Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
Small City, Big Pay Scandal
Complaining about your city's leaders is almost a civic duty. But in Bell, Calif., it looks like residents of the Los Angeles suburb had pretty good cause. In September police arrested eight city officials, who are charged with misappropriating city funds to the tune of $5.5 million. The person who has come under the most scrutiny, Bell city manager Robert Rizzo, was allegedly making more than $750,000 a year, giving himself and his friends generous loans and writing his own employment contracts. The mayor, a vice mayor and several council members were also arrested. "This, needless to say, is corruption on steroids," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley.