More California chicanery; Iraq vet files suit, waits on VA
The "Grim Sleeper" case, which we discussed here, raised hackles in Los Angeles, with many there already upset about perceived excesses of the city's pension system. Now Los Angeles County prosecutors are looking into Randy Adams, unlike the suspect in the Grim Sleeper slayings, is a man who not only used to wear a law officer's badge but also was police chief in Glendale City, CA, then subsequently in Bell, about a 35-mile drive south from Los Angeles. According to a Sept. 24 article in The Los Angeles Times, the DA's office is "investigating former Bell Police Chief Randy Adams for having himself declared disabled for the job the day he was hired, an arrangement that could pay him millions in tax-free pension money, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Thursday."A deal with city administrator
This is one of those strange onions that yields layers of weird: Earlier in the week the Times had reported "that Adams struck a deal with former Bell City Administrator Robert Rizzo that guaranteed the incoming chief a disability retirement because of injuries he sustained years earlier. Under such a retirement, he would not have to pay taxes on half his pension income." Why, one might wonder--not to mention how--would someone be hired to work if he can't work? "Disability pensions are designed for employees who must give up a job because of a work-related injury, and the tax break is intended to compensate them for lost earnings, said representatives of the California Public Employees' Retirement System," according to the Times.New salary? $457,000
Adams logged six years' duty in Glendale City, with a police force described as much larger than Bell's, yet his his reported $457,000 annual salary at Bell was about double that of the Glendale City job . The city manager there was indirectly quoted in the article, saying that Adams "was not disabled and had never indicated to him that he should be entitled to a medical retirement." However, reports the Times:Adams, 59, entered into the pact with Rizzo even though he had filed for a less lucrative non-disability retirement as he prepared to leave his job as Glendale police chief. That application was approved, but he rescinded it the same month his service officially ended in Glendale and he went to work for Bell in 2009, Glendale and state pension officials say.