Bell (California) City Manager Makes Nearly $800,000 A Year

Los Angeles Wave ^ | Jul 15, 2010 | N/A

[Spktyr]

One of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County has come under public scrutiny for paying its top officials some of the highest salaries in the nation, including almost $800,000 annually for its city manager.

The city of Bell pays Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo $787,637 annually, and also pays police Chief Randy Adams $457,000 a year, about 50 percent more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or Sheriff Lee Baca make, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia is paid $376,288 annually, which is more than most city managers are paid. Rizzo, who has run Bell’s day-to-day civic affairs since 1993, was unapologetic about his salary, The Times reported.

“If that’s a number people choke on, maybe I’m in the wrong business,” Rizzo said. “I could go into private business and make that money. This council has compensated me for the job I’ve done.”

Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez defended the salaries, and he and other City Council members told the newspaper that their city was near bankruptcy when Rizzo came aboard. Since then, they said, he has put Bell on sound financial footing, with its general fund nearly tripling to about $15 million.

Bell made headlines in recent weeks when the city of 37,000 agreed to take over operations of the neighboring city of Maywood, which fired most of its employees and disbanded its police department when it could not obtain insurance.

The salaries do not appear to violate any laws, but an investigation is being conducted, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Dave Demerjian, head of the office’s Public Integrity Division said state law governs how much city council members can be paid, but not the amounts that council members decide to pay administrators.

The DA’s office is investigating Bell over the hefty compensation amounts of its City Council members, about $100,000 a year for part-time positions. Normally, council members in a city the size of Bell would be paid about $400 a month, Demerjian said. The council has increased its compensation by paying members for serving on a variety of city agencies, and each member is paid $7,873 per month for sitting on the boards.

[Oceander]

Geez. That’s all I can say; I am simply dumbfounded.

[calex59]

Yep, I spent the ages of 3 to 9 in Bell Gardens, which isn’t far from Bell, and the area was rough then(1951 when we left). I have heard many horror stories about what the area is like now and they couldn’t pay me enough to live there now.

[Mygirlsmom]

I could go into private business and make that money.

But then you'd have to call yourself a dirty rotten scumbag capitalist.....how would you cope, poor darling?

[calex59]

When you post to someone make sure that someone made the remark you are referring to. I didn't make the following remark:I could go into private business and make that money.

but still you sent your comment about it to me. Please be more careful in the future.

[umijug4]

We wonder why we are so highly taxed in California it due to this type of unjustifyed spending of salaries to these holdup artists.
Bell's citizens really need to see that these pickpockets are removed from office.
We also need to make sure that they are not rewarded with a hefty Severance Package as they are kicked out/and or carried off to jail.

[truthguy]

Yes, you could make an argument that a city manager should make a good salary if the city were Minneapolis or Boston. But Bell isn't even a city per se. It's a suburban cesspool. A high school student could do as well.