How Bell Hit Bottom case study
Case Study: How Bell Hit Bottom
1. How could something like this happen?
I think issues such as this are happening all of the time; a problem presents itself and someone is charged with finding a quick solution. The saying, “haste makes waste” didn’t come about by accident. The town of Bell had gotten to the point where “they needed someone fast”. This is a dangerous place to be. Despite the fact that Robert Rizzo had a sketchy past, he came cheap. The council that was charged with hiring a city leader had likely become so dragged down with dealing with one of the poorest municipalities in California that they had lost sight of the importance of finding a leader and instead, simply looked to fill the vacancy. The fact that the most attractive part of hiring Rizzo was that he was willing to work for the least amount money, speaks volumes about the state of mind that the city council had reached. Also, that the council didn’t do due-diligence on Rizzo meant that they had truly lost their way.
2. Could this be avoided by transparency?
I don’t think that transparency would have made a difference. The city council had lost interest in transparency when hiring Rizzo. I don’t see where transparency along the way would have made any difference. The council set the tone and set their expectations by taking the cheapest route and by not spending time researching Rizzo’s past. In my opinion, they had predetermined their fate.
3. Where did the system fail?
I think the system failed on several levels. Primarily, the council gave-up on their town. They had become emotionally and socially exhausted by the financial state of the town and apparently had lost support from their county and state. I believe they felt abandoned by the “system” and were overwhelmed by the number of illegals. The support of voters had been reduced to a ridiculous number and I believe that the dwindling concern for elected officials and city-run affairs coalesced into one big detached council.
1. How could something like this happen?
I think issues such as this are happening all of the time; a problem presents itself and someone is charged with finding a quick solution. The saying, “haste makes waste” didn’t come about by accident. The town of Bell had gotten to the point where “they needed someone fast”. This is a dangerous place to be. Despite the fact that Robert Rizzo had a sketchy past, he came cheap. The council that was charged with hiring a city leader had likely become so dragged down with dealing with one of the poorest municipalities in California that they had lost sight of the importance of finding a leader and instead, simply looked to fill the vacancy. The fact that the most attractive part of hiring Rizzo was that he was willing to work for the least amount money, speaks volumes about the state of mind that the city council had reached. Also, that the council didn’t do due-diligence on Rizzo meant that they had truly lost their way.
2. Could this be avoided by transparency?
I don’t think that transparency would have made a difference. The city council had lost interest in transparency when hiring Rizzo. I don’t see where transparency along the way would have made any difference. The council set the tone and set their expectations by taking the cheapest route and by not spending time researching Rizzo’s past. In my opinion, they had predetermined their fate.
3. Where did the system fail?
I think the system failed on several levels. Primarily, the council gave-up on their town. They had become emotionally and socially exhausted by the financial state of the town and apparently had lost support from their county and state. I believe they felt abandoned by the “system” and were overwhelmed by the number of illegals. The support of voters had been reduced to a ridiculous number and I believe that the dwindling concern for elected officials and city-run affairs coalesced into one big detached council.