City of Bell v. Superior Court

Robert A. Rizzo, the former chief administrative officer of the City of Bell (City), has been sued by the City, as well as the Attorney General acting on behalf of the City, for restitution for his alleged looting of the City’s coffers. He has also been criminally charged with multiple counts of misappropriation of public funds. Rizzo, by complaint for declaratory relief, seeks a judgment that the City is contractually obligated to provide him with a defense to these civil and criminal actions. We conclude that, as a matter of law, the City does not owe Rizzo such a defense.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Underlying Factual Allegations

The City is a charter city with a population of 38,250. It was discovered that Rizzo, as well as the assistant chief administrative officer and five city council members, were receiving salaries well in excess of the amounts paid to similar individuals in similarly sized cities and that these seven individuals went to great lengths to conceal their salaries from public knowledge. (People ex rel. Harris v. Rizzo (2013) 214 Cal.App.4th 921, 928 [ 154 Cal.Rptr.3d 443 ].) The receipt and approval of excessive salaries are not, by any…