Bell City Leaders Agree to 90% Pay Cut

KTLA News 6:01 AM PDT, July 27, 2010

BELL, Calif. -- City Council members in the City of Bell on Monday agreed cut their controversial $96,000-a-year salaries by 90% and instead draw only $673 a month. Residents have been up-in-arms after learning of the salaries of the city leaders. Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez also said he will finish his term without pay and will not seek another term as the city's mayor. Bell's city manager, police chief and assistant city manager all resigned at last week's City Council meeting, days after it was revealed they were making salaries totaling $1.6 million a year. Earlier in the day, California's attorney general said he had subpoenaed hundreds of records from the city.Attorney General Jerry Brown demanded to see employment contracts from the city within two days to determine whether to file charges. "The real question is what were they thinking?" Brown said at a news conference. "What was the atmosphere in Bell that would allow this and make it plausible at least to the members of the City Council."

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has launched its own investigation into the salaries. The Bell Association to Stop the Abuse had threatened to recall the council members if they didn't resign or lower their own salaries. The salaries exploded into public view after a Los Angeles Times investigation, based on California Public Records Act requests, showed the city payroll was bloated with six-figure salaries: - Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo made $787,637 a year, getting a series of raises since being hired in 1993 at $72,000. President Barack Obama makes $400,000. - Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia made $376,288 a year. - Police Chief Randy Adams earned $457,000 - $150,000 more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.
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Bell council seeks resignations of 3 city officials July 21; Excerpt
The council has increased its own compensation by paying members for serving on the boards of city agencies. City records show that council members received $7,873.25 a month for sitting on those boards. One council member, Lorenzo Velez, said he was "in shock" when he learned of his colleagues' pay. He said he has been getting a salary of $8,076 a year — $90,000 less than his colleagues.

Associated Press Excerpt:
Last week, Mayor Oscar Hernandez defended the salaries of the city manager and other staff as being in line with similar positions in other jurisdictions. He also noted the city had achieved 15 years of balanced budgets.
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Wikipedia Data:
Bell is a city in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 36,664 in the 2000 census. Bell is located on the west bank of the Los Angeles River and is a suburb of the city of Los Angeles. At 2.5 square miles, it is number thirteen in the twenty-five smallest cities in area in the United States with population of at least 25,000. City residents voted to become a charter city in a special municipal election on November 29, 2005. Fewer than 400 voters turned out for that special election.