It seems the industrialized and immigrant-heavy cities southeast of downtown are where you want to be if you want to take advantage of taxpayers. Following the Bell salary scandal, in which former city manager Robert Rizzo made as much as $1.5 million a year, the Los Angeles Times reported this week that Vernon had its own Rizzo-type:

According to the Times Eric T. Fresch has been consistently pulling down more than $1 million from the people of Vernon in recent years, including 2008, when he took home $1.65 million billings as the city's administrator and deputy city attorney. His job titles seem to change, but the money remains good: Last year it was $1.2 million as a finance attorney. And he's on-track this year with $643,000 as an outside legal adviser, according to the paper.

The strange factory city with few residents has been the source of corruption allegations in the past.

Despite Fresch's help, Jeffrey A. Harrison earned $800,000 as Vernon's city attorney last year, according to the Times. And the city council? $68,052 a year — for part-time work.

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