BELL — After five hours of raucous comments from angry residents, the City Council Monday night took initial steps to return the scandal-plagued city back to normal.

The council voted to ask Los Angeles County to conduct the regular municipal election next March in which the terms of three council members — Mayor Oscar Hernandez and Councilmen George Mirabal and Lorenzo Velez will be up for re-election. Hernandez and Mirabal have already said they will not seek re-election.

The council also confirmed the tentative appointment of Pedro Carrillo as interim city manager by approving a contract with his firm, Urban Associates, Inc., for up to one year of administrative services at $175,000.

Carrillo said he is a temporary consultant and the contract includes no benefits or retirement pay.

The council also formally hired Jaime Casso as city attorney by contracting with his law firm, Meyers Nave, at a base fee of $215 an hour for services by an attorney such as Casso and $115 an hour for services by a paralegal.

Services outside the general city requirement, such as lawsuits, would cost an additional $195 to $290 an hour.

The vote on the latter two actions was 4-1 with Councilman Lorenzo Velez dissenting. Velez said he “wanted to distance myself” from the previous administration.

The Meyer Nave law firm, but not Casso personally, had handled some cases for Bell over the years while Carrillo’s firm also had some administrative assignments with Bell as well as Maywood and the Southeast Schools Coalition, of which Bell is a member.

In other action Monday, the council rescinded a July 23, 2007, resolution which charged residents three times the amount of property taxes allowed.

An audit released last Friday by state Controller John Chiang’s office said property owners paid about $2.9 million more than they should have the past three years with the city charging a higher tax rate for pension costs than allowed by state law.

The state audit was requested July 27 by Carrillo.

“We keep finding new problems every day,” Carrillo said Monday.
According to Chiang, state law caps the property tax rate for pension obligations at the rate used in fiscal year 1983-84. But residents of Bell saw their property tax obligation increase from percent in 2007 to percent this year, he said last week.

“While my investigation into the city of Bell continues, these unlawful taxes must stop immediately,” Chiang said. “Homeowners and property owners should not pay the price for this poor fiscal management.”

Chiang said lowering the tax rate would save residents about $250 a year on a property worth $275,000.

Carrillo Monday night said he and Casso are working with the state Legislature for a waiver of the state law which would have the excess funds go to the affected school district, in Bell’s case the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Los Angeles Times reported last month that Bell had the second-highest tax rate in the county — 1.55 percent — above the county average of 1.16 percent.

It was The Times which broke the story of excess taxes and city employee salaries last month. It reported that City Manager Robert Rizzo was being paid an annual salary of $787,637; Police Chief Randy Adams was receiving $457,000; and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia was receiving $376,000.

Additionally, the mayor and three of the four City Council members were being paid about $97,000 a year, including health benefits for their part-time jobs.
Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia have since resigned.

Spaccia at the time was on loan as interim city manager to the neighboring city of Maywood. Officials there have since replaced her but continue to contract with the city of Bell for municipal services.

On Aug. 10, Carrillo announced a national search for a new police chief and directed Casso to negotiate with the Bell Police Officers Association, which has been working without a contract. A memorandum of understanding with the officers will be ready for council action at the next regular meeting Sept. 20, Casso said.

Capts. Anthony Miranda and Steve Finkelstein are overseeing police operations.

The Bell mayor and council members July 22 agreed to reduce their salaries, but refused to heed their outraged constituents’ calls to step down now. Hernandez said he will not take any salary but will work to correct Bell’s problems.

“As soon as this is done I’m out of here,” he said Monday night.

Bell officials later revealed that at least seven other city administrators had six-figure salary and benefit packages.

They included Lourdes Garcia, director of administrative services, earning $422,707 a year; and Community Services Director Annette Peretz, making $273,542 annually.

Also a deputy city engineer was earning $247,573 a year; the business development coordinator was receiving $295,627; a police captain was receiving $238,075; and a police lieutenant was receiving $229,992.

They and the council all came under heavy criticism by residents, who continued to demand that the council members resign immediately and the administrators be fired.

During the five-hour public comment section of the meeting, from 7 p.m. to midnight, some 40 residents loudly vented their anger at the council and administrators. Some accused Carrillo and Casso of being friends with Rizzo.
Questioned by a resident, Carrillo said Rizzo has had no connection with Urban Associates, nor will he in the future.

Carrillo and Casso said they were doing their best to help the city. They stressed they were interim and had no plans to stay.

Artiga said the high salaries and other city practices and policies were already under way when he was elected to the council two years ago.

He also denied accusations that he lives in Chino Hills, saying a house he owned their was occupied by his parents. He invited residents to talk with neighbors near his Bell home.

Velez, appointed last fall, acknowledged that he was unaware of the high pay and practices until the Los Angeles Times broke the story.

Questioned by a resident, Velez said he earns the standard $310 a meeting. He denied a report that he makes $96,000 as a councilman, saying most of his pay is $70,000 a year as a Los Angeles city employee.

Investigations buy Attorney General Jerry Brown and Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley continue in Bell along with that of Chiang.