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Residents of the city of Bell call for the ouster of city officials during a council meeting on July 26, 2010 in Bell, California

City managers from around the state met in Sacramento Thursday to discuss possible reforms to public official compensation guidelines in the wake of a scandal in the Southern California city of Bell, where officials have resigned after public outcry over their high-priced salaries.

Top administrators from 40 cities had already planned to convene at a regular meeting of the League of California Cities over two days. A discussion of the Bell scandal, which resulted from recent reports in the LA Times, was a late addition to the meeting agenda.

Administrators from six Bay Area cities attended the meeting, where “best practices for compensation” and “a legislative practice on disclosure” were discussed, according to Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League.

“Managers across the state are just in outrage,” McKenzie said. “This was a real affront to the public trust.”

The Bell city manager was collecting nearly $800,000 a year; his assistant made almost $380,000; the police chief was making more than $450,000 a year; and through payments for board and commission appointments, most City Council members were making more than $100,000 for part-time positions.

Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian

The city of Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez reacts to calls by residents of the city asking for his resignation during a council meeting on July 26, 2010 in Bell, California

The median household income in the predominantly Latino city of 36,000 is $40,000; 65 percent of residents over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma.

McKenzie said the group discussed lobbying for legislation that would require public officials from all state and local agencies to post itemized breakdowns of their total compensation on a website.

“Our concern is that the disclosure laws are tougher than they are today,” McKenzie said. “Nobody has all the information [about public official compensation]. That’s why we want to get the information out there.”

McKenzie did not say whether a salary limit might be imposed. Currently, cities can impose such a limit; McKenzie said the state could introduce legislation to do so, too.

The attendees from the Bay Area were: Patricia Martel of Daly City; Karen Pinkos of El Cerrito; Greg Larson of Los Gatos; Glen Rojas of Menlo Park; Marcia Raines of Millbrae; and Barry Nagel of South San Francisco.