The Crooks of Bell, California

[n2doc]

By Corina Knoll, Los Angeles Times
July 16, 2010
For years she picked up trash, tidied picnic tables, manned the snack bar and set up park events for the city of Bell. Rosario Torres' $9-an-hour job came with no benefits, but it helped support her family of seven. When she was laid off in 2008, she applied for another city job but never heard back.

Now, reports that Bell city officials are among the most highly compensated municipal employees in the nation has left Torres disgusted. The 36-year-old said she cannot fathom how the city manager earns nearly $800,000 in the same tiny working-class town where she struggles to find employment.

"They said there was no budget for me," Torres said Thursday afternoon, sitting with her children at one of the parks she used to clean. "Now I can't pay my bills. I only pay for water, gas and electricity, and those are late. I'm angry. There need to be changes; they need to find jobs for people here."

The Times reported Thursday that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns nearly twice the salary of President Obama, Police Chief Randy Adams about 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia more than the chief executive for Los Angeles County.

more

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0716-bell-residents-20100716,0,4326515.story

[brewens]

Sounds like they must have a city council in cahoots with

their employees to fleece the residents. Whatta ya wanna bet some of the council members have had work done on private property by city crews at city expense and all kinds of other scams?
It's like the situation we have with our large corporations. Between the boards of directors and corporate officers they got control of everything so they can take all the money. The CEO is paid a fortune to take care of the directors. They game the system to maximize the take from their stock options and don't really care what happens to the company.

[brewens]

1. Sounds like they must have a city council in cahoots with

their employees to fleece the residents. Whatta ya wanna bet some of the council members have had work done on private property by city crews at city expense and all kinds of other scams?
It's like the situation we have with our large corporations. Between the boards of directors and corporate officers they got control of everything so they can take all the money. The CEO is paid a fortune to take care of the directors. They game the system to maximize the take from their stock options and don't really care what happens to the company.

[asdjrocky]

2. Same thing in my city.

The cops and the city officials are the highest paid people in town.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. Democracy

in action? This can change. It needs to start at the local level.

[Initech]

4. They act like this is an isolated incident.

It isn't. City officials - even on the educator level make six figures while the hardest working employees make only slightly above minimum wage. It's just another reminder of who the real crooks are in this country.

[KamaAina]

5. Oh joy. This is the city that has been contracted to manage neighboring Maywood.

Maywood just laid off ALL of its city employees and has contracted all municipal services out -- to Bell.

http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_15369519

This small city south of downtown Los Angeles plans to lay off almost all its employees, disband its police department and contract municipal operations to the neighboring city of Bell.

The Maywood City Council said late Monday that it had no choice but to adopt the plan. The city faces a deficit of at least $450,000 in its $10.1-million general fund budget, and is unable to get insurance because of a history of lawsuits, many involving the police department.

Bell, meanwhile, might have its own problems. It has attracted attention from law enforcement because its City Council members earn about $100,000 per year.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday that it's reviewing why records show Bell City Council members receive more than $8,000 a month for part-time work in a town with 40,000 residents.