Just because the wheels of justice may be turning in a Los Angeles court room doesn’t mean that the Rizzo era is history in Bell. Its effects, both positive and negative, are still playing at center stage in the struggling city.
The little city has about $1 million in annual legal bills – which are three times higher than a similar sized town. Although some illegally approved parcel taxes have been repealed, property taxes remain high, even by Los Angeles standards. And some employees who received generous pay raises during the days of Rizzo’s alleged corruption, salaries that are not sustainable.
The city had considered disbanding its police department, and its mayor is still working with the unions to secure pay and benefit concessions to restore balance to the department’s balance sheets.
At least one member of the city council publicly advocates for a bankruptcy, which would make contracts easier to adjust.
Read the full story at SCPR.org.