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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Bell: A Total Breakdown, Jeff Gottlieb
Bell: A Total Breakdown, Jeff Gottlieb
Local Government Reconsidered
In this white paper, Jeff Gottlieb writes about uncovering the Bell Scandal while writing an investigative article on possible malfeasance in the neighboring city of Maywood. This breakdown provides a closer look into the corruption of city officials in Bell, specifically focusing on former city administrator, Robert Rizzo.
City Of Bell - Audit Report: Administrative And Internal Accounting Controls, John Chiang
City Of Bell - Audit Report: Administrative And Internal Accounting Controls, John Chiang
Local Government Reconsidered
This is a report of the State Controller’s Office audit of the City of Bell’s administrative and internal accounting controls system. The audit was conducted at the request Interim City Administrator Pedro Carrillo for an assessment of the adequacy of the city’s controls to safeguard public assets and to ensure proper use of public funds.
Corruption On Steroids - The Bell Scandal From The Legal Perspective, David J. Aleshire, Anthony R. Taylor
Corruption On Steroids - The Bell Scandal From The Legal Perspective, David J. Aleshire, Anthony R. Taylor
Local Government Reconsidered
This white paper focuses on the legal aspects of the 2010 Bell Scandal and the appointment of David Aleshire as the first permanent city attorney since the corruption scandal. This white paper provides a look at the current financial situation in the city of Bell and how the city has tried to move past the scandal.
Building Basta, Cristina Garcia
Building Basta, Cristina Garcia
Local Government Reconsidered
Before the scandal broke there were plenty of Bell residents that felt something was really wrong with city government. The residents of Bell had no real proof. Getting information was nearly impossible, but there were signs that something was wrong. For example, how does a councilmember from a working class community, where the median income was $30,000 a year, afford to drive around in a $100,000 Mercedes Benz -- when his main source of income was a small corner market? Or, why did property taxes continue to increase, but services continued to decline? And, why did so many Latino teenagers …
Searching For Virtue In The City: Bell And Her Sisters, George Frederickson, Jack Meek
Searching For Virtue In The City: Bell And Her Sisters, George Frederickson, Jack Meek
Local Government Reconsidered
The burden of our claim here is that virtue in the city is to be found not so much in the abstractions and theorizing of higher philosophy but in “vulgar ethics,” Lewis C. Mainzer’s brilliant description of moral education in the classroom and street-level moral practices in the city’s departments and agencies (1991). The hope of virtue in the city is to be found not just in the individual propensity to be virtuous but more so in the development of political and organizational rules and procedures, in virtuous leadership, and in the development of virtuous public cultures.
City Of Bell – Reformed And Reborn, Doug Willmore
City Of Bell – Reformed And Reborn, Doug Willmore
Local Government Reconsidered
This article looks at the 2010 Bell scandal as the worst form of abuse of the public trust and treasury and how the people of Bell have started to rebuild their city. This paper focuses on the citizens of the Bell community reclaiming and reforming their government. Changes that have occurred since the scandal have included: implementing to enhance transparency and accountability, instituting better governance, and restoring the City’s fiscal health.
Predator State: Corruption In A Council-Manager System–The Case Of Bell, California, Dr. Tom Hogan-Esch
Predator State: Corruption In A Council-Manager System–The Case Of Bell, California, Dr. Tom Hogan-Esch
Local Government Reconsidered
This article seeks to explain recent patterns of corruption in the City of Bell, California. After reviewing the literature on municipal corruption, Progressive reform, and political participation in immigrant communities, the article examines the Bell case study. It argues that the council-manager form of government contributes to civic disengagement in California’s high-immigration cities. Insulated from civic accountability, Bell became effectively a ‘predator state’ as local officials exploited governmental power and resources for personal gain. Implications for political reform and local state- building in high immigration cities are discussed.
Rebuilding Bell, California: Review And Recommendations For Continued Improvement Of Accountability, Oversight And Transparency, Jennifer G. Rodgers, Jacob Watkins
Rebuilding Bell, California: Review And Recommendations For Continued Improvement Of Accountability, Oversight And Transparency, Jennifer G. Rodgers, Jacob Watkins
Local Government Reconsidered
Rodgers looks into the city of Bell, California and its corruption problems in 2010. Bell's city manager at the time, Robert Rizzo, had developed a plan to enrich himself at the city’s expense, and covered his tracks by involving numerous other city officials in his corrupt scheme, including the city councilmembers who were supposed to serve as a check on Rizzo’s power.
Unity Through Crisis: How A Latino And Lebanese American Coalition Helped Save Democracy In The City Of Bell, Michael Moodian
Unity Through Crisis: How A Latino And Lebanese American Coalition Helped Save Democracy In The City Of Bell, Michael Moodian
Local Government Reconsidered
This white paper explores how a Latino and Lebanese American coalition helped save democracy in the City of Bell, CA, where an atrocious misappropriation of public funds was uncovered in 2010. The paper provides a brief history of Bell, followed by an explanation of its shifting demographic makeup to a majority Latino municipality. In the 1970s, a small group of immigrants from Yaroun, Lebanon, moved to Bell, establishing a Lebanese American community that currently numbers approximately 2,000. In the aftermath of news coverage of outrageously high municipal salaries in the city, the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse (BASTA) forme …
Bell And Sacramento, Joe Matthews
Bell And Sacramento, Joe Matthews
Local Government Reconsidered
In this white paper, Matthews explores corruption scandals prior to the Bell Scandal. He also presents two paradoxes to the Bell Scandal. One is that the Bell officials had the power to get into so much trouble in no small part because their power was so limited. Another paradox is that Bell was at once both a white- hot national scandal, singular in the attention it drew, and also just another small chapter in a long-running California scandal.
Baby Bells, Teri Sforza
Baby Bells, Teri Sforza
Local Government Reconsidered
After Bell scandal broke, many officials asserted that these sorts of startling public payouts were tremendous aberrations, when in reality these scandals have occurred multiple times before. In this white paper Sforza brings attention to municipal corruption scandals throughout the state of California and the lack of attention they recieved when the scandals broke in comparison to Bell's.