Fed up with their city’s inaction, a Compton, California couple took one of the area’s most stubborn problems into their own hands: crumbling, pothole-ridden streets. According to KABC, Alex and Daisy De La Rosa — a courier team, with Daisy driving and Alex handling deliveries — had grown exhausted by the toll the neglected roads took on them, between flat tires, suspension damage, and the friction it all caused at home.
The breaking point came when a pothole right by their driveway blew out yet another tire. “It’s not just been once or twice, it’s been a toll on our cars for five years now,” Daisy said, describing how the couple felt like they were working largely just to keep their vehicle running. While the tire was being repaired, Alex pulled up YouTube videos to learn how to do an asphalt blacktop patch, then drove to Home Depot, spent roughly $400 on supplies, and filled not only the hole outside their home but four more on the street. Daisy, the more cautious of the two, worried about the cost once she saw the results, but Alex was set on tackling the problem one pothole at a time.
Spreading the Patchwork Gospel
The De La Rosas posted their work on social media and quickly found they weren’t alone — plenty of neighbors were just as fed up with the state of the city’s roads, and some began requesting repairs on their own blocks.
“Our entire city is riddled with massive potholes,” Daisy wrote on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. “These constant impacts are damaging our vehicles, causing flats, and ruining suspensions. We’ve pleaded with the city, but they seem overwhelmed. Many of us can’t afford these repairs!”
From Pockets to Public Support
At first the couple paid for the asphalt out of their own pockets, but as their grassroots road crew gained attention, they launched a GoFundMe to cover the supplies. The response was overwhelming — the campaign sailed past its $1,000 goal, ultimately raising more than $1,100, and companies including Road Soup and American Road Patch reached out offering materials. Over roughly three weeks the couple completed more than three dozen repairs. Videos on TikTok showed even their young children pitching in.
@daisydelarosa4 #pothole #compton #delarosa #fyi #fyiespanol #amazon #GoFundMe
Irony Paves the Way for Frustration
Just as the effort was building momentum, the couple ran into a bureaucratic wall: a cease-and-desist letter from Compton’s Community Improvement Services Department, dated March 14, ordering them to stop the “unauthorized repairs to public roadways.” The letter warned that their actions raised “serious concerns” as a threat to public safety and to “the integrity of our city’s infrastructure,” and cautioned that they could face fines, penalties, and “potential liability for damages” stemming from the repairs.
The City’s Side
For its part, Compton said the criticism wasn’t the whole picture. Officials told reporters that recent heavy rains, combined with post-COVID staffing shortages, had made it hard to keep up with road repairs, and that the Public Works Department was critically understaffed — with efforts underway to recruit for vacant positions — even as its street crews continued patching potholes monthly. At a council meeting, City Manager Willie Hopkins acknowledged the problem head-on: “I want you to know, I spend a tremendous amount of time driving around this city, so I understand there’s potholes,” he said, adding that “it didn’t get that way overnight, and obviously we’re not going to fix it overnight.” Hopkins conceded it was embarrassing for residents to be doing the city’s work, but maintained that “what they’re doing is illegal,” pointing to liability risks — noting that if someone were hurt or property damaged by a citizen repair, both the couple and the city could face legal exposure. In a statement, the city said it “understands the frustration felt by our residents and share their concerns regarding the state of our roads,” while urging people not to risk their safety and to “leave road repairs to trained professionals.” It also pointed residents to the City of Compton’s official app for reporting the exact location of potholes.
Disappointed but Defiant
The couple was understandably deflated at being told to stand down, especially given how slow the city had been to act on its own. “We were expecting more of a ‘thank you,'” Daisy said. “I feel sad. I feel frustrated,” Alex added. Daisy was sharper elsewhere: “Now they’re trying to stop us. Why? Because they feel embarrassed. Because they feel that we have put them on blast.” She also floated a compromise the city never offered: “If you don’t have the money to pay for workers, they could have just said that, and the community could have come together. There’s beautification days — why not a fill-in-potholes day?”
In the end, after three weeks of patching, the De La Rosas said they reluctantly halted the repairs in response to the city’s letter, thanking the community and the companies that had donated materials, even as a community petition sprang up in their defense and residents at city meetings called it a “crying shame” that citizens had to fix the streets at all.
Echoes of a Terminator
Californians have taken road repairs into their own hands before. In April 2023, former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger famously filled a large pothole that had been plaguing his Los Angeles neighborhood, framing it as a do-it-yourself fix after weeks of frustration — a moment that similarly spotlighted the region’s infrastructure woes. The Compton couple’s saga, and the wider debate it sparked, fits a long-running pattern across The AEGIS Alliance’s Activism coverage of residents stepping in where local government falls short.
