(H/T – Allahpundit)
The story of Bell, California and its $800,000/year city manager sounds more than just a bit familiar:
Hundreds of residents of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County shouted in protest last night as tensions rose over a report that the city’s manager earns an annual salary of almost $800,000.
An overflow crowd packed a City Council meeting in Bell, a mostly Hispanic city of 38,000 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, to call for the resignation of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and other city officials. Residents left standing outside the chamber banged on the doors and shouted “fuera,” or “get out” in Spanish.
It was the first council meeting since the Los Angeles Times reported July 15 that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 — with annual 12 percent raises — and that Bell pays its police chief $457,000, more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck makes in a city of 3.8 million people. Bell council members earn almost $100,000 for part-time work.
I do have a word of warning for the residents of Bell – do not stop until ALL the theives are out of office. We in Milwaukee County thought that throwing out the county executive and 6 of 25 supervisors in 2002 after we found out they voted themselves million-dollar pension lump-sum payments and enhancers that made their pensions at least the same value as their highest couple years’ worth of salaries would be enough for the remainder to learn their lesson, but they didn’t.
