Posted on 06/22/2006 1:58:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Mayor Ron Gonzales was indicted by a county grand jury Thursday on six counts, his office said, but the allegations were not immediately clear.
Prosecutors have said they were investigating whether Gonzales committed any crime for secretly negotiating a trash hauling contract with Norcal Waste Systems that cost taxpayers an additional $11.25 million in labor costs.
Neither authorities nor Gonzales could immediately be reached for comment, but the mayor's office said he and aide Joe Guerra posted bail Thursday morning.
Guerra's lawyer, Alan Lagod, hadn't seen an indictment, but said his client and the mayor "self-surrendered at the sheriff's department and were released."
A lawyer hired by the city to investigate the garbage contract said in December that Gonzales and Guerra violated city policy requiring independence and impartiality when they privately assured Norcal the city would cover increased union costs.
Gonzales failed to disclose to city councilors that $1 of a $1.40 per month garbage rate increase was intended to cover labor costs.
The City Council censured Gonzales in December for the deal.
District Attorney George Kennedy had said that civil grand jury findings and those of independent investigator Chris Scott Graham raised "serious questions" about the deal-making process.
The men treated City Council procedure as a "mere formality" and failed to adhere to the concepts of open government by forging the agreement, Graham said in the report.
Gonzales had acknowledged that he agreed to the pay hikes without informing the council, but said members knew it was happening.
AP picked it up..
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posted earlier
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and budget aide Joe Guerra arrested ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1653858/posts
Posted by Rio
On News/Activism ^ 06/22/2006 12:16:04 PM PDT · 39 replies · 748+ views
The San Jose Mecury News ^ | 6/22/2006 | Deborah Lohse and Sean Webby
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.
From dirt, return to dirt. Dirtbag.
six counts, his office said, but the allegations were not immediately clear..
Developing ;-)
and posted here as well
San Jose mayor, budget aide arrested ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1653877/posts
Posted by jamesm113
On News/Activism ^ 06/22/2006 12:44:46 PM PDT · 9 replies · 180+ views
Mercury News ^ | June 22, 2006 | Deborah Lohse and Sean Webby
Cities that charge for trash pickup floor me. That's a basic service that ought to be among the first things funded, right up there with fire and police. San Diego was smart when it put free trash pickup in its charter from the beginning. The politicians moan about it constantly, and would love to change it, but the city residents would roast them on a spit if they tried.
I grew up in San Jose. When my family moved there in 1957 it was a small agricultural town surrounded by plum, cherry, almond, and apricot orchards. By 1970 it was a huge, smoggy, crime-ridden, overcrowded city commonly referred to as the L.A. of the north. I moved away in 1978, and have never missed it.
That means he's a Dem, otherwise the article would have started: "Mayor, Republican, Bush's fault."
Gee, thanks for taking the time to trash the home and workplace of many FReepers on a thread describing a corrupt Dem being brought to justice - how nice!
As for myself, I think of San Jose as the southern anchor point of the Silicon Valley, the place where the future of mankind is plotted as a matter-of-fact activity.
As for the S.J. Mayor (which is the real subject of this thread), what will be interesting is to see who wins the next race. You have one proven anti-corruption renegade vs. a typical two-faced liberal who's the pawn of the Latino & Labor lobbies. What happens here will influence the future of the valley for decades to come.
I wonder if he used Bad Boys Ba-B-B-Bad Boys Bail Bonds? ;-)
"free trash pickup"
Ummmm, gotta disagree with ya there.
I have a choice of 4 or 5 services. Denver has a choice of one: Denver City. They don't do a very good job, it being a government monopoly. I do not think trash pick up is in the same category as police or fire services.
Hmmmmmm. It ain't free my friend --- you're paying for it.
Party affiliation?
You're welcome!
I agree with you. Colorado Springs's trash pickup is privatized, and therefore we have a choice of companies who have to compete with each other, keeping service quality up and prices down.
Reuters - Mayor's lawyer says he will not step down..
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San Jose mayor arrested after indictment 57 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060622/pl_nm/crime_mayor_sanjose_dc
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The mayor of San Jose, California, Silicon Valley's biggest city, surrendered to police on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him and a top aide amid a long-running probe of a city trash contract.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department arrested and then released Mayor Ron Gonzales and his budget director, Joe Guerra, after the pair posted bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned in state court on Monday. The indictment against the pair is under seal.
At least two San Jose City Council members called for Gonzales, a Democrat, to resign.
"I strongly would urge the mayor to step down. These charges will certainly be a distraction to him and to the city administration," council member Ken Yeager said.
Gonzales spokesman David Vossbrink said the mayor "intends to finish out his term."
"He broke no laws," Vossbrink said in a statement.
Gonzales has been under fire since last year when a civil grand jury issued a report blasting him for making a "backroom deal" with a city garbage contractor in 2000 to avoid possible labor unrest among trash collectors and which resulted in a 9 percent hike in city garbage rates in 2003.
Gonzales was first elected mayor in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He is scheduled to leave office because of term limits at the end of this year.
I escaped San Whor'se in 1989, and have been forced to return for a day at a time, twice since.
Each trip was more shocking than the last, the growth is insane.
It IS L.A. north, I cannot understand how anyone can stand to reside there.
It was totally corrupt in the 80's, and I have seen nothing to indicate it has gotten any better.
You can have silly-cone valley, it is my desire to never get within hundreds of miles of it ever again.
rat "culture of corruption"?
Update,, Info re: charges
S.J. MAYOR AND TOP AIDE INDICTED IN NORCAL SCANDAL
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/norcal/14878781.htm
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales was arrested this morning on six felony counts, including bribery and conspiracy, and his top budget aide, Joe Guerra, was arrested on two felony conspiracy counts in the city's ongoing garbage scandal.
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