Posted on 10/08/2010 10:06:34 AM PDT by WebFocus
Robert Rizzo might be due back pay from the city of Bell after officials reneged on an agreement to provide the longtime city administrator with severance payments and other benefits when he resigned earlier this summer, his attorney claimed Thursday.
Attorney James Spertus said the city is violating state labor laws by not paying Rizzo's salary and should begin new negotiations over his departure.
The accusation threatens to create another potentially costly battle for the struggling city, which is operating with the majority of council members facing criminal charges and trying to deal with millions of dollars in revenue losses from taxes the state has determined were illegally levied.
The Bell City Council accepted the resignations of Rizzo as well as Assistant City Administrator Angela Spaccia and Police Chief Randy Adams after a lengthy closed-door meeting July 23. Ever since, considerable mystery has surrounded the terms under which the three officials agreed to leave.
The resignations came after The Times revealed the huge salaries that Rizzo and other top city officials were receiving. Rizzo was set to earn more than $1.5 million in compensation this year, making him one of the highest paid officials in the nation. He and seven other city leaders were charged last month with public corruption.
Since he resigned, Rizzo has also requested that the city pay his legal bills.
Jamie Casso, Bell's interim city attorney, declined to comment on Spertus' claims, saying the dispute was confidential because it was a personnel matter.
A source familiar with the negotiations said the City Council initially agreed on a severance package for Rizzo but later voted to accept his resignation without any benefits attached. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because a personnel issue was involved.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Needless to say, People in the town are furious: “This is Rizzo’s way of spiting us. The city will now have to get a lawyer and fight him on this. He’s literally just abusing us more,” a community activist tells the LA Times.
So far the state government has failed to intervene, with Schwarzenegger vetoing two bills that targeted local government pay.
The city should simply file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. At that point a judge should be able to cancel or significantly reduce these pensions.
That little butterball has nerve, I’ll give him that.
“...cancel or significantly reduce these pensions.”
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This needs to be happening in nearly EVERY municipality across the US.
Not just city managers but the retirement schemes of educators, firefighters and police should be given a thorough proctological examination.
Give him the money. After all, he stole it fair and square.
This article is just surreal...surreal. The chutzpah of this fat bastard!
There’s a lesson to learn from this...
The moment you decide to give something to people from the public coffers, it becomes EXTREMELY difficult to take it back. It becomes almost impossible if a significant number of people grow to be DEPENDENT on whatever entitlement they believe they deserve.
This $1.5 Million man may be an extreme example, but even this outrageous salary at the expense of the taxpayers of Bell City did not shame him out of his entitlement mentality.
The resilence of California amazes me.
The ignorant liberals and communists have been attacking the magnificent economic bounty of that state for over 50 years now, and the Golden State is still on its feet.
I thought it was over for them 10 years ago. Who the hell is paying for this socialist nightmare? In part it has to be all the national money that flows into Hollywood and the Silicon Valley...but still...
Just the link:
I hate to advocate violence, but if legal avenues don’t work a committee of concerned citizens from the City of Bell need to serve Rizzo with a midnight subpoena written on hickory and signed “Louisville Slugger.”
The California economy is around $1.8 trillion per year. Tax revenues to the state (not counting Federal taxes) was around $83 billion last year. The closest were New York at $53 billion and Texas at $23 billion. There’s plenty of money here. How it’s spent is not so good.
Unbelievable!
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