How did anyone not know how much they were making?
Most newspapers here in MA publish public employee payrolls yearly
If you're making nearly $800,000 per year, you can afford to spread a little hush money around the media.
I am wondering the same thing. Why the sudden excitement? I live in SoCal and this story is at the top of the news, morning-noon-and-night. They even showed the citizens of Bell, so poor they line up for blocks for free food. How and why was the total corruption of city government suddenly revealed?