A Lesson in Democracy
Robert Rizzo, the City Manager of Bell, a very poor city in Southern California, receives annually $787,637 - almost $800,000! For overseeing a population of about 40,000! How come? Nobody was paying attention to the politicians running the place.
Actually, few people even knew what was happening until the L.A. Times investigated and discovered the lucrative corruption in the city. As the L.A. Times reported today:
The highly paid members of the Bell City Council were able to exempt themselves from state salary limits by placing a city charter on the ballot in a little-noticed special election that attracted fewer than 400 voters.
According to the Times, in 2005, a state law was passed that limits the pay of council members of "general law" cities. Since Bell was a "general law" city,
............the Bell City Council authorized a special election with only one item on the ballot — a measure calling for Bell to convert to a "charter" city. The move was billed as one that would give the city more local control. The ballot language included no mention of the effect the change would have on council members' salaries.
Yes, indeed, now, as a "charter city," they could play around with salaries as they wished. And they wished and they did. There was no one around to stop them. Nobody knew what was happening.
Today, the people of Bell are outraged. Now they are getting together to protest. But it is too late. Rizzo and his fellow corrupt politicians made sure there were contracts signed that called for big retirement bonuses. Where were the people of Bell when they had a chance to vote on the initiative?
The charter measure passed, 336 to 54, with the votes in favor amounting to less than 1% of the city's population of roughly 40,000. The majority of the ballots, 239, were absentee votes. The special election cost Bell $40,000 to $60,000, city officials said.
It appears than only 54 residents had any idea of what was being proposed and how bad it would be for them; they voted against the measure. The vast majority paid no attention. Why bother?
In a democracy you must pay attention to what politicians do, or they will steal you blind. Had the residents gotten themselves informed, they could easily have voted the measure down.
A lesson for democracy. You MUST stay informed and you MUST vote.
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