Bell Councilman: “We're New at This”

Nestor Valencia had a question at Monday night's Bell City Council meeting.

"What does the watchdog do when he becomes a member of the group he's supposed to watch?''

Valencia is one of the newly elected councilmembers in the city. He was one of the residents who expressed outrage after at a corruption scandal that involved city officials.

The city's manager received a benefits package of $1.5 million per year and four of Bell's part-time City Council members were given annual salaries of $100,000. The former city manager, four members of the old City Council and three other former Bell officials are awaiting trial on dozens of felony fraud charges.

"I don't think there's a guidebook for that,'' Valencia added in reference to his new role.

Ali Saleh was another long-time critic. He helped organize a recall that led to last month's election in which the entire City Council was thrown out of office and a slate of political newcomers was elected in their place.

The new council members met for 90 minutes Monday to elect a mayor and vice mayor and listen to what residents had to say. About 200 people who crowded into Bell's community center for their first meeting.

"We're new at this,'' Saleh, the new mayor, said with a grin at one point as fellow council members fumbled with microphones and struggled to master council rules.

Only Valencia, a health care administrator, and Saleh, a local businessman, had sought public office before. Others elected with them last month were attorney Ana Maria Quintana, a former Bell High School student body president and homecoming queen; Violeta Alvarez, a social worker; and Danny Harber, a retired baker.

Harber, 66, was elected vice mayor. He could have been mayor himself, but he voted for Saleh, breaking a 2-2 tie among council members. His election as vice mayor was unanimous.

"We have a long road ahead of us. There's a lot of challenges," Saleh said. "We want to be the model city, not only to the southeast side (of Los Angeles County) but to the nation."

An audit by the state controller's office detailed the scope of those challenges. The audit concluded that Bell had illegally raised property taxes, trash collection fees, business license fees and diverted state gas tax funds. Authorities say taxpayers were bilked of more than $6 million and
Bell now faces a budget deficit of as much as $4.5 million.

More than a dozen people spoke at Monday night's meeting. Most speakers wished the new council good luck and to implored its members to be honest.