(Xinhua) -- For lack of internal financial controls, Bell City officials mismanaged 50 million dollars in bond funds, Caliphornia Controller John Chiang said on Wednesday.
"Our audit found the city had almost no accounting controls, no checks or balances, and the general fund was run like a petty cash drawer. The city's purse-strings were tied to only one individual, resulting in a perfect breeding ground for fraudulent, wasteful spending."
"Our audit found the city had almost no accounting controls, no checks or balances, and the general fund was run like a petty cash drawer," Chiang said in an audit. "The city's purse-strings were tied to only one individual, resulting in a perfect breeding ground for fraudulent, wasteful spending."
The city's financial controls were "virtually non-existent," leading to the city paying an inappropriate payroll, illegally raising taxes and mismanagement of 50 million dollars in bond funds, Chiang said. Yet the voters kept those clowns in office, didn't they?
The city of about 38,000 residents in suburban Los Angeles found itself in the national spotlight when The Los Angeles Times reported in July that some top city officials were making exorbitant salaries. City Manager Robert Rizzo was being paid an annual salary of 787,637 dollars; Gotta pay top dollar if you want the best people, right? What are the odds that a city manager making three-quarter of a mil a year would be a crook, right ...
Police Chief Randy Adams, 457, 000; and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, 376,000.
Additionally, Mayor Oscar Hernandez and three of the city's four council members -- Teresa Jacobo, Luis Artiga and George Mirabal -- were being paid 97,000 for their part-time jobs.
It's also been reported that the disgraced officials are eligible for huge pensions; that some had taken out questionable loans from the city; that residents' property tax rates were unlawfully high; and that the city also overcharged them for sewer service.
Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia have since resigned. The mayor and council members agreed to reduce their salaries, but refused to heed their outraged constituents' calls to step down. "Tut tut. And tut. Who knows more about the intricacies of the city's problems than us?"
The eight officials were jugged early Tuesday in connection with the charges filed by the District Attorney's Office. "We still ain't stepping down! So keep those paychecks comin'!"
The audit released by Chiang found that Rizzo had complete control over how city funds were spent, and he used personal funds for personal gain.
According to the audit, Rizzo's final salary was 787,000 dollars -- 11 times higher than his original salary. The city also used more than 93,000 dollars in public money to repay personal loans taken out by Rizzo, and approved 1.5 million in loans to other Bell employees, the audit showed. If I was making better than three quarters of a mill per year I wouldn't need to take out any loans.
The audit also confirmed that the city inappropriately hiked three taxes for Bell residents and business owners, including 2.9 million dollars in property tax assessments for pension obligations, 621,000 in sewer standby charges and 2.1 million in business license taxes.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Rumor in the LE world is that the cops turned em. The council planned to lay off cops and fireman, and wanted a pay cut - the union called the LA times. If true, should they have done that sooner - yeah - but you threaten a guys livelyhood?
Posted by: retired LEO ||
09/23/2010 0:16 Comments ||
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The chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party is defiantly defending his use of the f-word to describe tea party critics of President Obamas health care law, pledging in an e-mail to supporters that he will never apologize for speaking out forcefully against them. "And don't any of you m*****f*****s call me 'foul-mouthed,' either!"
Chairman Chris Redfern was caught on tape Monday night using the expletive as he attempted to arm supporters at a union forum with an argument to use against the presidents critics.
Now he or she gets health care, your health care, while he or she looks for a new job. In the very base terms, we win these arguments and every time one of these f***ers says excuse my language, Redfern said, using a variation of the f-word, according to a video clip posted by Wheeling, Ohio, television station WTOV. "F***in' YouTube!"
The clip went viral, and in an e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon, Redfern defended his remark and attempted to blame the tea party for denigrating the level of dialogue. "It's your f***in' fault I'm using so many G**d***ed f***in' swearwords!"
Posted by: Mike ||
09/23/2010 11:15 ||
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He is definitely an ass, so he fits well in the ass party.
[Iran Press TV] President Barack B.O. Obama may finally acknowledge that his economic team and policy have been a failure, says a senior American journalist. How does one become a "senior journalist"? Other than by going on social security, I mean.
I believe one waits for one's predecessors to die, thus making room for one to be promoted. Sometimes they retire or are fired, of course, which is much pleasanter than the alternative for all involved.
Jeffrey Steinberg, a senior editor with Executive Intelligence Review, Ahah. The Lyndon Larouche outlet. I can see we're firmly ensconced in the main stream of opinion here.
said the recent resignations of top presidential aides along with the planned departure of the top economic advisor may finally result in US president Barack Obama acknowledging that his economic policy is not working to save America's faltering economy. I don't think B.O. is ever going to admit such a thing. I'm sure those resigning just need to spend more time with their families, take in a few soccer matches, go to some PTA meetings.
On Tuesday, the US administration's top economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, announced his plans to leave after the November midterm elections at the end of the year. "I'm outta here! Back to Harvard, where theories have no consequences!"
"It (Summers' resignations) is a pleasant surprise because president Obama seems to be finally listening to the message that has been delivered to him by the vast majority of the American people and by the top officials of his own Democratic Party that economic policy of the White House team has been a total failure," Steinberg told Press TV on Wednesday. It's probably more like Larry's been listening. The entire B.O. administration's headed for a crash and they don't want to get splattered.
Summers' departure would mark the third high-profile swan dive from the White House economics team since July.
In July, budget director Peter Orszag stepped down and chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, left earlier this month.
"These are the architects of Obama's economic policies who are being blamed by top Democrats in Congress for creating the condition that is expected to be a political massacre in November," Steinberg added.
The resignations come amid reports stating a slowdown in the pace of the country's economic recovery.
The US Federal Reserves policy making panel says the growth of the American economy is likely to be "modest" in the near term.
The Federal Reserves' statements came ahead of the mid-term elections in November. The Fed has not announced plans to speed up economic recovery but says it stands ready to act if necessary.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the Fed's chairman has admitted concerns over the recovery. Ben Benerke said that the American economy is struggling to recover and needs a fresh stimulus to pull it out of one of the worst economic downturns it has seen in decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
I agree that BO will not ever acknowledge failure. It is one of those "force of the will" things that is the birthright of the American ruling class to exercise.
#3
Ben Benerke said that the American economy is struggling to recover and needs a fresh stimulus to pull it out of one of the worst economic downturns it has seen in decades.
#4
I've come to think of Keynesian economics as a big con game to get more money and control into the Federal government. It has nothing to do with the health of the economy. The latest version of Keynesian economics is to "ace out" the private sector completely.
#5
The thing about Keynesian economics, is that the man himself thought stimulus money spent in bad times was to have been saved up ahead by underspending in good times, not by borrowing from the future through deficit spending. So all those Keynesian deficit spenders are doing it wrong.
#6
Far, far too much analysis and credit for logical thought continues to be extended Obama and his group of thieves. This isn't about the process of economics. His thought algorithms reach no further than simple hues and colour, purple, black, or white. Problem solving in the Gulf via soda straws, childish thoughts of "why do they hate me" etc. Forget Harvard and Columbia, those were perhaps little more than convenient watering holes and social network sites along the sands of time. Obama lacks the skill, motivation, and possibly intellect required for critical thinking. He knows nothing of economics, nor does he care to. Examine Woodwards recent excerpts on his Afghanistan process if you will. Surrounded by critical thinkers, generals, planners, he loathes them all. Obama is a short-term thinker, immediate outcomes driven! In the bus - under the bus. The taking from one and quickly giving to another whom he personally deems worthy. There finished, done. Let's move on, have a smoke, drink a beer, take a holiday, appear on TeeVee. To coin an old phrase, "a farmer makes a plan." The farmer sees the future and the inherent requirements of survival. This man's future extends no further than the next round of golf or an upcoming holiday or foreign travel event. Like many of his ilk, his survival has been guaranteed by the State.
#7
Poor, sad JUSTICE. The subject at hand is economic theory, which your bilious comment indicates is beyond your capacity to understand. Are Saudi teachers really so incompetent that they can't give you something to think about that will take your mind far from the imagined joys of the armpits of unavailable women?
Ladies and gentlemen of Rantburg, JUSTICE seems to have a masochistic need to be a chew toy, clearly the only profession he can qualify for. Please be so good as to oblige him until his latest IP address is banned.
#9
Oh, and JUSTICE dear, Daddy was a professor of biochemistry before he retired. It's a mark of intelligence to remember these little details, you know. No doubt he could have explained exactly which genetic mutations you inherited that so hampered your ability to think clearly. Before that he was listed as a U.N. resource, quite unlike your own father, I suspect, which is why you must hang out at internet cafes.
And before that, he trained Israeli snipers. Also unlike your father, I'm quite sure. A pity he can't afford to buy you a job and a wife to keep you busier on Fridays.
#10
I still can't get beyond the source [Iran Press TV]. That's so bizarre my head hurts.
I applaud JUSTICE for throwing his anti-semitism out there for all to see. Most leftists hide their sick pathologies and force threads to pry them out over time.
#11
I still can't get behind the fact that the left has successfully branded the right as full of hate and racism when they demonstrate the opposite is true over and over and over. Conservatives need to keep holding the mirror up and shining the light on these kind of cockroaches.
#19
Poor JUSTICE is posting from Saudi Arabia, Sherry. We won't ask in how many different ways he's his own first cousin. By comparison, genetically Jews turn out to be on the 4th-5th cousin level, which is why not nearly so many of ours need institutionalizing. On the other hand, the fact that he's the son of a jet jockey and not of successful academics could explain at least part of the caliber of his thinking. This is why he thinks he remembers reading something on 3.October, 2006 that I didn't say to a person who wasn't there that day. I don't think he'll be a fighter pilot like his beloved father, no matter how well-connected his daddy might be.
#25
Hey, JUSTICE, did you know that you spelled deodorant wrong? But it's not your fault. It's because your parents never used any, so you were probably never introduced to the word.
#26
"Probably some 12 year wanna-be something playing on his dad's computer in Saudi kingdom."
You're too kind, JohnQC.
"Poopstein-Pee pee baum-Boo boo" sounds more like 4 or so.
Mental age, at least.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/23/2010 14:46 Comments ||
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#27
Genetic mutations, TW? Or were you thinking of inbreeding?
Inbreeding concentrates genetic mutations, Grunter. Arranged marriages permit the defectives to breed, when they could not otherwise attract mates. A cultural tradition of close-cousin marriage means that people like poor JUSTICE have family trees that look more like barber poles than, well, trees. Then there's the long tradition of quiet sexual abuse of both boys and girls within the household, addressed directly by the Koran and Hadiths outlining permitted behaviours that to the rest of the world are seriously and unhealthily deviant. JUSTICE knows what I'm talking about, he has raved about some of that in Rantburg's pages over the years, using images that indicate mental problems that would concern me greatly were I his parent. What that means is that the tribes of the Arabian peninsula are genetically first cousins or so, even though their official family trees make it look like they ought to average second cousin variability.
As for the potty obsession, that holds true across the local culture, I'm told. I think it's more to do with the anxieties that result from boy-rape (Mr. Wife never, ever went into the coffee houses in Jeddah for that reason, although he purely loves Arab coffee) than poor toilet training techniques, which tend to display in other ways.
Either that, or it's a response to male coming-of-age circumcision. It's so much safer, healthier, and less traumatic to make that snip when the boy is a baby only a few days old -- they don't yet form memory at that age, and heal so much faster as well.
#28
Shouldn't people who believe that government spending + taxes create wealth be deemed sufficiently insane that they aren't allowed to vote?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/23/2010 15:32 Comments ||
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#29
Justice -- LOL, Everyone's dad overthere is some sort of big-wig...I used to tell the iraqis my dad was a general (vice the former paratrooper turned welder he really was) and that I had 4 boys...oh for the stupid pretentious airs your culture puts on to look like big shots...
#30
I think it's more to do with the anxieties that result from boy-rape
What kills me is that these folks want to pass their unbending culture on to their children. They obviously hate it, both men and women. Yet they gift this to their own children, knowing that their own children will have to grow up in this mind-altering hell.
#31
Now, now people. JUSTICE has taken time from his busy schedule of beating the maid, picking his nose left-handed, and reading this month's copy of PlayGoat to enlighten us with what passes for his wit and wisdom. We should give his words all the attention they deserve.
#33
"We should give his words all the attention they deserve."
I think we have, DMFD. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/23/2010 20:36 Comments ||
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#34
If you want to see the result of generations of inbreeding look at the story of Charles II of Spain.
The Wikipedia article says that as the result of cousins marrying cousins for generations among the royal families of Europe, Charles II was more homozygous than a brother-sister mating.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/23/2010 20:53 Comments ||
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#35
I suspect Justice is not only his own cousin, sister, uncle, and father of several goats...most of them dumb
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2010 20:58 Comments ||
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#36
Rambler in Virginia---Charles II of Spain in the Wiki article had an illustration of Charles' pedigree. Family tree? More like a rootbound plant if you ask me.
Unbelievable! I would not breed dogs that way.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/23/2010 22:20 Comments ||
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#37
"I would not breed dogs that way"
True, AP, but dogs are valued and valuable beings. Saudis, not so much.
I think it's safe to say of just about any saudi "his family tree don't fork."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/23/2010 22:50 Comments ||
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#38
A 747 is a jet fighter? Who knew? (You would think he coulda scored at the last family reunion with a story like that. Next time, tell your cousins that Daddy was a ninja.)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(Xinhua) -- For lack of internal financial controls, Bell City officials mismanaged 50 million dollars in bond funds, 
Politico
