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L.A. Now Live: Spaccia guilty of public corruption in Bell scandal

Bell protest
1/17
Mayor Oscar Hernandez tells Bell resident Jose Orozco his time is up during a meeting filled with residents upset over the high salaries paid to city administrators. The overwhelming number of public speakers called for their resignations.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
2/17
The crowd erupts in anger at Monday night’s City Council meeting at the Bell community center.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
3/17
L.A. County sheriff’s deputies stand near the Bell City Council -- from left, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, George Mirabal and Luis Artiga -- during a meeting filled with residents upset over high salaries paid to council members.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
4/17
An angry Bell resident gestures toward the City Council during a meeting filled with locals upset about high salaries paid to members and other administrators.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
5/17
A police barricade keeps those in line from entering the Bell Community Center, which was at maximum capacity during the City Council meeting where a decision to cut the salaries of the mayor and three council members was made.  (Christina House / For The Times)
Bell protest
6/17
Robert Mackin, center, a Bell resident since 1941, covers his ears while fellow resident Enrique Martinez, right, yells out after hearing that no more people would be allowed inside the Community Center to attend the City Council meeting where a vote to cut the salaries of Bell’s mayor and three other council members was being taken.  (Christina House / For The Times)
Bell protest
7/17
Galileo Gonzalez, 21, pens a caricature of Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez on a sign protesting the salaries of the City Council.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
8/17
Bell businessman Joseph Lee, left, and 15-year Bell resident Hussein Saleh help hang signs outside the Bell Community Center a few hours before the City Council meeting where the vote to cut the salaries of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and fellow council members Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal was to take place.  (Christina House / For The Times)
Bell protest
9/17
Officers Tony Lopez, center, and Jose Garcia guard the door to the Bell City Council chambers, where council members held an emergency meeting Thursday to consider the fate of three highly-paid top city officials.
See full story  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Bell protest
10/17
Bell City Councilman Lorenzo Velez speaks to the media at the emergency meeting.
See full story  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Anger in Bell
11/17
Bell resident Danny Harber reacts after he and other residents are told that a special City Council meeting on the controversy over high salaries paid to city officials will be closed to the public.
See full story  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Anger in Bell
12/17
Bell City Atty. Ed Lee addresses the audience at the special meeting of the Bell City Council as City Clerk Rebecca Valdez watches.
See full story  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Protest in Bell
13/17
Protesters gather at Bell City Hall to demand resignations of city officials whose salaries are among the highest in the nation.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Protest in Bell
14/17
Police try to calm the crowd of protesters trying to get into the City Council meeting. The council ordered city staff to prepare a report on salaries for its July 26 meeting.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Bell Police Chief Randy Adams
15/17
Bell Police Chief Randy Adams, whose $457,000 salary is 50% higher than that of his Los Angeles counterpart, attended the council meeting Monday. City Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, whose salary is also causing an outcry, did not attend.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Protest in Bell
16/17
As the City Council meeting got underway, people were collecting signatures demanding an audit of city finances.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Protest in Bell
17/17
A number of people waved signs that read “Stop the abuse on our taxes” and “Welcome to Bell, where the City Council makes more than you do. Also, we have nice parks.” One person had a sign showing Mayor Oscar Hernandez with devil horns.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Discuss this week’s guilty verdict in the public corruption trial for Angela Spaccia, deputy to the disgraced former city manager of Bell, with Times staff writer Jeff Gottlieb during an L.A. Now Live chat at 9 a.m.

Spaccia, a $564,000-a-year deputy to former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, was convicted Monday of 11 felony counts related to her role in the corruption scandal that engulfed the city.

Spaccia is now the seventh Bell official convicted of enriching themselves at the expense of working-class residents. Rizzo pleaded no contest to 69 corruption charges in October.

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During the chat, readers can send in all of their questions and comments and we’ll get to as many of them as we can.

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