by a deadline,” he said, and recommended consequences for repeat violators, including suspension of privileges.
The council directed staff to review the policy language and prepare an agenda item for the next meeting that would include the documentation and any recommended letters to law enforcement or next steps for council consideration.
What’s next: The council agreed to place the matter on the next regular meeting agenda so members can vote on whether to send a formal letter to the police and/or the district attorney and consider policy or sanction options.
