Bloomberg is reporting of protests during a city hall meeting In Bell California when it was reported that the city manager makes a staggering $800,000 per year in salary.

"An overflow crowd packed a City Council meeting in Bell, a mostly Hispanic city of 38,000 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, to call for the resignation of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and other city officials. Residents left standing outside the chamber banged on the doors and shouted “fuera,” or “get out” in Spanish."

It gets even better: "It was the first council meeting since the Los Angeles Times reported July 15 that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 -- with annual 12 percent raises -- and that Bell pays its police chief $457,000, more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck makes in a city of 3.8 million people. Bell council members earn almost $100,000 for part-time work."

"City Attorney Edward Lee said the council members couldn’t discuss salaries in public without advance notice. The council then adjourned for a private session. About an hour later, the council members returned, and Hernandez read a statement saying the city would prepare a report on the salaries and seek public comment at the next council meeting, scheduled for Aug. 16." "Residents shouted in protest. Lee said he would have the room cleared if people continued to speak out of line. Police Chief Randy Adams said the fire department wanted to end the meeting because the crowd outside was blocking the door." "Then, in what appeared to be an effort to ease tensions, Hernandez announced that the meeting to discuss salaries would be held instead on July 26."

We can't make this stuff up. In the same article, Bloomberg reports that the average income in the city of Bell is around $24,000. To me, that actually sounds quite high, given that Bell is one of the poorest municipalities in Southern California. Perhaps the average is raised due to what many other city workers make.

Wiki reports that "Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia collects $376,288 a year, with a similar 12% annual pay increase; Police Chief Randy Adams collects $457,000 a year; and the part-time city council members collect almost $100,000 a year each."

No wonder people are mad as hell and are not going to take it any more. We will add Bell to our list (soon to be published) of municipalities that are in trouble. One wonders if residents will continue to pay city taxes (and bond interest payments) that keep these fat cows sucking on the tit of political theft.