Monday, July 26, 2010

Rebellion of the serfs: city officials in CA that became millionaires from public trough resign in disgrace

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the city of Bell, CA near LA, a poor city of only 38,000 residents that had a city supervisor
that got paid almost $800,000 per year, a police chief that was taking
in half a million a year and a part-time city council that was itself
bilking the taxpayers for almost $100k annually. When the mostly Hispanic community got wind of the pubic sector feeding frenzy, they had enough and marched on city hall. Video via American Power:










Instead of fighting the torches and pitchforks that were coming their way, the most egregious of the public servants looters have agreed to resign. It's a start. From the LA Times via Ace of Spades:


Bell's top administrators, whose hefty salaries have stirred public outrage and calls for investigations, agreed to resign Thursday night during a closed-door City Hall meeting.


City Manager Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia will not receive severance packages.
Rizzo will step down at the end of August and Spaccia will leave at the
end of September. Adams will also leave at the end of August, after
completing an evaluation of the Police Department...

The
larger story is that they will become some of California's highest paid
pension recipients, thus who cares about a paltry severance package?
From ABC News:


Robert Rizzo, the city manager, will leave behind a
$784,637 annual salary -- nearly twice the pay of President Obama --
and will not receive a severance package. Nevertheless the
56-year-old will draw an immense pension, between $650,000 and
$880,000, making him the highest-paid pensioner in California
.


"Rizzo
resigns and still makes more than $600,000," said Ali Saleh, founder of
the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse, a grassroots community group.
"That's why I call him a predator. He's taking advantage of the
community whether he keeps his job or resigns."

That's
not a pension. It's a windfall. It's a looting of the public trust.
There needs to be a lawsuit in this case so this corruptocrat doesn't
get to live like a millionaire at the public teet. Such a thing may
happen as, per the ABC News article:



Four of the five council members, who approved the employees' salaries, earn over $100,000 for part-time work, sparking a preliminary investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney.


..."We're reviewing the facts to see if we need to launch a formal
investigation," said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the L.A. Countydistrict attorney.

No comments: