There is compost and then there is "composted". I have absolutely no idea why he made that statement, or whether there is any basis in fact for his opinion.

Compost, regardless of who makes it, is made by mixing various proportions of "green" materials and "brown" materials along with enough moisture to dampen and possibly with amendments such as bloodmeal or lime. There are no two identical batches of finished product because there is no way to have the precisely same ingredients in the same amounts. Nonetheless, commercially sold compost is expected to meet certain standards (go to the compost forum for details) and non-commercial but available compost such as from a city is also expected to be safe. Being safe to use according to governmental regulation does not necessarily mean that it meets the standards of most organic gardeners (organic in the original sense, not the governmental definition). City and county compost usually contains leaves and tree debris, but because that debris is taken from everywhere within the jurisdiction, there is no control over whether or not the plant material had ever been exposed to herbicides or pesticides. Many pesticides have a "lifespan" of decades in whatever material, thus making that material a big no-no to the old-fashioned organic gardener who avoids ALL contamination.

This leaves us with two problems. Is the compost safe according to regulation? Probably. Is the compost safe according to old-fashioned organic practices? Probably not, because the incorporated material likely came from areas that within the last decade had been exposed to one or another sort of pesticide.

So where does that leave us? As an old-fashioned organic gardener, I believe that -provided no pesticides are or have been used- anything you grow yourself is going to be more nutritious and safer than almost anything you can buy. As an advocate of the lasagna method, I truly believe that adding organic material to your soil is going to improve it, and thus any vegs grown in that soil are going to better than those grown in un-improved soil.

Would I suggest using a city-provided compost? Well, no, but that is because I think that the lasagna-method of making your own soil is preferable; AND I am too lazy to do the research to find out whether or not that other soil had been tested for contaminents. Over the years, there have been many studies on the chemical composition of commercial and city-provided soils, so the info is usually there although it's a PITA to find. OTOH, if it's a case of using city-compost -and there was no obvious reason to distrust it-- or not grow vegs, do use it!

Would I suggest using city-provided shredded leaves? Yes, and I have recommended doing so often, because I realize that unless one has land cared for organically for the past 50 years, we cannot escape the overwhelming contamination of pesticides applied to the soil which has then progressed into the plants grown on that soil. I see the choice as being between using the soil in your yard (and who knows how much herbicide has been applied), and using materials to make a more balanced, likely less contaminated soil to grown your vegs. Shredded leaves are a fast and reliable material to use in making a good garden soil.

Keep in mind that all this applies to compost, not to "sludge", which is an entirely different material. Even if the bag says "composted sludge", the base material is different. I am extremely wary of sludge -- not because it is sterilized human waste but because the available sludge usually has so many other contaminents due to the items folks flush down the drain. Unless the finished material is constantly and continuously tested for contaminents, there is no guarantee that what you get is what you expect to get, and only if you were to get the same batch that was tested would you have any idea what is in it. Also, --and this is purely personal prejudice-- I've read a few too many articles about the difficulties of adequately sterilizing sludge and the high preponderance of heavy metals found in it. I don't want it in my garden.

tenbabytoes, if you got nutragreen or the such you are ok. One of the problems with a lot of the city "composts" are not screened nor are they as concerned with the contents of their compost (e.g. bones, meat products, fecesis, etc...) as many homes.