2010-07-26 10:11

LOS ANGELES - Hundreds of residents in Bell City in the southeastern suburb of Los Angeles marched on Sunday in protest against "fat cat" officials who get exorbitant salaries.

With many wearing T-shirts that read "My city is more corrupt than your city," the protesters called for the resignation of Bell City Mayor Oscar Hernandez and some other City Council members.

The protesters demanded that the mayor and other City Council members reduce their six-figure salaries or quit.

The protest came after three city administrators resigned under mounting pressure from the public who were angered by their sky-high salaries.

Bell is a small city in Los Angeles County with only 37,000 residents and one of the poorest cities in the United States. One in six residents of the city lives in poverty. However, Bell City officials earn exorbitant salaries.

Bell City Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo reportedly earned $787,637 a year, which is nearly twice as much as US President Barack Obama; Police Chief Randy Adams earned $457,000 annually, 50 percent more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck; and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia earned $376,288, much more than most city managers in the county and also in the nation.

The three men resigned on Friday after California Attorney General's Office launched an investigation into the high salaries paid to top Bell City officials. But their resignation did not appease the public.

In such small cities like Bell, city mayor is elected among the five council members, and the mayor, vice mayor and council members are working part time. In most cities, mayors and other city council members earn between $250 and $500, with the $400 as the average for each month.

However, in Bell City, the average annual pay for city council members is $100,000.

Residents of the city did not know that their city officials are fat cats until the Los Angeles Times did a story earlier this month.

The salary scandal has triggered protests in the small, working-class city, southeast of downtown Los Angeles and drawn national attention.

"I don't think they are taking it seriously. And we're serious, " said longtime Bell resident Nestor Valencia, who organized Sunday's protest. "They need to resign," he said, referring to the mayor and three other City Council members.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the mayor and three of the council's four other members make about $100,000 a year, most of it in salaries for sitting on boards and commissions. Only Councilman Lorenzo Velez makes a modest salary of about 8,000 a year.

"This is a test for our community," Valencia said. "There's been a fiasco here."

The City Council has called an emergency meeting Monday to address the issue.