Voters in the beleaguered Southern California city of Bell tossed out their entire City Council during a recall election Tuesday.
The clean sweep by voters clears the way for an all new council of first-time office holders.
The city in Los Angeles County was thrust into the spotlight in the summer by press reports it was paying its city administrator at the time, Robert Rizzo, about $800,000 a year.
The fallout since then has included civil and criminal charges against Rizzo, four City Council members, and other members of Bell’s management team. They are accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from the city, which has a population of about 40,000.
Since the fallout, the city has been struggling to align its finances, facing a deficit of up to $4.5 million.
Bell has seven outstanding bond issues totaling $136 million of debt.
