August 10, 2006

City Council resumes after break

Long meeting, many important subjects

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

The San Jose City Council met this week for the first time since June 28 to discuss a number of important topics including establishing grounds and procedures for removing council members from office for misconduct, fiscal actions for the mayor’s office, and charter amendments on restricting outside employment and council member salary setting.

While certainly not divisive, council members asked many questions of City Attorney Rick Doyle while deciding whether to approve the ordinance amending Title 12 to the San Jose Municipal Code.

After an hour’s discussion, the council really didn’t approve anything, but moved, by a 10 to 1 vote, to send the measure back to Doyle and his staff for further refinement. Sticking points included who would make up the investigating task force and whether the final decision should be by unanimous or a two-thirds and three-quarters majority,

The only dissenting vote came from Mayor Gonzales.

On June 28, less than a week after Gonzales was indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges relating to $11 million in payments to Norcal Waste Systems, the City Council held a special meeting to try to remove the mayor from office. Since the mayor would not step down, and since Doyle determined that removal might have serious repercussions on members, the City Council directed Doyle and his office to draft a proposal that would include grounds and procedures for removing an official from office.

Like other council members, the mayor classified the ordinance as a work in progress. He said he could not support it because it would allow council members “to unelect (sic) elected officials, overturning the votes of a large group.” Otherwise, he had little to say about the matter, keeping his head down throughout most of the discussion, and appearing to be doing some sort of work on his computer.

Much of the discussion centered on a memo from Doyle dated July 28. Prior to the ordinance, the charter authorized the council to set forth the grounds to dismiss someone from office; no action had been taken to implement it.

The ordinance’s purpose is “not to determine whether the member is guilty of a crime. The principal objective of the proceeding is to protect the city of San Jose and the public which it serves from persons unfit to hold elective office as a member of the City Council,” according to the draft amendment.

It describes misconduct in office as “any wrongful or unlawful act, lawful act performed in a wrongful manner or failure to act when a duty to act existed.” The amendment follows a number of steps including a Rules Committee review to determine whether action and an investigation is necessary.

Doyle and his staff looked at 11 different California cities to determine what actions those cities have on the books and also what they have done in the past. In the case of larger cities, neither San Francisco nor Los Angles, both of which have stipulations to suspend or remove elected officials, has ever removed an elected official. Both have definitions for misconduct relating to their official duties.

Prior to the amendment, the San Jose City Charter offered several tiers of action against council members, including the mayor, for misconduct. These include admonishment, sanction, or censure for an accused member. Mayor Gonzales was censured last December for his actions in the Norcal Garbage scandal.

The ordinance doesn’t “address the procedure for forfeiture or loss of office based on other grounds enumerated in” the charter.

Mayor budget changes
Another discussion at the June 28 special meeting included potential changes to the mayor’s budget. Council members had agreed to consider cutting portions of the budget as a means to restrict the mayor since he refused to step down.

On Tuesday, the council approved an amendment capping the mayor’s budget and maintaining a hiring freeze and any money that goes with it. The motion passed by a vote of 9-2 with only Councilwoman Linda LeZotte and the mayor against it.

LeZotte voted against it because “by amending the travel budget, it will have to be changed back in January.” Gonzales said his no vote reflected a protest because the action is a “violation of the city charter and the office of mayor.”

Basically, the council removed $896,995 from the current appropriation of the office of mayor leaving current funding for the office at $824,216. The remaining $779,876 from the initial appropriation will be available for the next mayor on Jan.1 as will be $117,119 from carryover rebudgeted funding that is now placed in an “Earmarked Reserve” and subject to reappropriation in 2007.

In addition, the mayor’s travel policy was amended to allow the council to name council members or board or commission members to be the official city representative at out-of-town meetings. It also determined that all official travel by the mayor, even that without cost to the city, must be approved by the City Council.

Certify election results
The council voted unanimously to certify the results of the June 6 primary election. This includes passage of Measure K allowing construction of a fire station at Silver Creek Park. It also confirmed the election of Peter Constant for District 1; Nora Campos for District 5; Madison Nguyen for District 7; and Judy Chirco for District 9. The members will serve from January 2007 through December 2010.

The council further asked the County Board of Supervisors to consolidate a municipal run-off election for the offices of mayor and Council District 3. That election will be held along with the general election on Nov. 7.

Other actions included discussion with no action on the possibility of bringing a National Basketball Association franchise to San Jose. City Manager Les White indicated there is no pending deal at this time, but the San Jose Sharks organization is considering seeking a letter of intent.

The matter will be discussed again at the Aug. 22 council meeting. It was noted that there would be costs involved. However, District 2 Councilman Forrest Williams said before the city commits to any action, there should be community input as well as an economic development strategy.

Finally, the council agreed unanimously to restore funding to the annual volunteer celebration. The council appropriated $15,000 from the general fund to pay for the annual event and renamed it the City of San Jose Volunteer Celebration.