Public Service Is Not What It Used to Be

James Sherk /

California

Managing the city of Bell, California, is apparently twice as challenging as being President of the United States. The Los Angeles Times reported on July 15, that Bell’s soon-to-be-former Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 a year.

Bell is not exactly a wealthy metropolis. It is a small, predominantly Hispanic city of 38,000 southeast of Los Angeles. It has a per-capita income of only half the national average—making it the poorest city in Los Angeles County. Yet its city manager makes nearly twice what President Obama does governing the whole country. Rizzo also makes 157 percent more than the Los Angeles County Chief Executive earns managing a city with 100 times more people.

Equally shocking, Bell’s part-time city council members make nearly $100,000 a year. Typically, a city the size of Bell would compensate its council members $400 a month.

Bell’s residents, whose taxes fund these salaries, do not find this amusing. Since this news broke, groups of hundreds of city residents have loudly protested this pay at city council meetings. The citizen pressure has already lead Rizzo to tender his resignation. (more…)