Council Members Ring Their Own Bell

City Council members of the scandal-plagued city of Bell voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a special election for their own recall.

During a raucous council meeting where police had to clear the room, according to the Los Angeles Times, members approved a petition to set a special recall election in tandem with a regular county election in March.

The council was required to set an election date because proponents have gathered enough signatures to mandate a recall election for four of the five council members. Only one council member has remained unscathed by the city government scandal.

The recall will ask voters if they want to remove three sitting council members and a fourth member who has already resigned. Candidates to replace them will be on the ballot.

The newspaper reported that the mayor needed a police escort into the meeting as angry citizens jammed the council chambers, some heckling its tainted leaders.

Bell exploded into the spotlight this summer with press revelations that it was paying then-city administrator Robert Rizzo about $800,000 year.

The fallout since then has included civil and criminal charges against Rizzo and other city officials of misappropriating more than $5.5 million, and reports of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the city's municipal bond disclosure.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
California
MORE FROM BOND BUYER