Danny Harber: ‘We Got Complacent.’
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Harber says the tax increase was one of the ways that Bell’s government took advantage of its residents.
“Property values were increasing, so who’s worried about a $100 tax increase?” Harber said. “We got complacent. But when somebody in a position of power tries to take advantage of people who have less than them, I have a problem with that.”
Harber is running to succeed Teresa Jacobo, one of the eight city officials who was arrested in September on suspicion of illegally paying themselves higher salaries.
Harber didn’t expect to ever become involved in politics until that night. He is retired from his bakery in Montebello and says he planned to travel with his wife of 43 years until deciding to run.
“I would have been going to Arizona for Dodgers spring training,” he said. “You never know where the road of life takes you.”
Harber has lived in Bell for 38 years and says he wasn’t particularly surprised to learn about the inflated salaries the city’s officials were taking, including the nearly $800,000 per year that former City Manager Robert Rizzo was paid annually.
“I knew there was corruption,” he said, “I was just surprised by the scope of it. I have a feeling there’s still a mountain of other stuff people don’t know about.”
Harber said he had written the District Attorney’s office after the real estate market crashed and he started taking a better look at his finances. He asked for a public disclosure of salaries and was told it would cost $450.
Harber wants to make Bell more business friendly by working with the people and businesses who want to come into the city. He says he believes a lot of businesses will want to come into Bell because of the publicity they will receive.
He wants to restore the downtown area and make Bell more like the cities surrounding it so that residents’ money stays in Bell instead of being spent in other cities.
“Everyone else has downtown sections but us,” he said. “We just have the Bell swap meet next to all these dilapidated businesses.”
Harber says if he is elected he will make everything the City Council does transparent by posting the decisions it makes online, or at the library for those who don’t have computers. He says though Bell can’t afford a weekly newsletter, he may try for something semi-annually.
“In this age of technology, transparency shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “If you can go to Wikileaks and see what Hillary Clinton said to someone about the president of Afghanistan, you should be able to find out what’s going on in this city.”
On his website, unitedforbell.com, Harber says he plans to bring honesty and integrity to the city of Bell. He says that means that he will not tolerate any kickbacks and that he will treat everyone equally.
“[The candidates] are coming into a difficult situation,” said Rodrigo Robarte, a BASTA member and 33-year Bell resident. “They have very hard decisions to make. They have to be open and transparent, and the community has to stay involved.”
Harber just wants to get Bell back to the nice city he says it used to be; with open businesses like the JC Penney’s Bell used to have, the movie theatres and the DMV that made up the city’s downtown area.
“He’s an honest guy,” Robarte said. “He says what he sees and doesn’t offend anyone.”
In his campaign office, Harber has posters lining the windows that read “United 4 Bell” in English and Spanish, with his and the names of the three candidates with whom Harber is running- Ali Saleh, Violeta Alvarez, and Fidencio Gallardo.
“I’ve gotten to know them pretty well,” he said. “They’re all good, honest people.”
And he says that is what Bell really needs. Though he does intend to win in the election, he says it would be fine if he didn’t “as long as we get five good people in there.”
Reach reporter Kamille Simmons here.
