BELL, Calif., April 8 (UPI) -- Bell, Calif., has sworn in a new City Council after the previous council was driven from office by voters over a scandal about high salaries of city officials.
The new members were sworn in Thursday amid resounding applause by several hundred residents of the small blue-collar city, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The new council, scheduled to meet Monday, will have to quickly consider tough budget-cutting decisions to deal with a projected $3.5 million to $4.5 million deficit by the end of the fiscal year in June.
"The quicker we get going," council member Danny Harber told the audience, "the better off we're going to be."
Eight former top Bell officials are facing charges of corruption, mostly related to efforts to conceal their unusually high salaries, the Times reported.
