|
The only exceptional thing about the government corruption in Bell, California is that they got caught. Other then that it's just government as usual.
As Micheal Kaery said: Government of the people, by the elected officials and appointed bureaucrats, for the elected officials, appointed bureaucrats and special interest groups that got them into power.This rubbish goes on all the time in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Maricopa County, the state of Arizona and of course in the Federal government.
My Turn: Lessons from a deeply corrupt city Thom Reilly, AZ I See It 10:23 p.m. MST May 30, 2016 Professor: The scandal that engulfed a small city in California has big lessons for Arizona and beyond. "Corruption on steroids" is how Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley described the city of Bell, Calif., a tiny enclave of 37,000 people in Los Angeles County. In the late 2000's, Bell erupted into scandal when it was revealed that its Chief Administrative Officer, Robert “Bob” Rizzo, was making $1.5 million in total annual compensation, his assistant Angela Spaccia was being paid $850,000 and Police Chief Randy Adams was raking in $770,000. Even discounting the enormous sums involved, this was no ordinary failure of governance. As part of a well-orchestrated scheme, numerous city employees, elected officials, consultants, auditors, attorneys, unions, police and others became complicit in the plundering of this blue-collar city. Anyone who could have done something was either looking the other way or personally benefiting financially. The story of Bell, Calif. is a disturbing portrait of how collective corruption robbed one of L.A. County’s poorest cities for years – and, in essence, for many years more in the aftermath of Bell’s fiscal ruin. Arizona has its own corruption stories Bell is certainly a unique case, although allegations and proven episodes of corruption and malfeasance are hardly new around the country, including Arizona: Valley Metro’s former CEO Stephen Banta is accused of amassing $315,000 in unallowable or questionable expenses before resigning under pressure last year, according to a recent audit. An Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System chief procurement officer was sentenced in May to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $6 million in restitution after funneling state funds into a private bank account. Bribery and money-laundering indictments were issued against eight Arizona legislators and 10 lobbyists/political activists in 1991 on the heels of the impeachment and removal of Gov. Evan Mecham just a few years before. The Banta case resulted in the Arizona Legislature seeking tougher anti-corruption laws this past session. But the problem isn’t too few laws on the books. No one could stop these dynamics The city of Bell was influenced by several broad trends and dynamics that were – and still are – well beyond anyone’s ability to stop: years of economic decline; the deep demographic “churn” that worked against the emergence of a stable, engaged populace; the decline of traditional news media and the resulting void in oversight; the willingness of attorneys and auditors to look the other way; and a seeming lack of interest from county and state authorities in the fiscal affairs of Bell, a community that virtually went unnoticed in the shadow of the nation’s second-largest city. Well, Bell is on the map now and should serve not only as a case study in municipal corruption but also as a universal warning. As chief administrator, Rizzo maintained the massive fleecing of Bell – and the silence that concealed it – by removing those who opposed him and co-opting others via politics and money. He raised property taxes, issued bonds for imaginary capital improvement projects and created huge debt for city residents. He used the police force to target certain populations for fines, including undocumented immigrants. He targeted municipal institutions by diluting or dismantling the checks and balances built into Bell’s council-manager form of government. Lesson: Corruption can occur anywhere Rizzo and his staff went to great length to hide his illegal actions from the public. Few paid attention then, but many paid later. Public corruption – broadly understood as placing one’s private interests over the public good in public office – lay at the root of much of the distrust citizens have towards government. An engaged and informed electorate, a robust news media with a dedicated network for public oversight, and government transparency are essential components in preventing, detecting and combating corruption, and thereby restoring public trust. While the vast majority of elected officials and public workers are hard-working and honest public servants, we must be cognizant that corruption can occur at any level of government in any town, city, county or state. [I certainly have major disagreements with that statement] After all, a government of the people, by the people and for the people is still only human. [Sadly that ain't how it works. As Michale Kaery said "Government of the people, by the elected officials and appointed bureaucrats, for the elected officials, appointed bureaucrats and special interest groups that got them into power."] Thom Reilly is director of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University and author of the book "The Failure of Governance in Bell California: Big-Time Corruption in a Small Town." Reilly is also a professor in the School of Public Affairs at ASU. He will be discussing his book at 7 p.m. June 15 at Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 W. Camelback Road. For information, go online to http://www.changinghands.com/event/june2016/thom-reilly-failure-governance-bell-california.
|