Is A City Manager Worth $800,000....? Ask the City of Bell, CA....

[bliss_eternal]

Caught this story on my local news report. The residents of Bell are HOT...! I thought it was going to turn into a riot, outside of the city council offices.

Anyway, here's the story:

Is A City Manager Worth $800,000?

Bell isn't a big town, or a wealthy one. But some of its top officials are paid two or three times as much as their counterparts elsewhere

July 15, 2010|Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives

Bell, one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County, pays its top officials some of the highest salaries in the nation, including nearly $800,000 annually for its city manager, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

In addition to the $787,637 salary of Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, Bell pays Police Chief Randy Adams $457,000 a year, about 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and more than double New York City's police commissioner. Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia makes $376,288 annually, more than most city managers.

-----snip-----

Top officials have routinely received hefty annual raises in recent years. Rizzo's contract calls for 12% raises each July, the same as his top deputy, according to documents obtained under the California Public Records Act.

Rizzo, who has run Bell's day-to-day civic affairs since 1993, was unapologetic about his salary.

----snip-----

BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Government officials' salaries

* Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo $787,637

* President Barack Obama $400,000

* Los Angeles County Chief Executive William T Fujioka $338,458

* Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana $256,803

* Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa 232,425

* Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi $223,500

* Dana Point City Manager Douglas Chotkevys $203,483

(Dana Point has the same population as Bell)

* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger $173,987

(Schwarzenegger has declined to take his salary)

* Speaker of the Assembly John A. Perez $109,584

Source: Times reporting

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Police officials'salaries

* Bell Police Chief Randy Adams $457,000

Oversees a department with 46 personnel; 33 are sworn officers

* Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck $307,000

Oversees 12,899 personnel; 9,959 are sworn officers

* L.A. County Sheriff

Lee Baca $284,183

Oversees 18,000 personnel; 9,632 are sworn officers

* New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly $205,180

Oversees 50,000 personnel; 35,000 are sworn officers

* Manhattan Beach Police Chief ***note Manhattan Beach is a wealthy area of socal--far wealthier than Bell, CA*****

Rod Uyeda $179,388

Oversees 100 personnel; 65 are sworn officers

Source: Times reporting



--for more see article at link below:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/15/local/la-me-bell-salary-20100715


My favorite part of the article, is above (showing what city and state officials around socal and the country make. So, the city of Bell's officials are so arrogant to think they are entitled to make more than the President of the United States...?!

Oh but, California is broke....right?! :eyes:

:spray::rofl:

Sorry, but seeing all the outraged citizens at the city meeting, really tickled me. I hope they fry these folks!
I'll be following this story closely. The city residents are pissed and have every right to be.

Anyone care to take wagers on when the rioting will start? ;)

[mackerel]

1. Where is Bell? So Cal?

[mackerel]

2. Sorry, I just caught that it's near L.A.

I thought Vallejo had problems. It's like this up and down the state. It just amazes me how much city officials make.

[bliss_eternal]

7. It's amazing.

I had no idea what some of these people make, until this story broke.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. And where is that money coming from?

That is purely outrageous.

They can't even justify it, under any circumstances.

ICK.

[bliss_eternal]

6. Just a guess...

...at least some of their salary may have been supplied by alleviating various departments and city services, then turning those monies into salaries for the people mentioned in the article.

While viewing the footage of this story, a few people mentioned they were previously employed by the city of Bell. For example, one young man worked for the Recreation Department for an hourly wage (estimating about $8-10/hr.). He said in the year he was employed he received one $.50 raise. Soon after, he was't just laid off--but told that his position was being eliminated entirely.

I'm guessing there are several other departments that suffered major staffing cuts, to create money to pay these inflated salaries.

[KamaAina]

4. Not only that, nearby Maywood just contracted out its city services -- to Bell!

Yup, Maywood just laid off all of its city employees and will now be a "contract city". And the main contractor? Why, that'd be Bell. :eyes:

[bliss_eternal]

5. Seriously...?!

:grr::mad:
Talk about greed. :eyes:
Wonder how the Maywood (and Bell)residents feel about this? Or if they're aware of what's going on? :eyes: If not for the LA Times story, I wouldn't have known. Hadn't heard about Maywood, though.

[mackerel]

8. Looks like there have been some resignations since

this story broke.