Originally published January 6 2006
Independent investigation finds mayor of San Jose violated city policy and misled public
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
San Jose mayor Ron Gonzales violated city policy by promising Norcal Waste Systems that the city would cover cost increases for subcontractors' workers represented by union officials.
Mayor Ron Gonzales and his top budget aide misled the public and the city council and treated council procedure as if it were a ``mere formality'' when they sought, beginning in late 2000, to help a garbage hauler get reimbursed for labor costs in excess of its bid, an independent investigator's report said.
The report released Tuesday largely confirms a critical June civil grand jury report that portrayed Gonzales and aide Joe Guerra as having overstepped their proper roles from 2000 to 2004 by assuring Norcal Waste Systems that the city would cover increased costs for its subcontractor's workers to be represented by the Teamsters union -- even though the city was not legally obliged to do so.
Gonzales and Guerra appear ``at the very least'' to have violated city policies calling for independence and impartiality, wrote investigator Chris Scott Graham, who said that the two men acted in ways that ``were not consistent with the structure of government as set forth in the City Charter or general concepts of `open government.'
The report was requested in June after a civil grand jury charged the mayor and Guerra with ``duping'' the city council into approving a 2003 rate increase and a 2004 contract amendment to cover increased labor costs the mayor had secretly vowed the city would cover back in 2000.
Two city council members said Tuesday that Graham should keep digging, both to give Gonzales and Guerra a chance to defend themselves against the damning documentary evidence, and to determine why they acted as they did.
In his contract with the city, Graham, an attorney, was charged with learning whether Gonzales or any other city officials violated the city's charter, ethics or other policies, rules or ``other laws'' in the Norcal matter.
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