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City Employee who Earns $800K Salary in One of L.A. County's Poorest Cities will Resign or Be Fired

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Controversy last week erupted in the small L.A. County city of Bell [map] when the LA Times learned that it's top city official earns a nearly $800,000 salary, which possibly makes him the highest paid public official in the country. That salary a lot more Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and even President Barack Obama.

Now the part-time City Council, which is under investigation for being paid nearly $100,000 a year when they should get around $400, will tonight discuss Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo's job. The vice mayor says he'll either resign or be fired. The city council salaries are currently under investigation by the District Attorney's office.

Residents are unhappy with the news. With that kind of tax-funded salary, they say service city services should be stellar. One example are police response times, which some have complained about. Police Chief Randy Adams earns $457,000 a year, which is "about 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and more than double New York City's police commissioner," noted the Times.

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Bell is 2.55 square miles and holds a population of over 36,000. It's 90.7% Latino.

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