LAT: Industrial Fifedom in CA Evicts Candidates

[Rose Siding]

This is creepy. 44,000 work in Vernon (just south of Los Angeles) generating millions in revenue, but there are only about 60 registered voters. Less than 100 people actually live there so they have low 'public service' costs, and city officials are making tons of money-

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Twenty-five years after its elected officials last had a contested ballot, eight strangers took up residence in the tiny city four miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Last month, after just a few days in town, three of the newcomers filed petitions to run for City Council in the April 11 election.

Within days, city utility trucks had turned off their power. The building they shared was slapped with red tags by inspectors who said the property was "unsafe and dangerous" as a residence. Strobe lights flashed through their windows. They and some of their relatives were placed under surveillance. Shortly, city police and other officials drilled holes in the locks and evicted the would-be office-seekers.

Having deprived the interlopers of city residence, Vernon officials on Jan. 27 disqualified them from the ballot.........
...
Then the city fathers did the one thing that they almost always do every four years: They voted to cancel the election.
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The lack of residents means the city doesn't have to offer as many services as more populous cities. But it has considerable revenue. The city has its own police, fire and health departments and municipal utilities that generate tens of millions of dollars selling electricity and gas to local industries. The money has helped provide lucrative careers for a small group of city officials, most notably former City Administrator Bruce V. Malkenhorst Sr., whose son, Bruce Malkenhorst Jr., is the acting city clerk.

The senior Malkenhorst, who collected nearly $600,000 in salary, bonuses and payments for unused vacation before retiring last year, has been a focus of an investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney's Public Integrity Division into misappropriation of public funds, according to court records.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vernon12feb12,0,4185052.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[salin]

1. very creepy

sounds like a tv episode of the twilight zone.