Rizzo's compensation totaled $1.5 million a year, Bell records show

Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, whose $787,000 salary prompted widespread outrage, received an unusually large package of benefits that increased his annual compensation to more than $1.5 million, according to city records reviewed by The Times.

Rizzo's benefits package -- which covers time off as well as retirement, medical and other types of insurance -- shows he was paid for time off that amounted to more than 20 weeks per year.

Bell's new interim city attorney said Saturday that Rizzo’s compensation package raised serious questions and that the city planned to investigate who approved the perks and whether they were legal.

“It appears Rizzo was getting an inordinate amount of hours of vacation and sick benefits and being paid for it,” said Jamie Casso of the law firm Meyers Nave. “We’re looking to see when it was approved, whether it was approved at a City Council meeting and who approved it.”

Compensation experts said Rizzo’s compensation was far above the norm.

“This is extraordinary, it is outlandish and in absolutely no way represents” normal compensation for city managers, said Dave Mora, West Coast regional director of the International City/County Management Assn. and a retired city manager. “Extreme is a kind word.”

The revelations come as both the L.A. district attorney's office and the California attorney general's officer are investigating high salaries received by Rizzo, other top Bell administrators as well as Bell City Council members, who earned nearly $100,000 a year before cutting their pay two weeks ago.

Details about Rizzo’s full compensation are contained in city records requested by The Times under the California Public Records Act.

Rizzo did not return calls seeking comment.

The records say Rizzo was to receive $386,786 in paid vacation and sick benefits this year on top of his base salary. Casso said city officials were still trying to understand the compensation agreement. But the documents appear to show Rizzo was being paid for 107 vacation days and 36 sick days a year. The documents show the city paid $48,996 annually into Rizzo’s deferred compensation plans.

Bell also paid $20,496 into Rizzo’s 457 plan, which is similar to a 401(k) for government employees. According to Rizzo’s contract, the city was to pay the full amount of his 457 plan in the first 10 days of the year, meaning he could benefit from an entire year of interest or investment gains.

-- Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives

Photo: Robert Rizzo. Huntington Beach Police Department.

Investigating Bell: A Times special report:

Is a city manager worth $800,000?

In depth: High salaries in Bell

Interactive: How the salaries got so high

Interactive: Paying too much? How property taxes compare

Video: Why do Bell officials make so much money?

Photos: Protests in Bell

Comments

[Robert NO longer in LA]

YOUR re-elected politicians @ work; never gore another's sacred cow.....just screw the people! EVERYONE of you can send your message of disgust to BOTH political parties this November + Nov 2012 and lastly in 2014 (to 'take care' of Imperial Senators who DESERVE to go, and go DOWN badly!!!). Wake the schnell UP!

[MPOA]

This was a conspiracy between all involved including the law firm of Best Best & Kreiger. I hope they all do time in jail especially that dirtbag Angela Spaccia who keeps telling everyone she didn't do anything wrong. She was probably making about $750k a year with benefits.

Now I understand why Maywood disbanded the police department and laid all the city workers off. They wanted to pad the cities account so that they to could get paid big like Bell. Bell was schooling the corrupt Maywood council but got busted before Felipe Aguiree, Gordado and Rizo could get paid.

[misanthropicus]

How do you dare! Rizzo himself was very clear about his income when he said that he would get anytime the same money if working in the industry - and this is very true, a man of his overarching competence would find in no time a job out there that pays $700 a year (100 days off y compris). I am sure that the head hunters for the Fortune 100 companies have all camped on his lawn and are begging him for the chance of an interview. -Then... maybe not. Whatever -

[Scooter]

R.I.C.O. ...............................................Suave!!!!!!

[bill]

i understand the outrage, however, this is stimulus. right now because of the recession we need to encourage spending. this gentleman is creating jobs by spending, there are hairdressers and carwashers in the world and people who do not admit this are living in a fantasy word.

paul krugman can explain this better than me (he's my god). it's nobel prize winning discoveries.

a lot of times the right wing (fox news) just throws itself into a panic. not seeing the big picture. the big picture is to not demonize this man, he's a public sector worker. what is evil is capitalism, because that's oppressing the poor and making a profit.

non profits are the future.

[huitzilopochtli]

Maybe the ironclad contract is one thing but IRS should nail the coffin shut.

[Boring]

[[Gotta hand it to the Democrats that ran Bell! If you're going to steal money from the citizens of the city, go big! Maybe this approach can be a platform for all Democrats running for the Assembly. Posted by: SteveLA | August 07, 2010 at 03:23 PM]]

Gotta hand it to the Republicans that ran Halliburton, Blackwater and the war in Iraq. If you're going to steal money from the citizens of the United States, GO BIG!

[tooey town]

try investigating what west covina council members have given themselves and andy pasmant, their city manager. his total comp is over 400k a year. he came from southgate prior to west covina, and all those little cities there like bell are all corrupt.

[Boring]

[[1) Why didn't anyone in-the-know question these salaries and perks when they were implemented? 2) Why wasn't any this discovered sooner? 3) How in the world did Rizzo and the rest think they were going to get away with this in the long term? | Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Posted by: Minnesota Mike | August 07, 2010 at 03:41 PM]]

The answer to questions one and two is that there was no local newspaper with a city hall reporter to sit in council meetings and dig through records and report on what was found. And you have a massive illegal immigrant population that was exploited in government and taxes the same way they are exploited in housing and jobs.

The answer to question three is, if not for the LAT and (I imagine) a whistle-blower, they would have gotten away with it.

Nobody thinks they need a newspaper..."I can get the sports and weather for free on the internet...and then they find out too late that they've been getting screwed. Oh, if only there was someone looking out for the public interest!

[Edge]

I think it's time we started calling him "Ratso Rizzo", seem appropriate at this point.

[George D. Porter]

This shows you, in the eyes of a Texan, just how out of control the whole state of California is. You are going all the wrong directions all at the same time. These kind of salaries that you allow will come out of your pockets. You get what you pay for! Enjoy.

[yahooie]

Criminal looks like old mafia taking advantage of new mafia! How about reality show How I made my millions vie for Master amasser.
The winner competes for a town of his own in the Inland Empire.

[bebe]

We shouldn't let a thief get away from this. He couldn't do this all by himself. So hope we will get each one of them who help and benefit from it. It is clean up time to get thief and worm out of our society.

[checkyourfacts]

I would suspect that just about every city has some dirty little secrets they don't want publicized. Mr. Rizzo brings to mind a Mr. Marty Stafford who ran the City of Industry in the San Gabriel Valley a number of years ago, he ended up in prision.

[Bob]

Boy, that guy was good!

And, a part-time job, at that!

[Valerie From Oregon]

You've done a great job so far LA Times. Keep digging!

[joe]

I believe that picture near the headline says it ALL.

[Taxpayer]

Check out all public employee salaries, not necessary the ones who were elected, but the ones who were there as directors, managers, chief, and leads forever! They continue to rape the city coffer years after years. They are not the high profile, but steal public funds below the radar.

[Paul Espinoza]

AGAIN, WHERE ARE THE FEDS? I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THE DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION ISN'T TAKING A VERY HAD LOOK AT THESE EGREGIOUS ACTS OF FRAUD.
ACCOMPLICES FLOURISH IN THIS SCHEME...PERHAPS AS FAR UP AS THE APPROVING AUTHORITY OF CALPERS.
THIS MUCH MONEY IS JUST TOO GREAT NOT TO CAUSE SOME INVESTIGATION.

[Upwinger]

The LA Times has done a GREAT job of exposing the salary, benefits and pensions fraud in Bell which, is of course only the tip of the iceberg in California government.

Today we read that the Bell manager "... was paid for time off that amounted to more than 20 weeks per year. "

This is actually very widespread practice in cities, counties, and all public agencies in California.

Many police officers and fire fighters in California work only 62% of what is consideed to be a full-time job in the private sector. And as the TIMES correctly points out this costs taxpayers plenty.

Keep up your great work and than you.

[Richard]

IF for any reason what soever this is not illegal, it should be.
We need to know the compensation of EVERY person in government.
From the lowest of the low to the highest of the high.
We also need to verify exactly WHAT they are doing for the pay and then
determine if they are overpaid, or even needed at all.

And compensation includes things like cars, food allowances, medical care.
EVERY dollar that comes out of the public coffer needs to be accounted for.

Also, it is time for REAL pension reform.
No pensions to be paid before the age of 65 unless fully and completely
disabled with a real verified disability. I'm talking 100% blind, deaf, and
the like. None of this so called stress crap. Too stressed to do the job?
Fine, you can do something else. No pensions to people currently in
prison. Pensions are forfeited if you do a crime against the state.
Pensions pending while you are working doing anything else that is paid
more than a specific sum. In other words, rules like those followed by
the tax payers and social security.

No pension to exceed some reasonable sum/year. I don't care WHAT you
managed to earn in your highest year. Something along the lines of the
median earned might be reasonable, and even then there needs to be a
hard cap of say $50K year or so. Exceptions to be made for extraordinary
INDIVIDUALS on a case by case basis and voted on by a full recorded vote
of the house and senate, needing a 2/3 majority to pass, with it being the
sole content of the bill in question.

Tax anything currently being paid out above this at the 100% tax rate.
Yep, time to claw back the money from these overpaid parasites that
claim to have worked for the good of the public.

[Peter Marks]

The question remains as to whether any of those in the City of Bell broke any laws by receiving the large salaries. Were any of them to have broken the law and be brought to trial and found guilty they should lose their rights to receive a pension; otherwise the City of Bell will be paying them a pension for the rest of their lives. I think it is time for a Grand Jury to decide if there is enough evidence to charge any of them with a crime as that is what is needed to get the ball rolling. Press coverage and protests won't solve the problem; legal action will solve the problem. I suggest legal action be undertaken as soon as possible so this matter can be resolved and the City of Bell can move on and have people in high government positions who won't abuse the system and take taxpayer's money and treat it as though it was their personal bank account from which they can draw and use any way they wish. These exorbitant salaries are a breach of the public trust and the citizens of Bell have the legal right to know exactly how their tax dollars are being spent, and in this case their tax dollars weren't being spent for the benefit of the citizens of Bell, the tax dollars were being spent for benefit of those who received the exorbitant salaries. This is against the law because it is the misuse of public funds, which is a felony and were they to be convicted they would receive prison time and possibly be ordered to pay restitution to the City of Bell. This whole matter should be prosecuted by the State Attorney General, Jerry Brown as it is his responsibility to prosecute matters such as this.

[Andy K]

He should fall on his Monte Blanc pen, if he can write.

[John]

Okay, all the Maywood employees lost their jobs because of Bell's leaders and their relationsship with the Maywood city council. I find it disgusting that Angela Spaccia didn't hire a city manager in Maywoood because a cantidate wanted "too much". Compared to Spaccia's salary/benefits package, the cantidate didn't want much and for sure not more than what would be expected. Obviously, Bell had a lot to gain by Maywood's loss of their city's employees.

[Dave]

What's the "over under" on this guy has most of his funds in an "off shore account"? If you know what I mean.