A City’s Story Rings a Bell

Another California city briefly stole the limelight from Mission Viejo’s dysfunctional city hall. The city of Bell grabbed headlines last week when taxpayers became outraged over public officials’ excessive salaries.

On July 20, the LA Times reported that Bell’s city salaries are among the highest in the nation. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-20/california-official-s-800-000-salary-in-city-of-38-000-triggers-protests.html . Bell is a city of 38,000 residents, and the average income is approximately $30,000.

Four of the city’s five council members are paid nearly $100,000 annually. Bell’s city manager makes $787,637 a year, the chief of police is paid $457,000 and the assistant city manager is paid $376,288.

After Bell’s residents demanded resignations, the city staff engaged its spin machine. The mayor’s response to residents included a slam against the LA Times for creating a “contrived uproar.” He continued: “We are confident that your pride in our great City endures and that the City’s financial health and superior public services demonstrate that our priorities remain intact.”

How were Bell’s city officials able to pull off such public robbery? LA Times reporter Jeff Gottlieb says the city avoided state salary limits by changing Bell from a general law city to a charter city. The change occurred on a city ballot measure in which only 400 voters participated. City leaders had argued that the change was necessary to give the council more flexibility.

Mission Viejo watchdog Larry Gilbert picked up on the relevance of the trouble in Bell. He posted an article on July 21, pointing to Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury, who has touted the advantages of making Mission Viejo a charter city: http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/07/why-did-mv-councilman-ury-promote-changing-to-a-charter-city-government

Here’s Gilbert’s opening paragraph:

A few council meetings ago Mission Viejo councilman Frank Ury suggested changing from a General Law to a Charter form of city government. At the time he was expressing a desire to take diminish control of the state government as it related to raiding our redevelopment agency bank account. That issue could have opened Pandora’s Box if voters were convinced that this was his only agenda. Don’t be tricked as happened in the city of Bell.”