Posted on 09/10/2004 9:19:51 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery publicly excoriated the city's leadership on Thursday for failing to act forcefully amid scandals involving questionable fundraising by Mayor Ron Gonzales and accusations of corruption against Councilman Terry Gregory.
McEnery, the sole person testifying before a San Jose city task force intent on shoring up ethics laws, also said the council's inability to quickly and publicly address these issues, coupled with the growth of lobbyists and failures to monitor potential conflict-of-interest violations, have eroded citizens' trust. He said that could affect support for city goals like attracting a Major League Baseball franchise.
``Respectfully, the silence in this building is pretty deafening, and it has been for years,'' said McEnery in a meeting Thursday morning at City Hall.
``I don't know how you go forward as a council without pulling to a dead stop and addressing these issues.''
McEnery, who left the mayor's office in December 1990, was invited to speak to the blue-ribbon committee -- council members Ken Yeager, Cindy Chavez, Pat Dando and Chuck Reed -- that is aiming to overhaul San Jose's ethics laws. The task force is examining issues from campaign fundraising provisions to its revolving-door policy, which bans some former city staffers from working on issues for a year after being employed at City Hall.
Last month, lobbyists Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai, who had both served on Gonzales' staff, were under investigation for allegedly violating ethics laws. But some charges against them -- lodged by the city attorney -- were dismissed by the city ethics commission because they came after a two-year statute of limitations. Another hearing is scheduled this month.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Tom McEnery speaking about ethics is like a Muslim speaking about world peace.
I hear ya. lol
It guess shows how sad the state of affairs in sleepy ol' San José have become.
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