URBAN COMMENTARY - Bell city officials have screamed bloody murder about disgraced former Bell California Police Chief Randy Adams demand that they fatten his wallet even more at city taxpayer's expense. The canned ex-chief now bags a tidy 22 grand a month for doing nothing. That's his retirement pay.
That produced loud squeals that officials in public agencies even when they're fired for cause, or jailed, still scam taxpayers for fat pensions. But that's the law and those are the rules of the pension game. Adams isn't getting a red cent more than he's entitled to no matter how unfair and shameful it may seem.
Now as to Adams demand for nearly a quarter of a million dollars more in severance pay. Again tough luck, the facts and ultimately the law is on his side. The city signed a contract with him requiring it shell out severance pay to him if forced out, and while the amount seems outrageous it's in line with the ludicrously inflated pay that he received as chief. Again, this was agreed to and signed off on by city officials.
It's not enough then to argue as the new regime in Bell argues that Adams was canned and any monies paid to him in pension and now his severance demand we had nothing to do with, that was the handiwork of the equally disgraced and for a time jailed previous regime of Bell officials. That argument won't fly. The agreement to pay Adams was a legal obligation incurred by Bell, and legally has to be honored.
The moral of all this is that as scam prone as California's pension system is by the legion of fat cat former top public agency employees, it's the system. Adams didn't make it, so if he grabs what he's legally entitled to don't blame him, again blame the system.
(Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the author of How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is host of the weekly Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour heard weekly on the nationally network broadcast Hutchinson Newsmaker Network. This article was posted first at insidesocal.com/friendlyfire/) –cw
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 64
Pub: Aug 10, 2012
