Where public officials go and get rich
City-data.com
The city of Bell, Calif., is about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, has about 37,000 residents and is one of the poorest localities in Los Angeles County. The median household income in Bell was $39,394 in 2008, compared to more than $61,000 across the state.
Until recently, the biggest news in that largely Hispanic small city was the theft of 55 Oscar statuettes in a 2000 heist that cast a pall over that year’s Academy Awards.
Now, thanks to a recent investigation by The Los Angeles Times, people there are wondering if a much broader pattern of theft is happening in Bell — by its public officials.
- The 17-year-veteran city manager, Robert Rizzo, earns $787,637, and by contract gets 12 percent raises each year. During one year of his tenure he got a 49 percent raise.
- The police chief, Randy Adams, earns $457,000 annually, for managing a department with 46 people in it. That’s about 50 percent more than the salary of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, who manages a 13,000-person department in a city of 3.8 million.
- The assistant city manager, Angela Spaccia, earns $376,288. That’s more than the top administrator in Los Angeles County (population 9.8 million).
- And many — but not all — of Bell’s city council members are earning close to $100,000 per year, because they make a lot of side money serving on high-paying city boards and commissions. One council member who resigned last August is still collecting his $96,000 a year because the city created a position for him as assistant director of a local food bank. (Council members in similar sized California cities earn about $4,800 annually.)
Now, reports the LA Times, there is a finger-pointing frenzy going on. The populace is marching on Bell City Hall and they seem out for blood. Caught by the newspaper paying (and collecting) exorbitant salaries, Bell’s council members are considering 20 percent pay cuts for themselves.
And council has directed the city attorney to negotiate the resignations of the Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia — after defending those salaries for nearly a week.
But there is a catch, the newspaper reports:
Resigning would make City Manager Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia eligible for lucrative pensions. But the three also have contracts that protect them from being fired without cause.
As a result, unless they agree to resign, the city would face the prospect of buying out their contracts, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional payments.
This is what Rizzo, the $787,000-a-year city manager, told the Los Angeles Times reporters when they had the temerity to question his paycheck: “If that’s a number people choke on, maybe I’m in the wrong business,” he said. “I could go into private business and make that money. This council has compensated me for the job I’ve done.”
His assistant, Spaccia, chimed in: “I would have to argue you get what you pay for.”
What amazing chutzpah.
The Los Angeles County prosecutor is investigating those fat salaries.
You can bet that every beat reporter in California right now is checking the salaries of every public official on his/her beat.
I wonder where the next municipal salary bomb is going to explode in California?
July 21, 2010 - 6:00 AM
We have an “official” right here in Roanoke who isn’t doing badly. Gwen Mason just parlayed herself into a tough $86,000 a year job where she will spend all of her time in “meetings”.
I thought Bev Fitzpatrick had written the book on public dole jobs that nobody could figure out but Gwen has written a new chapter.
Of course, that would be a local “metro” type BLOG and we don’t see many of those.
That is beyond unconscionable! Where are the State and Federal Prosecutors? This has got to be some kind of racketeering and abuse of public trust issue? Unreal! There is already no wonder people do not trust “public servants” but this is beyond the pale and some HEADS need to roll not just salaries! Obviously laissez faire has no fairness in it!
Poor old Christiansburg wouldn’t have a chance at attracting any of these folks.
#1 Typical BobH stuff. He has no idea what the program is or what it might accomplish (since it hasn’t even started yet) but that ignorance sure won’t stop him from criticizing it. No siree.
#4,
The program hasn’t even started and they already have some they are paying out on the public dole? Now there is government efficiency for you.
You don’t find $86,000 a pretty good salary in this area? I do, it is one heck of alot more than I make in the private sector.
Mason isn’t doing too badly for someone who didn’t have any private sector experience listed in the article in the RT yesterday. She may be alot sharper than I was giving her credit for before.
What’s the matter Gdad, is this one too “metro” for you? Too close to home because she is a liberal (sorry for the redundancy) democrat….
#5 Now I see the problem, BobH, you’re jealous that she makes more than you do.
I hate to break this to you, but there are LOTS of private sector jobs that pay more than $86,000.
#6
You must be retired or something. That’s pretty good renumeration in Roanoke Virginia.
Dan
Your trying to give locals some bad ideas?
BobH… $86,000 is NOT a huge salary. On the other hand, $800,000 IS a huge salary…. even for California. I’m beginning to think I’m in the wrong profession!
Well, I guess handing out the “over the top reaction of the day” award is gonna be pretty easy.
The 37,000 citizens of Bell each have 36,999 other people to blame.
9.”$86,000 is NOT a huge salary.”
86K is pretty good money to sit on your ass and do nothing, which is exactly what this feel good, created for a political friend position entails.
At least she’ll fit right in at the US Attorneys office, a pretty solid 75% of the rest of the folks there don’t do anything either.
“Gwen Mason just parlayed herself into a tough $86,000 a year job where she will spend all of her time in “meetings”.”
Shes an awful do nothing,a couple of photo opps equal “Clean n Green”.
9.”BobH… $86,000 is NOT a huge salary”
It is to me!
Lynda,
Where did I say it was a HUGE salary?
The rest of his piece sites $90K salary for one of the individuals and I assue you $86K in Roanoke >$90K in California. Gas is $3.40 a gallon out there right now (I just came back from there).
$86K is a pretty good salary for Roanoke Virginia, especially for a public dole position. Look up what GS rank you would have to be at the VA hospital to get that kind of salary. There are alot of government employees at the VA hospital but very few GS 12′s. I doubt the head of TAAP pulls down that kind of change and I guarantee TAAP does more for folks than this government “service” ever will on its best day.
That’s one heck of a salary for the “work” described on the job.
#7 Wrong again, BobH, I work for a living. $86,000 certainly isn’t bad, although your friend the troll would sneer at it. She probably thinks people who earn that all live in trailer parks.
Again, you and everybody else commenting on the job have no idea exactly what it entails, especially since the program is still being designed. Mason is building a new program from scratch and will have to travel a good bit to do it.
Is her work worth $86,000? I have no idea and neither do you. Your blind, knee-jerk criticism once again shows your extreme partisanship.
BobH… Huge was my word. sorry.
$86,000 is a good salary in Roanoke. It’s more than what my husband & I earn annually combined.
That being said, gdad raised some good points. Gwen Mason is creating a program from scratch, one that will cover the entire Western District of Virginia jurisdiction, which includes Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Danville, Roanoke, Abingdon, and Big Stone Gap. That’s a pretty large area.
Realist, what do you know of the US Attorney’s office?
“Your blind, knee-jerk criticism once again shows your extreme partisanship.”
Mason ran and won as an independant,so who is he partisan against?
And as far as this new Crime prevention program,what the hell does she know about it..zero!
Sounds like a BS bureaucratic position,at our expense.
16.”That being said, gdad raised some good points. Gwen Mason is creating a program from scratch, one that will cover the entire Western District of Virginia jurisdiction, which includes Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Danville, Roanoke, Abingdon, and Big Stone Gap. That’s a pretty large area.”
A program to do what? The program was created with the sole goal of providing Gwen Mason a position.
“Realist, what do you know of the US Attorney’s office?”
I know a great deal about the US Attorneys office, thanks. Why do you ask?
Realist,
Please tell us how you know the position was created for the “sole purpose of providing Gwen Mason a position.”
I asked because you made a claim that 75% of the folks in the US Attorney’s office don’t do anything. What’s your basis for that claim? And why would the US Attorney create a position solely for Gwen Mason? Don’t be like other around here and just throw out these accusations with no actual proof.
Did any of the critics of the community policing program see this sentence from the article?
“The community outreach program won’t have money of its own to dole out. The program’s only funding is Mason’s $86,000 annual salary, Heaphy said.”
“The program’s only funding is Mason’s $86,000 annual salary, Heaphy said.”
As the plot thickens.
19.”Realist,
Please tell us how you know the position was created for the “sole purpose of providing Gwen Mason a position.” ”
Lemme think. Nyet. Non. Nein. Nao.
I refuse to be specific about what I may or may not know that goes on there, and how I may come to know such things. There is a reason I have never ever commented on a post involving the US Attorneys office, I will re establish that protocol at once.
#17 Jack/Tony, you obviously don’t know Gwen otherwise you’d know that she’s a Democrat, so given that we’ve established that you don’t know her. exactly how do you know she knows nothing about crime prevention?
I know shes really a democrat but she ran as an independant on the “against the City” ticket.Because Trinkle,Dinkle and Nod(Trinkle,Mason and Dowe) knew they couldnt get the Dem party nod.Shes whatever the occasion calls for.Now “Crime Prevention expert” What a joke,just a govt hack thats all she is.And if what Lori says is true,all the money for the program is her salary,wonder whos bread she buttered,maybe as Councilperson,to get this job? Hmmmmm?
the names Jack,Gdaddy…
@ 23 – to paraphrase Jack, and the plot thickens!
FWIW, I was not being snarky in my questioning of your knowledge of the US Attorney’s office. I really was wondering what your proof was, but understand if you cannot comment on how you know what you know.
Jack @ 25 – I copied the quote directly from the article.
Dan,
i just heard over NPR the citizens had a meeting last nite and it was an uproar; they forced these 3 city officals to resign.