The City of Bell and the California Pension Crisis

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The Bell city officials who were paid outrageous salaries are eligible for outrageous pensions, too, paid in large part by other cities where they worked before. Vernon's former city manager, Bruce Malkenhorst, currently earns the state's biggest pension, even though he's under indictment for misappropriating public funds. How did it get that way? On our rebroadcast of To the Point, the oil spill and the Gulf as an industrial dumping ground.

The Bell city officials who were paid outrageous salaries are eligible for outrageous pensions, too, paid in large part by other cities where they worked before. Vernon's former city manager, Bruce Malkenhorst, currently earns the state's biggest pension, $509,000 a year, even though he's under indictment for misappropriating public funds. How did it get that way? On our rebroadcast of To the Point, BP may finally "kill" the oil well this week, but there's dispute about its strategy for long-term cleanup. How long has the Gulf been a dumping ground for regional industry?

Banner image: Mario Sanchez, a resident of the City of Bell, holds a protest placard calling for the ouster of city officials before the start of council meeting on July 26, 2010 in Bell, California. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images   

From this Episode:

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producers:

Darrell Satzman, Karen Radziner