Robert Rizzo had Bell salary information falsified, city clerk testifies

[The Northerner]

Records given to a resident who had filed a request with the city contained incorrect figures for the salaries of council members and the former city administrator.

Bell's city clerk testified on Thursday that former City Administrator Robert Rizzo directed her to provide false figures to a resident who had requested the salaries of city officials.

Rebecca Valdez's testimony came during the fourth day of the preliminary hearing for six former and current Bell City Council members accused of receiving huge paychecks for serving on city boards that seldom or never met — or, when they did, met for just a few minutes.

Bell resident Roger Ramirez filed a public records request in 2008, seeking the salaries of Rizzo and council members.

The document he received from Valdez shows that council members were paid about $8,000 a year, instead of the $92,000 they were actually earning when their stipends from city boards and commissions were included.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-hearing-20110211,0,5099093.story