Our previous OpenCdA posts about the corruption in Bell, California, have contained links explaining how Bell City Administrator Robert Rizzo, Assistant City Administrator Angela Spaccia (Sheffield), former Mayor Oscar Hernandez and onetime City Council members Teresa Jacobo, George Mirabal, George Cole and Victor Bello were convicted of misappropriating public funds. They were the direct recipients of the misappropriated public money.
As noted in the various California State Controller’s Office audits, some recipients of questionable City contracts were likely the indirect recipients.
That raises two fairly big questions: Where did all the revenue come from that allowed the crooks to enrich themselves? How could Bell’s Mayor and City Council have stood by while the City’s treasury was being looted?
Those questions were answered in the various State Controller’s Office audits but summarized nicely in the Associated Press’s “The Big Story” published on March 20, 2013, and headlined Ex-officials convicted in Calif. corruption case. Here are some relevant excerpts from that story:
An audit by the state controller’s office found the city had illegally raised property taxes, business license fees and other sources of revenue to pay the [illegally inflated and appropriated] salaries.
He [Rizzo] … manipulated council members into signing major financial documents, particularly Hernandez who does not read English and, according to his lawyer, was often unaware of what he was signing.
Jacobo testified that when Rizzo told her that he was increasing her salary enough that she could quit her job selling real estate, she asked the former city attorney if that was legal and he assured her it was.
Hernandez’s lawyer said the once popular mayor … was unschooled and not one who understood the city’s finances.
So the short answer to the questions is: The crooks raised property taxes and license fees to help fund their misappropriation. Some of the crooks were to lazy or too uneducated to understand the city’s finances, and the former city attorney assured them what they were doing was legal. And as reported earlier, Bell’s outside independent auditors didn’t report any problems either.
With all this in mind and recalling the admonition of the Los Angeles Times editorial headlined The lesson of Bell: A watchful citizenry is still essential, the Coeur d’Alene City Council will meet on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, at 6 p.m. to approve a large number of fee increases.