Former Bell police officer alleges serious voting irregularities in 2009 election

A retired Bell police sergeant claimed in a lawsuit filed this week that off-duty Bell police officers in the 2009 election distributed absentee ballots to voters and told them which candidates to select.

The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed by James Corcoran, who says he was forced out of his job for  informing authorities about the officers' actions as well as for a variety of other actions that he says top city leaders did not like.

According to the lawsuit, Corcoran in 2009 reported to the California secretary of state’s chief investigator and the FBI “that off-duty police officers were taking absentee ballots and providing them to voters to fill out.”

Corcoran claimed that officers instructed individuals how to vote and that some ballots were filled out for deceased people.

The secretary of state's office declined to discuss the case -- or to say whether the allegations were still being actively investigated. It's unclear whether the FBI pursued the case.

The Times revealed last week that only about 400 people voted in a 2005 special election that made Bell a charter city and allowed council members to increase their pay.

Corcoran claimed in his suit that he was demoted and eventually fired for taking on top city officials, including investigating what he said was an allegation that outgoing City Manager Robert Rizzo touched a female secretary in the police department. (Rizzo could not be reached for comment.)

Corcoran said he was demoted from detective sergeant to patrol sergeant in 2009, losing his right to a take-home car and flexible hours. This year, Corcoran filed a claim for damages against the city and with the state Department of Fair Employment. He says he retired to avoid being fired.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton

Photo: The crowd erupts at Monday night's City Council meeting in Bell, where council members said they would take a 90% pay cut after outcry. Credit: Don Bartletti / L.A. Times

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Video: Why do Bell officials make so much money? The Times' Jeff Gottlieb explains.

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Photos: Protests in Bell

Comments

[Robert]

Everyone in the city of Bell already knows this. In the last election, almost every candidate received around 400-600 votes except for the Mayor Hernandez clan, who all received around 1200 votes each, 800 of which were casted absentee. People were very upset about this but didn't think that this was any sort of voter fraud.

They even went as far as distributing flyers depicting some of the middle eastern candidates as terrorists.

And yes Rizzo was the mastermind behind all this

[SL]

Democracy needs more people aware of the issues and making good choices to support good candidates, not more people yelling and shouting after everything has happened.

[andy levinson]

How much is Corcoran's retirement......probably well over $80,000

[Cooler heads]

It looks like this thing is going to have legs! I hope the DA will do his job!

[artzoo]

I find the whole situation in Bell to be truly corrupt, there is no way that any of the current people in city hall should be even there as we speak. The other thing is that the neighboring cities have all been in question for corruption, cities such as Maywood and South Gate!

[John]

I guess the salaries were just the tip of the iceberg.

[andy levinson]

Corcoran got his fat pension...why is he complaining....does he want more?

[DRE DAWG]

HOW MUCH DOES YOUR CITY COUNCIL MAKE A YEAR???? GO FIND OUT!!! I'M SURE BELL ISN'T AN ANOMALY.

[Gerald]

More and more we find that public officials like the District Attorney, the Attorney General, or, in this case, the Secretary of State, were made aware of serious wrongdoing and they failed to investigate. These widespread failures by the public officials who are supposed to protect public integrity is itself a scandal about the lack of public integrity of those who are suppose to prosecute for malfeasance in office, election fraud, and theft in office.

Have you seen anyone prosecuted for malfeasance in office lately? It is time to bring back prosecutions for these crimes.

[troy]

Tip of the iceberg?

[Tee]

May the can of worms be opened . . .

[Charles]

The entire Bell government should be indicted on criminal charges.

[DENIS]

This guy should have his job reinstated. The fraud, the corruption on the part of many members of the Bell council will be exposed and each will no doubt start to roll or face serious jail time... while their families and children suffer public embarassment, humilation and potential retaliation. If I were them, I would be looking to make a pubic apology and amends before those they were to have served retaliate with violence. Please step up before they're not only forced to step down, but slapped down and buried. Please.

[chum76]

This is what a true tea party could be doing. I live in Pennsylvania and I can tell you there is just as much going on here with the "elected" officals as in Bell Ca. People all over the USA need to rise up and stop this trash from draining the taxpayers dry. We need to start from the local level and work our way up.

[Elaine]

I agree with SL. I appreciate the LATimes for uncovering this sordid affair but why were the residents not aware and active in years previous? That is what democracy is all about.

[Paul]

Where have the people of this town been? They don't vote or even know who is "representing" them. I've never been a Jerry Brown fan, but I agree with him in going after the corruption so (1) some people can be sent to prison (2) the retirement system will not be ripped off by these crooks who were hired by crooks (council members). They don't deserve any more from the retirement system than the lowest paid government paid employee in California.

[Bebe]

Will the crooks get to keep all of their pensions if they committed criminal acts to pad them?

[Charlene Townsend]

Charles, you're absolutely right!!!

[richard cory]

Does anyone see a similarity between the voting fraud of minorities in the city of Bell and the last presidential election?

[hypatia]

Hey Levinson, what does Corcoran's retirement have to do with the voter fraud perpetuated by Rizzo and Co?

[ep1008]

Actually dre dawg, the typical annual salary of City Managers is $200-350,000, depending on the city. However, Rizzo's salary was well over 50% the average income for most CA City Managers which is extremely absurd because the residents are primarily low-income. For him to justify his reasons because he's managed to balance budget and not go into default is noteworthy...but not enough. Such corruption has compromised the safety of its residents, in terms of eliminating the City's Public Safety to join the City of Maywood. If the City didn't have to pay for such salaries and benefits, they wouldn't need to terminate an entire department. The City of Bell's actions, is just pure corruption and greed.

[Jordan]

I got to go on a ride-along with Bell Police in 2005. It was an eye-opening experience but not one that gave me the impression that it was a corrupt police department in a corrupt town.

Looks like I was very wrong about that.

[Baffled Observer]

I guess the revolution might as well start in Bell as anywhere else.

[quadbubbles]

The citizens of Bell should declare bankruptcy and say, "sorry, we can't fund your sweetheart pension deals, you'll have to take a cut." This is what needs to happen in thousands of towns and cities accross America.

[juan cuba]

dont be jealous Levinson