The corruption scandal involving the city of Bell, California, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo and his chief deputy, Angela Spaccia, gets dirtier and dirtier.

During Friday’s testimony, Deputy District Attorney Sean Hassett forced Spaccia to acknowledge that a 2006 resolution approved by the City Council had been illegally altered (switched) so the wording they signed was different from the wording of the resolution in their council packets.   What was in the Council packet and what the Council believed they were signing was, in fact, different from what they actually did sign.   Someone on the City staff, someone obviously trusted by the Council members, had altered the documents, public records.

The result was that the Council gave Rizzo more power and authority than had been intended.  It allowed Rizzo to approve lucrative contracts with City employees without Council approval.

Fortunately, nothing like that could ever happen in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  Our Council diligently reads every document in its packet.  They compare word-for-word what their packet contains with what our City Clerk puts in front of them.  Our City Finance Director and City Attorney do the same.   Everyone’s paying attention, so we’re safe, right?  Two words:  Sheryl Carroll.