The scandal continues in Bell, California, where eight former city officials await trial on corruption charges over outrageous secret salary deals and padded pensions plans — all at taxpayer expense of course. The latest installment is one of very few bright spots to emerge in this tawdry tale of greedy public employees bellying up to the public trough. Former police chief Randy Adams – who is not among the eight awaiting trial — has lost his bid to get a $510,000 per year public pension — that’s right, he was trying to get more than half a million a year. But don’t cry for Randy. He’s still on the public dole with this outrageous taxpayer-paid pension for about one year of service.
The ruling leaves Adams with a $240,000-a-year pension, the eighth highest paycheck in California’s largest public employee retirement system
The decision follows a three-day hearing in Orange County last month in which Adams asserted his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination 20 times.
“It’s justice for the citizens of Bell and justice for the citizens of California who start to take a stand against pension abuse,” City Manager Doug Willmore said. “It tells Randy Adams what he did was clearly wrong, and he knew it or should have known it.”
Absolutely pathetic abuse of taxpayer dollars and trust. And by the way, Randy’s saga isn’t over.
Other legal fights await Adams. He has sued the city for severance pay. The city has sued him, saying that it wants Adams to return his salary and a portion of the $20 million Bell estimates it lost in the corruption scandal.
Besides the $457,000 salary, Adams’ contract also called for Bell to pay his retirement contributions and to offer him and his dependents lifetime medical, dental and vision insurance.
