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Figure From Past Compton Scandal Objects to Contract

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Like a ghost of scandal past, former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore appeared before the Compton City Council on Tuesday for the first time since completing a 28-month federal prison sentence and criticized a controversial no-bid trash contract as corrupt.

During a public hearing that lasted more than three hours, Moore blasted the proposed awarding of the contract to a man who admitted to bribing her eight years ago.

The object of her scorn, Michael V. Aloyan, 40, sat 15 feet away, his eyes glued to the floor.

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The council made no decision on the contract Tuesday, but four of the five members have expressed support for it. The council will take up the matter again early next year.

Under the proposed contract, Aloyan would receive an exclusive license to use city equipment to collect Compton’s residential, commercial and industrial trash for the next 15 years. In return, Aloyan would pay an upfront fee of $2 million, pay monthly franchise and administrative fees, and cover all service on $6 million in bonds issued to finance the equipment.

“I am amazed at even the possibility of this venture between Mike Aloyan and the city,” Moore said. “I grieve for Compton and will do everything within my power to repair the damage I have done, which includes ensuring that what happened to me will not happen to you or anyone else in Compton.”

The hearing made for a night of high political theater in Compton, as longtime political figures and neighborhood activists relived some of the darker moments in the city’s recent history: the trials of Moore and former Mayor Walter Tucker III.

In addition to the appearance of Moore, who was convicted of extortion and income tax fraud, former Congressman Mervin Dymally arrived to denounce the deal. Dymally accused Aloyan of being an FBI informer who had tried unsuccessfully to entice him into illegal acts.

Opponents of the deal, including ministers, neighborhood presidents and candidates in next year’s city election, added to the harsh talk. Several demanded that the council seek other bids, and one hearing witness, Sam Perdomo of the Florida-based waste conglomerate Republic, said he could submit a bid within 48 hours.

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Eric Perrodin, an assistant district attorney who is running for mayor of Compton, said the deal provided too little protection in the event that Aloyan’s company, Hub City Solid Waste, goes bankrupt.

But Mayor Omar Bradley said the deal offers 27% more than any private waste hauler had provided the city in earlier contracts. He also said the city would save by having a private firm employ its trash workers.

“This is unprecedented,” Bradley said.

Aloyan has been a fixture in Compton since shortly after he moved from his native Armenia to the U.S. in 1987. For seven years, he worked for a private company that collected Compton’s trash. He also was involved in an effort to bring a casino to Compton. A major donor to churches and supporter of charities, he once was called Santa Claus by a Compton weekly newspaper.

In 1995 and 1996, he testified in the extortion trials of Tucker and Moore. In each case, Aloyan, using intermediaries, passed several thousand dollars in bribes from his companies to the politicians. In return, they cleared the path for his gambling and trash interests.

Aloyan and his attorney, Milton Grimes, now maintain that the payments were not bribes bribe because Aloyan had no choice but to pass it along.

“It was extortion,” Grimes said. “We’d hope people would give him the benefit of the doubt.”

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