Robert Rizzo, a scandalized former Manager of the town of Bell has had his home covered in toilet paper. Eight officials from Bell, including Rizzo, were charged with misusing public funds recently.
The Los Angeles Times reported that neighbors awoke one morning to see that his house had rolls of toilet paper strewn all over it. This was obviously a demonstration of how the public feel about the official. The house, in Huntington beach, was thought to be empty at the time, despite the fact that Mr Rizzo had been released on $2m bail.
The residents of the town of Bell were reportedly outraged when they discovered that Mr Rizzo was paying himself nearly twice the salary of the president of the USA. Mr Rizzo resigned form his role as the city manager, a post that he had held for 17 years, after the scandal emerged. He stated that he would continue with his post until the end of the term without taking any pay Neither him, nor and of his seven colleagues who have also been accused of being involved in the scheme have pleaded to the charges.
It is felt that part of the reason for the massive outrage, apart form the fact that the salaries were far too high was that the property taxes and sewer fees that the 40,000 residents in the town of Bell had been paying were extremely high. With one in six residents falling below the poverty line this was felt to be extremely unacceptable. The salaries were reportedly much higher than those of other public officials both in that state of California but also all around the US.
An audit in to the city funds found that there were no accounting controls and that the fund was used like petty cash by the officials.