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Bell official also quits Maywood post

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Bell’s former assistant city manager resigned her post Friday as the interim administrator of neighboring Maywood, another casualty of the salary scandal in Bell.

For Angela Spaccia, it marked the second time in two weeks she has resigned over the salary issue.

Last week, she stepped down from her position in Bell along with City Administrator Robert Rizzo and Police Chief Randy Adams. All three had come under heavy criticism since it was revealed that they were among the highest-paid municipal employees for their positions in the nation.

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For the last five months, Bell had lent Spaccia to neighboring Maywood, so she could run the daily affairs of that troubled city. That assignment continued after she quit her post in Bell.

“I am concerned now that the media attention brought upon you to discontinue my services will overshadow Maywood’s true story,” Spaccia said in an e-mail she sent Friday to Maywood’s council members announcing her departure.

Spaccia’s resignation raises questions about who will become the top executive in Maywood, which recently disbanded its police department, laid off almost every employee and turned its day-to-day civic affairs over to Bell.

Except for the elected council members, the city attorney and city clerk, Maywood has no employees. The drastic steps came after the city lost its insurance, in part because it failed to hire a full-time city manager.

The city turned over its policing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and contracted most of its city services to Bell.

For the last three months, Maywood had been paying Bell $10,000 a month for Spaccia’s services. Magdalena Prado, a spokeswoman for Maywood, said Spaccia’s departure will not affect a $50,833-a-month contract with Bell to run municipal operations, including finance and parks and recreation.

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The question now becomes who will take the job as Maywood’s city manager when there is not much to manage and the future of the city is in doubt.

“I wish I could tell you everything would be good and fall into place, but I have no idea,” Maywood Councilman Felipe Aguirre said Friday.

Two candidates had turned down the job when they found out about the city’s insurance problems.

Maywood had been filled with rumors that Spaccia would be hired as the permanent city manager, and a group of residents had been planning to meet Friday night to draw up plans to block her hiring.

“She came in and she destroyed our Maywood Police Department and dismantled our employees here in the city of Maywood,” said community activist Sandy Orozco. “I think we’re going to celebrate tonight.”

Aguirre praised Spaccia and said she never was considered for a permanent position. “She did a lot of very good things in terms of keeping us out of bankruptcy,” he said.

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Spaccia was among the Bell city officials who have come under withering criticism for their salaries after it revealed that they were among the highest-paid people in their positions in the nation. Rizzo was making $787,637 annually, Police Chief Randy Adams $457,000 and Spaccia $376,288.

Four of the five council members in Bell were being paid nearly $100,000 a year until they cut their salaries by 90% this week.

The Los Angeles County district attorney and the state attorney general have opened wide-ranging investigations into the activities of Bell officials.

abby.sewell@latimes.com

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

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