$787,000.00 too much money for a city manager? Small town, politics

Can I have a raise?

Outrage is growing over revelations in The Times that the small city of Bell pays its top administrators some of the highest salaries in the nation.
Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), who authored a 2005 bill that limited some City Council salaries, expressed outrage over the salaries that Bell is paying top administrators.
“The president of the United States and other public servants who oversee much more complicated and sophisticated operations make much less than these city officials,” he said. “I think that makes it really clear these salaries are overdone.”
The City Council “is completely avoiding their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer,” he said.
The Times reported Thursday that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns nearly twice the salary of President Obama, Police Chief Randy Adams gets paid about 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia receives more than the chief executive for Los Angeles County.
Rizzo makes $787,637, Adams makes $457,000, and Spaccia makes $376,288.
Bell is being investigated by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office over the compensation of its City Council members, who receive about $100,000 a year for their part-time positions. In a city the size of Bell, a council member is typically paid about $400 a month, according to state records.
Bell made headlines in recent weeks when the city of 37,000 agreed to take over operations of the neighboring city of Maywood, which fired most of its employees and disbanded its police department when it could not obtain insurance.

I should have just got a civil service job....This is amazing, I am surprised that there has not been more outrage on this!

Ripe for a law suit

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Police: Boy applies for job, steals from tip jar

The Associated Press

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Police said two teens were arrested when one of them stole money from the tip jar of a northwestern Indiana ice cream shop just after they put their names on job applications.

A clerk at Pat's Ice Cream Parlor in downtown Valparaiso told police the boys, ages 15 and 16, filled out the applications Friday afternoon. She said she went to file the applications when heard change clattering, then saw one of the boys grab the dollar bills from the tip jar and run out.

The employee told police she chased after the boy and he turned over $2.

Police reported one of the teens said he didn't steal, but gave the clerk his own money to avoid getting in trouble. Both boys were arrested on preliminary theft charges.

A good indication of a reason not to consider hiring either of these two. But then they could file a discrimination law suit.

Our Friend Passed Away

Tragic Loss to All


Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense.

Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons such as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).

His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge financial settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; his son, Reason; and his sister, Accountability.

He is survived by two distant relatives; My Rights and Ima Whiner.


Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Buy a Hamster....Go to Jail!

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Jackson Galley, 5, plays with a guinea pig at the Animal Connection in San Francisco, which still sells pets.

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Sell a guinea pig, go to jail.

That's the law under consideration by San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare. If the commission approves the ordinance at its meeting tonight, San Francisco could soon have what is believed to be the country's first ban on the sale of all pets except fish.

That includes dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and nearly every other critter, or, as the commission calls them, companion animals.

San Francisco residents who want a pet would have to go to another city, adopt one from a shelter or rescue group, or find one through the classifieds.

The Board of Supervisors would have final say on the matter. But not before pet store owners unleash a cacophony of howling, squeaking and squawking.

"It's terrible. A pet store that can't sell pets? It's ridiculous," said John Chan, manager of Pet Central on Broadway, which has been in business 30 years. "We'd have to close."

'Terrible for our business'

Joe Taylor, bird manager of Animal Connection on Judah Street, called the proposal "ludicrous."

"What difference does it make if you get a parrot at the SPCA or a pet store? If it doesn't work out, in either case, you just bring it back," Taylor said. "This would be terrible for our business."

The idea originated about two years ago, when the commission began looking into a ban on dog and cat sales as a way to discourage puppy and kitten mills. But the city's animal control staff said that excess puppies and kittens are not the problem at the city shelter, thanks to the plethora of rescue groups. In any case, only one or two pet stores in San Francisco sell dogs and cats. The rest stick to small animals.

Gotta love the politician in that wacky city.................

Can't wait for the next decision.

obstruction of governmental administration,

Eating champ leaves NY jail after hot dog fracas

By EVA DOU Associated Press Writer

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NEW YORK - Japanese eating champion Takeru Kobayashi, arrested at a July Fourth hot dog-eating contest, was freed Monday after a night in jail, looking a little weary and saying he was hungry.

Kobayashi, wearing a black T-shirt bearing the message "Free Kobi" in green letters, was freed by a Brooklyn judge after he pleaded not guilty. The slim, boyish 32-year-old said he consumed only a sandwich and some milk in jail.

A contract dispute had kept Kobayashi out of Sunday's annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, but he showed up anyway.

"I was there as a spectator, just to cheer on my buddies," he said through an interpreter outside court Monday. Fans chanted for him, and "in the heat of it, I jumped on the stage, hoping they would let me eat."

His attorney, Mario D. Romano, said his client was waved up onstage after spectators began chanting "Let him eat!"

"Shortly after he got on the stage, he was grabbed from behind by officers," Romano said.

Kobayashi was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Kobayashi, who's currently living in New York, had refused to sign a contract with Major League Eating, the fast food equivalent of the NFL. On his Japanese-language blog, he said he wanted to be free to enter contests sanctioned by other groups.

But a few days ago, he told Japan's Kyodo News: "I really want to compete in the (Coney Island) event."

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif., won by downing 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

After witnessing the drama involving Kobayashi, Chestnut said, "I feel bad for him."

Chestnut claimed the mustard-yellow champion's belt and a $20,000 purse but was disappointed with his own performance. The 26-year-old was aiming for a record 70 dogs in 10 minutes. Last year, he ate 68 dogs, four more than Kobayashi.

Major League Eating issued a statement calling Kobayashi's actions "inappropriate and unfortunate."

"Kobayashi was a great champion and we hope that he is able to resolve his current situation and move past this," the organization said.

Try to eat a hot dog.....go to jail.....

Exactly what the hell is "Obstruction of Governmental Administration"?

Sounds like definitely a capital offense, he deserves life in prison to say the least.

What has happened here? People are waaaay to serious about stuff.

Granny shocked by police stun gun in bed sues

The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY - An 87-year-old grandmother subdued by police with a stun gun while she was lying in bed hooked up to an oxygen machine is suing her Oklahoma hometown.

Attorney Brian Dell said Tuesday that he filed the lawsuit June 21 on behalf of his client, Lona Varner. He did not specify the amount she's seeking from the city of El Reno but said it's at least $75,000.

Varner's grandson called 911 on Dec. 22 and told the dispatcher his grandmother "wanted to end her life" and that he was concerned she had taken some unknown medicine.

Officer Thomas Duran says in a police report that Varner pulled a kitchen knife from under her pillow and threatened to stab and kill him if he tried to take her from her home.

The report says another officer used a stun gun on Varner.

What happened to the kind old policeman who would have snatched the knife out of the 87 year old granny's hand and the conflict would have been over?

Now it seem, that they tazer anyone at a blink of an eye, sometimes with deadly results.....

I long for a quieter gentler time of years ago..........

Kill the Monster!

Tiny turtle causes taxiing plane to return to gate

Tiny caged turtle causes taxiing AirTran plane to return to gate, where sisters threw it away

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In this undated photo provided by Rebecca Helm, Carley Helm, 10, poses with her turtle Neytiri. The caged turtle caused a crew to turn around a taxiing plane, take the girl and her sisters off the flight and tell them they couldn't bring their pet along. (AP Photo/Rebecca Helm)

Kate Brumback, Associated Press Writer, On Friday June 25, 2010, 7:45 am EDT

ATLANTA (AP) -- A caged, 2-inch turtle traveling with a 10-year-old girl caused a crew to turn around a taxiing plane, take the girl and her sisters off the flight and tell them they couldn't bring their pet along.

The sisters threw the animal and cage in the trash and returned to their seats crying Tuesday after AirTran Airways employees on the jetway said they couldn't care for the turtle while their father drove to retrieve it. Two days later, however, Carley Helm was reunited with Neytiri even though at first the family thought the pet was emptied with the trash.

Carley was heading home to Milwaukee after visiting her father in Atlanta with sisters Annie, 13, and Rebecca, 22, when the flap unfolded.

Rebecca said the three were led onto the jetway and told they'd have to get rid of the baby red ear slider -- named Neytiri after the princess in the movie "Avatar" -- if they wanted to reboard.

"I asked, 'What do you mean get rid of it?' and they said throw it away," she said. "I was very sad, and I felt bad for my littlest sister because it was her first pet and she was planning to take care of it herself."

While the sisters say they were told to put the animal in the trash, AirTran says they chose that themselves, despite an offer to fly later at no extra charge.

AirTran company policy bars animals other than cats, dogs and household birds in the cabin, said spokesman Christopher White. White cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that says the reptiles have been known to carry salmonella bacteria.

The sisters say they made it past security screeners and an AirTran gate agent before boarding. One flight attendant told them to stow the cage under their seat, they say.

But with the flight rolling toward its takeoff, an attendant told them the turtle wasn't allowed in the cabin.

Rebecca Helm called their father, and he began driving back to the airport. She asked an AirTran employee to make arrangements with her father to look after the pet until he could get there, but the employee refused.

"I basically had to make a really fast decision because the whole plane was being delayed," Rebecca Helm said. The bin wasn't very full and she thought the turtle could be found easily once her dad arrived, she said.

Rebecca twice declined the offer to take a later flight, White said.

"We don't have the personnel or the facilities to care for people's pets," White said.

Rebecca asked if throwing the pet away would allow for them to get back on the flight, White said. The gate agent did not tell the sisters what to do but said they could not get on the plane with the turtle, White said.

"At no time did any AirTran Airways crew member order or suggest that they put the turtle in the trash," he said.

Half an hour later, the sisters' father called, saying he wanted to come look through the trash, White said. The gate agent looked, couldn't find the turtle and assumed it had been emptied, he said.

The airline, a unit of AirTran Holdings Inc. discovered Wednesday that the ramp supervisor had rescued the turtle from the trash "out of his own compassion" and given it to another crew member, who took it home for her 5-year-old son, White said.

AirTran told that crew member the original owners wanted it back, and the airline arranged for the turtle to fly as cargo to Milwaukee on Thursday, White said.

The sisters' mother reported what happened to animal rights group PETA, which sent a letter to AirTran demanding an investigation and disciplinary action.

For their part, Rebecca Helm says her sisters "are very happy to have the turtle back."