Mailbag: Bell officials belong in prison
Former Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams, Bell City Council members, Bell city managers and accountants appear to have conspired to loot that city’s bank accounts (“Impressions of former Chief Adams,” July 26). The careful plotting to change Bell’s city Charter to avoid California city compensation laws, to the special election to put the new city charter in place, to the secret raises, were all carefully orchestrated.
Everyone involved knew what they were doing, from the council that approved the raises, to the accountants who wrote the checks, to the managers who accepted the checks, to the man who quit his job in Glendale to take a job in Bell.
Everyone knew that what they were doing was immoral (and no doubt in my mind illegal). None of this happened by accident or by innocence. That Glendale’s former police chief was in on the take is disgusting beyond measure.
All those involved belong in prison.
Ray Shelton
Glendale
Public servants abused power
The antics of our last police chief have finally come to light. One would have to be “brain dead” not to have known that the job in Bell, with its outrageous salary, smelled worse than a month-old fish.
Yet, gun on hip, good old Randy Adams thinks he can still scam the public. The worst part of this saga is that he stole from the cities most vulnerable and least able to pay. Adams had to know that there was something totally wrong with the salary offered.
It appears that his prayer and intention was to last the year to grab that “pot of gold” with both hands and the public be damned. One can only hope that there are authorities working 24/7 to find a way to retrieve the monies for Bell and correct this outrageous scam by yet another “public servant.”
Congratulations to the News-Press on their position in this heinous abuse of public trust (“Editorial: Bell outrage shows need for reform,” July 24).
Carole Weling
Glendale
Still fighting to save golf course
Thank you for your recent article about community efforts to save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course (“Putting a stop to golf course plans,” July 26).
I have long been an ardent supporter of protecting the course from destruction. As a member of the state Assembly, I stated my support for the course and my opposition to proposed legislation that would have facilitated development on the site.
As a member of the Los Angeles City Council, I have continued to work closely with Volunteers Organized in Conserving the Environment and the Verdugo Hills Golf Course Committee. I have always been fully committed to protecting this open space and seeking new sources of funding to save it, so any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect.
The Verdugo Hills Golf Course is a precious resource for our city, and it should be valued for its history, its natural beauty and preserved for future generations. I will continue the fight to protect the golf course.
Paul Krekorian
Los Angeles
Editor’s note: Krekorian is a Los Angeles City Councilman, and former representative for the 43rd Assembly District.