The news from Bell, Calif., a city of 40,000, has shocked people, including residents of Thousand Oaks.

The city manager of Bell, a city about a third the size of T.O., was being paid almost $800,000 a year. Four of five council members were collecting nearly $100,000 per year, despite that their positions are part-time. The chief of police was making $457,000 a year, and the assistant city manager was grossing more than $375,000 per year.

No wonder the residents of Bell are livid after the Los Angeles Times broke the story.

While Bell was slashing budgets for law enforcement and parks and recreation, the fat-cat politicians and administrators were still raping the taxpayers.

The state attorney general has subpoenaed city documents to determine if civil litigation, if not a criminal case, is in order.

We hope it’s the latter.

How did it happen?

First, it happened because of apathetic citizens. If people don’t care who’s running city hall, abuse is easy. The power brokers must have figured, “If they don’t give a damn, why should we?”

Second, it happened because there wasn’t a community newspaper.

In the old days before cable TV broadcasts of City Council meetings, it wasn’t unusual to see only two regulars in the audience of a public meeting. One was a self-appointed citizen watchdog and the other was a reporter from the local newspaper.

A good local newspaper would have exposed the culprits. In fact, the mere presence of a community newspaper might have deterred the abuse of power before it ever happened.

City council members in Thousand Oaks make $21,000 a year, the city manager makes $228,000 and the city attorney is paid $203,000. These salaries aren’t out of line for a city the size and scope of Thousand Oaks.

City officials in Bell should have been making substantially less, not more.