In an update to a Los Angeles Times article on Wednesday, Jeff Gottlieb is now reporting that documents released by Bell show the city’s loan program for employees totaled nearly $1.5 million.


From the Times:

Based on documents it had obtained, The Times tallied payments to more than a dozen employees for nearly $900,000, all apparently part of “administrative agreements” or loans issued by the city.

But in response to a public records request, Bell provided more than 100 pages of additional documents that showed loans totaling $1.49 million. Some were marked “paid”; others had handwritten notes suggesting they are still outstanding.

The city also acknowledged that former City Manager Robert Rizzo also received two loans for $80,000 each, which pushes the total to more than $1.6 million.

City Manager Pedro Carrillo, who was awarded a one-year contract with the city, posted the following statement on the Bell Web site:

“We are in the midst of determining who benefited from the program, how much money was loaned from the program and how much money remains to be paid back to the city of Bell,” he said.

Details of the loans can be found here.