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Commissioners seek clarity on whether Compton’s 100,000 threshold should use Department of Finance or U.S. Census
Summary
During review of Section 500, commissioners asked staff to confirm whether the 100,000-person threshold that could trigger council expansion should use U.S. Census counts or California Department of Finance annual estimates; the committee tabled Sections 500–505 pending staff data.
Commissioners on the Compton Charter Review Committee pressed staff for a clear data source behind Section 500’s language, which says the council shall take specified actions when the city’s population "exceeds 100,000." Several commissioners asked whether the charter intended that count to be based on the U.S. Census decennial figures, the California Department of Finance’s annual population estimates, or another recognized source.
City Attorney Diaz said Section 500 is silent on the data source and advised the commission to adopt a recognized, legitimate measure of population. Diaz suggested the Department of Finance’s annual population figures are a sensible resource because census counts are updated only every 10 years and may be out of date by comparison. "I would most likely look at the Department of Finance information with respect to population," Diaz said, noting that courts and statutes sometimes treat matters as of "statewide concern."
Commissioners pressed whether the term "population" refers to total residents rather than registered voters; Diaz and other staff said the plain wording indicates population counts people living in the city and not voter rolls. Assistant City Manager said he would obtain the relevant Department of Finance data and bring it back to the commission before the next meeting.
The commission decided to table Sections 500–505 so members could review staff-provided population data and consider whether to recommend a fixed trigger date or a numeric trigger in the charter language. No amendment to the charter was adopted at the meeting.
Next steps: staff to confirm the authoritative population source and to provide the commission with the suggested figures and a recommendation on how to phrase the trigger for any future charter amendment or recommendation to council.
