Posted on 12/13/2005 4:54:36 PM PST by NormsRevenge
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said he was trying to be a ``get-it-done kind of mayor'' when he failed to tell his colleagues on the City Council that there was a labor problem with a Norcal Waste Systems contract that ended up costing the city an extra $11.25 million.
Gonzales made his comments today, his first attempt to explain his motives in the controversial Norcal matter, before the city council took up the issue of whether to level the city's first-ever censure of a mayor.
``I've always tried to carry myself as a get-it-done kind of mayor,'' said Gonzales in a lengthy statement before the council began a censure discussion. ``I clearly fell victim to that part of my personality on this issue. I tried to solve this problem on my own. I tried to show that my leadership and action could bring back a solution to you that would satisfy everyone. Instead, I should have approached the city council for your input.''
A civil grand jury in June and a special investigator's report last week found that the mayor probably violated city policies by failing to reveal information about assurances he'd made to Norcal and about rate increases that would be needed to make good on those assurances.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Another lame excuse from a dem gone wild with power.
Playing the victim card.
He's a pitiful POC.
The council has voted to close the investigation, btw, looks like a censure vote will be held shortly..
He should be forced ..
No, kicked out of office..
Sounds like he's toast! Good riddance too!
He's officially censured.. Unanimously.
the vote to cease the investigation earlier was 9-2.
Sand Jose City Council casts historic vote to censure mayor
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13400601.htm
By Deborah Lohse
Mercury News
San Jose's City Council in a unanimous vote issued the city's first-ever censure of a mayor, saying Mayor Ron Gonzales misled the council and fell short of city ethics rules by not revealing facts he knew about the potential cost and impact of a garbage contract amendment he worked to secure for Norcal Waste Systems.
``This represents an unprecedented breach of trust,'' said Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez.
Said councilman Ken Yeager, who amended the censure to subject Gonzales' budget to a preliminary review by a council committee as an added punishment: ``I feel like a parent with a bad child,''
Gonzales, who has publicly apologized for how he handled the garbage matter, said ``I wholeheartedly accept the censure of my council colleagues. It is my obligation to earn back that trust.''
The council also voted 10 to 0 to reconsider in January whether Gonzales should be removed from committees on which he serves. And it voted 9 to 2, with mayoral candidates Chuck Reed and Dave Cortese opposed, to end the three-month-old investigation that concluded that Gonzales and his top aide Joe Guerra violated city policies by concealing information and misleading the council over the Norcal matter.
Chavez said the council should end the investigation so the city does not ``wallow in our shortcomings.'' She said San Jose council members, not the investigator, need to get to the bottom of two outstanding questions highlighted by the investigator, namely ``Why did the process fail, and what happened with our city staff not feeling confident moving forward?''
(EXCERPTED)
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