Corrective Action Plan and Assessment—City of Compton

The city of Compton (Compton) submitted its corrective action plan in April 2023—and updated that plan in July 2023—in response to the October 2022 report that the California State Auditor issued as part of our high-risk local government agency audit program.¹City of Compton: Financial Mismanagement and a Lack of Leadership Have Threatened Compton's Ability to Serve the Public (2021-802). After reviewing Compton’s corrective action plan, we prepared the following assessment of the city’s action items. In this assessment, we have focused on the city’s responses to recommendations we designated in our report as Priority 1 recommendations. However, as we note below, Compton has also begun making efforts to address Priority 2 and 3 recommendations. Many of the efforts Compton discusses in its plan are ongoing, with several expected to be completed during fiscal year 2023-24. We will continue to review the city's progress that it will report in its subsequent updates.

Priority 1 Recommendations	Status as of July 2023
Prioritize open and competitive hiring	Partially Addressed
Formalize human resources department responsibilities	Pending
Require annual report on status of human resources department	Pending
Fully staff human resources department and city controller’s office	Partially Addressed
Develop and implement fiscal sustainability plan	Pending
Develop and implement capital improvement plan	Pending

Corrective Action Plan and Assessment—City of Compton

July 2023

View Compton's Corrective Action Plan from April 2023

View Compton's updated Corrective Action Plan from July 2023

Priority 1 Recommendations
1.	By April 2023, propose city charter amendments to be voted on in the next statewide general election—and amend all related guidelines, such as the personnel rules and regulations, to the extent permissible under the existing charter—to prioritize an open, competitive hiring process for all positions. The city council's proposed charter amendments should also explicitly require that Compton use an open, competitive hiring process whenever it makes permanent appointments for key leadership positions that include but are not limited to the following: city manager, city controller, human resources director, and budget officer. As part of this process, the city council should develop detailed job qualifications for the city manager position. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Partially Addressed	In March 2023, Compton’s city council adopted a resolution to submit a ballot measure to its voters at the next statewide general election, to be held in November 2024. The ballot measure will ask voters to decide whether to amend the city charter to prioritize an open and competitive hiring process for all positions. The amendments would explicitly require that the city use an open and competitive hiring process to select and appoint the city manager, city controller, human resources director, budget officer, and other key positions. Compton also provided meeting minutes from November 2022 showing that its personnel board took a motion to open all upcoming recruitments using open and competitive hiring. The city stated in its April 2023 corrective action plan that it had contracted with a consulting group that will draft detailed job qualifications and specifications for the city manager position to be approved by the personnel board and the city council. Compton has taken significant action to address this recommendation, most notably through the proposed ballot measure. We will further evaluate Compton’s progress toward addressing this recommendation when it has implemented our recommendation that it develop detailed job qualifications for the city manager position.
2.	By April 2023, formalize the key responsibilities of the human resources department and its director by amending the municipal code or personnel rules and regulations or by proposing charter amendments, and ensure that the department begins making efforts to meet these responsibilities. The responsibilities should include at a minimum the following tasks in the area of recruiting and hiring: Perform a salary survey for all positions that compares the city's compensation to that of other cities or employers and update it at least once every three years to ensure that the city is positioned to provide competitive pay. Upon completion of the initial survey, the human resources director should work with the city manager to develop a process for using the survey results to increase compensation where feasible, such as by prioritizing increases for the positions that have the lowest salaries compared to the survey results. Develop a process for maintaining and proactively reviewing job specifications for all positions to ensure that they are reasonably up to date. Document and implement a plan for recruiting, including the websites on which the city will advertise its open positions, to ensure that it attracts qualified applicants for each recruitment. Take ownership of key aspects of the recruiting and hiring process, such as managing labor negotiations and setting and meeting clear goals for filling positions in a timely manner. Formally assess each recruitment effort to determine how the recruiting and hiring process could be improved. Develop and maintain a succession plan for key positions. Document specific procedures for accomplishing the above objectives, such as by updating the recruitment and examination manual, and disseminate the procedures to appropriate staff. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Pending	The city engaged an external consultant in July 2023 to perform a classification and compensation study and provide related services, which the city estimated would take four to six months to complete. The consultant’s services will include comparing Compton’s salary and benefits offerings to those of external organizations and estimating the cost for the city to implement a new classification and compensation plan. Compton also provided multiple internal tracking documents, such as a list of active and closed recruitments and a document describing the duties of each specific position within the human resources department. According to Compton’s April 2023 corrective action plan and July 2023 update, the human resources department also plans to develop comprehensive standard operating procedures. Compton’s efforts to address this recommendation are largely ongoing. We will assess the classification and compensation study, and the city’s subsequent actions in response to it, once the study is completed. In addition, Compton should formalize the key responsibilities of the human resources department—such as through the standard operating procedures its corrective action plan references—to ensure that the city continues to address the specific components of our recommendation on an ongoing basis.
3.	In addition, the city council should require that the city manager submit a report to the council at least annually that describes the human resources department's status in meeting these objectives and minimizing ongoing staff vacancies. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Pending	Compton stated in its corrective action plan that the director of human resources will be responsible for completing a report at the beginning of each calendar year that highlights the department’s activities from the year, such as recruitment and hiring statistics. The city also provided a sample cover page and table of contents for the report. We will evaluate Compton’s response to this recommendation once it has completed its first annual report.
4.	By July 2023, direct the city manager to make efforts to fully staff the human resources department and the city controller's office with qualified individuals to ensure that these departments can address Compton's broader, chronic issues related to staffing and finances. The level of staffing in the departments should be sufficient for the successful performance of key tasks, including those listed in our recommendations. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Partially Addressed	Compton hired a director of human resources and stated in its corrective action plan that it has filled several other key positions in the human resources department and in the city controller’s office. The city also indicated in its corrective action plan that it was still in the process of hiring individuals to fill some other key positions in these departments. Compton has made progress in addressing this recommendation by hiring a director of human resources. To fully address this recommendation, the city should provide evidence that it has filled the positions for which it has budgeted, and that it has sufficient staffing to perform key ongoing tasks in these departments.
5.	To ensure accountability for Compton's fiscal recovery process, the city should develop and the city council should approve a fiscal sustainability plan by July 2023 that contains specific measures for increasing revenues, decreasing expenditures, and eliminating fund deficits. This plan should identify the individuals responsible for implementing these measures and those responsible for monitoring the city's progress in implementing each action, should include estimated dates of completion, and should describe the estimated fiscal impact of each measure. City management should also inform the city council every quarter of its progress in implementing the plan. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Pending	Compton formalized a contract with a consultant in May 2023 to create a fiscal sustainability plan. The city stated that this work is ongoing and that it expects the plan to be completed by December 2023. Because this work is ongoing, we will formally assess Compton’s progress once it has approved and begun implementing the fiscal sustainability plan.
6.	By July 2023, the city should develop and the city council should approve an updated capital improvement plan. The city should then immediately begin implementing its updated capital improvement plan for needed infrastructure projects. The plan should set priorities for all projects, with an emphasis on those related to repairing and updating its streets, water system, and sewer system. The plan should include estimated costs and associated funding sources for each project and should take into consideration all prior unspent revenue and existing fund balances, such as Measure P and water fund resources. Compton should update its capital improvement plan at least once every three years. *California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Pending	The city provided a capital improvement plan that it said will be presented to the city council in September 2023. The plan includes a list of projects—such as those related to its streets, water system, and sewer system—along with costs and funding sources for many of the projects. We will evaluate Compton’s capital improvement plan once the city council has approved it and the city has begun implementing it.
Priority 2 and 3 Recommendations
	*California State Auditor's Assessment Status:* Pending	Compton has begun taking steps to address Priority 2 and 3 recommendations. For example, the city council in June 2023 approved an updated repayment plan for the amounts that Compton’s general fund had borrowed from other funds. In addition, Compton provided us with an updated budget policy that its city council approved in March 2023. City management indicated that several other efforts are also underway, such as ensuring that city council members receive training, finalizing and implementing a cost allocation plan, and issuing audited financial statements. However, because most of these efforts are still in the preliminary stage, we have assessed the overall status of these recommendations as pending. We will review in more detail Compton’s efforts to implement these recommendations when the city provides us with future updates to its corrective action plan.