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Committee debates qualifications, appointment and election-related language for clerk, treasurer and city attorney
Summary
The Charter Review Committee discussed adding professional qualifications and possible appointment for the city clerk and treasurer, clarifying city attorney appointment language (Measure CA), vacancy timelines, and whether investment and bonding duties should appear in the charter.
The City of Compton Charter Review Committee spent much of its June 29 meeting on proposals to tighten or clarify qualifications and appointment language for three key offices: city clerk, city treasurer and city attorney.
On the city clerk (section 700) several members recommended adding professional qualifications, including the certified municipal clerk credential, and raised the option of converting the clerk from an elected to an appointed post. Vice Chair Butler withdrew a prior recommendation to reduce council meeting frequency (section 603) and the panel agreed that any change to clerk qualifications or appointment method should be clear to voters and reviewed with HR and legal staff.
For the city treasurer (section 701) commissioners proposed similar certification and attendance requirements, suggested bonding the position, and asked the committee to explicitly assign investment oversight to the treasurer in the charter text. Assistant City Manager Tamara Benz said the treasurer currently provides quarterly updates on investments and that HR will provide job-description detail at the July 6 meeting.
Section 702 on the city attorney prompted questions about Measure CA (2023). Commissioner Marquez said Measure CA requires a 10-year-experience standard; other members asked whether that requirement applies to an individual or to a law firm retained by the city. Commissioner Contas recommended clarifying whether the 10-year experience requirement refers to an individual appointee or to a firm and suggested adding a specific timeline to fill a vacant city-attorney post (for example, 30 days). Contas also recommended updating subsection F to note that routine misdemeanor prosecution is handled by the district attorney’s office under contract, not by city attorneys in practice.
Staff and several commissioners repeatedly cautioned that civil-service or job-description changes require HR input and that some recommended changes could trigger meet-and-confer obligations with labor unions. The committee asked staff to return with legal and HR analysis at the July 6 meeting before finalizing language for voter consideration.
