We told you he was going for the gig, and he got it.

On Monday night Bell's new City Council elected Ali Saleh as mayor.

In a town that's overwhelmingly Latino, with allegations of corruption levied at former officials who were white and Latino, the newcomers installed a real outsider.

Well, actually …

… he's a lifelong resident and director of the Bell Business Association. But still, interesting.

Saleh told a crowd of about 200 who gathered to witness the first meeting (according to Associated Press):

We have a long road ahead of us. There's a lot of challenges. We want to be the model city, not only to the southeast side (of Los Angeles County) but to the nation.

Saleh, Danny Harber, Ana Maria Quintana,Violeta Alvarez and Nestor Valencia were swept into office by voters who decided on a full recall and replacement of the city's old regime, tainted by a scandal in which city officials were said to be receiving outsize, six-figure salaries.

City manager Robert Rizzo, assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, City Council members Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, and former City Council members George Cole and Victor Bello were charged last year with misappropriating public funds.

Harber also went for mayor but broke a 2-2 tie for the post by voting for Saleh and settling on vice mayor.

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