Thread: Why California is BROKE - Bell, CA admin $787,637 salary!

News Release
July 22, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact: (510) 622-4500

CA. A.G. Brown and CalPERS Launch Probe into Excessive Local Government Salaries

LOS ANGELES - Spurred by the outrageously high salaries paid to public officials in the city of Bell, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today launched a joint investigation with CalPERS into the compensation paid by Bell and other local governments throughout the state.

"These outrageous salaries in Bell are shocking and beyond belief," Brown said. "With record deficits and painful budget cuts facing California cities, astronomical local government salaries raise serious questions and demand a thorough investigation."

Brown's probe will examine records to determine whether any illegality, self-dealing, or other improper activity occurred in Bell or other cities and counties in the state.

The Attorney General's investigation was launched after recent Los Angeles Times articles reported that Robert Rizzo, the Bell city manager, is paid nearly $800,000 a year, making him the highest-paid city manager in the state. Police Chief Randy Adams is paid $457,000 and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia is paid $376,288 a year. Most city council members are paid nearly $100,000 for their part-time jobs.

Bell, in southeast Los Angeles County, has a population of 40,000 that includes a high percentage of low-income residents.

Peter Mixon, General Counsel of CalPERS, the state's public employee retirement agency, said, "CalPERS welcomes working collaboratively with the Attorney General's office to investigate the facts and circumstances regarding pension and related benefits for the city of Bell."
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http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1957

Originally Posted by Justthatguy

What you have here is the tip of the ice berg. Other cities are doing the same thing but they are more subtle about it. Irwindale, City of Commerce, etc. We're just getting started.

And Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C. . . .

Again, I will give you the REAL HEADLINE.... CALIFORNIA IS BROKE DUE TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PERIOD Illegal Immigrants in California and Los Angeles County

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics (DHS), an
estimated 2,600,000 illegal immigrants resided in California in 2009, compared to 1.5 million in 1990 and
2.5 million in 2000. This number represents about 25 percent of the entire estimated illegal immigrant
population in the United States (10.8 million in 2009). This estimate puts the percentage of California's
population that are illegal immigrants to be about 6.8 percent, with a majority being from Mexico. Across the
entire United States, an estimated 6.7 million illegal immigrants were from Mexico, up from 4.7 million in 2000.

Los Angeles County

DHS does not offer estimates of the illegal immigrant population specifically in Los Angeles County, but the
Los Angeles Almanac studied comparative statistics of English language learners in California school districts
to help estimate the illegal immigrant population in individual counties and cities. The Almanac estimates that
Los Angeles County was home to 762,000 illegal immigrants in 2009. Even if we were to use the 6.8 percent
of California's population being illegal immigrants as a broadly applied percentage for each California county,
we would come to an estimate of 704,000 illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County. The Almanac further
estimates that about 382,000 illegal immigrants live within the area encompassed by the Los Angeles Unified
School District (total illegal immigrant population--adults and minors) including East Los Angeles and South
Gate, 36,000 illegal immigrants living in the area encompassed by the Long Beach School District, 24,000
living the area encompassed by the Compton School District, 21,000 living in the area encompassed by the
Pomona School District, 19,000 living in the area encompassed by the Montebello School District, and
12,000 living in the area encompassed by the Lynwood School District. The remaining 35 percent of illegal
immigrants in Los Angeles County, or an estimated 268,000, live elsewhere in the county.

More Mexicans, legal and illegal, live in the L.A. area than anyplace on earth, other than Mexico City.

More Mexicans, legal and illegal, live in the L.A. area than anyplace on earth, other than Mexico City.

That might not be accurate anymore because I remember reading that legal and illegal Mexicans were moving out of L.A. County and into San Bernardino and Riverside counties because land and homes are cheaper there.

Originally Posted by jean

Just heard John and Ken will do their show Monday at Bell. That ought to be interesting.
http://www.kfiam640.com/main.html

==================================

Aren't those the two guys that roasted Asa Hutchinson when he was Bush's ATF Chief?

Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME

Originally Posted by jean

Just heard John and Ken will do their show Monday at Bell. That ought to be interesting.
http://www.kfiam640.com/main.html

==================================

Aren't those the two guys that roasted Asa Hutchinson when he was Bush's ATF Chief?

Don't know the answer to that. Listen to them frequently but don't recall that.

Originally Posted by jean

Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME

Originally Posted by jean

Just heard John and Ken will do their show Monday at Bell. That ought to be interesting.
http://www.kfiam640.com/main.html

From John and Ken:

Join us in Bell as we eliminate the stink! John and Ken are taking the show to Bell City Hall this Monday, July 26 from 2-7 pm as Bell residents demand that idiot city council members resign. If you are an angry Bell resident, John and Ken want to talk to you!

The city council meeting starts at 7 pm, right after the show.

Bell City Hall
6330 Pine Avenue
Bell, CA 90201

http://www.johnandkenshow.com/audio/fil ... hinson.wmx

How a city manager of a small, poor CA town made $787K



Not a good year for Bell city manager Robert Rizzo. In March, he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Last week, the Times reported he makes $787K a year. (Courtesy of AP)

If these figures aren't enough to make you choke on your Cheerios this morning, Rizzo's response might. In response to the scandal, Rizzo, who received his bachelor's from UC Berkeley and his master's from Cal State East Bay, told the Times:

"If that's a number people choke on, maybe I'm in the wrong business. I could go into private business and make that money. This council has compensated me for the job I've done."

The City Council has compensated themselves well, too, thanks to a ballot initiative. In 2005, California approved a law that placed salary caps for council members in "general law cities." That same year, Bell leaders approved a special election (which, by the way, cost $40,000 to $60,000) with one ballot item that would give Bell charter status, according to today's Time story. The measure passed, allowing council members to earn huge wages for serving on boards and commissions. Council members make $7,873.25 each month -- for part-time work. They also approved a contract that gave Rizzo an annual raise of 12%.

The rise of Rizzo's salary.
1993: $72,000
2004: 300,000
2005: $442,000
Current: $787,637

The fallout has been swift and fierce. Since the story ran last week, the county D.A.'s office and the state are opening investigations, while Rizzo, Spaccia and Adams are quitting. And while they won't get severance packages, Rizzo is entitled to a state pension of $650,000 a year for life.

Cue the choking.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sca ... z0uZL8pVbv


More here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sca ... 8559&tsp=1