Bell city clerk granted immunity in corruption case
Bell’s city clerk Wednesday became the first person to be granted immunity in a corruption case that accuses city leaders of looting the city’s treasury
Rebecca Valdez, who took the stand Wednesday in the preliminary hearing for six current and former council members, testified that she didn’t know the purpose of many city commissions and boards from which council members drew most of their extravagant salaries.
Prosecutors allege that the board and commissions rarely met, and when they did, the sessions lasted only minutes. Asked whether some of the meetings lasted less than a minute, Valdez paused and then said, “Maybe. I’m not sure, to be honest with you.”
Valdez, who was considered the secretary of the various commissions, said she typically took only vague notes of the meetings, recording who voted for what.
Valdez went to work for the city as a student in 1988 and became city clerk in 2004.
As she took the stand in the preliminary hearing against six current and former council members, Valdez was granted use immunity, meaning that her testimony cannot be used against her, preventing her from taking the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder said that giving Valdez use immunity does not mean that she would have been charged.
Valdez and Lourdes Garcia, Bell’s director of administrative services, took the Fifth last month when deposed by the attorney for former Bell City Administrator Robert Rizzo as part of the state attorney general’s lawsuit against Bell officials.
Rizzo’s preliminary hearing on more than 50 counts of corruption is expected to start next week.
Snyder said her office could offer Garcia use immunity if she exercises the right against self-incrimination.
For the third day, Lorenzo Velez, the only council member who has not been charged, was on the witness stand. While the other council members were being paid nearly $100,000 a year, mostly from the phantom commissions, Velez was receiving about $8,000.
Velez, who weathered a full day of cross-examination Tuesday, seemed confused under the questioning of six defense attorneys Wednesday, sometimes contradicting himself.
Velez, who works as a heavy equipment operator, said he learned of the other council members’ salaries from a story in The Times last June. He said he called Rizzo, who told him the figures were correct.
During a closed session at the council meeting a few days later, Velez said he asked, “Do you really make this much money?”
He said that after a moment of silence, someone replied, “The only reason you don’t make it is because you were appointed and not elected.” Velez was appointed to the council in October 2009.
Velez said he could not recall who made the statement. But defense attorneys said that in his comments to investigators, Velez attributed the statement to Rizzo.
In interviews with The Times in June, Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo denied that panel members were paid nearly six figures. Mayor Oscar Hernandez justified the paychecks, saying, “In a troubled city, the city council should get paid a little more.”
The hearing was enlivened when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall lashed out after defense attorney Alex Kessel made one of his many objections.
“Mr. Kessel, would you please stop making speeches,” Hall said. “You folks have been playing to the cameras. I’ve just about had it. No more speeches for the audience.”
Among those watching the proceedings was Carmen Bella, a 76-year-old activist from Bell. Asked why she was there, Bella, less than 5 feet tall, scrunched up her face and said, “I want to see their faces.”
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