LET'S PLAY "SPOT THE DEMOCRAT"

Quote from: GRAY on August 17, 2010, 06:34:34 PM

http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/article.cgi?article=381

In the greatest party-affiliation cover-up since the media tried to portray Gary Condit as a Republican, the media are refusing to mention the party affiliation of the thieving government officials in Bell, Calif.

The one newspaper to cough up party affiliations, The Orange County Register, admitted that the corrupt officials were all Democrats only in response to reader complaints about the peculiar omission.

So we know the media are aware of party affiliations. They just chose not to mention it when it would require them to identify shockingly corrupt government officials as Democrats
.
Any day now, the media will start describing Maxine Waters as "the light-skinned congresswoman from California."

Unlike political corruption involving sex or bribery, the outrage in Bell isn't a scandal that hits both parties from time to time -- it's how the Democrats govern.

Elected Democratic officials bestow ludicrous salaries and benefits packages on government employees, and, in return, public employee unions make sure the Democrats keep getting re-elected.

The scandal in Bell isn't a scandal at all for the Democrats. Au contraire! This is the governing strategy of the Democratic Party.

Bell California Democrat Mayor Oscar Hernandez is unapologetic
for his astronomical six figure annual salary awards

Bell California city manager and government union employee and Democrat
Robert Rizzo who receives an annual salary in excess of $800,000.00 is set
to receive millions of dallars in retirement benefits and pension even though
the city of Bell has a scant population of 36,552

Gray,

I am going to go out on a limb and day they are Democrats. I wonder if the California Democrat Attorney General, Jerry Brown, who is also caught up in a state retirement scam of his own, will be proceeding with indictments in this obvious case of maleficence and outright thievery of the public treasury, especially since the state is nearly bankrupt? I know what you are thinking. Why is he invoking a discussion on the government pension systems in California and the pending bankruptcy of the great state of California. What does that have to do with those of us in fly over country? I understand this inattention. I was the same way when I heard about this governmental fraud mess out west. The reason I bring this subject up is that you and I and generations of our posterity not yet born will be forced to pay for this financial malfeasance by these government union fraudsters masquerading as public officials. Remember, this administration (speaking of the national government at this point) has chosen government union employees as a special class of protected citizens. This means the rest of the states will be on the hook for this financial rot out in California as this administration will simply borrow or print more money to bail out California. This is the reason why this matter now concerns you and I. The state official responsible for the oversight of this sort of criminal activity (What is going on in Bell is outright theft folks. Let us not try to gloss over this point.) is the Attorney General of the great state of California ,one Jerry Brown. The only problem is Brown is embroiled in a government pension retirement problem of his own. See this link = http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/08/13/the-mystery-of-jerry-browns-pension/62501/

I have made the point in another thread that the hearts of the citizens must be changed first if we are going to renew our government. We have all fallen short (present company included). Our present form of government is not the problem. The problem is those we have chosen to be governmental officials lack character. (see Brown link above and post story re: the city of Bell below) Not all those that serve in government are bereft of character. In fact, I can think of a man from Knoxville that serves in the US House that is a good man that tries his best to do the right thing and stands for high character. I don't always agree with him but he is a man of character none the less. In fact, I wish he were my congressman even though I disagree with him on some issues because I now he will do what he thinks is best for the people and he is a lover of the US constitution.The problem is people such as this man from Knoxville are starting to become the minority. Character does matter and it does matter what the definition of "is" is. We ALL need a renewal of the heart. Our hearts are broken and our collective financial debt and our rampant corruption in government are merely symptoms of the bigger problem.

Quote

A defiant Bell City Council defended the hefty compensation awarded to City Manager Robert Rizzo and two other officials just hours after the three agreed to resign amid a public outcry.

In the city's first formal statement on the salary issue, Bell released a letter from Mayor Oscar Hernandez in which he praised Rizzo's service to the city and said his nearly $800,000 annual salary was justified.

"Unlike the skewed view of the facts, the Los Angeles Times presented to advance the paper's own agenda, a look at the big picture of city compensation shows that salaries of the City Manager and other top city staff have been in line with similar positions over the period of their tenure," Hernandez said in the letter.

Hernandez did address the outrage generated after The Times revealed the salaries last week, adding: "We recognize that today's economic climate and the financial hardships so many families are suffering put our past compensation decisions in a new light. To the residents of Bell, we apologize."

As part of the resignations, Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia will not receive severance packages. Rizzo will step down at the end of August and Spaccia will leave at the end of September. Adams also will leave at the end of August after completing an evaluation of the Police Department.

Rizzo earns nearly $800,000 a year, believed to make him the highest-paid city manager in California and possibly the nation. Adams makes $457,000 — 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck — and Spaccia makes $376,288, more than the top administrator for Los Angeles County.

The decision was announced at midnight to a crowd of angry Bell residents that had been waiting anxiously since 4:30 p.m. when the City Council began its meeting. None of the administrators attended the session. The crowd erupted in applause after the announcement but immediately yelled out questions about what would happen to the council members. Four of the five are paid close to $100,000 annually. When residents' questions were not answered, they shouted, "Recall!"

"Definitely letting go of these three top officials is the first step we need to fix the city," said Cristina Garcia, a member of BASTA, or the Bell Assn. to Stop the Abuse.

Throughout the evening, several residents complained that the council was taking too long, while others clapped in unison to urge the members to come out.

"This is outrageous," said Marcelino Ceja, who has lived in the city for 17 years. "They have to hurry up. I've got kids to feed."

The emergency meeting followed several days of negotiations between the officials and attorneys for the city to reach deals.The crowd began shouting when Councilman Lorenzo Velez's request to open the meeting to the public was overruled by the city attorney, who said the city would be at legal risk if it discussed personnel matters in public.