HELL IN BELL: Jerry Brown Sues "The BELL 8" to Recover Excessive Salaries and to Cut Pensions

Image via WikipediaBy Randy Economy
www.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
September 15. 2010
9:36 p.m.



LOS ANGELES --

The Bell Eight are now in "official" legal hot water.

After months of protests, and public outcry,
California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., is now charging fraud, civil conspiracy, waste of public funds and breach of fiduciary duty, against eight top Bell officials and council members.

Brown's lawsuit also called for a reduction of pension benefits for the officials.  It also demands that millions of dollars in salaries and public pensions be returned to the Bell coffers.  "We are filing our lawsuit on behalf of the public to recover the excess salaries that Bell officials awarded themselves and to ensure their future pensions are reduced to a reasonable amount," Brown said.

Here is a COPY of the COMPLAINT BROWN FILED ON WEDNESDAY WITH ATTACHMENTS.
(See the BOTTOM OF THE PAGE OF THE AG'S OFFICIAL MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT TO CONNECT TO THE 20 PAGE DOCUMENT LISTED UNDER "COMPLAINT.")

Brown's statewide probe will focus on the many local and other government agencies (including nearby Vernon, and other cities that surround us) that are paying annual salaries in excess of $300,000 to $500,000 EACH for dozens of public pensioner, such as retired city managers and school administrators who are receiving annual pensions in excess of $200,000 annually, every year for the rest of their lives.

Brown also mentioned examples of "public pension fraud" including:

• - An annual pension for a former city manager that is over half a million dollars.
• - Annual compensation for the chief administrator of a public hospital that is over $800,000.
• - Annual compensation for a county administrator that is over $420,000.
• - Annual compensation in a single year of over $438,000, including payments for unused sick leave and vacation, for a city manager of a city of 36,000.

Brown is also looking for additional reforms, including:

• - Establish a Compensation Commission to cap public salaries at reasonable levels,
• - Eliminate loopholes that allow exceptions to the limits on pension benefits,
• - Require a full and complete public posting of all public employee salaries, and
• - Amend the state Constitution to require charter cities to comply with salary and pension laws."

Brown's lawsuit was filed against the following Bell officials:

1. Former City Manager Robert Rizzo
2. Former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia
3. Former Police Chief Randy Adams
4. Mayor Oscar Hernandez
5. Council Member Teresa Jacobo
6. Council Member George Mirabel
7. Former Mayor Victor Bello 
8. Former Mayor George Cole

Cole is considered by many to have been the "ring leader" of the public rip off with his alley Rizzo and the co-defendants in the suit.

The suit's charges include fraud, civil conspiracy, waste of public funds, and breach of fiduciary duty. It also alleges that the defendants deliberately misled the public about the true amount of their compensation.

The suit demands the defendants return all excessive compensation and asks the court to establish appropriate salary levels for pension purposes. Rizzo's last annual base salary was $787,638, Adams' $457,000, and Spaccia's $336,000. Bell city council members were paid $96,000 a year before they took a recent cut. Cities of similar size pay their council members $4,800 a year.

The AG also filed warrants in the City of Vernon.  Stay tuned.  I will update you later....

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