# Why are the insane salaries paid to Bell City Administrators in CA not a criminal matter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108 "2010-08-04T06:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/21 "2010-10-23T21:46:24Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Colma, Ca (AKA “the city of the dead”) is an incorporated city south of San Frncisco. Most of its inhabitants are dead (the city is 96% cemetary land)… Yeah, I had to drive some caskets over there when I worked at a mortuary in Oakland. > [@ralph124c](#): > > …\*t would seem that the city government needs are pretty limited. Anybody know what they make? I don’t, but their sales tax is 9.25%, so there must be something going on there. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/22 "2010-10-23T21:55:02Z")
It is a criminal matter. 8 current or former officials are facing criminal charges. The worst by far are Robert Rizzo and Oscar Hernandez, who apparently forged some critical parts Rizzo’s employment contract, including the date it was allegedly executed and the official title Hernandez couldn’t possibly have held on that date. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/23 "2011-03-09T15:44:20Z")
Latest news: [AOL - News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com](http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/09/bell-california-overwhelmingly-oks-council-member-recall/) ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/24 "2011-03-09T16:02:04Z")
Other updates: 6 of the (now former) city council members had their preliminary hearings a couple weeks ago, and the Judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a trial. [http://thedowneypatriot.com/view/full\_story/11463041/article-Bell-officials-ordered-to-stand-trial?instance=secondary\_stories\_left\_column](http://thedowneypatriot.com/view/full_story/11463041/article-Bell-officials-ordered-to-stand-trial?instance=secondary_stories_left_column) The remainder of the cast of characters will be wrapping up their preliminary hearings this week. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014438474\_apusbellsalaries.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014438474_apusbellsalaries.html) ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/25 "2011-03-09T16:31:25Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Colma, Ca (AKA “the city of the dead”) is an incorporated city south of San Frncisco. Most of its inhabitants are dead (the city is 96% cemetary land), so it would seem that the city government needs are pretty limited. Anybody know what they make? You can look up the compensation for all city governements here: [http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov/EntityList.aspx?entity=City&load=ByDefault](http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov/EntityList.aspx?entity=City&load=ByDefault) ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/26 "2011-03-09T21:36:40Z")
Double zombie thread. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/27 "2011-03-09T21:46:41Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Double zombie thread. Just saying. I don’t think it’s really a “zombie” when the people reanimating it make clear that they are updating a thread that has only been dormant for a couple of months. The topic is still current. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/28 "2011-03-09T22:02:21Z")
A reanimated tangent about [Colma, CA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colma) (motto: “It’s great to be alive in Colma.”) is by definition a zombie thread. ---
**Author:** ![bleibtreu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bleibtreu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleibtreu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/29 "2011-03-09T22:10:52Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > THIS is why revolutions and vigalante justice arent always a bad thing. Wait… they infiltrated an elected body, hired their own cronies, changed the charter of government, all to strengthen their hold on the government and to enrich themselves financially. It was a revolution! THIS is why sometimes revolutions are bad things. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/30 "2011-03-10T16:00:13Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > I don’t think it’s really a “zombie” when the people reanimating it make clear that they are updating a thread that has only been dormant for a couple of months. The topic is still current. No it’s not. The 8-month old OP was “why isn’t this a criminal matter?” Charges were filed about a month later. The question was thoroughly answered. A discussion of what’s happening in Bell now is perfectly appropriate, but it warrants the creation of a new thread. This is a perfect example of the problem with reviving old threads… readers are forced to slog through outdated and obsolete postings to get to something new and relevant. In this case, the thread was resurrected after two months to post the contents of a wikipedia article on the case, and then again four months later to post links to news stories with updates. It’s not an obscure story, so I’m not sure why that’s necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/31 "2011-03-10T16:51:12Z")
I disagree. The earlier posts provide context for more recent developments. I’d rather see them all in one place, unless the old thread is a very long one, in which case it makes more sense to simply start a new thread and provide a link in the first post. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/32 "2011-03-10T18:08:14Z")
The thread is not even a full page long, yet. I beg your indulgence in this matter. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/33 "2011-03-10T18:12:00Z")
I don’t think it’s a zombie thread. The first posts allowed me to know what the issue was. Otherwise, the OP of a new thread would hava had to restate the infos given here, or to link to this thread. It’s simpler this way. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108/34 "2011-03-10T22:30:51Z")
The remainder of the defendents ordered to stand trial. Judge actually urges prosecutors to consider additional charges. 😃 > **[Archive blogs](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/)** > > Los Angeles Times blogs that were published between 2006 and 2013. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-insane-salaries-paid-to-bell-city-administrators-in-ca-not-a-criminal-matter/549108.md?page=1)