City officials of Bell, California arrested for fraud and corruption

[JBoy]

Source: San Francisco Examiner

LOS ANGELES — The mayor and ex-city manager of the scandal-plagued Los Angeles suburb of Bell were among eight current and former city officials arrested Tuesday in a corruption investigation.

The district attorney's office said several City Council members were taken into custody along with ex-city manager Robert Rizzo and Mayor Oscar Hernandez.

"This, needless to say, is corruption on steroids," District Attorney Steve Cooley said at a news conference in Los Angeles.

The district attorney, state attorney general and others have been conducting investigations of officials in the small working-class city since it was disclosed they were paying themselves huge salaries. Rizzo was making nearly $800,000 a year.

Read more: http://www.sfexaminer.com/nation/draft-state-audit-says-scandal-plagued-calif-city-paid-off-95000-in-city-managers-loans-103413039.html

---

Cue the pitchforks!

[SoapBox]

1. Ha-HA!

...a nationwide sweep actually is in order.

Pick up these theives and crooks.

[Liberty Belle]

2. interesting....one of our local water boards has the same attorneys at these crooks.

[savalez]

3. Yes!

[Richard Steele]

4. 'Bout time! K&R

[cory777]

5. Officials Arrested in Los Angeles Suburb

Source: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The mayor and former city manager of Bell were led away in handcuffs Tuesday, charged with six other officials with taking more than $5.5 million from the working-class suburb in a scandal that triggered nationwide outrage and calls for more transparency in government.

Former City Manager Robert Rizzo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez and the other current and former city officials were rounded up during morning raids on their homes that prompted many of their neighbors to burst into cheers.

They were charged with dozens of counts of illegally paying themselves huge salaries in what District Attorney Steve Cooley called a case of ''corruption on steroids.''

''They used the tax dollars collected from the hardworking citizens of Bell as their own piggy bank, which they then looted at will,'' Cooley told a news conference as he stood next to photos of the eight suspects.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/21/us/AP-US-Bell-Salaries.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

---

Check out the Best News Site on the Web! http://activistnews.blogspot.com

[TheWebHead]

6. for full disclosure

It should be noted that all five city council members are Democrats, as is Hernandez:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bell-259387-city-party.html

They're not clear about Rizzo's party affiliation...

[ProgressiveMajority]

7. And based on their names the majority Hispanic...

One wonders how many small Republican lead towns have salaries like this amongst the good old boy network. I bet if these had been all white there wouldn't be the same coverage. But an up and coming Hispanic community isn't tied in the same way with the GOB so they should have known better than to try to pull this sort of thing off.

These people just looked at the business community, saw the kind of outrageous pay there, and decided to try the same thing (but on a much smaller scale). How about before going after all the small fish like this we focus on the major business leaders who are fleecing this country. Once we take out the Banksters and Enron-Types we can move onto the relatively minor corruption in the public sector. Until than no reason to cannibalize our own (all of these people were Democrats, or had no party affiliation).

[Throd]

8. Please, please stop typing.

Cannibalize our own? Not my own! They are common thieves caught with their hands in the cookie jar! Please, go on...I want to read your defense of these stalwart Democrats.

They all deserve time in jail.

[ProgressiveMajority]

10. I'm not defending them...

I'm just saying we shouldn't be going after guys like this (small fish!) when there are so many bigger problems. It's a total double standard... CEO's getting massive pay (HUNDREDS of millions) and golden parachutes? Fine. Civil servant earning one one hundredth as much? Crucify him!

Furthermore breaking this thing right before an election is just stupid. If we have to go after public corruption, I'd much rather it be on the other side of the aisle. These guys are mostly Latino and probably didn't come from wealthy backgrounds... I don't see how taxing the rich to give some civil servants a good wage is so bad. Granted the main guys here (1 Million) went off the deep end but I don't see why people here are buying the argument that civil servants don't also deserve the chance to earn a lot of money.

[pipoman]

11. You must be kidding

I'm just saying we shouldn't be going after guys like this (small fish!) when there are so many bigger problems.

[PVnRT]

12. Wow

"If we have to go after public corruption, I'd much rather it be on the other side of the aisle."

So corruption is OK, as long as we do it?

"These guys are mostly Latino and probably didn't come from wealthy backgrounds... I don't see how taxing the rich to give some civil servants a good wage is so bad."

Please explain how Bell is a wealthy community, because it isn't. The median income in the city (one of the smallest in California) is around $29,000 a year. Yeah, soak those rich people!

"I don't see why people here are buying the argument that civil servants don't also deserve the chance to earn a lot of money."

No one is saying that civil servants shouldn't make decent wages. The problem is that members of the city council were earning $100,000 a year for a part-time job, a ridiculous salary authorized in a special election where 400 people voted, many of those absentee ballots of questionable origin.

Maybe you ought to actually check the facts before ranting next time. Yes, CEOs make too much, but they also aren't accountable to voters.

[Psephos]

9. You are an enabler. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

13. good...they all belong in jail along with their buddies

and they should be made to pay back what they stole