The Bell Revolt

Bell, California is the latest flashpoint in a growing taxpayer revolt.  A blue collar, mostly Hispanic town of 38,000, 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, local residents were in a state of shock, which rapidly turned to blazing anger, after they learned that the Chief Administrative Officer of Bell, Robert Rizzo, ”earned” a salary of $787, 637 per annum with annual 12 percent raises, the police chief Randy Adams ”earned” $457,000 a year, while the Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia had to make do with a paltry $376, 288 each year.  The part time members of the city council each “earned” almost 100k a year.

Responding to angry citizens, the city council of Bell voted on Monday to slash their salaries by 90%.  The Los Angeles County District Attorney has begun an investigation into the salaries, and Attorney General Jerry Brown, coincidentally running for Governor, has issued subpoenas.  Go here to read all the details in the Los Angeles Times.   Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia resigned last week.

I suspect this is merely the tip of a very large iceberg.  Government has become by far the largest “industry” in this country, and these type of transparently fraudulent arrangements are part and parcel of the way Big Government does business:  richly reward friends and insiders, after all, it’s only the money of the tax payers.