In an abrupt reversal after months of denying wrongdoing, Mayor Ron Gonzales Wednesday apologized to San Jose residents for his role in a secret deal with Norcal Waste Systems
excerpted..
In an abrupt reversal after months of denying wrongdoing, Mayor Ron Gonzales Wednesday apologized to San Jose residents for his role in a secret deal to help trash hauler Norcal Waste Systems get an $11.25 million contract amendment.
His apology came a day after a scathing report from a special investigator and just hours after city council members said they planned to formally censure the mayor for brokering the arrangement. The deal led to an increase in garbage rates for 155,000 households served by the city's largest trash hauler.
Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy also said he is reviewing the special investigator's report to see if any criminal probe is warranted.
And later in the day, Norcal announced it would not seek an extension of its current contract, which is set to expire in June 2007. Instead, it will join other companies that will compete for the work when the city reopens the garbage contract for bidding.
``I would like to apologize to the people of San Jose,'' Gonzales said in a memo from North Carolina, where he is attending a conference this week. ``In my efforts to do the right thing for the people of San Jose . . . I failed to do it the right way. For this I apologize. The buck stops at my desk as mayor, and I take full responsibility for my decisions and those of my office.''
Gonzales' statement Wednesday came as several San Jose City Council members, including his closest ally, Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez, said they planned to levy the most serious of three possible reprimands against Gonzales by censuring him. It would make him the first mayor in recent memory to be censured by the council.
--snip--
Too bad Vice-Mayor Cindy Chavez is a freakin' egotistical nutbag as well, and his stepping down would give her an incumbancy edge for the next mayoral race.