They just fired “Archibald Cox.”
I thought that headline would never be seen anywhere again, let alone in San Jose. It happened yesterday when Chris Scott Graham was “fired.” The independent investigator was basically told that it was time to move on from the Norcal scandal and the crises in confidence with the mayor. Healing was the mantra of a solid majority of the council.
Although all elements of the Grand Jury Report accusing the mayor of duping the council, lying to the community, and making a private deal with the garbage company were confirmed, none of this was deemed sufficient to warrant more investigation of the issue. No one will be questioned under oath; no further action will officially take place by council direction. (Forrest Williams seemed to be unaware that no one had been questioned under oath in the initial phase.) Chuck Reed asked to know who made money and why the truth was not told immediately. Dave Cortese commented that this was a “cover up of a cover up.” Why was it being tolerated, he questioned rhetorically, because few were listening to his appeal. Despite these efforts of Reed and Cortese, not much was said in favor of continuing Mr. Graham’s investigation. The only thing missing was the presentation of a plaque and a bouquet of flowers, or maybe a retirement gold watch.
Now Cox, the Watergate Special Prosecuter, and Graham share this: both wanted to avoid being part of something repugnant—a half-job or an improper action. These two are joined in our history now. The council made it so and they didn’t even need Robert Bork to wield the knife; they did it themselves. Perhaps the wound may be a savagely self-inflicted one.
It is impossible to move on when all the information is not received. It is imperative in any healing to get to the truth, complete and unexpurgated; neither happened in this case. I am sorry that the good and decent people on the city council did not go the necessary step here. I believe that they acted in fear and will repent at leisure.
This was not a good day for our city. This was not as any who trust and value the compact with our citizens would have wanted it to happen. I wish that I was not writing this today, but failure to speak on this issue would be another error of silence of which we have had far too many in the last few years. That silence will be regretted by many and forgotten by few.
The only hope the citizens of San Jose have for learning the whole truth lies with the DA office. I only hope that there is enough smoke for him to do the right thing and investigate this scandal.
There’s $11 million to pay a room full of recycling workers $3.15/hour more for 5 years. Does that add up?
As the Mercury correctly points out this morning, the Mayor’s explanation as to why doesn’t really hold water.
And then there’s the subcontractor, California Waste Solutions, a company with a documented history of fraud in Oakland.
As Pat Dando once said, “This has an odor.”
Why do u think smart / intelligent business people dont do deal with Mayor and SJ?
Chris didnt ask the right questions—not a pitbull instead a puppet.
Everyone knows C.C. knew what was going on.
The D.A. is as crooked as G.
Chuck Reed for mayor.
A sad day indeed for San Hozay.
Forrest Williams always sems unaware of what’s going on around him. Look up “clueless” in the dictionary, and his picture’s underneath.
Check out DeCinzo’s cartoon in The Willow Glen Resident—The face of Gonzo on a bloated King Kong high atop the old BofA building @ First & Santa Clara.
How long ‘til the Murky News lets him go now that they own all the local rags?
Yesterday’s post is worth repeating:
Now that the City Council has unnecessarily stopped the investigation, it’s time for the DA to kick into high gear.
This afternoon’s Council meeting was a sad example of hide and seek by Cindy and the Council majority. Cortese and Reed were up front in their criticism of the Mayor and the need to get to the bottom of this disaster. It is now obvious that there is much to hide. The three major questions left unanswered, as summarized by Chuch Reed, are (1) did any money exchange hands, (2) was the open meeting law of the State violated and (3) did Norcal defraud the City? Pretty significant issues to leave hanging. It’s not enough to simply “move on” and provide City staff with ethics training.
It’s now your turn Mr. DA. “Where there’s smoke there’s fire”
I know you all haven’t heard from me in a while. I’ve been a little slowed down, by, well, morning sickness.
I wanted to comment on this though. I wanted to let you all know that the sentiments of many City employees mirror those of the citizens of San Jose. The Mayor has screwed up BADLY. This is far, far worse than what Terry Gregory did.
The Mayor needs to resign.
What about LeZotte?
I have seen her twice now on the nightly news almost sobbing about constituents asking her if all councilmembers are crooks. Unfortunately Ms. Lezotte voted to stop the investigation. Doesn’t seem like the right vote if you want to prove there are no crooks.
Maybe she is just more concerned about keeping labor in her camp as she runs for county supervisor.
1) Our career politician District Attorney will probably DO NOTHING since we have a long local political tradition of ignoring other Career Politician’s ethical misdeeds, Brown Act, open records and other government ethics violations.
Career Politicians do not want to accuse their political friends, create enemies or lose political support for future public office campaigns or lobbying opportunities
So they follow the unwritten – Career Politician Lowest Common Ethics Rule – UNLESS they are running for office
As we have seen this week in San Jose
2) Santa Clara County District Attorney election will be a contested election with many candidates
What is the clear written position of ALL candidates especially the District Attorney candidates on – ethics, integrity and accountability of elected officials, lying to City Councils / Supervisors, abuse of authority and violations of City / County Charters, Brown Act, ethics, sunshine, open records laws ?
Will they aggressively investigate and follow up on citizen complaints and Civil Grand Jury reports for possible criminal violations ?
3) The ONLY why we will get open and ethical local government is to elect a District Attorney who is willing to in writing and publicly DECLARE they will hold ALL elected officials to a higher ethical standard than has been done in the past AND aggressively investigate and enforce all existing laws to include California and local ethics, Brown Act, open record, public records and sunshine laws
The title of the SCC Civil Grand Jury report says it all
San Jose Trash Deal – How the City was duped into wasting $11.25 million
– The payment of $11.25 million appears to be a gift of public funds.
– City Attorney or the special investigator should take the legal steps necessary to rescind the $11.25 million Norcal/CWS reimbursement.
http://www.sccsuperiorcourt.org/jury/GJreports/2005/SanJoseTrashDeal.pdf
The only recourse now is for the people to take this into their own hands. DO NOT FORGET. When election time comes around, ask Cindy again and again, why she refused to let the investigation be completed. Count how many different answers she gets. Ask each councilmember what they had to hide since they refused to tesitfy under oath. Keep the issue alive at every candidates forum, letters to the editor, SJInside, etc. If the people allow this to swept under carpet then we deserve the pathetic group of players we have.
The censure, in effect, did nothing. The mayor, his thug aides, and the eunuch city manager all remain in place with nothing being done to prevent the abuses that have gone on for 7 years from continuing.
History will look back at this council and laugh at how a city that pretends to be a major city could allow this to happen for so long.
Remember at election time.
I agree with City Hall Chick.
Tom, your post needs to be converted to a Merc opinion piece. The general public needs to understand the condition of their local government. Gonzo has not only tarnished the current leadership at City Hall, but also blemished the reputation of the many outstanding leaders from the past. You may want to get Susan Hammer and other former City leaders to sing on with you. We are about to cross the line into “big city” Tammany Hall politics. I fear for my town …
what another waste of time and money
I know the answer and so does she.
SJ local politics needs a house cleaning-top to bottom.
The good news is that Cindy Chavez won’t inherit Gonzo’s job and wind up being the incumbent in the next election. Incumbents, good or bad, have the inside track. Given her position on Garbage Gate as well as her parochial views… to hell with any City Council District except Downtown… maybe we’ll have a shot at getting the right Mayor next time. My vote will go to Chuck Reed.
ill spend my money elsewhere thank you.
just like i dont buy the POS Merc.
Hold Cindy accountable. She can’t lead the city as tainted as she is from this debacle. If she were clean she would have gladly wanted the investigation to continue. Now we can only speculate just how deeply involved she was in this. With that kind of uncertainty about her guilt or innocence, she can no longer be seriously considered for the job. Too bad. Once again, this gang of fools show their true colors.
Tom,
I disagree with continuing an investigation that has already been completed. The Grand Jury Investigation should have been sufficient.
The Graham investigation was a needless extension of that inquiry. Nothing new was found, the Council participated willingly, all voted to Censure the Mayor and all (with the exception of Dave, Chuck and Linda) are embarrassed by the debacle.
There is no evidence to suggest that Councilmembers are anything but victims of this tragedy. To now waste more time and money to investigate them (the victims) is ridiculous.
That won’t stop Dave and Chuck beating the drums as they run for Mayor. Innuendo can be more effective than facts. But the Council did the right thing.
As for the DA, if he thinks a crime has been committed, he certainly has the power to “continue” an investigation. But to date, no evidence of a crime—even by the Mayor or Joe Guerra—has been shown.
Unethical and illegal behavior are two different standards. Unless someone can show any evidence of the latter as a basis for moving forward, the investigations should end.
Yesterday’s ending of the investigation by the City Council majority helped Cortese and Reed and placed Chavez in political jeopardy.
Chavez is now inheriting the black cloud over Gonzales. She must have been knee deep in the Norcal deal, or is unable to handle the chess moves required of politicians. In either case, Cindy is no longer able to take the high road when running for Mayor. Her reputation will precede her. She will only win through sheer political maneuvering. She will need to unions now more than ever.
A mildly ironic aspect of the council vote yesterday to end the probe into the Norcal matter is that it repeats in almost all particulars the council vote on 1/25/05 to end the probe into the Cisco matter.
One difference is that the Cisco scandal investigator announced the location of several thousand copies of top-level email messages just a few days before the investigation was terminated.
A second difference is that the motion to terminate the Cisco investigation was made by Chuck Reed, whom many posters today are lionizing for opposing the termination of the probe into Norcal yesterday.
We need to remember all the opponents of transparency, not just those from yesterday.
what a bunch of horsesh@t
I made it home early to watch the proceedings, what a shame they have stopped. I have always had great faith in Cindy doing the right thing. She did not, which tells me the mayor told her everything he was doing and what do you think kind of talk and she wants no one to find that out. I find it hard to beleive Gonzo did this on his own. Did anyone remember that the guy who spoke so wonderful of Gonzo is Gonzo’s wife boss???? Maybe we the public need to organize to continue the investigation, to see who we can trust and who needs to go!
John
Like the anchorman in “Network” –
I am mad as hell and not going to take it any more
should be the slogan of all San Jose and local voters – as Flavan correctly stated
The only recourse now is for the people to take this into their own hands. DO NOT FORGET.
Keep the issue alive at every candidates forum, letters to the editor, SJ Inside, etc.
If our elected officials, candidates and political consultants are fearful of losing an election since they can not predict how the voters will vote – they can be pressured to ignore the – Career Politician’s Lowest Common Ethics Rule – and reform our local governments so that that we all have adequate ethics, open government and public disclosure laws
Read Rich
How long ‘til the Murky News lets him go now that they own all the local rags?
Posted by JohnMichael O’Connor
Wednesday, December 14 at 09:09 AM
JOHN MICHAEL, JOHN MICHAEL,
YOU KNOW THE MERCURY NEWS DOES NOT OWN THE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS. THE PARENT COMPANY IS KNIGHT RIDDER. DECINZO REPORTS TO OUR EXECUTIVE EDITOR WHO REPORTS TO ME. THE MERCURY NEWS WOULDN’T LET DECINZO GO. I WOULD BE THE ONE OR OUR EXECUTIVE EDITOR WOULD BE THE ONE. IN FACT, WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF DOING THAT.
BY THE WAY. THAT WAS A GREAT CARTOON. THANKS FOR NOTICING.
DC
Here’s a little extra salt…
Anyone have any regrets about shelling out 500 million dollars for the new CH?
BTW, did anyone hear the heckler shout “Well are you?” durning Lezotte’s dramatic lament about how tired she is of constantly being asked if the “Council is all crooks”.
Classic.
San Jose is a two-bit city, and the whole world is laughing at us right now. The morale levels are at their lowest. Kicking Ron Gonzales off his throne would have been the first obvious step to reinvigorate this place, but they’ve blown it. Now, they’ll go on with their job pretending as if everything is OK. What a polluted environment this is to get any constructive work done.
I would agree with those who say that the new City Hall cost … well, a lot of money.
Regardless of that, I wanted to add that this building has really grown on me in the three months I’ve been here. It’s a wonder to behold and every day I notice new, wonderful things about it.
I know this is a sore subject with the people of San Jose, but I hope you’ll all give the place a chance. Come and visit sometime!
Rich is sounding like our pathetic councilmembers and the excuses they gave for not continuing the investigation. While arguing that it is a good thing to not continue the investigation, he then says “Unethical and illegal behavior are two different standards. Unless someone can show any evidence of the latter as a basis for moving forward, the investigations should end.” Of course, with no investigation we will not know if there was evidence or not. Way to have it both ways, Rich.
#30—Bad time to visit. The place is contaminated and won’t be fumigated for at least a year. I’d stay away for the sake of your health and sanity.
Can anyone come up with a cogent reason for continuing an investigation that has produced the same result twice?
Maybe if we investigate it a third time we can come up with ‘new” evidence to convince ourselves to investigate it a fourth time.
#26—The call for more ethics laws, a true sign of an unthinking mind.
We need a San Jose moveon.org, lest we continue to wallow in the mire of a good political deal gone bad.
WE NEED U GUYS TO DEFEND SJ AGAINST MAYOR AND COUNCIL CROOKS
Flaven,
You turn the basis for real inquiry on its head.
Tough to prove a negative. It doesn’t exist, there is no evidence that it does exist, we want to spend taxpayer dollars to see if it does exist.
Why not investigate every member of the Council for tax evasion, bribery, fraud, murder or crimes against humanity?
Hey, they may have done something wrong—no evidence that they did—but we should investigate them anyway.
This line of reasoning is absurd as is the call for more investigations on matters that have already been settled.
The decision to stop the independent investigation was warranted. Graham had a choice to get subpoenas and chose not to do that. Why waste more of our money on an investigation when we have our answer. RG did it! Let the District Attorney pursue the case, because he is the only one who has the power, the City Council has done all that they can do, Censure.
Why does the City Council hold important discussions, such as the censure of the Mayor, in the middle of the afternoon on a work day?
It would seem that this timing has the effect of excluding most citizens from local government.
Rich—I know you are smarter than your recent post would imply. Since you have all of the answers to the unaswered questions, perhaps you would share them with us. When you provide that information (that even the Council does not have) then I will agree no further investigation is needed.
Why continue the investigation?
Scott Graham answered in the report:
“As the initial scope of the investigation was limited, as described above, there are many factual issues with respect to which additional information in the form of witness statements under oath may provide a different conclusion, or shed light on issues that could not be fully resolved.”
“…obtaining witness statements under oath is recommended.”
We might also want to hear from these city hall employees mentioned in the report too scared to speak out:
“…there apparently are a number of individuals with information relevant to the investigation who may only be willing (because of, inter alia, the fear of reprisal) to provide such information on the condition that their identity remains confidential.”
If Mayor Gonzales can publicly admit to a mistake, so can I. In my comment on Monday’s poll I suggested that the stress of this scandal would soon have Gonzo rushed from City Hall in an ambulance. Well, I missed my mark—seems I chose the wrong conspirator. According to today’s Merc, it was Cindy Chavez who broke under pressure last night and had to be spirited away from the council meeting in a meat wagon. No explanation of her problem was given, but my guess is that she was suffering from acute labor pains—specifically, acute organized labor pains.
Perhaps someone out there with one of those baby name books can tell me: what’s a good name for a dead career?
PS: My sources tell me that the paramedics last night also expressed some concern for the mayor and one of the councilmen, but in the end gave Gonzo the okay and, after a brief examination, recommended a chalk outline for Forrest Williams.
#39 – Thanks for pointing out what should be obvious but is not. This should, but probably won’t, convince the Rich’s and Cindy’s why they look guilty of a cover-up. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you know lies”—Cindy’s new campaign slogan.
The best you’re going to get out of Council majority is an apology from the Mayor and and a similar “sorry ‘bout that” from the City Manager and Attorney. Getting chased out of City Hall for lying only applies to lower level staff.
Cindy Chaves is the real loser at this point. Her decision to end the investigation will be used against her for a good part of 2006. It’s up to the voters and the DA to take it from here.
Rich,
You ought to try a couple of anonymous posts in support of Cindy. You seem to be the only one that carries her water. I wonder why?
Steve,
The investigator said people would not come forward due to retribution? Hell if any of them had relevant information they could post it here anonymously.
Sworn statements “could” provide a different conclusion? This is a CYA statement for the investigator. If he thinks someone is lying he had the ability to write who, what, where and when in the report. If he had two contradicting statements from two different individuals, he could have reported it.
The idea that people are more truthful under oath is a myth. Perjury is a difficult crime to prosecute. Moreover, memories of events and conversations that happened months ago are often distorted, convoluted, contradictory and exaggerated. It doesn’t make the person telling the tale a bad person, it makes them human.
Bottomline: This horse is dead. Stop beating it.
I’m not as “lonely” as you might think.
Happy to carry Cindy’s water, especially when she is right.
Joe should go.
Ron has to improve the image of his office if he wants to accomplish anything during the next year. Throwing Joe over and replacing him with someone outside of the current administration would seem an obvious thing to do. Anybody know what Bob Brownstein is doing right now?
RR should be hanged.
Rich,
Why would a city hall employee risk their career by posting information to San Jose Inside after yesterday’s vote? Would Ms. Chavez and company reopen the investigation? Not likely. The information would be discredited because it came from an anonymous source.
Mr. Graham only reviewed city hall documents and emails in his investigation. It seems quite reasonable that filling in the gaps with sworn testimony could “determine, among other things, why a hardly controversial issue—fair wages for recycling workers—was handled secretly by the mayor’s office” as the Merc editorial board wrote today.
The bottom-line: the council did nothing yesterday to prevent a scandal like garbage-gate from happening again. Training the staff will not solve anything when city leaders are the problem.
Steve,
>determine, among other things, why a hardly controversial issue—fair wages for recycling workers—was handled secretly by the mayor’s office” <
This is easy, it doesn’t take a new investigation. The Mayor would have had to go through a whole new bid process had he not “fixed” the problem.
The bid process is cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive. By fixing the problem the way he did, Ron insured that the best deal was retained for the City of San Jose without the hassle of going through an enormous process—which would have resulted in the same outcome.
The reason it is “wrong” is because if this good deal can get done this way—other deals—of a more sinister nature could also have been done this way.
As for a City Hall employee jeopardizing their career on a blog; it is a myth. Moreover, relevant information can be verified.
I cannot believe any City Hall employee would be remiss to give a full, unaltered and honest version of events. This is not the Soviet Union. Ron cannot have them banished to Siberia.
Moreover, their 15 minutes of fame would hardly make them unemployable.
Last, is everybody afraid? If fear is the motivator at City Hall, is that not a bigger issue than a good garbage deal gone bad?
Let’s investigate why people fear to use their own names on a blog or fear to come forward in an investigation or why they fear losing their job in a civil service system where firing them is impossible.
#48 – Good post! You are so correct. And don’t forget the current “culture” of CH where the the Manager does not support his employees—he is loyal only to the Mayor. In fact, on many occasions he has tossed his staff overboard so he could stay afloat (even if he knew it was not in the best interest of the city.)
Rich,
Steve and others are right the City Council did nothing yesterday to prevent more San Jose politician unethical behavior or scandals
Mayor and his few senior staffers unethical behavior shows that we need better San Jose ethics laws since currently unethical behavior in San Jose is not illegal behavior
Ethics and election reform laws are written by politicians and their political consultants who benefit by having lots of ethical and legal loopholes
Voters want ethical behavor in government and elections. Unethical behavior should be illegal or we will continue to see more unethical behavior
Apparently you do not agree we should hold elected officials to a higher ethical standard to maintain the public’s and government employees confidence in our government
What ethical standards do you want? – as long as it is not illegal even if it is unethical it is ok since the unwritten – Career Politician Lowest Common Ethics Rule where everyone remains silent about elected officials unethical behavior to maintain their political career unless they have a political or election benefit
Rich’s naivete about today’s City Hall is scary. If he really believes what he is writing then he is suprisingly out of touch with the mentality of the Gonzales regime. Ron has aimed his retribution many times during his reign. What his thugs don’t carry out for him the City Manager does. I’m not talking about physical threats, but there are other ways to get the message across that if you don’t toe the party line life will be difficult. Who would come forward in a regime like this? The manager will not back his employees, the council appears to be clueless and the local paper just started to get it recently. If someone like Rich is either so far outside the loop or just spinning tales in Cindy’s favor, then what chance does an employee have of going up against this type of politics-of-the-worst-kind?
Boy I’ll bet Ron Gonzales’ wrists are REALLY sore from the slapping they got yesterday by the City Council. Let that be a lesson to all the kids…cheat on a $11.25 million pubic contract and you might get CENSURED!
Fortunately, the City Council had the good sense to shut down the investigation before any of them had to give sworn testimony, thus allowing the city to “just move on.” I’m sure the topic will never come up again and their integrity will never come into question.
I don’t know about the rest of you folks but my confidence in local governance is now restored, as is my confidence that cows can fly and there really is a tooth fairy.
Rich,
If the mayor gave your easy answer about the “why” of garbage-gate when the grand jury report was released, he may have avoided yesterday’s censure vote. Instead he told a big lie because he claims the grand jury “…personally attacked me, I responded personally” (12/10/05 Mercury News article). A very weak excuse for a career politician.
Retribution against whistleblowers is a myth? Not from what I have read. Even with a civil service job, it is not hard to imagine life being very difficult once you have outed your boss.
I think we finally find agreement: if fear is the motivator at city hall, it is a bigger issue than garbage-gate. Why was staff rewriting Norcal’s proposal to avoid the appearance of a deal without speaking out? Continuing the investigation with sworn testimony could have helped us figure out what is wrong and how to correct the situation. As it stands now after yesterday’s vote, nothing will change in city hall.
Our House of Straw is Now Complete!
Dave Cortese,Chuck Reed and the Grand Jury wanted a House of Brick for the people of San Jose.
Mother Nature, has no mercy for those that do not respect it’s laws.
We are now left to ponder the future and where to run to when the Winter’s political winds and lightning of our lives arrive!
The Curse of Quetzalcoatl continues to haunt our fair City. We are protected from the Curse, only when we eat corn, and we’ve had a diet of that forced on us for some time. So, I will sleep very well this night.
Merry Christmas Grand Jury! Thank You!
The Village Black Smith
Tom,
Unfortunately your Hope transcends your recognition of Reality. I, too, was hoping for more from this Council, but was resigned to the outcome.
Unbelievable.
You are right on with your comments.
Via the internet, I listened to the testimony of a surprisingly large number of constituents testify at the City Council meeting on Tuesday 12/13. Overwhelmingly, these members of the public taking time to come down to City Hall to provide their input were critical of the mayor and his aides, expressed their concerns, and urged continuation of the investigation. It is disappointing that these concerns of the public fell on obviously deaf ears. I hope these concerns are more appropriately addressed at the ballot box.
If there is no further investigation into this matter then I think the prudent thing to do is conclude that everyone who voted to discontinue it are tainted and should be voted out of office. In the judicial system you are innocent until proven guilty; unfortunately, history has shown us that in the political system it is the opposite.
And I would apply this to all investigations that have been made into our City government, not just Garbagegate.
#32: I assume you’re referring to the politicians? Niiiice.
#55: Thank you. I have encountered nothing but professionalism from the Mayor, Councilmembers, and their staffs. But maybe I am naive?
THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAD TO HAVE ARMS TWISTED BY SPECIAL INTEREST, WHETHER IT BE UNIONS OR DEVELOPERS INTERESTED IN GETTING MORE HOUSING IN COYOTE VALLEY, TO VOTE THIS WAY. THERE IS NO OTHER REASON FOR ENDING THIS INVESTIGATION WITH SWORN TESTIMONY. ONE BLOGGER WAS RIGHT WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT WHY THEY DIDN’T CONTINUE UNDER UNION PRESSURE. I THINK LINDA CHAVEZ WAS SICK BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT SHE MIGHT HAVE TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH. THERE IS NO WAY SHE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THIS ISSUE WAY BEFORE OTHER COUNCIL PEOPLE WITH HER CONNECTION TO THE UNIONS. SOMEONE ASK HER WHEN SHE KNEW. SHE CERTAINLY WANTED TO DUMP THIS INVESTIGATION FAST.
OF COURSE, I MEANT CINDY CHAVEZ IN PREVIOUS BLOG. ACTUALLY, WHO CARES.
To get more specific about the many incidents of intimidation, retribution, and just plain being told not to provide certain information to the Council, would “out” those involved. Nice try, though, Rich.
Well, well, well…
Obviously we need to continue this investigation, but that being said…my hope is that the next mayor goes back to basics… don’t worry about downtown nightclubs, or neighborhood services, or accidental police homicides…or even Coyote Valley…
but worry and focus on…(drumroll please…)
1. character
2. integrity
3. vision
I don’t think you can have any of the first conversations unless the next mayor tackles those last three…
feel me?
#51, 52, and 53
I may be out of touch, if City Hall is such a scary place to work.
No one has critisized the Mayor more than myself, yet I have encountered nothing but professionalism from himself and his staff.
But I admit I don’t work at City Hall.
If the culture of fear in City Hall exists to the level expressed by 3 of the last 4 posts, then the garbage issue is small potatoes.
And this is a forum that can be used to give concrete examples of abuse without fear of retribution. Generalities aside, no one has expressed a single incident where an employee suffered for their honest acts of courage. If they exist, let us hear them.
Certainly, any bureaucracy has its share of Mal Contents
but if people are really afraid of retribution that is a story yet to be told or heard and is significantly more important than the current saga.
First off has anyone heard Forrest Williams speak or talk?
Can that suprise anyone that Forrest Williams did not know what was going on. It seems that half the time you hear him speak he does not even know what he has said.
This man is as charismatic as an android.
I really feel sorry for anyone who lives in his district.
Chuck Reed is a cool guy and has good ethics but will not be able to win the mayor race.
Dave Cortese has really stood out and has done a lot of good during this city hall crisis. He has my vote for Mayor and he can beat Cindy Gonzales-Chavez.
Dave Cortese is also not a carpetbagger from Sunnyvale (Ron G), and is a product of San Jose born and raised here in the valley.
Rich,
Trust is so lacking around here that it will take an outside, third party investigator to collect the information with assurances that retribution will not occur. Gonzo/Guerra/Borgsdorf have created such an unethical, stab in the back, cover your ass environment that it will take years for this organization to recover. To expect City staff to come forward before there are protections against retribution or a completely new leadershgip team is unreal…
#62 is an excellent example of what is wrong with politics today. Qualities such as “character” and “integrity” are subjective. Everyone has a different definition. One person’s character is another’s nightmare. Yet, people use these terms all the time without knowing what they are talking about.
Look at our current president, who is easily the most incompetent president in this country’s history. He was elected based on character. This clearly negates the character argument.
This country is based on self-rule. We are supposed to elect individuals from our community to represent us. This means they have flaws. As long as we expect politicians to be different from ourselves we are going to keep electing people who disappoint.
Focus on people who know what they are talking about. As long as they are not breaking the law, keep their personal life out of politics. I have had enough nonsense over the past few years from the “character” crowd.
I think what it’s going to take to have RG removed is for the Murky News to cook up some “fake but accurate”documents that show him on the receiving end of some NorCal love.
Oh but wait… RG is a democrat.. nevermind.
San Jose will lose the quakes, bart and the A’s.
Thanks to the Mayor and who is a crook
Cindy will lose
Rich will find a way to marry C.Chavez
Dave Cortese is right that we have a “cover up of a cover up.”
Nice try, Novice. Every Democrat I know thinks RG is pathetic and should leave office now. This has nothing to do with partisan politics. Bad government is bad government no matter what party you are or are not affiliated with.
Perhaps you should read the paper more often. The Merc has been blasting RG for months and issued a strongly worded editorial calling on him to resign. Perhaps you’ve missed their coverage—its only been on the front page in bold type numerous times.
#65…
So sorry to offend your sensibilities, really.
We are on the same team here. We both want the same thing. We want our leaders to stop lying to us, to stop cheating us and for me, I do use the terms character and integrity because this Mayor’s administration clearly is lacking in this department. We both want our politicians not to break the law, I think we can both agree on that?
Just having a little fun Secret.
As avid readers of the sMerc know – it wouldn’t be the first time the sMerc cooked up ‘fake but accurate’ story.
#63: I could have sworn that during the debate on killing the investigation I heard Forrest Willims say
“If we continue the investigation all we will get is information.”
I agree that both Chuck and Dave are both stand up guys. But will they end up splitting the anti-Cindy vote?
Dave’s move to bring it back to the Grand Jury for a possible prosecution to remove Gonzales from office is interesting. I’ll bet Gonzales is now wishing he hadn’t blasted the Grand Jury!
So shall we take bets on when Gonzo is going to say “I am not a crook!”
Reply to #63: Forrest Williams is one of the smartest men up on dias. He isn’t running for office like most of the City Council and can say what he wants. City Council has turned into a self promoting, political nightmare. Cortese and Reed trying to go for blood to get a few more votes. LeZotte: Running for County. Chavez: Running for Mayor. Reed: Running for Mayor. Coreste: Running for Mayor. He hasn’t been caught up in these garbage-gate or the Cisco Fiasco. His district is in shape and anyone should be proud to live there, I know I am!
Excuse me , is there any more room to get my blog in, Tom?
Do I love this web site!!! Is this the reason the Merc has suitors?
There has never been such a out pouring of thoughts, since Phister was a two time Mayor, back in the 1800’s. Did you bloggers know that he created Alum Rock Park? He also was the originater of the first free library. What happened to unselfish values?
Say what you will, I love all you guys and gals. Who cares who you are. City Hall Chick could be a guy. Frustrated Fin Fan could be a night Club owner. Richard Robinson could be Cindy Chaves, JMO could be lawyer, who Cares! Finally we have community. LADIES & GENTLEMEN start your keyboards, The wicked Witch of from the North is Dead!
Tom, your a dam “Palates” Santa Claus. Congratulations and Merry Christmas.
The Village Black Smith
#51. The problem with ethics laws is the people who break them tend to think that they are above the law.
#49. Does the name Anita Hill ring a bell? History shows that the system is not kind to whistle blowers.
#40. Finfan, I gotta hand it to you. I often gnash my teeth when I read your stuff but that post was a classic. However can you explain how Williams can talk so much without ever saying a damn thing?
#39. You are preaching to the choir. Most everyone here knows a cover-up when they see one, and understand why Cindy’s supporter is so anxious to tell us to stop beating this “dead horse.” (Note to Rich: Don’t be surprised when the ghost of this dead horse comes back to haunt your candidate…frequently. BOO! )
Richard Robinson, Stick around you ain’t seen nuttin yet. Just a feeling!!
The Village Black Smith
#73. I think LeZotte has already pretty much said it in the form of “I’m tired of people asking me if the City Council is a bunch of crooks.” (It was kind of funny when she said it again Tuesday just before voting for The Big Cover Up.)
#74: If Forrest Williams is one of the smartest men on the dais the collective IQ would not equal the room temperature. I agree that he says what he wants. The problem is: what the hell is is saying?
#75: Gil you are so right. This site has given us something the Redevelopment Agency has failed to deliver…the corner coffee shop where people who care about San Jose can sit around and gab about local news and issues. San Jose is much better for it. I add my thanks to Tom and his SJI crew for providing this space.
its over——-its oveeeeeeeeeeeeeer
I live in Forrest Williams district and whenever I have asked him a question, He has answered me by a question, and I know that I am not alone in thinking that he seems to sometimes not know EXACTLY what he is saying!
Yes I did hear him say, “If we continue the investigation all we will get is information.”
Yes information that will get us to the truth of the problem. I am sad to say, He should know better since he went to LAW SCHOOL as he claimed in his statement to the audience during the garbage-gate hearing. Where he said, ” I know that all of you might find this hard to believe that I really went to Law School.”
That says it ALL.
Lets see what the SCCDA and Civil Grand Jury will do next to Ron G?
#63, you forgot Judy Chirco from District 9. I say “forgot” because she is easily forgettable and is clearly in this for the political career long haul just like one of her D9 predecessors, Jim Beall. Doing absolutely nothing but paying lip service and waiting for her next unopposed election to continue doing it for another 4 years.
We absolutely need “None of the Above” as a choice on our city ballots, and if that option gets the most votes, then the incumbent is outta there and somebody gets appointed in the interim. This BS of people like Beall and Chirco skating to victory—often unopposed—has got to stop. Sure makes at-large elections look like the answer.
This should not be called the Norcal Garbage Scandal, this should be called the Mayor’s Teamster Union Scandal. Norcal did nothing wrong, their subcontractor CWS did nothing wrong. They were both acting on the request of the Mayor. This was a deal that the Mayor made with and for the Teamster’s Local 350.
Shortly before the Mayor was supposed to provide this subsidy to CWS via Norcal, CWS was inundated with various city departments who tried to shut them down. Week after week Code Enforcement, the Fire Department, Environmental Services and the City Attorney’s Office would show up at their facility to write them up on violations. City officials would park outside of their facility and take pictures of people coming and going. The City literally harassed CWS for months. If CWS was shut down then the Mayor would not of had to come through with this subsidy payment. I can’t help but to wonder how much the Mayor was involved in the assault on CWS in order to get out of the trouble ahead. Who else could have coordinated an effort like this from all of the City’s departments.
Mal #37: That is exactly why they hold important meetings during wekday afternoons—to exclude as many people as possible. Ironic, coming from a group so beholden to organized labor.
Richie#21:
We did not need a second $100k investigation to confirm what the civil grand jury concluded. But we have not had any investigation of the spineless, self-serving city council. That is an investigation that does need to take place.
How about the civil grand jury opens one up on the council?
Winston #29:
Get real—Winston, hardly any of the world knows we exist. Very little of the world has ever heard of Gonzo. This is ouw small town gig. Even our neighbor to the north gave it short shrift.
JMC #84: I don’t know about the rest of the world but the SF Chronicle wrote a strong anti-Gonzales Editorial last week and the SF TV stations have been giving GonzoGate prominent coverage.
(Now we know what it takes to get their attention…sigh.)
Yea, Reed and Cortese are cooking this all up to get more votes. I guess that people just can’t fathom a politician doing the right thing. It must all be a ploy to make Gonzo look bad.
As for Forest Williams, pretty soon he is going to be saying that he invented the internet.
Whenever I am on a business trip and tell people San Jose, they look at you with a “where is that?” or “how do like LA”. I always have to say either Silicon Valley or San Francisco. Lots of people out there also think that Silicon Valley is located just a couple miles south of San Francisco.
I have given up and just say San Francisco or San Francisco Bay Area. As using the term Bay Arean sounds do much like Aryan.
Mal #85: I’m not sure that one Chron editorial, no matter how excoriating of the Gonzo, qualifies as some significant coverage of our largish ‘burb.
Re TV, I defer—I am one of those unamerican types with no TV at home.
But I stand by my basic comment to Winston#29—“the whole world” doesn’t even know where we are (see #87) let alone care about out 2-bit mayor and his hubris.
After a couple or three decades, the answer to Dione Warwick’s question is still a resounding “NO!”