LA Controller Says No Salary for MRT if He's Suspended

VOICES--Following today’s introduction of a City Council motion to suspend Mark Ridley-Thomas from his official duties due to federal felony bribery and fraud charges, L.A. Controller Ron Galperin announced that he will stop paying Mr. Ridley-Thomas’s salary if the suspension is approved:

All elected officials must be held to the highest standards without exception. We swear an oath to serve the people and are paid by the people to work solely and entirely in their interests. The fact that yet another Los Angeles elected official is facing criminal corruption charges is an appalling stain on our democracy.

If Mr. Ridley-Thomas is suspended, I intend to use my authority as Controller and Paymaster of the City of Los Angeles to cease his salary payments and benefits in accordance with the City Charter. No one indicted for public corruption and suspended by the City Council should receive a taxpayer-funded salary.

(Ron Shalom Galperin is an American politician and Los Angeles City Controller. He took office on July 1, 2013 and won re-election in 2017. Galperin is a member of the Democratic Party.)