The attorney who was Bell's legal counsel when city leaders agreed to pay lavish salaries to top administrators has been let go by neighboring Downey, where city leaders said they no longer felt comfortable being associated with him.
Edward Lee, a partner with the firm Best, Best & Krieger, also has been the city attorney for Maywood and Covina.
But the Downey City Council voted 3 to 2 on Thursday to terminate the firm's contract. Officials said they had become disenchanted with Lee's involvement in the Bell salary controversy, which Councilman Mario Guerra called one of the "most egregious breaches of fiduciary responsibilities in the history of our state."
Guerra cautioned that he found no fault with Lee's legal advice but felt that it was an "embarrassment" to be associated with the Bellsalary scandal.
"We are a great, conservative and ethical city and any association with them and us is wrong and I resent it," said Guerra, who added that he became distressed when he saw Lee on the evening news recently trying to calm an angry crowd at a Bell City Council meeting.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-attorneys-20100730,0,6168476.story?track=rss
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