$3.7 million embezzled from the Treasurer's office. $29 million raided from water and sewer funds and never repaid. In October 2025 the State Auditor cleared two cities off its high-risk list and kept Compton on it. Compton deserves a Treasurer who fights for every dollar.
Mutual Aid / Construction
Embezzled from the Treasurer's office over six years
Raided from water and sewer funds, never repaid
In idle cash reserves while infrastructure decays
Most financially at-risk city in California
A former deputy treasurer embezzled $3.7 million from 2010 to 2016. It took six years to notice. The State Auditor found the financial controls were virtually nonexistent.
The general fund borrowed nearly $29 million from water and sewer funds to cover operating costs and never paid it back. The Auditor also flagged a roughly $4.6 million annual water-to-general-fund transfer as inadequately justified.
Compton holds roughly $156 million in idle cash reserves while half its streets are in poor condition, water wells decay, and sewer overflows threaten public health.
Compton has been on the State Auditor's high-risk list since 2019. In October 2025 the Auditor cleared Calexico and Richmond and kept Compton on it. Report 2025-801.
Under Compton Charter Section 701, the City Treasurer is custodian of all public funds. That is not a ceremonial job. It is the last line of defense against financial mismanagement, and it requires reading a balance sheet, not cutting a ribbon.
The Treasurer also serves as Tax and License Director and holds a seat on the Public Finance Authority. This office controls hundreds of millions of dollars.
Here is what I will do on Day One, and every day after.
Compton has not produced timely audited financial statements for years. That ends. Every dollar in, every dollar out: published online, searchable, and accountable. If they cannot show where the money went, I will find out why.
Nearly $29 million was borrowed from water and sewer funds and never returned. That money was supposed to maintain the pipes your family drinks from. I will establish a binding repayment schedule and ensure water revenue goes to water infrastructure, not to plug budget holes at City Hall.
State Auditor Report 2021-802, Recommendations 7 and 14.The Treasurer's office let $3.7 million in embezzlement go undetected for six years. I will implement modern safeguards: dual authorization on all disbursements, monthly reconciliation audits, and real-time reporting dashboards anyone can access.
State Auditor Report 2021-802 documented 200-plus outstanding findings (Rec 17). Most are still open.A $104 million fiber optic network is being built through Compton right now at no cost to the city. The Treasurer's office must ensure Compton retains control and builds a municipal ISP on this infrastructure: a potential $3 to 6 million annual revenue stream that can fund real services for residents.
Tens of millions sit idle while streets crumble, sewage overflows, and water wells decay. I will work with the council to build a prioritized capital improvement plan. The city has not updated theirs since 2014. Put that money where it belongs: in the ground, fixing pipes and roads.
The October 2025 Auditor report calls for a funded plan to fix Compton's poor streets by 2029.Every year Compton residents leave millions in CalEITC, federal EITC, and ITIN-eligible tax credits unclaimed because they don't know they qualify or can't reach a navigator. The Treasurer is also Tax and License Director. I will partner with the Franchise Tax Board and local nonprofits to run ITIN and CalEITC outreach. Money owed to residents is money that stays in Compton's economy.
Too many Compton properties sit empty, generating nothing for the people who live here while owners live elsewhere. A vacancy tax on long-term unoccupied units creates revenue and pushes housing back into use. Administering and collecting local taxes is the Treasurer's job.
State and federal food access dollars go unclaimed every year because no one at City Hall tracks them. I will inventory that funding, administer AB 551 (the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act) to give tax breaks to owners who let community groups grow food on idle parcels, and identify city-owned idle land for the same purpose. Food insecurity is a financial problem with financial solutions.
The Gateway Cities fiber network is coming. Compton should own its last-mile connection: affordable high-speed internet to every household while generating millions in city revenue.
Residents pay premium rates while the system rots. 156 miles of pipe, 14,500 connections, $29 million borrowed and never repaid. It's time to make the water system whole and make water bills honest.
Real-time financial dashboards. Searchable spending data. Monthly reports to the public. When you can see where every dollar goes, it's a lot harder for someone to steal $3.7 million.
I live in Compton. I work in Compton. I spent four years working with this city on a park transition project that went nowhere because of municipal dysfunction, and I have had enough of watching it fail the people who actually live here.
I'm not a career politician. I'm not backed by a faction. I don't owe anyone favors. I'm running for Treasurer because someone needs to count the money, and the people who have been doing it have been either stealing it, losing it, or ignoring it.
"I chose this city. I stay in this city. I pay taxes in this city. This is my home."
Compton has the resources to be a great city. It holds roughly $156 million in idle cash reserves, has a $104 million fiber network being built through its streets, sits on eight federal Opportunity Zones, and is home to residents who care deeply about their community. What it does not have is financial leadership that's accountable to the people.
That changes June 2, 2026.
Every contribution, every share, every conversation, every vote brings this city one step closer to financial accountability.
The primary election is June 2, 2026. Make sure you're registered and ready. It takes two minutes.
Whether you want to volunteer, host a neighborhood meet-up, ask a question, or just tell me what Compton needs, I'm listening.