"The Bell effect – 8 city officials arrested in early morning round-up"

Here is an audio link to an interview I did on the local NPR station about the scandal in the City of Bell:

http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2010/09/21/bell/

From the KPCC website:

"At least eight City of Bell officials were arrested this morning, bringing months of FBI and L.A. County district investigations over various allegations of corruption to a dramatic climax as police, equipped with a battering ram, broke down the door of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and brought him out in handcuffs. From the now infamously high salaries of Bell’s city council, to the questionable city contracts in Maywood, city-level corruption seems to be spreading across the southland. Why now? Is it a lack of investigative reporting during a recession; no resources for potential whistleblowers to seek legal representation; or the absence of oversight created by charter cities like Bell? Patt talks with some policy experts about the seemingly widespread corruption popping up across L.A. County and what structural oversights may have allowed them to happen in the first place."