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Charges dropped against ex-San Jose Mayor Gonzales, aide GuerraBy Rodney Foo and Barry Witt Mercury News Article Launched: 06/12/2007 02:35:32 PM PDT All charges against former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and his aide Joe Guerra were dropped by a Santa Clara County District Court judge. The charges, including bribery, stemmed from a deal with trash hauler NorCal Waste Systems Inc. Charges against Norcal were also thrown out. Judge John Herlihy signed an order Monday dismissing the charges. In the order, Herlihy cited errors given to the grand jury as grounds for throwing out the entire indictment against Gonzales and...

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.