Bell scandal: Rizzo had his $80,000 loan replenished each year, city employee testifies

During his tenure as Bell’s city administrator, Robert Rizzo replenished an $80,000 loan at least five times, telling staff the action was legal because the City Council had approved an addendum to his employee contract.

Lourdes Garcia, Bell’s director of administrative services, testified Tuesday that she did not question Rizzo’s authority each time he requested that his loan be topped off.

“It seemed reasonable,” said Garcia, who took two loans herself from the city and was given limited immunity in exchange for her testimony.

In 2002, council members voted in favor of Rizzo’s contract addendum, which was drafted by then-City Atty. Edward Lee. Two years later, Rizzo told Garcia he had paid back the loan and requested the amount be refreshed. Over the next three years, he would pay off some of the loan, then request more money to bring the total back to $80,000.

Rizzo’s attorney said his client was simply cashing out his vacation days and was entitled to the loan because it was approved by the City Council.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office contends that the $1.9 million in city funds lent to employees over the last decade was a misuse of public funds.

Rizzo is charged with masterminding the loan program, and he and his former assistant, Angela Spaccia, are accused of writing their own employee contracts without council approval. Spaccia, Mayor Oscar Hernandez and former Councilman Luis Artiga are charged with accepting city loans.

Hernandez’s attorney argued that his client received a cash advance, not a loan. “It’s a salary he would be getting anyway,” Stanley Friedman said. Hernandez, who said he used his loan to buy computerized cash registers and a meat scale for his grocery store, paid back the money in four months.

“Mr. Hernandez is like a dinghy compared to the others who are battleships,” Friedman said. “He got $20,000. The witness got $177,500.”

-- Corina Knoll
Twitter.com/corinaknoll

Comments

[Geo]

Anything can seem reasonable when it embellishes your lifestyle & makes it more comfortable. But it sounds like they are really depending upon the public continuing to be 'dumb' to their mechanisms......

[John]

Why are these people not in jail already. Who is paying their legal fees?

[edgarbell562]

With mortgage rates at all-time lows, now may be a great time to refinance -- if you meet new stringent criteria. Search online for 123 Mortgage Refinance they got me the 3.21% rate even with my not so good credit history.

[don keyhote]

...ummmm!...let me see if i got this straight....as reported,the addendum is written by the city attorney, if so the attorney may have conspired with rizzo et.al to raid the coffers of the citizens?....aren't attorneys supposed to be above reproach in contract matters pertaining to public money???....a whole lot of rotten going on in my book!

[Rick]

Jeez! They are all crooks and some of them are getting immunity?

[BEACHGIRLSC]

I work for a small company and we allow employees "loans" that are actual advances BUT the repayment plan requires that money is deducted from each paycheck and we do not allow "replenishing". We are a privately held company and answer only to the owner, I can't imagine, however, a city doing this. They were treating the city coffers like personal bank accounts, it's crazy.