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BELL

George Cole,
Former Bell
Councilman;
The brains
behind Rizzo's
million dollar
salary and
author of Bell's
push for the
Charter City
initiative in
2003, employer
to Pedro Carrillo
and campaign
donor to
Carrillo's 2002
Assembly
campaign

Rizzo, George Cole, Pete Werrlein, other Bell
officials gave $7,252 to Pedro Carrillo's 2002
Assembly race, more than all southeast cities
combined
No other city in the southeast gave more money, by more city officials, or
by more felons, to Pedro Carrillo's campaign than the city of Bell.

The Editor, WatchOurCity.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 6:00 am
Updated August 30, 2010

Bell, CA - On Friday July 23, just past midnight, Bell city council announced that then-city
manager Robert Rizzo had resigned, along with Angela Spaccia and Chief Randy Adams.

That's when things got really interesting in Bell.

Overnight, BASTA, a grass-roots group, was created with funding by Bell's Police Officers
Association (POA). Sources report that the POA has committed a total of $150,000 to the
campaign to save their jobs. So they hired Leo Briones, an intimate of the Latino Caucus in
Sacramento, former husband of ex-Senator Martha Escutia. Briones is also a close friend of
Pedro Carrillo, who was appointed that night as Interim City Manager, and last week, given
a 1-year, $175,000 contract as Bell's city manager.

BASTA has called for the resignation 4 of the 5 council members, and for the resignations of
other highly paid city employees. Mysteriously, BASTA does not call for the resignation of
Pedro Carrillo nor top Police officers. Pedro Carrillo was front and center defending Rizzo
and his salary as the official spokesman for the city of Bell (in an interesting side note,
Pedro Carrillo's wife, Sandra Pizzaro, is a FaceBook friend of Leo Briones. Leo also is
FaceBook friends with Carrillo's wife; she lives in Sacramento).

The question is, why did city council choose Carrillo? The answer lies in Carrillo's 2001-2002
campaign in his failed bid for the area's Assembly seat.

On August 20, 2010, WatchOurCity.com posted a report on Pedro Carrillo's contributors to
his Assembly race, noting that Rizzo, George Cole, and John Chiang, State Controller,
among other Bell players, had all donated to Carrillo's campaign.

WatchOurCity.com now provides further analysis of Carrillo's campaign contribution
statements, known as Form 460's, from a different perspective. An Excel file containing data
of Carrillo's campaign contributions was downloaded from California Secretary of State
Debra Bowen's website (www.cal-access.ss.ca.gov). The hard raw data contains basic data
fields, such as Name of Contributor, City, State, Employer, Occupation, Amount and Date of
Transaction. Using Excel tools and formulas, the data was sorted in several different ways.
As delivered from the State's website, the data source is organized alphabetically by name
of contributor.

When the data was re-sorted by "City", it revealed a startling and undeniable picture of
Carrillo's relationship to one particular southeast city, with its contributions far outshining
those from other local cities.

Contributions to Pedro Carrillo's campaign from donors in the city of Bell amounted to more
than the total for all the other southeast cities combined.

All told, the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood and South Gate
contributed a grand collective total of $18,852 to Carrillo's campaign. Here are the numbers
- we'll leave Bell out for the moment:

Bell Gardens: $125
Cudahy: $550
Huntington Park: $1,050
Maywood: $2,025
South Gate: $2,700

Total contributions to Carrillo from all southeast L.A. County cities combined, sans Bell,
equals $6,450.

Totals in contributions to Carrillo from the "Bell" data field equals $6,100.

However, the raw data includes three contributions given on three dates totaling $1,152,
not from "Bell", but from "Huntington Beach". The donor? A certain Robert Rizzo, listed
under "Employer" as "City of Bell", and under "Occupation" as "Municipal Manager".

Robert Rizzo must have really taken a liking to Pedro Carrillo to have donated not just once,
not twice, but on three different liquor-filled fundraising occasions. Carrillo was like the son
Rizzo never had. The total haul from "Bell", including Robert Rizzo's evidently enthusiastic
multiple contributions, adds up to $7,252, a number that surpasses the total contributions
from all other southeast cities combined. Throwing in "Lynwood" for good measure only
adds $200 to the southeast total, sans "Bell", falling short by $50, still leaving Bell besting
all local cities combined in official contributions to Pedro Carrillo. In other words, Bell officials
funded 50% of Pedro Carrillo's campaign in the southeast cities.
.
Here's some detail
Bell Gardens had a grand total of (2) donors giving all of $125, both the same insurance
agency business.

Cudahy's contribution to Carrillo was slightly more than Bell Gardens, with three donors
totaling $550. Donor #1 is George Perez, Cudahy's city manager, giving $250. Donor #2 is
councilman Osvaldo Conde with $200. A third amount, a mere $100, from "Residents for
Councilman David Silva".

Huntington Park was less stingy than Cudahy, giving a total of $1,050 from five folks there,
with two notable names: Tacos Don Chente, aka Vicente Ortiz (who mayor John Noguez has
showered with $500,000 in gifts of public funds since 2003) donated $300 to Carrillo on
11-29-01. Then there is Leticia Michel, also from Tacos Don Chente, donating $200 on the
same day as her boss Don Chente, Vicente Ortiz. Then Councilman Ric Loya also donated a
total of $300 on 12-10-01.

Maywood gave to Carrillo just twice more that Huntington Park, with donors like Maywood
Tow giving $1,000 a pop.

South Gate gave about $700 more than Maywood to Carrillo. Two notable donors include
councilman Henry Gonzales who on December 31, 2001, gave a $500 check to Carrillo.
Gonzales is famously known as having survived a shot to the head from behind during the
Albert Robles regime in South Gate. It is widely believed, though not proven, that Albert
Robles' brother, Mahatma Gandhi Robles (his legal name given at birth), was the trigger
man. That episode cemented Gonzales' relationship with ex-State Senator Martha Escutia
and her ex-husband, now running BASTA, Leo Briones. The other notable contributor is
Victor Caballero, then-sales manager for Fiesta Taxi. Victor's Fiesta Taxi and George Cole's
Oldtimers Foundation banded together to jimmy rig a $3.9 million bus transportation
contract from Huntington Park city council, who's effort in awarding the contract there was
led by John Noguez and his campaign manager/fellow councilman Edward Escareno.
Escareno was quietly indicted, prosecuted and finally convicted of "Grand Theft of public
funds" back in December of 2005. WatchOurCity.com broke the story on January 16, 2006
that the District attorney had done this oh so very quietly, not even alerting the L.A. Times,
nor issuing a press release of Escareno's felony conviction. The La Opinion Newspaper picks
up WatchOurCity.com's report and prints a front page report on January 18, 2006 titled
"Corrupcion en Huntington Park" (no translation needed).

These reports about corruption in Huntington Park seem quaint in comparison to Bell,
though still very relevant in fleshing out Bell's story. Making full circle back to Bell, the most
delectable treat is left for the last.

Pedro Carrillo has lots of supporters in the southeast cities. It is as if he's Bell's favorite son.
It is very clear that Carrillo is a political operative of a high order. So high, in fact that of all
the southeast cities, no other city single-handedly gave more money to Carrillo than officials
from the city of Bell.

Bell's donor list to Pedro Carrillo's campaign is a veritable Who's Who of folks under
investigation in Bell. Starting with Rizzo, then George Cole, also a political action committee
listed only as "Council for Responsible Local Government", which takes the prize for
euphemisms in Bell, gave $1,000 to Carrillo. At least Rizzo, George Cole, Mirabal, and Bass
identify themselves as donors to Carrillo.

One unusual non-elected official from Bell who, on February 5, 2002, gave $1,000 to Carrillo,
is noted as Darryl Roth who identifies himself as the "Manager" of "Western Auto of Bell".
The Times published a report on July 31, 2010 stating that investigators are looking into a
shady and lucrative real estate transaction between Pete Werrlein, owner of the Western
Auto property, and officials in the city of Bell ("Bell's Business ties to officials probed").

The only contributor to Carrillo who did not identify himself is noted only as "Wester Gaming
Consultant" under "Name of Contributor". That's it. No other information is provided; and
none was requested by Carrillo's campaign treasurer, Conrado Terrazas (we'll swing back
to Carrillo's campaign treasurer Terrazas in a few). Why did Carrillo and Terrazas not bother
to identify who "Western Gaming Consultant" was?

Turns out, "Western Gaming Consultant" was Peter Werrlein, owner of Western Auto of Bell
and Darryl Roth's boss. Why didn't he identify himself on Carrillo's campaign report? The
Times had printed an earlier report, way back on December 15, 1993, titled "Bell's Hiring of
Felon Threatens Reopening of Card Club, State says". Here's what the Times had to say
about "Western Gaming Consultant": ""Bell last month finalized plans with Los
Angeles-based California Bell Casino, a two-man partnership, to reopen it sometime next
year. Werrlein's company, Western Gaming Associates, was hired to oversee the millions of
dollars in cash that city officials expect will flow through the club each year. Under the
agreement, Werrlein, who owns a Western Auto store in Bell, will be paid 15% of the city's
revenues the first year and 10% in subsequent years. Werrlein will have three employees
who will be paid from that share, according to his contract. The city of Bell may have
jeopardized plans to reopen a troubled poker parlor by hiring as its monitor of the operation
a former mayor who was convicted of felony charges stemming from his hidden interest in
the club years ago, state officials said. The city last month hired Peter Werrlein Jr., who
managed the once-thriving California Bell Club until he pleaded guilty in 1984 to mail fraud
and owning an illegal gambling business. He served 10 1/2 months in federal prison."

Pete Werrlein's casino troubles resurfaced again in 2006. The Press-Enterprise newspaper
from the Inland Valley published a report, "Deputies Find Apparent Casino in House"
(1-18-06) with pictures of a house converted into an illegal gambling den, complete with slot
machines, which are illegal except in Indian casinos licensed by the State. "It looked like an
illegal casino or gambling hall," Bergandahl said. Pete Werrlein, 73, built the mountain home
in 1995, though his primary residence is in Huntington Beach, the detective said. In 1985,
Werrlein pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from a gambling scheme incurred while
serving on the Bell City Council, according to published news accounts. Werrlein, who owns
an automotive and weapons store in Bell, declined to comment Tuesday. Werrlein spent
10½ months at a federal prison camp and six months at a halfway house for taking a secret
majority ownership of a gambling business in Bell. While on the council he approved
ordinances and licenses that allowed the business to exist in the central Los Angeles
County city. They found enough evidence to suggest they had more on their hands than
just a game room. The room had a cashier's cage and a sign posted that read "No Credit,"
said sheriff's Sgt. Richard Ells. Deputies found slot machines, a mini roulette wheel, mini
craps table, blackjack and poker tables, buckets of coins and several poker chips,
Bergandahl said. The room, about 1,200 square feet and below grade, has its own access
to the outside. Werrlein could face a variety of misdemeanor charges. Bergandahl plans to
forward the report of his investigation to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office
today or Thursday. It will be up to the district attorney's office to file charges."

No wonder campaign treasurer Conrado Terrazas was reluctant to expose on his campaign
statement that "Western Gaming Consultant" was Werrlein, the former Bell councilman and
convicted felon who kept good company with George Cole and Rizzo. Such good company,
in fact, that George Cole actually defended picking Werrlein as the city's consultant of choice
to run the card club after Werrlein's 10 1/2 month stint in Federal prison.

Back in 2002, the FPPC did not inquire, nor did anyone care, about such seemingly sloppy
campaign reporting, all as a cover up for a felon from Bell, a Rizzo and George Cole
associate. Carrillo was in on the deal.

Just like Carrillo is in on the deal today. Carrillo's selection first as Interim city manager after
Rizzo's resignation, then Carrillo's selection as permanent city manager for the 1-year
contract was puzzling at first. Not any more, not after reviewing this data from Carrillo
himself.

Conrado Terrazas was Pedro Carrillo's campaign treasurer during the 2001-02 Assembly
campaign. Terrazas is who kept the campaign books for Carrillo. These same campaign
Campaign filing Forms 460 and 700 reports show that Carrillo paid thousands of dollars to
Terrazas from January 2001 to December of 2002. Conrado Terrazas is currently the
Communications Deputy for State Senator Gil Cedillo and lists on his LinkeIn page one of his
professional specialties:

"Fundraising: Organized galas for non-profits: JWCH Institute, Oldtimers Foundation & El
Centro Del Pueblo & raised funds for Congressman Xavier Becerra, Jose Solache, Lynwood
Unified School Board; Felipe Agredano, Garvey School District; Sharon Martinez,
Councilmember, Monterey Park; George Cole, Central Basin Water District & Juan Noguez,
Mayor, Huntington Park."

Conrado worked for George Cole in the early 2000's. Cole's campaign contribution
statements from then also lists Conrado Terrazas as his campaign treasurer. Around the
same time, in 2002, John Noguez in Huntington Park also began to raise funds for his run at
a Huntington Park city council seat, no doubt in consultation with George Cole, since Cole
delivered votes, and nobody ran, even in Huntington Park, without Cole's blessing, that is, if
they wanted to win. John Noguez also hired Conrado Terrazas as campaign treasurer. After
all, Tarrazas comes highly recommended by Cole, Rizzo, Pete Werrlein and Pedro Carrillo.

Rolf Janssen is listed as donating $500 to Carrillo, and is listed as an "LAUSD Educator".
Anybody from Bell and surrounding cities, including LAUSD folk, would also know that Mr.
Janssen was a Bell City councilman for many years, and is also a good friend of Cole and
Rizzo. Mr. Janssen quit Bell City Council in the early 2000's when D.A. Steve Cooley indicted
Huntington Park councilwoman Linda Guevara for not living in Huntington Park. Linda was
convicted and given house arrest. Linda's record was expunged in 2008. George Cole and
Robert Rizzo knew that Rolf Janssen was living in Huntington Beach even as he held elective
office in Bell. Janssen quits abruptly quits position as Bell city councilmember on the heals of
Linda Guevara's investigation.

But wait, the plot thickens. One of Carrillo's contributions from Huntington Park is listed only
as "SOF Management Inc." No other identifying information is given. Turns out, "SOF"
stands for "Steel Oldtimers Foundation", whose headquarters is in Huntington Park. George
Cole and Pedro Carrillo were again, trying to mask the source of funds. This $500 does not
change the overall totals, it only emphasizes that Bell's Rizzo and George Cole really
wanted to make sure that Carrillo was well taken care of. One never knows when such
consideration will be requested in return, like now. That $7,252 subtotal from Bell officials
now jumps to $7,752. And Huntington Park is $500 poorer in contributions to Carrillo.
George Cole's contribution to Pedro Carrillo climbs to $750.

Back to contribution data. One more compare and contrast is in order. Just to check the
sanity of the raw data of campaign contributions to Pedro Carrillo, we compared his total
take from zip code 90210, Beverly Hills. Folks from Beverly Hills actually gave money to
Pedro Carrillo for a race in an Assembly District that misses the Hills by about 12 miles as
the crow flies. Why would anyone from Beverly Hills give to such a campaign representing
the poorest district in Los Angeles County? Beverly Hills yielded a total of $5,150, slightly
less than the amount contributed by all southeast cities combined, sans Bell, but still not
matching Bell officials in their ardent support of Carrillo; close though.

Then, looking at the data a bit closely, its difficult not to miss a
sticking-out-like-a-sore-thumb contributor. "John Chiang for State Board of Equalization"
gave to Carrillo on two occasions, $950 on 1-29-02, and $200 on 3-26-02, an amount
totaling $1,150. Rizzo beats Chiang in donations to Pedro Carrillo by a grand total of $2
dollars.

John Chiang is now the State Controller, who Pedro Carrillo called down to Bell on the heels
of nauseatingly egregious revelations of salary abuse by Rizzo and team; the very same
salaries that Pedro Carrillo defended just a few days before in early July, before live
broadcast news cameras. Carrillo put his arm around Chiang, and walked into city hall to
discuss the old days, and how to prop up Carrillo's shaky standing as a city manager,
because he had none up to that point. Chiang delivers salvation to Carrillo in the form of
audits of city books revealing even more egregious salary perks, and even more Bell
employees making more bank, again, salaries which Carrillo himself first vehemently
defended, as instructed by Rizzo.

The whole thing with State Controller John Chiang was a staged municipal theater of the
absurd, touching on the tragic, for Carrillo is still very much a protege of Robert Rizzo,
George Cole, and Pete Werrlein. While Chiang audits Bell, an audit of Carrillo's campaign
contributions finds raw data of contributions by Chiang resting side by side with those of
Rizzo, George Cole and Pete Werrlein in support of Carrillo. These same players still play
commanding roles in Bell city council today in support of the politically well connected but
professionally incompetent Pedro Carrillo.

_________________________________________________________________________

See below schedule of campaign contributions to Pedro Carrillo for his 2001-2002 State
Assembly race. The data is extracted, but otherwise unenedited, to highlight only campaign
contributions originating from donors in southeast cities of L.A. County.
Source: www.cal-access.ss.ca.gov .

Campaign contributors for Pedro Carrillo   City        Employer                Occupation      Amount       Transaction Date
Bell
BELL TOW SERVICES INC                                 BELL                                                                $500.00         2/6/2002
BELL TOW SERVICES INC                                BELL                                                                $300.00         3/1/2002
COMMITTEE TO ELECT GEORGE FRANCIS BASS BELL                                                                 $500.00         11/15/2001
COUNCIL FOR RESPONSIBLE LOCAL GOV.         BELL                                                                $1,000.00       9/30/2001
DARRYL ROTH *                                            BELL    WESTERN AUTO OF BELL        MANAGER      $1,000.00         2/5/2002
       *(L.A. Times 7-31-01, "Bell's Business Ties to Officials Probed")
GEORGE COLE**                                              BELL        OLDTIMERS FOUNDATION        CEO        $250.00         9/30/2001
       **(L.A. Times 8-21-10, "Charity Run by Ex-Bell Mayor didn't disclose Gov. contracts")
GEORGE MIRABAL                                         BELL     CITY OF BELL               COUNCIL MEMBER    $250.00         9/30/2001
R G CONTRUCTION & ENGINEERING INC            BELL                                                                 $300.00         3/1/2002
ROLF JANSSEN                                              BELL        LAUSD                         EDUCATOR             $500.00         11/15/2001
SOPP CHEVROLET                                          BELL                                                                $1,000.00       12/31/2001
WESTERN GAMING CONSULTANT***                BELL                                                                 $500.00         11/15/2001       SubTotal = $6,100
       ***http://articles.latimes.com/1993-12-15/local/me-2034_1_card-club
ROBERT RIZZO            HUNTINGTON BEACH                        CITY OF BELL        MUNICIPAL MANAGER    $500.00            11/15/2001
ROBERT RIZZO            HUNTINGTON BEACH                        CITY OF BELL        MUNICIPAL MANAGER    $500.00            2/6/2002
ROBERT RIZZO            HUNTINGTON BEACH                        CITY OF BELL        MUNICIPAL MANAGER    $152.00            3/1/2002           SubTotal = $1,152


Bell Gardens
BELL GARDENS INSURANCE AGENCY        BELL GARDENS                                                           $25.00         12/28/2001
BELL GARDENS INSURANCE AGENCY        BELL GARDENS                                                           $100.00         12/31/2001         SubTotal = $125


Cudahy
GEORGE PEREZ                                          CUDAHY        CITY OF CUDAHY     CITY MANAGER     $250.00         10/12/2001
OSVALDO CONDE                                       CUDAHY        CITY OF CUDAHY     COUNCIL MEMBER $200.00         12/10/2001
RESIDENTS FOR COUNCILMAN DAVID SILVA CUDAHY                                                                $100.00         10/12/2001        SubTotal = $550

Huntington Park

DON CHENTE INC                                         TACOS DON CHENTE        HUNTINGTON PARK           $300.00         11/29/2001
ERNESTINE MANSOUR HUNTINGTON PARK        LAUSD        COMMUNITY COORDINATOR                $100.00         2/6/2002
LETICIA MICHEL        HUNTINGTON PARK        TACOS DON CHENTE        OFFICE MANAGER             $200.00         11/29/2001
RICHARD LOYA         HUNTINGTON PARK        LOS ANGELES USD          TEACHER                          $200.00         12/10/2001
SOF MANAGEMENT INC.HUNTINGTON PARK                                                                                $250.00         3/1/2002           SubTotal = $1,050

Maywood
DENNIS AZEVEDO                MAYWOOD        CITY OF MAYWOOD           POLICE OFFICER             $125.00         12/28/2001
LOPEZ PROPERTIES            MAYWOOD                                                                                   $250.00         2/15/2002
MARIANO LOPEZ                MAYWOOD        LOPEZ PROPERTIES            OWNER                          $250.00         2/15/2002
MAYWOOD CLUB TOWING   MAYWOOD                                                                                   $1,000.00         12/31/2001
SONIA GUERRERO              MAYWOOD        MAOF                                EDUCATION                   $100.00         2/27/2002
SONIA GUERRERO              MAYWOOD        MAOF                                EDUCATION                   $50.00          2/27/2002
SOUTHGATE CAR CARRIER INC MAYWOOD                                                                             $250.00         12/31/2001        SubTotal = $2,025

South Gate
GABRIEL ALVAREZ                SOUTH GATE        N/A                              RETIRED                     $100.00         1/4/2002
HENRY GONZALEZ                SOUTH GATE        CITY OF SOUTH GATE     COUNCIL MEMBER        $500.00         12/31/2001
JOSE MOLINA                     SOUTH GATE        JOSE MOLINA                PROPERTY MANAGEMENT $250.00         12/31/2001
JOSE MOLINA                     SOUTH GATE        JOSE MOLINA                PROPERTY MANAGEMENT $300.00         2/15/2002
OLGA QUINONES                 SOUTH GATE        US REP BECERRA           FIELD STAFF                  $100.00         10/12/2001
OLGA QUINONES                 SOUTH GATE        US REP BECERRA           FIELD STAFF                  $100.00         2/20/2002
SOUTH GATE POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION        SOUTH GATE                                             $250.00         12/17/2001
THERESA GONZALEZ             SOUTH GATE        N/A                              RETIRED                      $100.00         12/31/2001
VICTOR CABALLERO            SOUTH GATE        VICTOR CABALLERO        SALES MANAGER          $1,000.00         9/30/2001          SubTotal = $2,700

                                             $18,852.00

Beverly Hills
CASDEN PARK LA BREA LLC        BEVERLY HILLS                                                                    $3,000.00       2/15/2002
HI TECH MARKET MANAGEMENT INC        BEVERLY HILLS                                                        $250.00         12/31/2001
HI TECH MARKET MANAGEMENT INC        BEVERLY HILLS                                                        $250.00         2/11/2002
HI TECH MARKET MANAGEMENT INC        BEVERLY HILLS                                                        $500.00         2/15/2002
JOHN CHIANG FOR BOARD OF EQUALIZATION        BEVERLY HILLS                                                    $950.00           1/29/2002
JOHN CHIANG FOR BOARD OF EQUALIZATION        BEVERLY HILLS                                                     $200.00           3/26/2002              SubTotal = $5,150
                                                                                                      Total contributions to Pedro Carrillo's 2001-02 campaign from southeast cities           = $18,852

Bell's Hiring of Felon
Threatens Reopening of
Card Club, State Says
December 15, 1993
JILL GOTTESMAN,
TIMES STAFF WRITER

The city of Bell may have
jeopardized plans to reopen a
troubled poker parlor by hiring as
its monitor of the operation a
former mayor who was convicted
of felony charges stemming from
his hidden interest in the club
years ago, state officials said.

The city last month hired Peter
Werrlein Jr., who managed the
once-thriving California Bell Club
until he pleaded guilty in 1984 to
mail fraud and owning an illegal
gambling business. He served 10
1/2 months in federal prison.

City officials defended their
decision to hire Werrlein, saying
he will discourage illegal
practices--such as money
laundering, skimming and
bad-check cashing--that might
shrink their share of earnings
from the poker club.

"Sure, it sounds crazy," said
Councilman George Cole. "But is
it any crazier than hiring a
convicted burglar to teach people
how to secure their houses
against break-ins? He knows how
to spot loan-sharking, he knows
how to spot skimming, he knows
how to spot rip-offs. . . . "We
want to put in place the toughest
monitoring system in California,"
Cole said.

An official with the California
Department of Justice, which
regulates card clubs, said the
state has not received a licensing
request from the now-closed
enterprise, but expressed concern
about Werrlein's agreement with
the city.

"It raises a red flag for us," said
N. Whitt Murray, an investigator
with the department. "I don't
know why the city would take the
risk."

The 75-table poker parlor,
located in a warehouse district off
the Long Beach Freeway, has
been closed for 18 months.

Bell last month finalized plans
with Los Angeles-based California
Bell Casino, a two-man
partnership, to reopen it
sometime next year. Werrlein's
company, Western Gaming
Associates, was hired to oversee
the millions of dollars in cash that
city officials expect will flow
through the club each year.

Under the agreement, Werrlein,
who owns a Western Auto store in
Bell, will be paid 15% of the city's
revenues the first year and 10%
in subsequent years. Werrlein will
have three employees who will be
paid from that share, according to
his contract.

California law prohibits convicted
felons only from owning or
operating card clubs. But Murray
said state officials could require
Werrlein to apply for a license, as
well, in his capacity as a
consultant.

"If he has any management
responsibility, he would have to
apply for a gaming permit," the
state investigator said. "And,
based on his record, he would not
be (approved)."

City officials and the club's new
owners insisted that Werrlein will
have no say in how the operation
is run. Werrlein said he is the
best choice for the job because
the poker parlor was at its most
lucrative when he was running it in
the early 1980s.

"The controls were in place and
there was no mishandling of
funds," he said. "When I was in
the club, when I controlled and
ran it, the city got more than $10
million (in three years) and it got
every penny and never got
cheated."

"Sheriff's deputies found
gambling equipment in the
Running Springs mountain home
of Pete Werrlein, of Huntington
Beach, while investigating a
tripped burglar alarm." (photo
courtesy of Press-Enterprise)

Robert Rizzo,
Bells' former city
manager,
donated to
Pedro Carrillo's
2002 campaign
on three
separate
occasions
totaling $1,150.

Bell city manager Pedro Carrillo invites
State Controller John Chiang to audit
Bell's books. Arm over shoulder and
shaking other hand is a sign of
friendship supported by campaign
contributions from Chiang to Carrillo
totaling $1,150 in 2002.