Lawsuit against Bell California suggests voter fraud in 2009 election

LA Times ^ | 07/27/2010 | LA Times

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

A lawsuit filed Monday by a former Bell police officer makes a variety of serious allegations about city officials and suggests voter fraud in a 2009 election.

According to the lawsuit, filed by James Corcoran, off-duty police officers in Bell distributed absentee ballots in a 2009 municipal election and told would-be voters which candidates to support.

The former police sergeant alleges in the suit that he was forced out of his job of 25 years in retaliation for informing state and federal authorities about the officers’ actions and reporting alleged misconduct involving City Administrator Robert Rizzo and other city officials.

Attorneys for the city did not return calls or respond to e-mails seeking comment.

Corcoran alleged that in 2009 he reported to the California secretary of State and the FBI “that off-duty police officers were taking absentee ballots and providing them to voters to fill out” and that officers were instructing individuals how to vote.

He also asserted that ballots were filled out for people who were dead.

[taxtruth]

Ballots for DEAD people?

[rj45mis]

and the hits just keep on coming!

[Carley]

People must go to prison for this abuse of power.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

People must go to prison for this abuse of power.

LOL...

You would think so, but this involves the two most protected class of people in the US. Cops and Politicians, neither can do no wrong and when they are accused of criminal wrongdoing its always someone else's fault and they get off with a pat on the wrist, a promotion or a fat .gov funded retirement pension...

[stevio]

No party affiliation through the whole article. Democrats?

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

That’s usually a very safe assumption.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

People must go to prison for this abuse of power.

I'm a somewhat casual observer of politics, mostly just reading Free Republic for the past 12 yrs.

I've noticed a sea change in American politicians since then. I've noticed that politicians (and business "leaders" to an extent) don't seem to even try to hide their corruption any more.

This little town in CA had an entire town government absolutely rife with bald-faced, in your face corruption. Paying the mayor a salary of $800K , the police chief $400K, just to name two, as if nobody would have a problem with it.

The arrogance and shamelessness of these people is at a level of being sociopathic. It's really breathtaking.

I've been to several foreign countries where corruption isn't corrupt, it's standard business practice. It seems that the USA is heading in that direction.

[SunkenCiv]

A lawsuit filed Monday by a former Bell police officer makes a variety of serious allegations about city officials and suggests voter fraud in a 2009 election... filed by James Corcoran, off-duty police officers in Bell distributed absentee ballots in a 2009 municipal election and told would-be voters which candidates to support. The former police sergeant alleges in the suit that he was forced out of his job of 25 years in retaliation for informing state and federal authorities about the officers' actions and reporting alleged misconduct involving City Administrator Robert Rizzo and other city officials... Corcoran alleged that in 2009 he reported to the California secretary of State and the FBI "that off-duty police officers were taking absentee ballots and providing them to voters to fill out" and that officers were instructing individuals how to vote. He also asserted that ballots were filled out for people who were dead.

[TribalPrincess2U]

This is just now coming out?
The turd pile is getting pretty darn high.

November is going to be anything but dull.

I’m already stressed out and so far I’ve not been affected
by this administration, but I know it;s coming.

[Carley]

The AG, Jerry Brown, has issued subpoenas.

This is something he must handle properly or he’s toast.

[justiceseeker93]

No party affiliation through the whole article. Democrats?

I'd bet they are. Clues: (1) The LA Times doesn't identify anyone by party. (2) The city is 90% Hispanic. (3) The median family income is well below the national average. (4) They are allegedly engaged in massive voting fraud.

[tubebender]

A early story said they had a 15 million dollar surplus. Were they selling drugs out of city hall with the police dept as runners?

[Arizona Carolyn]

It was a sanctuary city........ how many even speak or read English?

[Impy]

This is the town where town officials are making exorbitant salaries. The city manager was making more than Obama. The police chief more than the Chief of the LAPD.

[SunkenCiv]

/bingo

[monkeyshine]

The city of Bell has been under a lot of fire lately. It is a relatively poor city - or at least most of the residents are poorer and working class people - and the city manager and councilmembers have been raking in big pay. The city manager makes over $800,000 a year, and his deputy makes more than the President. Council members make big bucks for the job they have (but probably not all that much compared to big city council members, except Bell is a very small city).

I don’t think this had anything to do with dem or rep, but it had to do with protecting their little fiefdom, their honeypots and their golden parachutes.

Some of these little cities (inside Los Angeles county, but incorporated separately) exist to serve the interests of a few. Bell Gardens, Bell, BellFlower, Hawaiian Gardens... I am not saying they are all 100% bad, and these cities incorporated to get away from Los Angeles’ corruption (or to start their own, e.g. Bell Gardens exists almost exclusively because it has a casino owner who wants it to exist and the casino provides a lot of cash to the tiny land area, provides jobs to city residents, and pays local taxes that keep the streets clean and pretty despite the lower middle class make-up of the residents).

This setup may be no different than other parts of the country, though. I had considered moving to one of these cities in the hopes of obtaining a CCW, which I cannot get as a Los Angeles resident.

Bell in particular is also dealing with a wrongful death suit involving officer shooting, I believe they are paying $7 million to settle the case.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Whad-ya know? [$300,000 if I recall.]

[Carling]

I saw that story and wondered how in the world that could be the case. Luckily, the stupid reporter didn't even consider how absurd that claim was on its face.

Corruption is systematic for the Dems. The question is whether they will go quietly this fall. I doubt it, and I fully expect massive election fraud in November. At that point, what happens?

[Liz]

BLOGGER There is a pattern with Bell's seedy Mayor Oscar Hernandez (place of birth?). Narcotics investigators discovered a methamphetamine “super lab” at a rental unit owned by Mayor Hernandez in 2009; two men were arrested and two children taken into protective custody. Investigators raided one of three homes on a rental property Mayor Hernandez owns, his son lives in one of the other two units on June 6, 2009. Mayor Hernandez told the LA TIMES, “These things happen around the town, including in Glendale, LA and West Hollywood."

Hernandez was part of a multi-jurisdictional methamphetamine enforcement team investigation that uncovered the makings of what L/E call a “super lab” capable of making as much as 20 pounds of meth at a time, Deputy Guillermina Saldana of the LA Sheriff’s Dept told media in 2009 (did not say if Mexican drug cartels were involved). LA County’s haz-mat units carted off barrels of chemicals associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine......Hernandez went on record as stating that..."Nobody smelled nothing. I never got any complaints, and it’s a small community and the houses are close to each other.”

==============================================

Defiant Bell mayor defends city manager's high salary, hours after official resigns
July 23, 2010, LA Times, Ruben Vives at Bell City Hall

Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez listens as the resignations of the police chief, city manager and assistant city manager are announced after the City Council met behind closed doors for nearly six hours. PIC by Gina Ferazzi / LA Times

A defiant Bell City Council defended the hefty compensation awarded to City Manager Robert Rizzo and two other officials just hours after the three agreed to resign amid a public outcry.

In the city's first formal statement on the salary issue, Bell released a letter from Mayor Oscar Hernandez in which he praised Rizzo's service to the city and said his nearly $800,000 annual salary was justified. "Unlike the skewed view of the facts, the Los Angeles Times presented to advance the paper's own agenda, a look at the big picture of city compensation shows that salaries of the City Manager and other top city staff have been in line with similar positions over the period of their tenure," Hernandez said in the letter.

Hernandez did address the outrage generated after The Times revealed the salaries last week, adding: "We recognize that today's economic climate and the financial hardships so many families are suffering put our past compensation decisions in a new light. To the residents of Bell, we apologize."

As part of the resignations, 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 also will leave at the end of August after completing an evaluation of the Police Department. Rizzo earns nearly $800,000 a year, believed to make him the highest-paid city manager in California and possibly the nation. Adams makes $457,000 — 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck — and Spaccia makes $376,288, more than the top administrator for Los Angeles County.

The crowd yelled out questions about what would happen to the council members. Four of the five are paid close to $100,000 annually.

The emergency meeting followed several days of negotiations between the officials and attorneys to reach deals. The crowd began shouting when Councilman Lorenzo Velez's request to open the meeting to the public was overruled by the city attorney, who said the city would be at legal risk if it discussed personnel matters in public.

SOURCE http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/defiant-bell-mayor-defends-city-managers-high-salary-hours-after-official-resigns.html