With the mayor fighting for his political life, three candidates separating themselves over what the next steps should be for the City, and the Mercury News releasing a poll that shows 85% of the participants favor the mayor stepping down, we thought we would take our own, primitive poll…
Please indicate in a simple one word response, whether you agree with council member Cindy Chavez in censuring the mayor and putting an end to the investigation (respond - “end”); or you agree with councilmember David Cortese and Chuck Reed in continuing the investigation and the mayor resigning (respond – “resign”); or if you believe the mayor has made his proper mea culpa and should be able to continue to govern for the remainder of his term (respond – “govern”).
And please indicate whether or not you have linked to David Cortese’s “Vote of No Confidence” site (http://www.inthebagsf.com/DaveCortese/VoteOfNoConfidence.aspx) and signed his petition (respond – “signed”).
After your response, please feel free to blog away! Thank you for your participation.
Lame,
Please say that again. Was that question in English?
Resign
Resign.
Resign!
Govern.
1. Resign
2. move from california
3. return all gifts
4. disband the South Bay Labor Council
5. restore confidence by electing some council members with common sense
How about sanjose inside using a true web poll so we can get accurate responses:
http://info.zoomerang.com/online/g-poll.htm?CMP=KNC-GPGPoll
Lame and real poll are right. Use real polling software.
This is a joke!
Anybody can make a mistake. Ron has been such a motivating influence in this community, that he should get a break. He has inspired residents with his open and sincere style. He is after all our leader, and should be given some credit for all of his other major accomplishments. Look at the national recognition we’ve received. Leaders like him are rare and should be rewarded for their total contribution to their community. We can’t survive without him!! (Yeah, right!!)
I vote step down or get on with it. But do it quickly.
Lame, just because you couldn’t get in, don’t lash out at others.
#10 – Thank you for the link.
#11 – We thought we would try a poll in blog form so that respondents could explain their votes (see #12). Let’s give this some time and see how it works. If it fails, we will go to traditional polling the next go around.
Thumbs down,resign.
All empires get a bad king every once in a while. Let’s end the God awful reign of King Ron. The peasants are at the gate, they must be satisified. If the other royals ignore the common people, they wil also be pulled down. Save the empire, send King Ron to the political gallows. Long live the King/Queen!
Govern.
No way do I want Cindy to have the inside track to 4 more years of the Gonzo method.
He’s gonna have to walk on eggs the rest of his term so let him stay and make the race a fair one instead of handing it to Cindy before 2006 is even here yet.
Resign –
While I don’t want a Mayor Chavez either, if she pursues her current course of continuing the cover-up, she won’t have to worry about becoming Mayor.
As for the current Mayor, he still doesn’t think he did anything wrong. He still is not forthcoming with the truth, he would do it again if he could. He will no longer be able to lead—he is completely untrustsworthy. Only his most loyal of loyal supporters will still back him. Anybody who has been paying attention for the past 7 years would know this guy has gotta go for the sake of the City.
Resign.
It is not Gonzo who we want to walk on eggshells. It is Cindy or whoever the next mayor is going to be.
John McE
good point.
Gonzo should stay put so as not to give the upper hand to any candidate.
We need a real mayor’s race with real issues. So we need to move on and look forward to some new blood!
Continue the investigation. It probably goes deeper than Hizronner/Guerra. But it’s only 13 months until we get to elect a new mayor, so why bother with an interim one who would be equally as ineffective as the current lame duck mayor we have?
End.
For the sake of taxpayers, investigators, pundits and bloggers. Let it end. . .
I would vote for continued investigation and the mayor censured, not resigning…
I want council/mayor to know that they can’t just apologize and be forgiven. If they aren’t forthcoming they should be investigated and held accountable for their actions. I think if we stop investigating now, a situation like this will surface again.
Not resigning – I don’t think he would resign, he will leave office soon and I think the effort would be a lot of energy wasted on nothing.
The whole city council should resign and let the animals at Happy Hollow Zoo run the city.
Too bad that’s not an option on this poll.
Continue the investigation to determine if any of the potential mayoral candidates have had their hands in the garbage.
WWCD: What Would Cindy Do?
If I was Cindy I would vote for Ronzales to resign. Cindy, at the point of Ronzales’ resignation, would announce the end of the investigation since the culprit had left office AND most importantly to us taxpayers, the Citywould save the money spent on additional investigative work! A twofer! This of course would eliminate additional reporting by the investigator that Cindy was also involved, maybe even led the effort to give Norcal more money. Plan “A” would get Cindy the Mayor’s spot and she could run in 2006 as the incumbent. For his ultimate sacrifice, Ronzales would be taken care of later by one of Cindy’s many friends. Ron could head up a well funded institute at San Jose City College chartered to explore ways to achieve labor peace in the world.
RESIGN
It’s not an issue of “process” stupid.
I’m less concerned that others who don’t want Cindy in. Indeed, having her in office would be far more of an indicator of her course than the campaign platitudes she would likely spout as a mere candidate. People would have time to observe the strings she’s on, which are being held and manipulated by Phaedra.
So, maybe we Republicans and Independents/ and Decline to Sates would have a chance in this labor-council dominated ‘burb.
I think Ronny should stay because he’s done an excellent job on downtown and neighborhoods. San Jose is the safest city because of him. Ron beautified the new city hall project and stayed the the course on the new main library. We had 8 highrises built in downtown during his tenure, most in San Jose history for a mayor. Residential towers are being built now in downtown. The neighborhoods have never been better, especially the eastside. He’s the best mayor we’ve ever had. Remember, when the mayor does things in the scandalous way, he gets things done- just look at Chicago. The city is world class because of corrupt mayors, and that’s way I like it. The corrupt mayor makes a great city because he would do things behind closed doors and bully the people who would get in his way to get things done! A corrupt government is the best way to make a great city since he doesn’t have to account for anything. So, Ron, do whatever you can to stay on for one more year. We’ll support you and teach suburban San Jose what a good politician is all about. That’s the city way of doing things. Get used to it!
#27 Bill Rubio- From which country are you writing from?
Resign now. It will take years to undo the damage he has left behind, and I’m not just talking about NorCal. It’s unfortunate that a few writers on this blog seem to be as dense as some members of the council. Those who vote to stop the investigation are: A. Involved themselves and don’t want the truth to come out; B. Are simply too stupid be an elected official; or C. Both A and B.
If the investigation is not continued we will never know how involved Cindy was or wasn’t, who may have gained financially or otherwise from this mess, why the mayor felt he had to lie and cover-up (if you believe his “it was the process” excuse then you deserve what you get), we won’t know just how bad the verbal abuse of staff has been all during this mayor’s reign, and more.
Contact your councilmember’s office and tell them what you think. Some of them will be up for reelection next year—remind that you vote and you remember.
This guy has got to go along with Guerra, Borgsdorf, et al.
signed
RESIGN!!!
Resign! Enough is enough.
RESIGN and go back to sunnyvale!
Me must resign or it will send a resounding message to all CH employees—if you’re at the top you can get away with anything. The Council has allowed the Mayor to control the city manager for 7 years which has in turn caused many senior level people to leave because they could not continue in this city and maintain their integrity. Obviously, maintaining integrity has not been a problem for the mayor, manager, and some members of the council—they didn’t have any to maintain.
If we don’t find out everything about this mess then as long as the current players are in place it could easily happen again.
Wake up folks, some of your councilmembers do not have your best interest in mind. They are only trying to protect themselves.
resign / signed
Yikes, were Gonzo to get the boot, Cindy would be mayor for the year remaining. That would certainly be a return to the old Frank Taylor mentality: “If you wanna’ build a lemonade stand, it must be in Downtown!”
Resign—and do it quickly—
RESIGN
Dear San Jose:
If it is the desire of the people of San Jose to push for the mayor’s resignation, there’s an easy way to bring their power to bear.
Those wanting for the mayor to leave office might consider delaying the payment of their entire garbage bill until the mayor tenders his resignation.
In San Jose, checks for garbage pick-up are made directly to the city government. Denying the government this source of revenue would send a strong message to the rest of the council.
It’s time to pull the plug on the Gonzales political machine!
Pete Campbell
I agree with #24, Thank You for some real common sense for the next election!! I would want all Links to Gonzo and his Banditos to be exposed NOW!!!!
Resign or let the investigation continue.
Also, here’s hoping the DA takes this to a grand jury.
Everyone is assuming that we’ve reached the bottom and there isn’t more to know. I’m betting there’s more to this than, “Sorry, I forgot to tell you…”
A gift of public funds has been made. The City wasn’t obligated to Norcal anything more than what was in the original contract.
And, has anyone done the math? Does paying a room full of recycling workers $3.15 more an hour for five years add up to more than $11 million? Unless I’m missed a detail, I can’t make these numbers add up.
Resign.
CC becomes Mayor and we get some time to see whether or not she is worth electing in Nov.
#38,
I don’t think withholding your garbage payment will work. The city will put a lien against your house and take it.
Politicians tell lobbyists all the time, in backroom deals, that they will support whatever issue is under discussion.
Here is a link regarding the 1996 vote by the county supervisors to keep Reid-Hillview open. The author basically says that RHV was kept open by backroom deals.
“Before the public hearing, many private informational meetings were held with key supervisors to persuade them of the merits of keeping the airport open.
The public meeting was essentially a formality in which the Board heard extensive public testimony supporting the airport.”
Come to think of it, Gonzales was one of these county supervisors who voted to keep the airport open.
http://www.calpilots.org/www.calpilots.org/cpanew/prior/dec96/victory.htm
1) Censure ” Lying Denying Ron ” and keep him on as our Mayor but clearly and consistently politically label him – so it will be difficult for him to run for future political office which for a politically ambitous unethical career politican and his senior staffers will damage him and them more than anything else
We do not need to spend more city tax funds to prove what everyone now knows about Ron and his lack of personal and political ethical character which can best be summarized by the quote
Offer an insincere apology for “failing to communicate better” with the city council then sit back and smirk as the council votes to keep the investigator off of their own butts.
Outsider (#40):
Does “$3.15 more an hour for five years add up to more than $11 million?”
Yes, if there are 335+ workers in that sorting room.
I suggest a letter writing campaign to the Mayor’s office. The contents on each of the letters?
“Two minutes.”
Bill Rubio # 27:
Are you the functional equivalent of “John from Cupertino” or did I just not get your satire?
Jesus, people need to get a life ragging on the polling software…..friggin’ tech geeks KILL me.
I voted No Confidence and I think he should resign. Being the mayor is an honor and he’s blown it.
Inside The Hall and other City Hall employees
It is difficult to impossible to change San Jose city government until the next election unless
1) we have clear illegal activities that can be referred to the District Attorney or
2) the city employee unions who have been silent finally stand up and object to how city employees are treated
You correctly point out –
– Council has allowed the Mayor to control the city manager – caused many senior level people to leave
– If we don
My answer to SJinside is “invest” in better technology for polls
Thank you for your support, Lame. Did your parents name you or is that a nickname from friends?
What did a bunch of bellermine sissy’s get together in the cafeteria to come up with your comeback?
RESIGN! Please move back to Santa Clara. Can we find someone to run the City that isn’t controlled by the unions? How did we end up with an economy dominated by technology and a political environment dominated by the antithesis of free markets…the labor union?
Resign.
The garbage deal was shady – but Gonzales’ comments after the grand jury report compared to the results of the investigation leave him with absolutely zero credibility. Mealy-mouthed excuses phoned in from out-of-state about “lack of communication” have nothing to do with the fact that the grand jury caught him lying, and his response was to lash out at them and cause the city to spend $100K proving facts he knew weren’t reasonably at issue.
He may or may not have been a competent administrator, but if we leave someone like this in office we’re sending a clear message that it’s not what you do that counts, it’s only what you get caught doing that matters.
It disappoints me to take a stance against Gonzales because I like the idea of bringing BART to San Jose – but if the only way to do that is to hand the city over to a band of lying thieves, I want no part of it.
This episode, frankly, leaves me suspicious of Cindy Chavez, the Labor Council, and the connections between organized labor and the Gonzales administration. I’d sure like to find out not only who else on the city side of the table is crooked – I want to know who’s been paying them off, and what they’ve been getting (or expecting) in return.
Ron should resign, but won’t unless he is convicted or totally embarassed. How come nobody has looked to see how much and to which mayoral candidates Norcal and their employees have contributed? This will require going to the City Clerk’s office as this information is not on-line.
No, I think he has done an excellent job. There’s no way in hell he’ll be pushed out by the goons of San Jose, and I am from San Jose, Ca U.S.A., planet Earth Tues. Dec. 23, 2005. I’m the most informed people in SJ. The garbagegate b.s. is nonesense because there was only a miscommunication. That’s all! He’s only human being, and I’ll be damn if he’s gone, you hear?! He’s the best we’ve ever had and stick it to your thick brain! There is absolutely no way you’re going to kick him out, sorry! No, I don’t work for the mayor if you’re wondering, and I don’t work for the city. I just live in the city of San Jose all my life.
Bill – You also must live in the future. Maybe you can tell us how the vote went today. OK, that’s too easy. Almost anybody could tell how the vote will go today. If I had something to hide I’d vote to stop the investigation, too.
“Planet Earth Tues. Dec. 23, 2005. I’m the most informed people in SJ”
So Bill #56 you come from the future and consider yourself people?
Sorry Bill, it is people like you that let political unethical behavior to continue that makes this city look bad. It our duty as citizens, who stand up to real goons who try to hurt the image of this city. People who fight for clean ethical government are the ones who should be commended and not called goons. When good citizens stop speaking out that is when corruption wins, and I am proud that their are a lot of people out there who are standing up for an ethical government here in San Jose and to the wrongs of Ron G.
Greg #50:
“…and cause the city to spend $100K proving facts he knew weren’t reasonably at issue. ” Well said, Greg. The facts as set out by the civil grand jury were never reasonably at issue. Yet Gonzo and the spineless council, including three who would be our next mayor, cavalierly spent another $100k (and you know that will go up) for “process”. How many potholes would that fill? Well, at city contract rates(did you read that the hiking trail Stanford must build to satisfy the city of Palo Alto will cost between $3.9 MILLION and $7.9 MILLION per mile? A HIKING TRAIL!) maybe only one or two, but you get my point.
Bill#56 I’m glad for all of you that you’re “the most informed people in San Jose” How many of you are there? Skipped your meds yesterday? Do all of you work for NorCal?
Resign and retire in San Diego
The hits keep on coming….
Bart to SJ takes a dump and the FEDs now will not support it. “Unrealistic ridership totals”, who knew.
The Earthquakes deal has collapsed
The A’s have made a new commitment to stay in Oakland
Whats next?
Censure and get on with it. We all know what happened. Continuing to spend our money for the investigation or an interim election is just a waste. Ron knows he did wrong but he wasn’t alone. I don’t support anyone of the present list of 3 major players. At the end of it all I support a clean sweep. Mayor, Mayor’s Yes Man, City Manager, City Attorney and the Council Members who were in on it.
Ron should be the leader he was, set good example, and resign.
RESIGN! What’s the REAL motication behind the deal? Why would he risk his political career just to support the teamsters in a small time garbage contract? He got CASH under the table. There’s more to the story…
Resign.
Also, don’t run for a different public office. Or accept a local union position… Or a revolving-door local media
job.
Stop the incest.
Buy a one way ticket to PRC (and use it).