From the LA Times:
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, as part of a sweeping civil lawsuit filed Wednesday against Bell city leaders, is asking a court to order city officials to vacate their positions and nullify contracts that inflated pay for other top administrators.
“What is clear is that the City Council and city administrator and other officials abused their public trust. They engaged in a collaboration that [amounted] to a civil conspiracy to defraud the public,†Brown said at a news conference Wednesday morning in announcing the lawsuit.
The attorney general is also launching a probe into salaries and other issues in the neighboring city of Vernon and also looking at excessive salaries statewide.
“This is a matter that cries out for justice," Brown said.
Brown's requests are laid out in a lawsuit filed Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawsuit, which alleges fraud and misuse of public funds, names eight top Bell officials, including former City Manager Robert Rizzo, former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, former Police Chief Randy Adams and several current and former city council members.
