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==BASTA==
==BASTA==
The movement to overthrow the officials in Bell is called the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse (BASTA). BASTA, loosely translated from the Spanish, means "enough", which symbolizes the multicultural revolt against what its members view as fiscally abusive public servants.<ref>{{cite web|author=Thomas Lifson |url=http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/tea_party_redux_in_bell_califo.html |title=American Thinker Blog: Tea party redux in Bell, California |publisher=Americanthinker.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> It was the BASTA group who connected the media with the insider information that paved the way for the ''LA Times'' to acquire further information on City Administrators and Council members. BASTA consists of community members who are motivating the community to become educated and to learn where and how their tax dollars are spent. The grass-roots movement has threatened to recall the council members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/bell-mayor-oscar-hernandez-to-stop-taking-high-salary-20100726 |title=Bell City Council, Mayor Take Big Pay Cuts &#124; FOX 11 News |publisher=Myfoxla.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-09}}</ref> The July 25 march, organized by BASTA, stopped by the home and business of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and the homes of three other council members, Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, all members of the city council involved with the salary controversy. Police said the crowd was larger than 200 people and that some of the marchers wore T-shirts with the words, "My city is more corrupt than your city." The group also passed out 10,000 fliers to other residents, letting them know about that night's City Council meeting at the Bell Community Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/bell-residents-march-for-council-resignations-20100725 |title=Bell Residents to Vote on Council Resignations &#124; FOX 11 News |publisher=Myfoxla.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-09}}</ref>
The primary group organized against the city leadership is the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse (BASTA). BASTA, loosely translated from the Spanish, means "enough", which symbolizes the multicultural revolt against what its members view as fiscally abusive public servants.<ref>{{cite web|author=Thomas Lifson |url=http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/tea_party_redux_in_bell_califo.html |title=American Thinker Blog: Tea party redux in Bell, California |publisher=Americanthinker.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> It was the BASTA group who connected the media with the insider information that paved the way for the ''LA Times'' to acquire further information on City Administrators and Council members.{{cn}} BASTA consists of community members who are motivating the community to become educated and to learn where and how their tax dollars are spent. The grass-roots movement has threatened to recall the council members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/bell-mayor-oscar-hernandez-to-stop-taking-high-salary-20100726 |title=Bell City Council, Mayor Take Big Pay Cuts &#124; FOX 11 News |publisher=Myfoxla.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-09}}</ref> The July 25 march, organized by BASTA, stopped by the home and business of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and the homes of three other council members, Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, all members of the city council involved with the salary controversy. Police said the crowd was larger than 200 people and that some of the marchers wore T-shirts with the words, "My city is more corrupt than your city." The group also passed out 10,000 fliers to other residents, letting them know about that night's City Council meeting at the Bell Community Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/bell-residents-march-for-council-resignations-20100725 |title=Bell Residents to Vote on Council Resignations &#124; FOX 11 News |publisher=Myfoxla.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-09}}</ref> BASTA's stated goals are for disclosure of administrative salaries with forensic audits from a neutral third party, the suspension of salaries and committee stipends for council members, a formation of a residents’ committee to review and set salaries for city employees, and the suspension plans to establish a regional police department or contract Bell policing responsibilities to any outside entity.<ref>http://egpnews.com/?p=19635</ref>

BASTA is supported in part by the Bell Police Officers Association.<ref>http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/bell-police-get-big-paychecks-too-1800</ref><ref>http://basta4bell.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Expenditure-as-of-Aug-19-2010.pdf</ref> The Police Officers Association has opposed the contracting of services of the Police Department or consolidation of police services into a [[joint powers authority]]<ref>http://egpnews.com/?p=19635</ref>, and has criticized the posting of salaries on the Bell City Clerk's website, calling them "deceptive" due to inclusion of overtime.<ref>http://basta4bell.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Bell_POA_press_080610.pdf</ref> When BASTA criticized [[Meg Whitman]]'s use of the Bell issue for her gubernatorial election, Whitman criticized BASTA as union-funded.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/13/local/la-me-whitman-bell-20100812</ref>


==Other scandal investigations==
==Other scandal investigations==

Revision as of 02:28, 23 August 2010

City of Bell
City
Location of Bell in California
Location of Bell in California
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyLos Angeles
Incorporated (city)1927-11-07[1]
Area
 • Total2.64 sq mi (6.84 km2)
 • Land2.48 sq mi (6.42 km2)
 • Water0.17 sq mi (0.43 km2)  6.27%
Elevation
141 ft (43 m)
Population
 (2000)[2]
 • Total36,664
 • Density14,802.5/sq mi (5,715.3/km2)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP Code
90201, 90202, 90270[3]
Area code323[4]
FIPS code06-04870
GNIS feature ID1660322
Websitecityofbell.org/

The 2010 City of Bell salary controversy broke on July 15, 2010, when two Los Angeles Times reporters, Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives, were investigating possible malfeasance in the neighboring city of Maywood, California. In a exposé, it was revealed that Bell city officials were receiving unusually large salaries, which several newspapers are reporting are likely the highest in the nation.[5][6] News reports of the city's high salaries led to widespread criticism and calls for city officials to resign.[7][8] The controversy grew with subsequent investigations into unusually high property tax rates in the city and allegations of voter fraud in municipal elections.[9]

Salaries

A series of investigative stories published by the Los Angeles Times starting in July 2010 revealed that several city officials were being paid salaries much higher than those in other cities.[6] Robert Rizzo, Bell's Chief Administrative Officer, collected a salary of $787,637 a year, with yearly 12% increases scheduled every July. Including benefits, he received $1.5 million in the last year.[10] Rizzo was unapologetic about his salary and was quoted as saying, "If that's a number people choke on, maybe I'm in the wrong business... I could go into private business and make that kind of money. This council has compensated me for the job I've done." [11]

By comparison, current Hesperia City Manager Mike Podegracz makes $207,000 to oversee a city twice as large as Bell, Jim Cox earns nearly $250,000 to run Victorville and the City Manager of nearby Long Beach is paid $235,000 yearly. Long Beach has a population of around 500,000. Los Angeles County Chief Executive William T Fujioka makes $338,458. Governor Arnold Schwarznegger's salary is $212,000 [12] and he has waived it, President Barack Obama makes $400,000.[13] Rizzo also received an unusually large package of benefits and his benefits included pay for more than 20 weeks off per year. "It appears Rizzo was getting an inordinate amount of hours of vacation and sick benefits and being paid for it," said Jamie Casso of the law firm Meyers Nave. "We're looking to see when it was approved, whether it was approved at a City Council meeting and who approved it."[10] At a website that the City of Bell was required by the State of California to set up, the City of Bell says seven more city workers received high salaries, with two making more than $400,000 per year and three making more than $200,000. In addition, four of the members also sit on commissions and boards affiliated with the city. Those posts earned them $8,000 per post, per month, plus benefits for their services to the town.[14][15]

On, August 7, 2010, Bell officials revealed that the city's director of administrative services, Lourdes Garcia, was earning $422,707, and the director of general services, Eric Eggena, earned $421,402. These amounts include salary, deferred compensation and some benefits, the details of which city officials did not disclose. Furthermore, Bell officials revealed that Bell's director of community services, Annette Peretz, earned $273,542, a deputy city engineer earned $247,573, the business development coordinator earned $295,627, a police captain earned $238,075 and a police lieutenant earned $229,992. Their names were not released. Acting city administrator Pedro Carrillo acknowledged that the city had been slow to provide records. "How can a city sustain itself with all these salaries? We're talking about millions of dollars," Los Angeles County Deputy Districy Attorney, David Demerjian, declared.[16]

Rancho Cucamonga will pay an estimated $160,000 annually for the eight years that Rizzo served there before moving to Hesperia, which it appears will be obligated to pay about $80,000 of Rizzo’s expected $600,000 annual pension, according to Daily Press estimates.[13] Rizzo is apparently in line to receive a pension of $880,000 annually.[17] It will reach past $1 million shortly after his 63rd birthday.[18]

Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia collected $376,288 a year, with a similar 12% annual pay increase, more than the top administrator for Los Angeles County.[19] Police Chief Randy Adams, who oversees a 46-person department, had an annual salary of $457,000, which is 33% higher than that of his Los Angeles counterpart. By contrast, Los Angeles' police chief oversees 12,899 people and earns $307,000.[20][21][19] In addition, police officers in the City of Bell average $118,900 per year, when overtime is included.[22]

Each of the part-time city council members collected almost $100,000 a year. Council members in cities similar to Bell in size make an average of $4,800 a year, prosecutors have noted.[21] California Attorney General Jerry Brown[23] and L.A. prosecutors are investigating whether the current council salaries violate a state law that regulates how much council members are paid.[24] The same year that law passed, the Bell City Council held a special election with only one item on the ballot. It asked voters to approve a measure calling for Bell to convert to a "charter city", which allowed it to circumvent state-defined salary limits. The little-noticed city ballot measure passed in a special election that attracted fewer than 400 voters.[24] The base salary of council members is $8,076 per year, but four of the members also sit on commissions and boards affiliated with the city. Those posts earned them $8,000 per post, per month. Just one of the city council members received only the base salary.[15]

Timeline

July 2010

Gottlieb and Vives revealed the story to the readers of the Times on July 15, 2010. [25] On July 22, in a press release issued through the Bell City Clerk's office, Mayor Oscar Hernandez claimed that "that salaries of the City Manager and other top city staff have been in line with similar positions over the period of their tenure," and accused to Times of a "skewed view of the facts."[26] He later apologized for what he called the city’s "indefensible administrative salaries."[27] On July 19, 2010, Deputy Mayor Teresa Jacobo said she expected Rizzo to resign or be fired at that day's council meeting.[28] At a closed-door meeting on July 22, as hundreds of residents protested outside, council members discussed reducing their own pay. Police Chief Randy Adams attended the council meeting. Robert Rizzo, whose salary caused the most vociferous outcry, did not attend the meeting, but was secluded in his home. Word of the salaries has caused widespread criticism and calls for resignations by city officials.[7][8] At the meeting, the city council deferred any action, ordering a report on city salaries by city staff.[29] Rizzo, Spaccia, and Adams resigned July 22.[23]

The residents of Bell almost rioted on July 23, 2010, when they discovered that city officials were being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries.[citation needed] On July 27, 2010, when it was revealed that Mayor Hernandez was also paid almost $100,000 as the town's part-time mayor,[30] he again apologized to the people of Bell and said that he and Deputy Mayor Jacobo would finish their terms taking no salary. They repeated several times, however, that they will not resign.[31][32]

Although she has resigned from her role in Bell as part time Assistant City Manager, where Angela Spaccia was collecting $376,288 a year, more than the top administrator for Los Angeles County, Spaccia was continuing her employment as the interim city manager of the neighboring small town of Maywood.[33] She resigned on July 30, 2010 from her position in Maywood, who had been paying Bell $10,000 a month for Spaccia's services for several months.[34] Maywood is now looking for other options.[35][36]

In a meeting that ran late into the night, city council members voted on July 26, 2010, to accept large pay cuts. The city council voted to reduce its pay to that of what one councilman, Lorenzo Veles, was being paid: $8,076 a year. Most of the other council members, at $100,000, made more than ten times what they will receive when the cuts are made.[37] The plaza in the center of town was crowded with more than a 1,000 people, who were waiting to get inside a 300-seat community center to demand the resignations of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and the City Council.[31]

The same day, California Attorney General Jerry Brown stated that he had subpoenaed hundreds of records, employment contracts, from Bell as part of the investigation to assess whether civil or criminal action should be taken against any city employees. "These outrageous pay practices are an insult to the hard-working people of Bell and have provoked righteous indignation in California and even across the country," said Brown.[37][38]

The Los Angeles Times reported on July 27, 2010, that at the same time Bell officials were reported as receiving unusually high salaries, the city was cutting spending on police, social services and parks and recreation, citing interviews and records reviewed by the newspaper.[31] California Controller John Chiang said his office will be conducting a six-week audit of the finances of the city.[31] In a telephone interview, Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said: “We’ve launched a multipronged investigation into several aspects of the city including the elections.”[31]

City Managers met in Sacramento on July 29, 2010 to discuss damage control. Prompted by widespread outrage, there is a movement by city residents to gather salary details from their own city halls. The recent scandal over soaring salaries paid to Bell's leaders has prompted city officials throughout the state struggling to limit the real potential of political disaster.[39]

August 2010

On August 3, 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that the State Controller, John Chiang, stated he would be revamping all financial reporting standards for cities and that, beginning in November, he will post the financial information on the Controller's website

"The absence of transparency is a breeding ground for waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars," said Chiang. "A single website with accessible information will make sure that excessive pay is no longer able to escape public scrutiny and accountability." Later that day, on NBC News, Chiang said that the salaries in Bell had been "Outrageous and unjustifiable" and that the scrutiny on his website will give constituents the opportunity to check on their city officials.

The Times also reported that the new regulations will require transparency of compensation figures for each classification of local official, including council members and city managers.[40]

On August 4, 2010, irate citizens packed City Hall[41] for the Bell City Council meeting. Four city council members, who had refused to resign, were publicly served with recall notices. Residents, who said that they were unable to locate the council members during the day, disrupted the meeting and served the council members with the recall notices.[42] Robert Rizzo's assistant, Pedro Carillo, who is serving as acting city manager, was considered to be the interim city manager, but he was not approved. The city has refused to disclose Carrillo's salary despite several inquiries.[43]

The council determined that it would not appoint Edward Lee as its interim city attorney—Lee had signed his approval for the salaries for the city's top administrators. Lee has resigned his partnership from his law firm, Best, Best & Krieger. He had served as Bell's contract attorney for more than a decade. After two hours in a closed session, the council chose James M. Casso, with the Meyers Nave firm, as interim city attorney.[43]

From documents released on August 5, 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) knew four years previously that Rizzo had received a pay increase to $442,000 after he requested that his pension not be affected by his increase in salary. This was a 47% increase from the previous year. California Attorney General Jerry Brown maintained that a "47% increase in salary should have set off alarm bells. That kind of jump in pay is shocking and completely unacceptable. CalPERS should have told someone, and the attorney general's office would have been a good place to start!" Bell officials revealed that at least seven other city officials had six-digit salary and benefit packages,[44]

On August 9, 2010, a Los Angeles County grand jury subpoenaed documents and financial records, the LA Times reported. Also, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said that he was investigating whether Bell officials' pension benefits could be nullified.[32]

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is also conducting an investigation, while Bell's new city attorney is looking into the legality of compensation packages for all employees including the administrators who resigned.[32]

Bell had its credit cut five steps to junk by Standard & Poor’s on concerns about the city’s ability to refinance or pay debt due November 1. “It is concerning,” Pedro Carrillo, Bell’s interim city manager, told the Times August 10, 2010. Carrillo said he is waiting for a report on the city’s finances from state Controller John Chiang before determining how to manage with the downgrade of the city's credit, according to the Times. On November 1, 2010, the community is supposed to pay the so-called bullet maturity on $35 million of taxable lease-revenue bonds sold in 2007 by its Public Financing Authority in a private placement. The principal must be repaid when bullet maturity loans fall due.[45]

KNX 1070 Newsradio reported that Assemblyman Hector De La Torre of South Gate proposed on August 12, 2010, a bill to attempt to curb high city salaries like the ones in Bell. The bill would limit salaries based on city size and would impose a 50% tax on anything above that set determined amount. The bill is up for a committee vote. Another bill being introduced in the State Senate on the same day, would require local elected and appointed officials to publicly disclose their salaries and benefits every year.[46] "It seems obscene to me,” De La Torre said in a telephone interview. “People making $30,000 a year are paying taxes so that their council members can make $80,000.” [47]

On August 16, 2010, it was found that the city of Bell will have to pay back $2.9 million in property tax overcharges uncovered by auditors. City officials will take the necessary steps to lower property taxes to the legally allowable limit. "I didn't know what to expect, but what we are finding is shocking," Interim City Attorney Jamie Casso said after reviewing the city’s records. Under the state tax code, the almost $3 million overpaid by Bell homeowners, must be redirected to local schools. Homeowners in Bell pay the second-highest tax rate of any city in Los Angeles County.[48]

With the deadline to introduce new bills in the California Legislature past in February, lawmakers are amending existing bills to assuage the fear that other cities could possibly be paying disproportionate salaries to their officials, employees and police chiefs. "We have all heard about the pillaging in the city of Bell," Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, co-sponsor of the bill, told colleagues in a recent address. "This is one measure...that will be coming through the process so that we will never see this situation again." Charter cities would face tighter restrictions over compensation that employees of charter cities such as Bell can earn. Under bill AB1955. According to the League of California Cities, general law cities are limited by state law, but charter cities have far more control over their affairs. [49]

Apparently, as required, on August 10, 2010, the City of Bell, posted the salaries of city management and police on their website, [50] under the Bell City Clerk link.[51]

BASTA

The primary group organized against the city leadership is the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse (BASTA). BASTA, loosely translated from the Spanish, means "enough", which symbolizes the multicultural revolt against what its members view as fiscally abusive public servants.[52] It was the BASTA group who connected the media with the insider information that paved the way for the LA Times to acquire further information on City Administrators and Council members.[citation needed] BASTA consists of community members who are motivating the community to become educated and to learn where and how their tax dollars are spent. The grass-roots movement has threatened to recall the council members.[53] The July 25 march, organized by BASTA, stopped by the home and business of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and the homes of three other council members, Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, all members of the city council involved with the salary controversy. Police said the crowd was larger than 200 people and that some of the marchers wore T-shirts with the words, "My city is more corrupt than your city." The group also passed out 10,000 fliers to other residents, letting them know about that night's City Council meeting at the Bell Community Center.[54] BASTA's stated goals are for disclosure of administrative salaries with forensic audits from a neutral third party, the suspension of salaries and committee stipends for council members, a formation of a residents’ committee to review and set salaries for city employees, and the suspension plans to establish a regional police department or contract Bell policing responsibilities to any outside entity.[55]

BASTA is supported in part by the Bell Police Officers Association.[56][57] The Police Officers Association has opposed the contracting of services of the Police Department or consolidation of police services into a joint powers authority[58], and has criticized the posting of salaries on the Bell City Clerk's website, calling them "deceptive" due to inclusion of overtime.[59] When BASTA criticized Meg Whitman's use of the Bell issue for her gubernatorial election, Whitman criticized BASTA as union-funded.[60]

Other scandal investigations

Bell faces $35 million bond debt

Bell is in further trouble for a $35 million bond debt, on which voters were not given the opportunity to vote. At more more than twice the size of the city's budget, the city appears unable to pay the debt. The doomed deal began to emerge in June 2006, when Rizzo, who held the dual posts of city administrator and executive director of the Bell Public Financing Authority, convinced the City Council that a window of opportunity was "at hand".[61][61]

Property taxes

An investigation into the city's property taxes has found that the homeowners of Bell are paying a higher rate than those of the affluent Beverly Hills. Wendy Wantanabe, Los Angeles County's auditor-controller revealed that residents of Bell pay as much as 1.55% of their home's assessed value in taxes. She said the average for the county is 1.16%. In Beverly Hills, where the per-capita income is nearly four times that of Bell, according to City-Data.com, residents pay 1.19%.[31]

Voter fraud

The salaries and pensions scandal that led to City of Bell officials being expelled in July 2010 may have had its roots in voter fraud. In 2005, fewer than 400 votes were cast in a special election that cleared the way for City Council members to dramatically boost their own salaries. In that election, more than half the votes cast were absentee ballots, the most vulnerable method to manipulate fraudulent votes. One Bell citizen, on the condition of anonymity, told the Times he was assigned the chore of retrieving absentee ballots. "Our objective was to collect absentee ballots, and if they were not filled out, instruct them how to fill it out, and if not, fill it out for them," he said. The man has provided testimony to Los Angeles prosecutors, who have proceeded to open an ongoing investigation. It is estimated that less than 1% of registered voters actually showed up to cast their ballot.[9] Assertions about discrepancies in the 2009 election also are being examined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of California's secretary of state. A source at the FBI confirmed that they are cognizant of the accusations. In the police report filed, were listed the names of 19 voters who allegedly were either living in Lebanon, or were deceased at the time that their votes were cast.[62] As Los Angeles prosecutors investigate potential voter fraud, several citizens have allegedly told The Times that city officials encouraged them to fill out absentee ballots in a manner that election experts say has significantly raised the possibility that state law has been violated.[63] It has been reported that some residents went to the polling place, only to find that their votes had already been cast.[64]

Jerry Brown said a toll-free hotline has been set up for Bell citizens to report suspicions of voter fraud. Brown said the tips could potentially be used to disallow some of the election's results. "We've got some reports of improper and possibly illegal electioneering where absentee ballots are actually collected by (city) officials, or by other people, and brought in to the election office," he said. "Under state law, this is not to be done unless someone is ill or disabled. If, in fact, the election itself has been tainted by improper electioneering or other violations of state law, then that involves civil -- maybe even criminal -- penalties, and in some circumstances, you can overturn the election itself," Brown said. "If (officials) met in a back room and said, `How can we run an election where nobody shows up so we can then fatten our own salaries and pensions?', that could constitute a violation that would bring into question the entire election," Brown said. "It is very difficult to invalidate an election, but I wouldn't exclude any possibility based on what the facts are." [32]

Controversy

"Bell residents are the big losers in this episode. But in the process of letting city hall run wild with tax money, they may have provided a stark example of what may lie ahead for the rest of us," said Conan Nolan of NBC news.[18]

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), who wrote a 2005 bill that limited some city council salaries, expressed outrage over the salaries of Bell's top administrators:

"The president of the United States and other public servants who oversee much more complicated and sophisticated operations make much less than these city officials," he said. "I think that makes it really clear these salaries are overdone." The City Council, he said, "is completely avoiding their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer." [20]

Robin Lowe, president of the League of California and Hemet city council member, said:

"Like the residents of Bell, I was shocked to read the news accounts about the excessive salaries paid to certain officials in the city of Bell. While every public official and employee deserves to be paid fairly for their work, the salaries reportedly paid to senior administrators and the city council shock the conscience."[65]

Steve Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times, wrote:

"That since Bell is pooled with 140 similar-size California towns and public entities, their taxes will help support the three high-priced officials who have resigned. The sad reality, for dear Californians, is that depending on where you live, you may be personally contributing to the insultingly fat pension of ousted Bell city administrator Robert "Ratso" Rizzo." And if the estimates of pension reform advocate Marcia Fritz of Sacramento are accurate, the 55-year-old Rizzo's bloated $787,637 salary could translate into even more than an earlier guess of $800,000 a year.[66]

The Associated Press maintained on August 18, 2010, that "in a very disturbing way, we all owe the city of Bell thanks." The elected and unelected hierarchy of that tiny city went to the extremes while its voters slumbered. Now, every California citizen has a right to inquire all public agencies for their taxpayer-funded salaries and other compensation. That goes for any public employee—from the city manager and council members to any teacher or librarian. [1]

The three former Bell officials will collect no state pension monies until California clears them of charges of fiscal abuse pending against them. "CalPERS is anxious," said a representative. Pensions for the fallen city leaders would be more than $1 million a year. [33]

The community

The City of Bell is a tiny town covering 2.5 square miles near Los Angeles, with a population of approximately 36,000.[67] Bell is one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County. Slightly more than half of its citizens are foreign born, and the per capita income is about $24,800. Roughly 90% of residents are Latino; almost 65% have no high school diploma. Mom-and-pop businesses, auto shops, markets, carnecerias, and panaderias dominate the streets of the small town.[20] The median income is about $40,000, according to the city’s latest annual report. More than a quarter of its residents live below the poverty level. according to City-Data.com,[31] Many said they were forced to look for jobs in neighboring cities or struggle by on part-time work.[20]

References

  1. ^ "Incorporation Dates of California Cities". Retrieved 2007-01-18.
  2. ^ "United States - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder". Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  3. ^ "USPS - ZIP Code Lookup - Find a ZIP+ 4 Code By City Results". Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  4. ^ "Number Administration System - NPA and City/Town Search Results". Retrieved 2007-01-18.
  5. ^ Daily News
  6. ^ a b July 14, 2010  (2010-07-14). "Bell city manager might be highest paid in nation: $787,637 a year | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26. {{cite news}}: Text "  6:25 pm" ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b July 16, 2010  (2010-07-16). "$787,000 salary for Bell city manager is outrageous, assemblyman says | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26. {{cite news}}: Text " 10:32 am" ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Knoll, Corina (2010-07-16). "Residents of Bell unhappy over perceived high salaries for city employees". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  9. ^ a b Fund, John (2010-08-07). "It All Starts with Vote Fraud - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  10. ^ a b "Bell councilman 'ashamed,' 'disgusted' that Rizzo earned $1.5 million". latimes.com. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  11. ^ "Robert Rizzo, Bell City Manager, Makes $800k". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  12. ^ "California Governor and Official Salaries". Caljobsource.com. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  13. ^ a b "Hesperia on the hook for $80,000 of Rizzo's pension | hesperia, hook, pension - Local News - Victorville Daily Press". Vvdailypress.com. 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  14. ^ MSNBC.com
  15. ^ a b Palmeri, Christopher (July 25, 2010). "Outrage over high salaries in Calif. town; Three city officials resign after total compensation revealed". The Washington Post. p. A.3.
  16. ^ Gottlieb, Jeff; Becerra, Hector; Vives, Ruben (2010-08-07). "Bell admits more hefty city salaries - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  17. ^ "Bell City Fires Manager Paid Twice President Obama's Salary - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  18. ^ a b "Arnold Gets Help on Pension Reform from a Guy Named Robert Rizzo". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  19. ^ a b Vives, Ruben (2010-07-21). "Bell council seeks resignations of 3 city officials". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  20. ^ a b c d Knoll, Corina (2010-07-16). "Bell employee salary uproar: six-figure salaries in a blue-collar city". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  21. ^ a b "Lapd - Career Ladder". Joinlapd.com. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
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  42. ^ NBC News, August 4, 2010
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  45. ^ Braun, Martin Z. "California City With $800,000 Manager Cut to Junk Credit Rating by S&P". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
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