Already one of California’s highest paid public pensioners, former Bell Police Chief Randy Adams this week asked a state pension panel to double his retirement pay to reflect the huge salary he received during his brief stint as the top cop in the scandal-plagued city, reports the Los Angeles Times. If Adams wins his case, his pension would zoom to $510,000 a year, making him the second-highest-paid public pensioner in California.
On the witness stand Thursday, Adams invoked his 5th Amendment right to not incriminate himself 20 times, including when asked about his Bell salary, which was among the highest law enforcement paychecks in the nation. The hearing was called to hear Adams’ challenge of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s decision not to include his year as Bell chief when computing his pension. He made $457,000 a year as Bell’s police chief. Eight former city leaders in Bell face public corruption charges. Adams is not among them. His current pension is about $240,000 a year, making him CalPERS’ eighth highest public pensioner. If he gets credit for his year in Bell, his retirement pay balloons to $510,000, putting him behind only former Vernon official Bruce Malkenhorst.