Mayor of small city was 'too stupid and uneducated' to know his $100k salary was illegal, his lawyer argues

Really... If he was "too stupid" what does that say about the people who voted for him?

Eight Dems Arrested in Bell, CA 'Corruption on Steroids' - Not a Single Mention of Party Affiliation From Media

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/09/21/eight-dems-arrested-bell-ca-corruption-steroids-not-single-mention-p#ixzz2LdiXGI3S

Normally when a story is written about a politician whether it be a Democrat or Republican the party affiliation follows the name (D) or (R). However when the story is deemed harmful or detrimental in nature if it's a Democrat the (D) is dropped.

Even on Wikipedia there is no mention of their party affiliation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Bell_scandal



To top it off after these people were brought to justice the good citizens of Bell, CA voted in new Council members... Democrats all!!!

Rubio's water drinking episode has turned into his own personal "Watergate" yet Menendez's alleged sexual exploits with under aged prostitutes goes unreported.

Mayor of small city was 'too stupid and uneducated' to know his $100k salary was illegal, his lawyer argues

Oscar Hernandez is illiterate, has no high school degree and didn't even finish elementary school, defense attorney Stanley Friedmand told jurors. Hernandez and five former members of the Bell City Council are on trial, accused of stealing $1.3million in exorbitant pay from the working-class city of 35,000.The former mayor of Bell, California, was too stupid and uneducated to know his $100,000 salary for the part-time city job was illegal, his lawyer argued today.

'Too dumb to know better': The lawyer for former Bell, California, Mayor Oscar Hernandez said his client is illiterate and uneducated and didn't know his $100,000 salary was illegal

All six elected officials drew salaries of up to $100,000 for serving on boards that seldom met and accomplished little.

Defense lawyers painted the officials as ignorant pawns of city manager Robert Rizzo and city attorney Edward Lee, who both advised them that massive pay raises were legal.

The attorneys for the former officials also blamed the city's financial advisory firm, which never advised the town to pare back the salaries, they say.

Deputy District Attorney Edward Miller, though, said the officials all had important jobs in the community before their election. They weren't daft or pawns - just greedy, according to the Los Angeles Times.
(Again no mention of party affiliation!)

Hernandez owned a grocery store. Former council member Teresa Jacobo was a real estate agent and former councilman George Mirabal had worked as a city clerk.

In cuffs: Robert Rizzo, former city manager, Angela Spaccia, former assistant city manager, Victor Bello, former council member and Oscar Hernandez, mayor, were all arrested as part of a corruption investigation

'They just weren't "yes men," except when it came to pay raises for themselves,' Mr Miller told jurors.

The officials are accused of appointing each other to boards, some of which met only once a year, in order to skirt public pay laws.

In the midst of the recession, the officials were earning $100,000 from the city - three and a half times the median income of the citizens they were elected to represent.

The average salary for part-time elected officials at other California cities of similar size was $4,800.

Mayor of small city was 'too stupid and uneducated' to know his $100k salary was illegal, his lawyer argues