LA City Council - Next In Line For Investigation?

They're amongst the highest paid city government officials in the nation, the 15 Los Angeles City Council "members" who must be very nervous about what's going on in terms of investigations into the high salaries paid to elected city officials in the City of Bell and other LA County cities.

Today a new voice was added to the many who now question whether councilmen are worth the high salaries they pay themselves. Former Assistant US Attorney Adam Schiff (Rep. D-Pasadena) "called on federal prosecutors to examine political corruption in Los Angeles County" according to the Pasadena News Star.

Schiff's call to arms is intriguing as he wants the US Attorney to conduct the investigation, not LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who made international headlines by busting "corruption on steroids" in the City of Bell, as well as prosecuting Los Angeles City Council "member" Richard Alarcon for living outside of his council district.

Perhaps Schiff felt it was incongruous for Cooley to pursue an investigation into the LA City Council's lack of action in the face of very damning evidence against Alarcon? Many are wondering why Alarcon should continue to receive in excess of $170,000 a year while facing charges that appear to be incontestable. Yet the City Council has steadfastly refused to consider suspending Alarcon's "CEO-like" salary while he struggles to find some excuse for not residing in his council district to such an extent that a homeless person was able to move in.

But it is not only Alarcon's pay that Schiff might be concerned about. All 15 Los Angeles council "members" receive over $170,000 a year, but many nevertheless consistently fail to show up for scheduled council meetings. Schiff may be on to something here as there certainly seems to be more than a degree of similarity between the charges in the Bell City case where councilmen received high salaries but rarely showed up for work, and the tardy attitudes of the Los Angeles City 15.

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is precluded from investigating and/or prosecuting his clients for taking high salaries and not showing up for work, and perhaps Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley already has enough on his plate. Maybe it's time for the US Attorney to do something to justify his salary and clamp down on the Los Angeles City Council - somebody has to.

Cooley Catches City Crooks - Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls ...

It's the talk of the town, if not the nation, "Corruption on steroids" was how LA's DA Steve Cooley described the culture of corruption that had ruled in the City of Bell. With the story well covered, we feature here a slightly different spin on the story published at Los Angeles Dragnet:

LA COUNTY DA STEVE COOLEY ARRESTS 8 IN BELL CITY SCANDAL

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley Announces Arrest of Bell City Officials

 While Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley today calmly announced the early morning arrests of those believed to be responsible for theft and misappropriation of $5.5M from the blue collar residents of the City of Bell, his democrat rival for Attorney General, Kamala Harris, used her platform as San Francisco DA to proudly announced that she would be prosecuting two people who illegally sold transfer tickets on San Francisco's mass transit system.“This is not a victimless crime,” Harris said in a statement to the San Francisco Examiner.

The 8 Bell City officials include former City Manager Robert Rizzo

 Harris, who holds the current record for having the lowest conviction rate of any major California city (55%) might have been puzzled at the legal theory used by Cooley's Public Integrity Unit to prosecute the 8 who comprise current and former Bell City officials.

For a legal lightweight like Harris, the notion that "misappropriation of public funds" and "conflict of interest" could be crimes must be both challenging and worrying; Harris still has been unable to satisfactorily explain what happened to $3.7M in Federal grant funds that she  received to prosecute 'border crimes' as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Under Harris, San Francisco has steadfastly maintained a "Sanctuary City" position regarding illegal immigration, so the concept of prosecuting 'border crimes' would appear to be an anathema to Ms. Harris.

Perhaps Ms. Harris should seriously think about repaying that $3.7M before Cooley becomes Attorney General as an investigation might conclude that Harris "misappropriated" that federal grant money. At least she'll now understand the legal theory.

The Bell City officials arrested this morning were former City Manager Robert Rizzo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, council members Teresa Jacobo, Luis Artiga and George Mirabal; former council members George Cole and Victor Bello; and former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia. All arrested are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.