Paul Sakuma / Associated Press
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales wipes his eyes just before the San Jose City Council voted to censure him Dec. 13.
Posted on 12/22/2005 10:42:57 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Even before the city manager abruptly announced this week he'll be stepping down, San Jose faced looming political battles and financial challenges. Now, city and community leaders worry that the council will be unable to resolve critical issues in the coming year -- from passing a budget to bringing BART to the city, to building a new ballpark.
``I don't think we can underestimate the difficulty that our government is facing,'' Councilman Ken Yeager said Wednesday.
City Manager Del Borgsdorf announced his impending departure a week after the council censured Mayor Ron Gonzales for his role in a secret trash-hauling deal.
Gonzales, already a lame duck by virtue of term limits, will be hobbled further by a civil grand jury and district attorney investigation ...
``Now we won't have a central leader either on the administrative side or the political side,'' said Terry Christensen, professor of political science at San Jose State University.
--snip--
``In any city, this would be a time of lots of politics, which may mean that some of the policy stuff is deferred until the situation becomes more clear,'' said Jane Light, the city's library director.
Finding a permanent replacement for Borgsdorf is likely to be put off until a new mayor is elected, Yeager, Reed and Cortese all said. They mentioned Assistant City Manager Mark Linder as a possible interim choice.
``We all have to agree on what kind of city manager we should have, what kind of city government we should have,'' Reed said, ``and I think we are in very different positions.''
The city charter calls for the mayor to nominate candidates for the council to consider. But, noted Larry Gerston, professor of political science at San Jose State, ``there is a war going on right now between the council and the mayor.''
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Welcome to the house that Ron built...
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales wipes his eyes just before the San Jose City Council voted to censure him Dec. 13.
``I don't think we can underestimate the difficulty that our government is facing,'' Councilman Ken Yeager said Wednesday.
Let me make it easier for you, Ken!
Don't build the ballpark and DON'T extend BART.
Glad to be of help.
WTFIIWSJ?
PRISON....
I was reared in San Jose. It was a pleasant little agricultural town, famous for its apricot, cherry, plum, and walnut orchards, when my family moved there in 1958. Now it's a mess--750,000+ people, orhcards gone, terrible traffic jams, pollution, and a horrendous cost of living.
I'm glad my last sibling finally moved out of there two years ago, so I don't have to go back.
Doncha just LOVE it?
What a bunch of misguided do-gooder liberals and socialists we have in the Bay Area.
The House that Ron Built, his 388 million dollar white elephant gubamint pagoda, just one more example of the waste that he so egregiously oversaw, and now this secret trash deal only makes it more obvious that he and many of his peers on the city council today could care less about the taxpayers of this city and the burdens imposed on them and what they get in return.
And to think, he had aspirations for a high state office. geeesh!
We got enough corrupt critters there already.
If BART goes thru as laid out, it effectively means bye bye to the world's "largest" flea market in the world... which would really BUMb-out the Bumb family who owns it and a local gambling establishment.
The ballpark in Japantown is a nutso idea, imo, for any number of reasons.
To top it off, San Jose just lost the Quakes to Houston.
I hope the Rose Garden is still there!
Fixed rail may be a loser transportation system, but it does optimize government control of movement!
I am, actually.
It's just that I exercise an extreme form of laissez faire management I like to call "Deus ex whatever", as my psychiatrist says it's the only way to reconcile reality with my megalomania.
Compared to San Diego, San Jose city government looks competent, clean, and well-funded.
Anytime liberals are in power, nobody's in charge.
Oh where Oh where is the flaming tounge from the lips of Nancy Pelosi re: unethical behavior by a government official ??? Oh where Oh where can she be ??? Prolly drawing up George W. Bush papers of impeachment with Boomer Boxer. Both of which are poster chilren for "Oxymoron R US"
---
We're working on it. ;-)
Meanwhile..
San Diego's Pension Crisis S.D.'s tab for lawyers: $10 million
Craig Gustafson
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER December 22, 2005
A new report shows that the city of San Diego has run up at least $10 million in outside legal bills since July 2004, most of which is directly related to the pension crisis.
The report, released yesterday by City Attorney Michael Aguirre, also details how much has been spent to provide legal representation for city officials asked to answer questions by federal investigators examining San Diego's pension system and finances.
"What's happening is we're spending more money to try to defend the wrongdoing than to undo the wrongdoing and correct it," Aguirre said. "Until we reverse that, we're not going to be on the road to progress."
It's not unusual for the city to hire counsel to help when special expertise is needed. The cost is much higher than if the City Attorney's Office handles the case.
The complexity of the city's financial problems has caused the use of outside counsel to escalate, the report said. Specifically, the city has retained firms specializing in securities law and issuing bonds.
In all, the report shows the city has been billed about $10.4 million for outside lawyers in the past 18 months. Of that amount, about $7.1 million has been billed for pension-related issues. Other legal expenses were for unrelated cases, such as eminent domain litigation.
The report is not comprehensive. It examined only invoices processed by the City Attorney's Office.
This stupid politico MUST have meant OVERESTIMATE --- and the freaking "Murky News" reporters and editor were also too stupid to catch the error by the hero....
Typical amateurish performance by the "Murky News"...
San Jose has been cursed with incompetent, corrupt or just plain stupid "leadership" since I arrived in '77.....
San Jose is a city with EVERYTHING going for it --- location, High Tech Silicon Valley corporations, etc, etc, etc........and the criminally incompetent "city government" blew the opportunities at every level...
Semper Fi
This stupid politico MUST have meant OVERESTIMATE --- and the freaking "Murky News" reporters and editor were also too stupid to catch the error by the hero....
Typical amateurish performance by the "Murky News"...
San Jose has been cursed with incompetent, corrupt or just plain stupid "leadership" since I arrived in '77.....
San Jose is a city with EVERYTHING going for it --- location, High Tech Silicon Valley corporations, etc, etc, etc........and the criminally incompetent "city government" blew the opportunities at every level...
Semper Fi
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