I’m moving to Bell, California and running for City Council. A report by the LA Times sparked a protest at last night’s council meeting when it was learned that the Bell, California city manager makes nearly $800,000 dollars annually. That’s not all, the police chief of the 38,000 resident Town makes over $450,000 per year and each city council member rakes in $100,000 for their part time gig. Good work if you can get it.
Bell is a mostly Hispanic town of just under 40,000 people about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles. At the City Council meeting last night it was like the final scene of Frankenstein, pitchforks and torches. The crowd showed up to call for the resignations of the Mayor, City Manager, and other city officials.
When the crowd arrived and began to fill the venue, council members adjourned for a private session. The attorney for the city said they were not allowed to talk about salaries without advance notice. At one point the Fire Department wanted to cancel the meeting because the crowd had become so large they were blocking the door. The “brave” city council returned saying that they would have a report on salaries at the next meeting and they would take public comments at that time. Somebody please get a video. The meeting will be held July 26th.
The Los Angeles County DA has opened an investigation into the Bell, California city officials pay. State Assemblyman Hector De La Torre says that state law limits council members salaries to several hundred dollars per month. I don’t think that adds up to nearly $100,000 per year. You can read more about this abuse of power here.
The Mayor of Bell, California said in an interview that “Our streets are cleaner, we have lovely parks, better lighting throughout the area, our community is better. These things just don’t happen, they happen because he had a vision and made it happen.” Yep, that should fix it.
Probably the most outrageous of all is the Bell, California City Manager’s $800,000 per year salary; not to mention his automatic 12% raise annually. Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 to be exact. While the Police Chief pulls in $457,000, way more than even the Los Angeles Police Chief.
