Posted on 06/22/2006 12:16:04 PM PDT by Rio
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and his top budget aide Joe Guerra were arrested and released by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's department this morning, according to Deputy Sheriff Serg Palanov.
Although the grounds for arrest were not immediately known, it came amid a civil grand jury investigation related to the two men's behind-the-scenes actions from 2000 to 2005 to help Norcal Waste Systems get an $11.25 million contract amendment after it underbid the labor component of its winning bid to collect trash for 155,000 San Jose residents.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Since the article doesn't mention it - I assume they are part of the Democrat culture of corruption...
Dems? The article doesn't say (big surprise).
No party affiliation mentioned, therefore Gonzales must be a Democrat.
Journalism today is pathetic.
Well it IS California. Democratic party affiliation is assumed.
He's a Democrat but is considered a "conservative" Democrat rather than a moonbat, so expect that angle to be played up.
Gettin kinda close to Peloser's home turf?.........
Oh my.
Thanks for posting this, Keywords will provide a lot of background on which these arrests may be based.
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The "Family Man" is BUSTED!
The plot thickens. :-)
Whewwwwieee!!
Dang, it must be pretty hot in the new Downtown Gubamnint Pagoda City Hall Mayor's office about now.. lol
I'm seeing 95 degrees here in North San Jose and rising. 8-)
What?!?!? Teflon Ron? No way.
Let's see: We have the Italian Mafia, the Jewish Mafia, the Viet Namese Mafia, the ACLU, and now the Mexican Mafia.
Maybe they'll have a Gang War, leaving no man standing.
What - a - dump! (Thank you, Bette).
Even Teflon has a melting point. ;-)
Yep, he's a Dem. This garbage deal is dirty dirty dirty. He's been caught red-handed on this one and that's been clear since the very first story.
The one downside is that Vice-Mayor Cindy "Ron Gonzalez in drag" Chavez would love to get a little settled in the Mayor's chair. We desperately need Chuck Reed to win the mayoral race this November over the union-backed Chavez.
YeeeeeeeHA!
You don't know how right you are. Mafia is right. I know somebody who was on the Gonzalez grand jury trials. That's all I'm at liberty to say.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/9412171/detail.html
San Jose Mayor Indicted; Surrenders To Authorities
POSTED: 12:10 pm PDT June 22, 2006
UPDATED: 12:33 pm PDT June 22, 2006
SAN JOSE -- San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, embroiled for months in a controversy over the awarding of a garbage contract, surrendered to authorities Thursday after he was reportedly indicted by a grand jury.
According to Santa Clara Sheriff's Department Deputy Sheriff Serg Palanov, Gonzales voluntarily surrendered Thursday. It was not known if Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez has taken over the duty of running the city.
Also reportedly indicted along with Gonzales was his top aide Joe Guerra.
In December, just a week after he was censured in a historic vote by the San Jose City Council, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced it was investigating the city's controversial garbage and recycling contract with Norcal Waste Systems.
"The findings of the civil grand jury, which were confirmed by the San Jose Independent Investigator, raise serious questions about the processes used by the city of San Jose to enter into this agreement and the 2004 amendment to this agreement, as well as serious questions about whether any laws were violated in connection with these transactions," the District Attorney's office said in a statement at the time.
Deputy District Attorney Julius Finkelstein was working with the civil grand jury to further investigate the matter.
Gonzales was censured for making a backroom deal with Norcal Waste Systems in 2000 over a city garbage and recycling contract that led to a 9 percent increase in garbage rates in 2003.
He is the first San Jose mayor on record to be censured by his council colleagues and the second elected official in San Jose to be censured in the past year. San Jose City Councilman Terry Gregory was censured on Dec. 17, 2004 for ethics violations and later resigned and pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
The mayor told KTVU that he had no plans to step down after apologizing for his role in securing a controversial trash hauling contract. He said the issue resulted not from any wrongdoing, but from "mis-communication."
"There is no reason to resign in this regard," Gonzales told KTVU. "We are talking about the process -- a lack of communication."
He did continue to apology for the events that have unfolded.
"I'm apologizing, saying I'm sorry because we did not -- I did not -- communicate fully with the council at appropriate times all the information that was necessary for them to make the right decision," he said.
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