Huntington Beach, California. Robert Rizzo used to be the City Manager of Bell, California, but he left his post after some trouble. The monkey on his back was a DUI arrest and his “generous” salary. Bell is a small city surrounded by Los Angeles and as of the 2000 census had a population of 36,664. Apparently, the small community was not happy that Rizzo was making $800,000.00 a year. That seems to be quite excessive when you compare other politician salaries. For example, the current Governor of Washington State, Christine Gregoire, earns $166,891.00 annually. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger makes only $212,179.00 a year.
Not only was Rizzo grossly overpaid for his job, but he also left a black eye on the office when he was busted for DUI. Rizzo was reported for crashing his car into a mailbox. Officers tracked Rizzo to his home and conducted a thorough investigation. Rizzo was asked to participate in the field sobriety tests, but officers stopped the tests because Rizzo could not keep his balance. Then police collected some damning evidence; Rizzo produced a 0.28 breath test sample. California’s legal limit is 0.08.
Even though he blew well over the limit Rizzo was able to avoid jail from his DUI conviction. He will pay a fine, complete 10 days of community service and will need to complete a 9 month substance abuse program.
