Scandal-plagued former Bell official sues city

LOS ANGELES – The former city manager of scandal-plagued Bell, Calif., filed a lawsuit against the city Monday, claiming his contract was breached when the city stopped paying him nearly $1.5 million in salary and benefits.

Robert Rizzo claims he's owed benefits and wages — with interest — because he hasn't been convicted of a felony and hasn't resigned his post, according to court documents he filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

According to the lawsuit, Rizzo hasn't been paid since a public meeting in July 2010, when the small, blue-collar community of Bell learned of his outsized pay packet.

Protesters were outraged by compensation of $100,000 to City Council members that met once a month, but it was Rizzo's $787,637 salary, along with numerous perks that amounted to almost $1.5 million a year, that it led furious residents to view him as the poster child for corruption in government.

They came out in droves to let that anger be known at city meetings.

"In response, the City Council locked Rizzo out of his office and stopped paying Rizzo his salary and benefits due to him under his employment agreement," the lawsuit said.

Rizzo notified the city that he hadn't resigned, retired or terminated their agreement in August 2010, but never got a response, according to the lawsuit.

Prosecutors say Rizzo orchestrated a scheme to bilk the Los Angeles suburb out of more than $6 million.

Rizzo and seven other Bell city officials face charges of fraud and misappropriation of public funds. Rizzo has pleaded not guilty.

Bell Mayor Ali Saleh said he'd leave it to lawyers to talk about the legal merit of Rizzo's filing, but says "Rizzo's lawsuit is just another example of the gross disregard he has had towards all the working families in Bell and is just another distraction from the injustices Bell residents suffered under Rizzo."

Saleh expressed hope the lawsuit would be thrown out and that Rizzo would be found guilty of the criminal charges against him.

"The real atrocity is that taxpayers have to respect due process and spend precious tax dollars on defending ourselves from the same person who had a complete disregard for due process and misappropriated millions of taxpayer dollars," Saleh said.

Rizzo filed the lawsuit on his own behalf. Numbers for Rizzo's former homes in Huntington Beach, Calif., and Washington state were disconnected. A message left at the number listed for Rizzo on Monday's lawsuit filing was not immediately returned.

Rizzo's lawyer on fraud and other charges, James Spertus, said Monday that Rizzo's claim is just — even if the outraged public may balk at paying Rizzo his salary.

"Thank God judges are not guided by emotion," said Spertus.

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