July 27, 2010
Bell California Salary Scandal - Bellwether of Indifference
A USA Today story about the bloated salaries of elected officials and bureaucrats in the small California city of Bell is an excellent example of what happens when citizens hope things are going well and become disconnected from what elected officials are doing.
"Bell's city manager, police chief and assistant city manager all resigned last week after it was revealed they were making salaries totaling $1.6 million a year," it was quoted in the story. That's unfathomable when you stop and think about it. Many of the council members had approved salaries for themselves of over $100,000 per year for part-time work.
How can this happen you ask? It's simple. I was a two-term elected council member of Amberley Village, Ohio. We rarely had more than three or four residents attend our Council meetings. The meetings were taped and played back at a later date on cable access television, so other residents could watch what happened. With so few people paying attention, you bet that shenanigans can happen.
I suspect this is what the autopsy will show in Bell, California when the California attorney general finishes his investigation. The residents of Bell probably assumed all was well and simply never attended the meetings. That's like asking the fox to guard the hen house.
This same thing can happen on a national level. I actually think it has to a large degree. Many USA citizens have become apathetic to government. When this happens, the elected officials go on a feeding frenzy. We're seeing it happening now.
But the American people are waking up. Let's hope they're totally lucid and caffeinated on November 2, 2010.
So here is more of the story on Bell. In 2005 the State of California passes a bill that limits the salaries of local officials in “General Law Cities”. That same year the City of Bell has a special election with one measure on the ballot --- to make the city a “Charter City”. It does not mention anything about salaries but it exempts the city from the local salary restrictions. 400 people voted in this election and it passes easily. The city has roughly 40,000 people.
Voter apathy is rampant in this country, usually less that 70% in major elections and much much less in primaries and smaller elections. We generally reelect about 93% of the federal government incumbents. I know this is not a gambling website but does anyone care to wager how many incumbents will retain their seats. My guess is that it will be more than 85%.
John C on July 28, 2010 12:21 AMWhat will happend with these criminals?
Richard Glisk on August 1, 2010 1:16 PMThere two investigations going right now. One by the County of Los Angeles and another by the State of California. I will keep you posted if you wish.
John C. on August 3, 2010 3:52 PMI just read a fun and informative aricle by Ann Coulter on this subject. I'm glad to see that it's not being totally ignored. Although it seems the story is subject to the usual treatment in the media.
here is the link to Ann's read
Frank P. on August 12, 2010 9:32 AMhttp://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=190261
More on the City of Bell
A couple of highlights, the city council raised property taxes above the rate mandated by our Prop 13 to pay for their pensions,
Illegal taxes may not be returned to the people that paid them but to the State education fund -- can you say bizzare?
One of the City council members appears to not have been a resident of Bell in violation of law.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BELL_SALARIES?SITE=NYWNE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Enjoy -- or puck
John C on August 14, 2010 11:25 AMThanks for this.
"Many USA citizens have become apathetic to government. When this happens, the elected officials go on a feeding frenzy"... agreed!
But when you talk about the Federal level, add a whole bunch of zeros to that! And I'm sorry to see it happen on both sides of the aisle.
Nobody really talks about corporate welfare - even before the Bush/Paulsen bailouts, we had all sorts of handouts to corporations and CEOs under the "trickle-down" theory (one of the most bizarre examples was Bush Sr giving millions of free money to KFC to advertise in China).
Or, the $683,000 Bush spent (via Homeland Security) for a Starbucks coffee location at Guantanamo Bay, and $773,000 to build a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant at Guitmo. How is this homeland security, and how on earth is this justified???
I too am DEEPLY concerned about the direction of this country. We had a balanced budget in 2000. We saw the deficit go from Zero to 9 TRILLION in just 8 years. And now, it's up to 10 or 11 trillion (estimates vary).
In my opinion, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan should be a top priority. Two money pits, costing us BILLIONS per year. Afghanistan has become the longest war in American history - think about it!!
I hope we can hold Obama to his word on this one...
Paul on August 31, 2010 8:11 PM