Centennial High Alumni Network
COMPTON " THE HUB CITY'S FINEST " (Motto: Birthing A New Compton)!!
This Group is for "All" who once lived in Compton, or were educated in the Compton Schools, and for those who still live in the "Hub City. Feel free to display articles regarding "Events" taking place in the City of Compton!!"
COMPTON "THE HUB CITY'S FINEST & EVENTS (PHOTO GALLERY)!!"
This Photo Gallery is for "All" who once lived in Compton, or were educated in the Compton Schools, and for those who still live in the "Hub City!!" Feel free to download your Compton school photos, family photos, or any photos that were taken in the City of Compton as well as post "Events" taking place in the City!!
Phoebe Macon
Compton City Manager Charles Evans Fired After City Council Meeting
When Compton City Council Members returned from closed session last night (Tuesday, September 7, 2010) at 1:38 am, they announced the decision to fire City Manager Charles Evans and replace him with City Controller Willie Norfleet.
Agenda items 15 and 16 were listed as the "discipline/dismissal/release" of a public employee and the appointment of a new city manager.
The sudden re-organization, however, is not unfamiliar territory for the Compton City Council. (In June 2007, Evans' predecessor former City Manager Barbara Kilroy was also unanimously voted out of a job).
(Evans — a Compton native —was officially appointed as City Manager in July 2008 after a year serving as Interim City Manager. His career at City Hall spanned 28 years, beginning in the Risk Management office until he was promoted to Assistant City Manager in September 2004).
(Compton residents attending Council Meetings have complained of Evans' lack of action with regard to tasks appointed by the Council or requests made by members of the public).
**Compton resident Robert Ray says the decision to fire Evans may have been due to a personal vendetta on Mayor Eric Perrodin's part.
"It is a habit with Perrodin that if he doesn't like the City Manager, [he will] fire him/her," wrote Ray on HubCityLivin,com.
"In this case, it is going to cost the City a ton of money as they have to buy out his contract and also give him his full retirement. If he gets fired he will probably get more money than he would have while employed. As to whether this move would help the City, I have my doubts."
More information on this story will be published here on The South Los Angeles Report as it becomes available.
Sep 8, 2010
Phoebe Macon
BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY OPENS UP IN COMPTON
(10-29-10)
Dec 15, 2010
Phoebe Macon
Posted by Phoebe Macon
on February 1, 2011, 3:16 am
The body of well-known former Compton City Councilman Maxcy Filer lies in state inside the City of Compton Council Chambers, as his wife Blondell Filer,left, and his daughter Tracy Filer,right, pay their respects Thursday January 13, 2011. (Stephen Carr / Press-Telegram)
Dressed in an impeccable black suit, with a Thurgood Marshall pin on his lapel and a tie displaying the scales of justice, the body of Maxcy Filer lay in regal stillness Thursday in the Compton City Council Chambers.
Filer, the popular former city councilman who died Monday, will lie in state today as well as before his funeral Saturday.
While Maxcy's wife, Blondell, 81, sat quietly in the back row of the room, well-wishers came to pay respects to the late lawyer nicknamed "Mr. Compton" for his unabashed support of all things Compton.
Filer, 80, died in his sleep Monday in his Compton, Ca. home, leaving a legacy of leadership in his city and taking with him a significant piece of the area's history.
Filer is the third person to lie in state at City.
Maxcy Filer, 65, a Compton attorney in his office in front of a painting of the most respected man in his life. (Matthew J. Lee)Hall, following former mayors Walter Tucker in 1990 and Douglas Dollarhide in 2008.
"He was a kingmaker," said Doris Davis, the former mayor of Compton who was among those who came Thursday to view her old friend. She will deliver the eulogy Saturday.
Davis said Filer not only helped her and Dollarhide become mayors, but he also was a central figure in her first foray into politics when she ran for city clerk.
Although Filer was undoubtedly a major player in Compton politics, Davis said his interests were in all people.
"As the president of the Compton NAACP, he made it his goal that we have fair, equitable representation of African-American citizens in this community," Davis said.
"He believed in the community of Compton and
in the people of Compton," said JoAnn Glasper, who first met Filer when he was a councilman between 1975 and 1990 and attended First United Methodist Church with the Filers. "He worked hard to improve Compton."
Soloman Martin, another church member, remembers Filer's inexhaustible energy.
"He was one of the nicest guys and one of the most active guys in the city," Martin said. "He was just involved in everything."
Snippets of that involvement could be seen arrayed around the anteroom.
Maxcy Filer ,center, as he protested outside a Woolworth's in the City of Compton in the early 1960's. the council chambers on six poster boards.
There were photographs of Filer through the years. There were newspaper articles, including several that detailed how he took the State Bar of California exam 48 times over 25 years to finally gain his license to practice law.
There were invitations to presidential inaugurations, including one from President Lyndon Johnson. There were photos of Filer picketing for civil rights in the 1960s.
Missing on Thursday, but expected to be at his funeral on Saturday, is the California state flag that Filer carried in 1963 during the march on Washington, D.C., when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.
Kelvin Filer, who shared his father's love of the law to become a lawyer himself and now a judge at Compton Superior Court, said his father was a source of inspiration to many and shared his visions with all who would listen.
"He believed if you have a dream, pursue it and don't let anything stop you," Kelvin Filer said.
Living most of his adult life in the old Henrietta Square neighborhood of Compton, Filer was a part of the fabric not only of Compton but of the national civil rights movement.
Those who came by Thursday agreed that it was only proper that he be honored by the city.
"It's a thrill to me to be able to come out and pay my respects," Martin said.
"I think he deserves every moment (of respect) that's given to him," Glasper said.
Kelvin Filer said his father "would be embarrassed and humbled" by the outpouring. But inwardly he probably would have smiled.
Besides his wife and son Kelvin, Filer is survived by sons Duane, Anthony and Dennis; daughters Maxine McFarland, Stephanie Hoxey and Tracy Filer; 14 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and three sisters.
A memorial service was held at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 17, 2011 at the Love and Unity Christian Fellowship, 1840 S. Wilmington Ave., Compton, Ca. Filer was buried in the City of Compton' Angeles Abbey Memorial Park.
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Congresswoman Laura Richardson’s statement
on the death of civil rights champion Maxcy Filer
WASHINGTON — Today, Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-CA 37) issued the following statement on the death of Civil Rights Champion Maxcy Filer also recognized as ‘Mr. Compton’ who died in his sleep on Monday January 12, 2011. He was 80 years old.
“Today, the City of Compton, the Civil Rights community and the nation as a whole lost a friend, activist and a true champion for justice who fought with dignity to make the City of Compton a better place to live and work, but he also taught us the value of perseverance when he passed the California Bar exam on his 48th attempt at the age of 60.
His iconic legacy inspired a television sitcom “Sparks” that honored the passion that he had for the legal profession which ultimately became the career paths for both his sons Kelvin, who is a Compton Superior Court Judge, and Anthony, who is a supervising attorney for the Norwalk office of the Legal Aid Society.
I have had the privilege of knowing Kelvin for quite some time and my immediate thoughts and prayers are with him, his sibling and other family members. This is a tremendous loss for all of us, but Maxcy Filer left us with a vivid legacy to cherish and carry on.”
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R.I.P. Maxcy Filer we love you and we will never forget all you have done for the City of Compton!
Feb 1, 2011