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28 Dec 2010 09:17

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U.S.: How did Bell, California’s city government become so corrupt?

  • The L.a. Times has a lengthy article on Bell’s corruption that’s worth reading. We could go into great detail with the piece, but we think we can probably explain the story best through the starting and ending salary of one of the most corrupt members of Bell’s government, one of seven town officials who took advantage of low voter turnout and high amounts of power to bilk a fairly poor municipality out of $5.5 million. Here’s how much Robert Rizzo made when he started working for the city, and when he stopped:
  • $78,000 Bell city administrator Robert Rizzo’s starting salary in 1993; he was paid $8,000 less than his predecessor and known for cutting things left and right
  • $800,000 Rizzo’s salary just before he lost his job – at which point it became clear he was cheating one of the poorest municipalities in the L.A. area source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2010 18:25

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U.S.: California city lacks any oversight whatsoever

  • $56 million a year in illegal taxation in one city source
  • » According to an audit by State Controller John Chiang, the City Council of Bell, CA approved millions of dollars in fraudulent taxation in 2007, mostly for the benefit of former City Administrator Robert Rizzo. The charges include $93,000 to pay off Rizzo’s personal debts, $10 million to one of Rizzo’s business partners, and $1 million in pay raises for Rizzo and his assistant. The taxes were raised without voter approval and lacking any substantive debate on the part of the city council, Chiang says. The best part? The audit isn’t even done yet!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2010 09:14

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U.S.: Bell, California’s highly-paid city council no longer highly-paid

  • 90% decrease in pay for many well-paid members source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2010 20:56

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U.S.: Bell, California: Home to a bunch of rich bureaucrats, apparently

  • 36,664 the population of Bell, California
  • $787k the amount Bell’s city manager Robert Rizzo makes yearly, which is very high for the city’s size – he’s also not the only one, either
  • $0k the amount the city’s embarrassed mayor, Oscar Hernandez, will make for the rest of his term – and he’s not running for re-election source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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