Outside the Beltway: A Taxpayer Victory in Bell, CA

Todd Thurman /

Last month, we highlighted wasteful spending in Bell, Calif., that resulted in paying the City Manager nearly $800,000 a year. There is a silver lining for Bell residents. This gross misuse of public funds prompted an investigation by prosecutors and what they found was amazing. They found that not only was the City Manager, Robert Rizzo, grossly overpaid, but the city council failed to oversee his actions, which resulted in Rizzo making unauthorized city loans to himself.

Prosecutor Steve Cooley was justifiably outraged by these findings saying: (more…)