Bell scandal: Councilman says Angela Spaccia conviction 'embarrassing'

1/17

Mayor Oscar Hernandez tells Bell resident Jose Orozco his time is up during a meeting filled with residents upset over the high salaries paid to city administrators. The overwhelming number of public speakers called for their resignations. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

2/17

The crowd erupts in anger at Monday night’s City Council meeting at the Bell community center. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

3/17

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies stand near the Bell City Council -- from left, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, George Mirabal and Luis Artiga -- during a meeting filled with residents upset over high salaries paid to council members. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

4/17

An angry Bell resident gestures toward the City Council during a meeting filled with locals upset about high salaries paid to members and other administrators. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

5/17

A police barricade keeps those in line from entering the Bell Community Center, which was at maximum capacity during the City Council meeting where a decision to cut the salaries of the mayor and three council members was made. (Christina House / For The Times)

6/17

Robert Mackin, center, a Bell resident since 1941, covers his ears while fellow resident Enrique Martinez, right, yells out after hearing that no more people would be allowed inside the Community Center to attend the City Council meeting where a vote to cut the salaries of Bell’s mayor and three other council members was being taken. (Christina House / For The Times)

7/17

Galileo Gonzalez, 21, pens a caricature of Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez on a sign protesting the salaries of the City Council. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

8/17

Bell businessman Joseph Lee, left, and 15-year Bell resident Hussein Saleh help hang signs outside the Bell Community Center a few hours before the City Council meeting where the vote to cut the salaries of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and fellow council members Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal was to take place. (Christina House / For The Times)

9/17

Officers Tony Lopez, center, and Jose Garcia guard the door to the Bell City Council chambers, where council members held an emergency meeting Thursday to consider the fate of three highly-paid top city officials.
See full story (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

10/17

Bell City Councilman Lorenzo Velez speaks to the media at the emergency meeting.
See full story (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

11/17

Bell resident Danny Harber reacts after he and other residents are told that a special City Council meeting on the controversy over high salaries paid to city officials will be closed to the public.
See full story (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

12/17

Bell City Atty. Ed Lee addresses the audience at the special meeting of the Bell City Council as City Clerk Rebecca Valdez watches.
See full story (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

13/17

Protesters gather at Bell City Hall to demand resignations of city officials whose salaries are among the highest in the nation. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

14/17

Police try to calm the crowd of protesters trying to get into the City Council meeting. The council ordered city staff to prepare a report on salaries for its July 26 meeting. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

15/17

Bell Police Chief Randy Adams, whose $457,000 salary is 50% higher than that of his Los Angeles counterpart, attended the council meeting Monday. City Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, whose salary is also causing an outcry, did not attend. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

16/17

As the City Council meeting got underway, people were collecting signatures demanding an audit of city finances. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

17/17

A number of people waved signs that read “Stop the abuse on our taxes” and “Welcome to Bell, where the City Council makes more than you do. Also, we have nice parks.” One person had a sign showing Mayor Oscar Hernandez with devil horns. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

By Ruben Vives

Dec. 10, 2013 8:36 AM PT

Bell City Councilman Nestor Valencia said Tuesday that the guilty verdict in the Angela Spaccia corruption trial was “shameful and embarrassing” but nudges the city into the final act of the scandal that broke in 2010.

Spaccia, the $564,000-a-year deputy to the disgraced former city manager of Bell, was found guilty Monday of 11 felony counts related to her role in the corruption scandal, becoming the seventh former city official convicted of enriching themselves at the expensive of the working-class residents.

Spaccia probably faces a sentence similar to the 10 to 12 years in prison that her former boss, Robert Rizzo, is expected to receive, prosecutors said. Rizzo pleaded no contest to 69 corruption charges in October.

While the city is still recovering financially from the scandal, Valencia said there have been some strides made toward improvement, such as the Spaccia verdict and Rizzo’s plea and the anticipation of major lawsuit settlements to recoup some damages.

“The wheels of justice move slowly,” he said.

The community, meanwhile, has been pleased with the outcome since news of the officials’ high salaries broke.

“I think the jury has become the new hero of the city of bell,” Valencia said.

Spaccia and her attorney argued in court that Rizzo was behind the corruption scheme and that she was not even at City Hall when much of the wrongdoing took place. She admitted that it was unethical to take such large salaries but said she did nothing illegal.

Valencia took issue with that defense.

“She was right in the middle of it,” Valencia said.

In the next few days, the city will announce a large settlement involving property and Best Best & Krieger, the law firm that represented the city before the scandal broke.

The city of Bell filed a malpractice lawsuit in 2011 against its former city attorney and his two law firms, alleging that they gave faulty legal advice.

The suit contends that attorney Edward Lee provided legal advice that allowed Bell officials -- Rizzo and city council members -- to receive their extraordinary salaries and benefits. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also alleges that Lee gave the city poor advice regarding a variety of subjects, including business license fees and loans that Rizzo gave to employees.

The lawsuit singled out Lee’s most recent firm, Best Best & Krieger, for allegedly failing to properly advise Bell on a $35-million bond offering in 2007.

Valencia hopes the scandal and exposure of the trial will now encourage citizens to stand up against misconduct by elected officials.

“Rise to the occasion,” Valencia said.

And while he was pleased with the jury’s verdict, the councilman said it didn’t erase the stain of corruption Bell had suffered, both to its image and among its residents.

Bell has one of the highest property taxes in the county, and for many, the scandal was “very emotional because people lost their homes,” Valencia said.

“It’s shameful and embarrassing,” he said. “This should be a heed to elected officials that these type of shenanigans, these type of criminal acts are not tolerated.”

ALSO:

IPads for L.A. teachers to be postponed under new plan

Happy Camp fire: Crews battle 50-acre blaze near Moorpark

NTSB delays Asiana Airlines hearing again, citing winter storm

ruben.vives@latimes.com

Twitter: @latvives