Supervisor George Shirakawa says he doesn’t want his board colleagues, county staff or the community to be distracted by the “political lynching” taking place in regards to media coverage of his fraudulent expense reports. At its bi-monthly county Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Shirakawa tackled the issue head on by saying he would release a formal statement sometime in the future. Fellow supe Dave Cortese thanked Shirakawa, the board president, for moving his mouth and making noises without saying anything. But then, Cortese surprisingly took a stand. “There’s a siren and a blaring in the community … that’s demanding a response,” he told Shirakawa, before quickly adding this is just his own opinion and maybe not everyone hears the same ringing in his head. Supervisor Ken Yeager was less diplomatic, noting not only his interest in Shirakawaís eventual explanation but also how county staff managed to let things get so bollixed in its audits. He even had the temerity to mention Shirakawa’s missing campaign disclosure forms. Supervisor Liz Kniss echoed no one by asking if this whole mess of clarifying P-Card policies and procedures could just be digitalized because it’s late and the commute back to Palo Alto is atrocious around the holidays. Supervisor Mike Wasserman smiled and capped off the discussion by saying he was confident that at the end of the day the county would get this right. But earlier in the meeting, Wasserman bristled that the county’s new solar power contract, which will save an estimated $20 million, wouldn’t be newsworthy. There’s your bone, Wasserman.
San Jose Inside
San Jose Inside (https://www.sanjoseinside.com)
Good God the entire County Board of Supervisors are spineless idiots! Does Shirakawa have a little black book that has dirt on each of them? Or are they just acting like they’re beholden to the bully of the county Shirakawa?
Absolutely shameful. Here’s an idea, TAKE THE P-CARDS AWAY FROM THE ENTIRE BOARD until this mess is cleared up. Shirakawa calls this a political lynching? Is he really trying to imply that HE is the VICTIM in all of this? The victims are the taxpayers of Santa Clara county particularly those in his District 2.
Any little bit of good he has done in these years in public service do not excuse his abuse of funds and criminal activity. Political lynching. What a joke. What an absolute, total and complete joke.
Hey SJI could you please post the names of his entire staff? I would at least like to know the names of the people I (as a taxpayer) have been “treating” to lunches, dinners & staff retreats in Reno & Tahoe. We know Andrea Flores Shelton who got her reward Monday night, and we know the giggle master and always appointed never elected Eddie Garcia and lets not forget Andres “I will do my best to ignore the community will” Quintero who also works in the office and on the Alum Rock School Board. Name the others so the public knows who NOT to vote for or to be on the look out for when they try to weasel their way into other positions of power.
ANYONE who has ever called Shirakawa a role model or mentor should automatically be NOT considered for future leadership.
RESIGN. RESIGN. RESIGN. RESIGN. RESIGN. RESIGN.
Thank you Josh & SJI for making sure the public gets wind of this out of control thieving disaster.
You have to hand it to Shirakawa, he knows how to play the game. The local Democratic Party has his back.
DA Rosen and Attorney General Harris are politicians. This is a no win prosecution for a politician. That’s why the Board of Supes is yapping around this like a bunch of lap dogs.
I think the smart money is on Shirakawa getting off.
The mayor and some of the city council are going to to Washington D.C. next week. We all want to see where they will be staying, eating, and drinking on the city P-card.
Chuck, PO, Sam, Constant and Nguyen. Just a guess to talk pension reform. Waste of time and our money. Hope they explain how measure B will be overturned.
Please do not try to excuse the criminal and shameful behavior of Supervisor Shirakawa by saying “but other people do it too”. Shirakawa is no novice to the game of politics and just as he knew he was in violation of his campaign finance filing and simply decided to ignore it he knew it was wrong to LIE on his forms about naving not had alcohol paid for by the tax payers. He did it hundreds of times!
There are legitimate uses for the government issued cards if the DC trip the city council members are going on fit that criteria then it might be bad form for council to be traveling while the city faces budget crisis and union negotiations but it may not rise to the level of criminal.
Shirakawa IS a the level of extreme abuse and very likely criminal activity. It is time for him to go.
I don’t disagree that several of the council members should be looked at closely too but it it no way excuses or exonerates Shirakawa.
I’m sure he’ll release a formal statement right after he gets his campaign finance documents filed.
I would agree that elected officials and government employees should be held accountable for their actions. The public treasury in not a honey pot for those in power to dip into at will. What is troublesome to me is why little is done to change this. Good governance should not depend on news reports, however comprehensive they may be.
Internal auditors and others continually recommend improvement in controls and are routinely ignored by the elected officials, public employees and even the public at large.
I would suggest the public intuitions adopt COSO (http://www.coso.org) and inaugurate an independent oversight/audit committee system. These volunteer committees would be appointed by the next higher authority (for a city in would be the county etc.). This committee would be empowered to hire auditors, lawyers and any others needed to review controls and transactions. They would issue reports to the public at least annually.
Metro,
You may have George, but he has the little black book.
Let’s see what you can do to expose the rest of the nepotisum, and air the mess that wallows in the east of San Jose. You’ve got those that have lived that way of life, dumping on George now!
This episode has opened the worst of this city , If your’re going after one , Go after all!
The Village Black Smith
Nothing but a glutton worthy of a long jail sentence on multiple felonies!
I do not agree with what G. Shirakawa has done , but you are delusional if you think he is the only Politician to act this way . Look No further than the despicable Mayor of San Jose , Rufus Reed . He did the same exact thing and then turned around and cut a check . ( I guess because hes the Mayor , No harm , no foul). It is common knowledge that this Mayor has fired employees for the same offense. I guess when you write the rules …………..they just dont apply to you