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| Bell Campaign Central: Harnessing Voter Anger for Political Action and Change While hundreds of Bell residents protested for change, only a few take their anger to the next level, as campaign volunteers, where the real work for change takes place. Here, their stories. Monday, February 21, 2011 Editor, WatchOurCity.com Bell, Ca –It’s just past 9 this Thursday evening and volunteers noisily file into campaign headquarters for Bell city council candidates Nestor Valencia, Mario Rivas and Miguel Sanchez. The banter is all Spanish, with conversation topics excitedly switching from SpongeBob Square pants to pan dulce. Just a few minutes before, the campaign office was completely quiet, an empty storefront on Florence Avenue with faded office-grade blue carpet and Costco-type white plastic fold-out tables and chairs, its white walls reflecting fluorescent lights, those still working. Wall decorations are spare. On the wall, held up with clear scotch tape, hanging incongruously like an abstract work of art is a multi-colored voting precinct map, illustrating just how tightly contained are the 2.2 square miles of 36,000 residents that is Bell, and the seriousness of the mission and focus of this campaign. One volunteer speaks over the din, says they need to bring food, another volunteer responds that he’ll bring two “pollos” (chickens). The first one shouts back that the “pollos” better be cooked, not with feathers on them. Laughter breaks out. Then shouts and hoots go out for Mexico’s favorite soccer team, “las Chivas”, the goats. With Election Day two weeks away, on March 8, this is how volunteers deal with mounting pressures of the political campaign. One year ago these same people were meeting as members of the Bell Residents Club, a rag-tag grass-roots civic group founded years ago by Nestor and some of the folks here, with Mario joining early on. They began to rock the boat, snipping around the edges of city hall. They had suspicions of wrong doing, and property tax bills as evidence of foul happenings inside city hall, but no smoking guns about official corruption…yet. Eight months ago, in the summer of 2010, these same Bell residents could be found carrying signs and shouting for justice, protesting. Tonight, these volunteers, victims of Bell’s official corruption, are humbly aware of the transformative power that a little civics engagement action can have on local politics and public policy. It’s late. Most have to work tomorrow. A fifty-something man, wearing a well-groomed black moustache and a factory-issue dark blue Dickies work shirt is saying that he’s got to be up by 4 next morning; but the atmosphere is festive. This is an after-event party of sorts. A televised candidate forum sponsored by the California Foundation and moderated by Spanish language TV station Univision just wrapped up in Bell’s community center. It was standing room only. Local TV news programs will highlight it at their 11 o’clock broadcasts. It’s been a long road for volunteers here. Bell residents can now breathe somewhat easier today, as another historic milestone has been reached in the city’s quest for justice and accountability. On Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court, six of the eight accused current and former Bell city officials were ordered by the judge to stand trial on public corruption charges. But it was not easy getting to this point in the notorious world-renown corruption saga that is Bell. When the Bell story first broke, hundreds of residents descended on city hall to protest what are now eye-popping criminal salaries of city officials. The media circus that ensued was not a product of spontaneous combustion, but rather the culmination of long-time simmering activism which came to a boil this past summer, at which point the media, law enforcement authorities, and higher-level elected officials entered the fray. Years before the watershed moment when Rizzo’s $800,000 salary graced the front pages of the Times in June 2010, a handful of hardy and courageous Bell city residents, led by activists and city council candidates Nestor Valencia and Mario Rivas, were actively seeking to penetrate deep into the heart of corrupt practices of Bell city hall, but were thwarted, as court testimony revealed last week, when we learned that city officials willingly conspired to fabricate responses to requests for public records. Once given wide exposure by media outlets, the boiling cauldron of corruption brought out hundreds of residents to vent raw anger, rage and indignation, who realized that their lack of civic engagement dealt severe blows to their pocket books, with city hall coordinating the spiking of property taxes, car seizures, collection fees, and spiked business fees (some creatively invented on the fly). This was orchestrated looting of the city treasury in support of bloated salaries of city council, top city managers and the entire police force, with added padding of retirement benefits also spiking beyond reason. Angry voices with bullhorns demanded change, justice, the end to corruption; they exclaimed, renounced, shouted, and voiced long hidden but palpable distrust of politics and politicians. Something had to give. Transforming Dirty Politics into Clean Political Energy Bell’s public red-in-the-face anger, however, has trouble translating into political action. Harnessing that energy for positive clean political change is much like harnessing the bountiful energy of perpetual ocean waves for clean energy generation: it has its challenges. In Bell, the transition from public square demonstrations to a wave of organized grass-roots, volunteer fueled activity for political change is driven either by one of two forces: volunteers are hired guns, like a well-funded foreign mercenary army; or volunteers are a homegrown rag-tag bunch, making a natural transition from shouting in public square in front of city hall to an organized effort for political change. Here revealed, are portraits of the latter group of Bell residents. WatchOurCity.com interviewed a core group of volunteers. They are the real heroes, the residents who woke up, shouted, screamed as cathartic civics engagement, and then channeled that anger to a more methodical political activism. While hundreds shouted and carried brooms in symbolic gesture to clean city hall, only a fraction of those residents are taking it to the next level. Each is a Bell city resident. Each became deeply engaged in the civics of public demonstrations. Each realizes that they can make a difference in shaping public policy for this tiny city, and that their impact will have far reaching implications that will ripple beyond the city’s borders. Each found a remarkable voice, both singular and collective, that could be heard in the rotunda, halls and offices of the state's capital, in the editing rooms of TV news stations, on National Public Radio and in the editorial offices of newspapers from the Times to the Wall Street Journal, to London’s Economist magazine. And some here would bet their meager earnings at the local card club casino hedging that one sitting governor was elected on the momentum he built riding the Bell scandal as Attorney General. While these remarkable Bell residents all share a common indignation, each has a very personal deep-felt reason driving their moral compass, as they are transformed and enlightened by their civics engagement in their quest for justice and good government. ____________________________________________ Ismael Morales is 23 years old, attended UC Irvine and works as an education para- professional. WatchOurCity.com: Ismael, why are you volunteering? IM: To help out the community. My passion is education. I’m the son of immigrants and the first one to graduate from college. It means a lot for me. Before [the Bell corruption scandal broke], I had no idea about politics. This opened up my mind and gave me an opportunity to help as a volunteer. WatchOurCity.com: Why are you volunteering for Justice for Bell? IM: I was with BASTA before. But did not volunteer. They did not answer my questions. Bell for Justice has no special interest behind it. Justice for Bell is transparent. All transparent, and all questions answered. They could be a good example for city council. I quite frankly believed the vibe they had at BASTA was not transparent, which was a repetition of the current government in Bell. WatchOurCity.com: What do you see as the end game in Bell? IM: To restore good government to city hall. Integrity is broken. This campaign will restore integrity. It won’t be overnight, will probably take years; and to have an open government to all, that listens to all residents. Especially restoring trust. Can’t afford to lose any more trust. WatchOurCity.com: You saw today’s news about Bell officials ordered to stand trial on charges of public corruption. What are your thoughts about this? IM: Prosecution is going in the right direction. Great advancement is being made towards the case. As a resident, me personally, I would like them to get the highest punishment for the damage they caused. They destroyed their oath, and the integrity and duty they owe the residents. ______________________________________________________ Nora Saenz is a single mom, is 32 and works as an accounting rep. WatchOurCity.com: Nora, what is your motivation for volunteering? NS: I honestly feel there are candidates running that have a special agenda, and it’s not what’s in the best interest of the community. I feel that the candidates for Justice for Bell will represent what the community wants, and they’re not there for any special interest group. WatchOurCity.com: What is the biggest challenge you see in this campaign as a volunteer? NS: We don’t have the funds. We’re going up against the POA, the cops, which have also put a damper on our campaign as far as their harassing of the volunteers, the voter intimidation; I think those have put a damper on our campaign and on our volunteers, the harassing of volunteers. I think those are some of the biggest challenges of the campaign, the money issue and the fact that we’re going up against other campaigns that have a lot of money, but through special interest groups like the Bell POA [Police Officers Association]. WatchOurCity.com: There are a lot of people protesting. Why aren’t there more people volunteering? NS: That’s a good question. I think it’s the politics; I think people don’t want to get involved with the politics side of it. I’ve gotten feedback from a few people and they just feel that government, regardless of who you put in, is going to fail. So I think the ugly side of politics tends to turn people away from volunteering and political campaigns. WatchOurCity.com: And do you think that the politics prevents residents from taking that next step in becoming involved? What is that barrier? NS: Well I think community activism and when you rally, that’s different than getting involved in a political campaign. When you do activism, everybody is there for a cause, for a purpose. We want... we’re there to put action into something that we believe in, in a rally, or just activism, community organization. Once the political campaigns come in, it’s a different set of rules. There’s certain things that you can and can’t do. You have to be careful what you say and what you don’t say. And I think that’s the part that makes it difficult for people to get involved in the political campaigns. WatchOurCity.com: What about the time element of becoming a campaign volunteer, is that also a factor perhaps? NS: Yes. It requires a lot of sacrifice as far the time. I know when I first started [transitioning from rallies to a political campaign mode], we would meet daily at Denny’s [restaurant] till like 10 or maybe 12 o’clock at night, and that hasn’t changed yet. Now, the only difference is that we actually meet at the [campaign] office. But it’s very time consuming, but I think if you're on the right side of the team, you just look at it more as it’s a sacrifice, and in the end, when you win, that’s when your compensation comes in, not only where you and your family benefit from it, but everybody else in the community does as well. WatchOurCity.com: So you see a reward not just for yourself personally, but for the community as a whole? NS: Yes. Yes, because my commitment comes in from hearing other families, how people that can’t speak for themselves, people that won’t speak for themselves, and I see that I have the same interests that they do which makes me want to fight a little bit harder, because I’m going to benefit from it. Whatever I benefit, they’re going to benefit as well. ____________________________________________ Araceli Morfin, 36, holds a Masters degree from USC, and is a student counselor. WatchOurCity.com: Of all the volunteers here, I understand you are one of a few who’ve been involved in a previous Bell campaign. Why are you volunteering? AM: For me, it’s a lifestyle. My parents are farm workers. So I’ve been doing huelgas [protests] since I was a little child. So seeking justice is my life. WatchOurCity.com: Your parents were farm workers where? AM: In Washington state. My mom, when I was in high school, she use to makes us work in the onion fields. I remember being in college and working in the cebolla [onion fields], and the planes would fly over the people, and pesticides would be on the people [field workers]. So my mom made us do it so I would want to get out. I was older than my brothers and sisters, so I did it to join the family, even though I was in college, but it was during the summers. WatchOurCity.com: And so you were witness to the pesticide spraying of farm workers? AM: Oh, yeah. There was no water, no bathrooms, there was nothing. It was basically my family and my relatives, and a few others getting together as a community to protest pesticide spraying. So I grew up that way. I then participated in community activism working on legislation to control pesticide use on farm workers. WatchOurCity.com: Why are you involved in the campaign of Justice for Bell with Nestor, Mario and Miguel as candidates, not in the campaigns of the other candidates? AM: I think I originally got sold to the idea when I met Nestor a long time ago and got involved in his last campaign. And I could see his passion for the community, even though we may disagree on things or maybe some people don’t like him for whatever reason, I really believe that he does tell the truth when it comes to justice and fighting for the values of others and giving a voice to others. And so that’s how I got involved. I think believing in him first got me here. WatchOurCity.com: What about Mario Rivas and Miguel Sanchez? AM: I was introduced to Nestor by Mario. I know that Mario walks and talks what he preaches. And so I just fell into a cause that I believe in. Miguel, I think, like many say, he represents the community. I like the fact that he is part of the community and a lot of people were invited to join, but very few did the work to actually run. I think that takes a lot of courage. WatchOurCity.com: How is this campaign different from previous campaigns you’ve been involved with? AM: This campaign, first of all, is national. WatchOurCity.com: National in what sense? AM: I like the fact that it’s national in the sense that everybody knows about it, that knows about the corruption, even though, I mean, I kind of feel justified in that all the time that we’ve been spending, I think about Nestor, like all the time that he’s been spending and investing in justice, this is an example of how justice is, you know. It may take a long time, but I believe that justice is always served, or is going to be served, maybe not in my time, but certainly in God’s time, but it will happen. WatchOurCity.com: What do you think about today’s ruling by the L.A. Superior court to send 6 of the 8 officials to stand trial? AM: I read a comment asking why it takes so long for the court to find justice, why is it taking this long and how much immunity is it going to take just to make a case? It seems to me like they’re trying to pin it on just one person, and they’re excusing everybody else. WatchOurCity.com: Do you see this is as full justice or partial justice? AM: I think it’s barely justice, because I feel like Mrs. Valdez [Bell city clerk], Spaccia [Rizzo’s assistant], all those people, you know, they all committed fraud. Everybody did. And I don’t see why they are getting partial immunity. I don’t understand that. _________________________________________________ Ana Celia Sahagun is 19, attends a community college and works as a cashier. WatchOurCity.com: Why are you volunteering? ACS: Well, my motivation for volunteering is basically due to my parents, because I see how much they’ve struggled in the beginning and how they fought alongside Nestor and Mario for a while, and then I started getting information about how much they’re [the residents] actually paying for all the taxes and how much the police is making. And then I see my dad struggling every day, going to work, and for what? So these people can take it? I think it’s unfair. I know that, along with my dad, there are a lot of working parents that work a lot and that they…it’s not fair to pay such high taxes, while the officials are enjoying a luxurious life on the backs of my parents. WatchOurCity.com: You are probably the youngest volunteer here. There’s a lot of people rallying, but very few volunteering. Why do you think not as many are volunteering? ACS: Like I said, a lot of them are working, trying to pay their high taxes, and when they do get home, they get tired. They don’t have time to be helping out. Like that is one of the reasons I’m here; I’m here representing my parents. I know my dad gets home from work late, while my mom has to babysit. My mom has to do a lot of stuff, and they simply don’t have time to be here. That’s why, the main reason why they don’t stop by to volunteer, because many are working to pay their taxes for the gas bill, the trash bill, everything. WatchOurCity.com: Do have any comments or observations to make as a volunteer and a resident of Bell? ACS: That although I know everyone is tired, it is crunch time, and if people don’t start buckling down, they’re going to have kept on struggling the way they are struggling now, if they don’t come in. Oh, and like my dad said, there’s two types of people in the world: those who make change and those who wait for change to happen for them. I’m the one who wants to make change. __________________________________________ Franklin, 32, immigration services consultant (not a Bell resident). WatchOurCity.com: Why are you volunteering? FN: I am a volunteer because I like justice and I think everything happening in Bell has to be changed. And one of the major things I care about is dignity, and I like to see things going right. That’s one of the reasons why I want to declare the corruption in Bell as a big problem now in the community, and other communities as well. And that’s what I say to other volunteers who come into the office, that Bell is invisible no more. WatchOurCity.com: Have you worked in other campaigns before? FN: Many. WatchOurCity.com: How is this campaign different than other campaigns you’ve worked on? FN: It’s a lot, a lot different than other campaigns, for the corruption, and for all these officials still standing up staying in this city when they don’t live in this city. WatchOurCity.com: Can you explain that a bit? FN: Well, these people made a big mistake in trying to insult the citizens of Bell. I believe that these officials and politicians do not deserve to be involved in the city business, the city politicians, especially. I think these people do not belong here, the council members. WatchOurCity.com: And in what other ways is this campaign in Bell different politically or organizationally than other campaigns you’ve worked on? FN: It’s a huge difference because we got to point that we found out with evidence, really strong evidence, about the corruption here, where as in other campaigns for other cities, we had suspicions of something, it was a process, but we could never get to a point of where we could say for sure that those political people were actually crooks. That’s why this campaign is different. WatchOurCity.com: What challenges do you see in this campaign, for yourself, for the candidates, for the city? FN: For me and for the community, this community is going to be in better hands if these candidates that we are working with right now got elected because Nestor, Mario and Miguel are really transparent persons. For the volunteers, they will benefit by seeing a lot more ways to fight for justice in whichever road they go from here. For me this is a huge experience to be part of this change, and will make me a better person and help me move on as a professional. ___________________________________________________________ Carmen Bella, long-time Bell activist, mother of Ulises Bella, band member/vocalist for rock group Ozomatli. [Editor's note: interview done in Spanish with English translation here] WatchOurCity.com: Señora Carmen, how long have you lived in Bell? CB: 33 years. WatchOurCity.com: Why are you a volunteer in this political campaign? CB: Because for many years I’ve been looking for justice. WatchOurCity.com: Justice for what? CB: Liberty, liberty of expression, liberty to vote for whom we want to. In the past, I was a volunteer for other city council candidates, two professors from East L.A. City College. In those days, for that campaign, we did everything right, everything we could, for that campaign. I walked the entire city knocking on doors. But then George Cole, then a councilman, threw in his own candidate who had no intention of winning, but did it simply to water down the vote for the two college professors. WatchOurCity.com: George Cole is the same former council man who is now ordered to stand trial on charges of public corruption? CB: Yes, that George Cole. Well, he brought in this other candidate from the outside that didn’t even live in the city just to divide the voters. So George Cole won that election. WatchOurCity.com: What are your thoughts on the current and former officials who are currently ordered to stand trial, Rizzo, Spaccia, Cole, Mayor Hernandez and the others? CB: The process is going to be long. Many of my neighbors tell me, “Yes, they are in court, but they are out free on bail”. And I remind them that justice takes a long time. Just like it took us many years to get to this point, it also will take us some time for justice to work. The trial will be long, but they will get their comeuppance. WatchOurCity.com: The day the salaries in Bell were revealed, hundreds of Bell residents took to the streets to shout, demand resignations, and protest the high salaries, but here in this campaign office, there are only about 30 volunteers. Why is it difficult to volunteer? Why don’t more residents transform their anger, taking it to the next level? CB: Well, you know why? Because there are many of us residents who have the necessity of lacking work, or the necessity of being with ill health, that makes it tough. Look, today, I walked as a volunteer to the trailer park, that one on Florence Avenue, and there were many residents who complained that they didn’t have a job, that the rent was increasing. They increase everything for them. So these kinds of conditions for this group of residents puts a damper on their enthusiasm for volunteering. WatchOurCity.com: What do you think about the candidates running for Bell’s city council? CB: Do you mean for the candidates here or those on the side of BASTA? WatchOurCity.com: For any candidate, what are your thoughts? CB: Well, let me tell you, the candidates running on the side of BASTA have disgracefully deceived us. Because those running on that team, the police are behind them. And so, with the police having a hand in their campaign, then it is as if the same political machinery enters back to run things just like before, to do what they want, one way or another, and that doesn’t go well with me. For example the police, their union group, donated money to their candidates so that they could open their office for BASTA. The office for BASTA is well equipped; I know this because in the beginning I was one of their first volunteers. They had it all set up, their desks, their computers, their furniture, even their coffee makers. And so, the impression I got was this group was well established. And that was wrong, because this is an economically poor city. And it’s as if there is some hidden interest in this city. And as much as I walk and walk in this city, and as much as this thought goes around and around in my mind, I still can’t figure out what that special interest is. WatchOurCity.com: Why are you volunteering for Nestor Valencia, Mario Rivas and Miguel Sanchez’s team? CB: Mr. Valencia, on a certain occasion years ago, we had gone to a community meeting with the police, and there were very few of us who attended these meetings then, well Mr. Valencia had asked me directly if I would like to see an open government of the people, if that would be agreeable to me. And so that’s when I started following him. He told us he attended Bell High School, and that his parents had lived here a long time. At that time, I went to a meeting where the city of Bell officials issued an order demanding that Nestor’s parents leave this city. I believe his parents felt misgivings about leaving Bell. And that very night, the city ordered that Nestor’s parents had to move from their house [due to eminent domain]. And so I began to connect the dots. And I said to myself, I am going to become a volunteer and I did become a volunteer. WatchOurCity.com: Another question, and please pardon my indiscretion, how old are you? CB: I am 76 years old. WatchOurCity.com: One final question. I have heard comments that if it was not for the L.A. Times, this corruption scandal in Bell would not have been exposed. What do you think about this? CB: Well, the truth, sincerely, yes. Many curious things happened during elections time and us old people were approached by Teresa Jacobo’s people. I spoke to a retired couple like me who are voters that they said that Jacobo’s people on election time would bring them ballots to vote for them, and these people visited my friends without invitation with ballots in hand, asking that they be returned only to them. So one day I took the ballots and dropped them off at city hall and Teresa Jacobo was upset that I did that, she told me that I shouldn’t do that, that her people are the only ones to receive them and will process them for us old people. Then we began asking for the salaries of the city officials. And Pedro Carrillo would tell us to go away, and would not give us any public records. WatchOurCity.com: You mean Pedro Carrillo, the current city manager? CM: Yes, but back then he was Rizzo’s assistant and doing Rizzo’s bidding, telling us residents that we couldn’t have public records. So we went to Channel 52 news for help. And Pedro Carrillo also refused to grant the reporter the public records we were seeking of their salaries. And we went to the L.A. Times. I’m very happy that Ruben Vives did what he did. He’s the young newspaper reporter from the Los Angeles Times who listened. I hugged him after his report was printed. _____________________________________________________ Ulises Bella, Ozomatli band member, son of Carmen Bella, grew up in Bell. WatchOurCity.com: Ulises, you grew up in Bell. Your mother is a very courageous woman, is civically minded, and a stellar volunteer who for years has been involved in local politics to rout out and expose corruption in Bell, culminating in widely published reports of corruption on a scale beyond anyone’s imagination. Your thoughts? UB: First I want to commend you and your website WatchOurCity.com. I follow your reports and what happens in Bell, even when I’m on tour. I keep asking people, who’s behind WatchOurCity.com? Yes, but my mom, she’s been in it and down through, and it’s so necessary. WatchOurCity.com: What do have to say about your mom just participating, the whole effort for all these years? UB: I think it’s one of those things that really prove if people keep a constant pressure and a constant watch, and hold that flag high enough, people will notice, and things will happen. And it’s funny because, you know, my mom has been at it for so long, with the whole thing, when it came down, the karmic wheel turned, and those people got arrested, Rizzo and all these people, it was like almost, like you won, you won, mom, you finally did it, even though, obviously it’s a collective experience, it’s not just my mom but a whole group of people that collectively did this, but it was a triumph for the people of Bell. And not only the people of Bell, but for the people in the entire southeast. Because you know, you’ve got Vernon, Huntington Park, and Maywood. And the common theme in all these cities is very obvious. And I commend you for your website and just keeping it real with what’s going on. I remember when my mom would bring me papers in the early 90’s when I was a kid. She would say, look at this Rizzo, from Hesperia, like who’s this fucking guy? Then she read about all this shit that was involved with the Bicycle Card Club and the corruption there with Bell Casino. Thank very much for doing your work. It’s necessary. It’s that kind of journalism and that kind of thing that is completely necessary in this society. Editor's Note: This last interview was conducted on Saturday night, after Ulyses and other members of his band Ozomatli threw a concert for the Justice for Bell campaign volunteers, and for his mother, Carmen Bella, the star of all political volunteers in Bell. According to Wikipedia, “Ozomatli take their name from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, which is also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest, and music”. Copyright 2011, WatchOurCity.com |
| Justice for Bell Campaign Volunteers |
Carmen
Bella
Bella
Ana
Franklin
Ulises
Ismael
Nora
Araceli
| Heroes and Agents of Change |
| Editor, WatchOurCity.com March 4, 2009 George Cole and His Gay Issue |
| Zev's Blog L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky on Nestor Valencia in Bell: August 9, 2010 County Tastes Bell-Style Politics |
| Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times Fresh face in Bell is a break from the past Council candidate Mario Rivas, the recycling coordinator in Huntington Park, is a former Marine who drives a Prius and a Segway and has solar panels on his home. |