The sentencing of former Bell, California, city manager Robert Rizzo to 12 years in state prison after being found guilty of 69 charges of public corruption brings to closure one of the most unfortunate events in the history of the local government management profession.

2011 Associated Press photo of Robert Rizzo.

As a result of the Bell salary scandal, the ICMA Executive Board publicly censured and expelled Rizzo from membership on December 11, 2010. The board found that Rizzo personally benefitted from misuse of city funds; failed in his fiduciary responsibility to ensure that public funds were legally and properly used for the public’s benefit; did not fully and accurately disclose his compensation in a transparent manner; and failed in his obligation to ensure that city matters were transparent and fully communicated to the council and public. 

The 2010 action to publicly censure and expel Rizzo was the strongest action available to the ICMA board, which considered the case following a thorough investigation by the ICMA Committee on Professional Conduct. 

“As stated before, Mr. Rizzo’s actions, while deeply disturbing and unconscionable, were an anomaly,” said ICMA Executive Director Robert J. O’Neill Jr.  “He was an outlier among members of the local government management profession, who are dedicated to the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships, as required by our stringently enforced Code of Ethics.”

In response to the Bell controversy, in October 2010, the ICMA Executive Board adopted the ICMA Guidelines for Compensation, a set of ethical standards for establishing the compensation of professional local government managers, placing greater emphasis on transparency and providing for managers and their elected officials a roadmap to establishing and negotiating compensation contracts. The guidelines are a proactive statement of the professional responsibilities of fairness and transparency and are used by city, town, and county managers, and their elected officials in local governments throughout the United States.

ICMA and Cal-ICMA received accolades from the city of Bell for the assistance the organizations provided to that community following the 2010 scandal. ICMA/Cal-ICMA led an effort, consisting of several local government organizations, to help the new city council obtain professional interim leadership for that community. The city celebrated its rebirth at a special press conference on August 24, 2011, during which ICMA and Cal-ICMA, the California League of Cities, the California City Management Foundation, and several other regional and national organizations were praised for their contributions to the city’s success. The city of Bell continues to improve under the leadership of a professional city manager and ICMA member. 

ICMA members can take pride in the fact that the values that the profession stands for have overcome some of the damage caused by this blatant violation of the profession’s standards.