San Jose Mayor and top budget aide misled public and city council on Norcal deal

Mercury News ^ | 12/6/05 | Deborah Lohse

[NormsRevenge]

An independent investigator has found that the mayor of San Jose and his top budget aide misled the public and the city council and treated council procedure as a ``mere formality'' when the two men sought to help Norcal Waste Systems get reimbursed for labor costs in excess of its bid.

The report by investigator Chris Scott Graham said that Mayor Ron Gonzales and his aide Joe Guerra ``at the very least'' appear to have violated city policies calling for independence and impartiality, and acted in ways that ``were not consistent with the structure of government as set forth in the City Charter or general concepts of `open government.'''

Gonzales, Guerra and other ``members of City staff'' acted ``on the basis that they had the right, and obligation, to make decisions and/or commitments on behalf of the city of San Jose which were more properly decisions that were within the province of the city council,'' Graham wrote in his highly anticipated 46-page report.

``The materials confirm that the Mayor and his staff, and specifically Joe Guerra, misled the public and the City Council regarding their undisclosed intention to use part of the funds generated by the 2003-04 rate increase to reimburse Norcal for increased labor costs,'' Graham wrote in his report, which was sent to the city auditor Tuesday with more than a half-dozen binders of supporting materials.

--snip--

So in 2003, the grand jury charged, Gonzales and Guerra ``duped'' the city council into voting for a rate increase that year, making it appear that the contract amendment the council voted for the following year wouldn't cost any extra money.

``I guess this proves that the grand jury was right,'' said councilmember Chuck Reed.

[NormsRevenge]

Read the independent Norcal investigation report

http://www.mercurynews.com/multimedia/mercurynews/news/norcal_invest_report_120705.pdf