Bell doubled public service taxes and funneled $1 million to Rizzo, audit finds The doubling of sewer, trash and other service taxes occurred without voter approval.  The Los Angeles Times was awarded the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service for revealing official corruption in Bell and the feature photography award for Barbara Davidson's images of victims struggling to recover in the aftermath of gang violence.In a series of articles beginning last summer, a team of 20 reporters and editors, led by staff writers Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives, revealed that Bell officials secretly enriched themselves with extravagant salaries and benefits while illegally raising taxes on the city's residents, who are among the poorest in Los Angeles County.As a result, criminal charges were filed against former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, who received an $800,000 salary and hundreds of thousands of dollars more in perks.
– The Los Angeles Times took home the coveted public service Pulitzer Prize this afternoon for its exposé of widepsread corruption in the city of Bell, Calif. The piece eventually led to the arrests of eight city officials, including the city administrator, who was pulling down $800,000 a year. The Times took home a second Pulizter for feature photography. A look at some of the other winners: Investigative reporting: Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Explanatory reporting: Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar, and Alison Sherwood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel National reporting: Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica International reporting: Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of the New York Times Commentary: David Leonhardt of the New York Times Criticism: Sebastian Smee of the Boston Globe Editorial writing: Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal Editorial cartooning: Mike Keefe of the Denver Post Breaking news photography: Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn, and Ricky Carioti of the Washington Post Look through the gallery for more winners, or click for the complete list of Pulitzer Prize winners.