IIRC, the managers and bosses in Bell gave themselves huge salaries, more than the California governor was making, for years. Eventually people found out what was happening and I think the town had to declare bankruptcy.
It was an industrial town, with few residents so not a lot of voters watching what was going on and most of them were low-information blue collar types who just didn't care.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
