Whipped Cream Difficulties

The NYT would like for you to know that Maywood, California has not descended into anarchy after disbanding the city government and outsourcing services. Indeed, things seem to be going along pretty much as normal, at least in part because many of the city workers have apparently been rehired on a contract basis by those hired to run the city.

In fact, it seems this city was so bad at being a city that outsourcing — so far, at least — is being viewed as an act of municipal genius.

That’s putting it mildly.

Edited to add: One thing I didn’t pick up on, since I was on the road when the LAT reported this, is that many of Maywood’s functions have been outsourced to the city of Bell. It turns out that Bell has some issues as well:

The Times reported that Bell’s Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo was earning $787,637 annually, twice as much as President Obama; Police Chief Randy Adams was earning $457,000 a year, 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck; and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia was earning $376,288, more than most city managers.