Bribes are for the big guys, not the locals.
Agreed. Not much has really changed since Tammany Hall days.
I knew of a case here in CT which could have gone sideways like these deals.
The developer paid bribes to a local mayor so he would not have to meet building codes for a big dollar building rehab.
The Mayor then chose the specific building inspector for the job who was compensated under the table for looking the other way.
The building rehab took a while—a couple of years—and everything was going according to plan...until....
The mayor decided not to run for re-election and at the same time the inspector decided to retire.
Fast forward a new legit inspector inspects the building and finds dozens of major issues requiring high six figures to remedy.
The developer (who I knew) could have refused to do the remediation which would have led to an unraveling of the entire scandal.
However he cursed and moaned at his bad luck—but did the repairs as ordered.