CA: Grand jury expected to act on Norcal soon (San Jose Mayor & trash deal investigation nears end)

Mercury News ^ | 6/21/06 | Deborah Lohse

[NormsRevenge]

Any day now, San Jose citizens are expected to learn whether a civil grand jury or the county's top prosecutor believe any crime was committed when Mayor Ron Gonzales helped trash hauler Norcal Waste Systems secure an $11.25 million contract amendment in December 2004.

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Although the grand jury operates in secrecy, it is widely understood that the group has been investigating whether Gonzales or others received any improper payments or campaign contributions, or committed other crimes in helping Norcal get the contract amendment to pay for unanticipated labor costs.

Some of the subpoenas, for instance, included requests for any documents pertaining to ``any income received by the Hon. Ron Gonzales'' from Norcal or CWS from 2000 to 2005. Investigators also sought documents pertaining to any ``political expenditure'' or ``campaign activity'' on Gonzales' behalf.

The Norcal matter has led to an apology from Gonzales for not being forthright with his council colleagues, who imposed a historic censure on him in December for violating city ethics rules. ...

--snip--

A previous grand jury in May 2005 alleged that the mayor and his top budget aide, Joe Guerra, had ``duped'' the rest of the city council into raising garbage rates and later amending Norcal's contract to entitle Norcal to an extra $11.25 million. That money went to reimburse Norcal for higher, Teamster-level wages for employees of a subcontractor, California Waste Solutions, rather than a lower level of wages that CWS had projected it would pay under Norcal's winning bid. Although the city was not legally obligated to pay the extra amount, the council approved the reimbursements on a split vote, with proponents saying it would maintain ``labor peace.''

[NormsRevenge]

I love posting 'trashy" threads, especially when it involves 'smelly' politicos.

The City of San Jose just OKed a 2.6 billion dollar budget that includes hikes in trash fees and a continuation of a $1.75 911 services telephone surcharge tax/fee for another 3 to 4 years, part of the proceeds will go toward paying for the new Downtown Gubamint Pagoda City Hall monstrosity that Mayor Ron pushed thru a few years and subsequently ended up in a large cost overrun in expenses to furnish and complete.