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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
New deputy city auditor resigns amid questioning
by Kathleen Haley, published on July 26, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Storyline: Sacramento City Hall / Politics
The city of Sacramento’s new deputy city auditor, Gerald Silva, resigned from his position Monday afternoon after The Sacramento Press asked him to comment on a lawsuit that affected his previous work in the city of San Jose.
Silva was fired from his previous job as city auditor of San Jose in 2007 in the aftermath of a sexual harassment case.
Silva worked with Sacramento City Auditor Jorge Oseguera in San Jose. Oseguera hired Silva as a deputy city auditor for Sacramento in March.
The San Jose Mercury News wrote multiple stories in 2007 about a sexual harassment lawsuit that had been filed by Jennifer Callaway, an auditor in Silva’s department. The June 2007 sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against Deputy City Auditor David Moreno and the city of San Jose, according to the Mercury News.
Silva was directly embroiled in an investigation conducted by the city of San Jose. “An outside investigator hired by the city to evaluate the complaints cited a 'locker-room’ atmosphere and found evidence Silva and others had acted inappropriately in the workplace,” the Mercury News reported in a Jan. 30, 2008 story.
In August 2007, the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to fire Silva, according to the Mercury News.
The Mercury News also said Silva had worked for the city of San Jose for 22 years.
Oseguera said Silva decided to resign Monday after talking to The Sacramento Press.
“I spoke with Jerry and he obviously went through something very traumatic, and he is not willing to go through it again himself, nor is he willing to expose this office to it either,” Oseguera said.
“Despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise, he has decided to resign today.”
Oseguera praised Silva’s work as an auditor, saying that he had received numerous awards.
The San Jose Business Journal reported in a Sept. 17, 2007, story that San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said Silva’s work for the city resulted in $300 million in savings from “wasteful or unnecessary spending.”
Asked on Monday about the past allegations involving his office in San Jose, Silva responded: “I think I’m just going to resign.”
The San Jose investigation “was very unfair,” and “the whole thing was bogus,” Silva said.
He also expressed concern about the possibility of harming Oseguera’s reputation.
“I’m not going to do that to Jorge, not going to do that to him,” Silva said. “I’m not going to cause him any embarrassment, or anything like that.”
It was unclear Monday afternoon if Interim City Manager Gus Vina was aware of Silva’s past troubles in San Jose. Oseguera said he hired Silva on his own.
Addendum: City spokeswoman Amy Williams wrote in a Monday afternoon e-mail to The Sacramento Press that Interim City Manager Gus Vina did not know about the city of San Jose's decision to fire Silva in 2007. "The Auditor Office is autonomous from City Operations," Williams said. "The City Auditor made this selection. The Interim City Manager was not aware of Mr. Silva’s reasons for leaving his former employment."
Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.
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Kudos to Mr. Silva for at least understanding how these situations play out and resigning before it became a distraction to the task at hand.
Nice work Kathleen!!!
"Silva served as auditor for 22 years and is credited by Mayor Chuck Reed for saving the city $300 million in wasteful or unnecessary spending."
that is a quote from the link provided in this article. funny how we all jump to conclusions when we don't know the extent what was said. because he resigned and/or was fired does not imply or is an acknowledgement of guilt. i don't have a problem with this story, there isn't an opinion in this article. it is more of a statement piece. but the commentors here are unbelievable. the whole "who's idea was it to hire an auditor" argument is absurd.
#1 this city needs someone to look at the books to see where wasteful spending can be cut. especially someone who saved on average $13.5 million a year in wasteful spending.
#2 since when is it right in this country to NOT give someone another chance? especially someone who was never convicted of sexual harrassment (at least this is not mentioned in this or the linked article).
it is too bad because it seems like we have just lost someone who could have helped this city.
1. The harassment suit was not filed against Silva and Silva was not found guilty of any crime.
2. The harassment investigator found a " 'locker-room’ atmosphere and found evidence Silva and others had acted inappropriately in the workplace".
3. "Silva’s work for the city resulted in $300 million in savings from “wasteful or unnecessary spending.” "
So basically this regurgitation of years old facts has cost Sacramento an incredibly valuable employee. I work directly with city operations on a daily basis in Sacramento, and the “wasteful or unnecessary spending” is rampant here too, not just in San Jose. I am very curious who Silva will be replaced with, if it is by an equally or more highly qualified person then great, if not, then shame on you Kathleen.
I do not know any person who has not at one time or another made a comment that could be deemed inappropriate when scrutinized under the right context. Can't we allow people to learn from the past and move on? I hope you never feel the pain of a harassment case brought against you, it is worse than being audited.
We were not prosecuting anyone, but the public does have the right to ask and the press has the responsibility to ask.
It is strange and I know it made some of us feel bad, but I believe it was her duty to ask.
But this is not about forgiving the man, that is between him and his accusers, this is about transparency in government. And I don't see the two going hand in hand. This is not personal. It is business. It is truth, it is transparency. It was necessary to write this article. No one forced the man to resign. Perhaps where their is smoke their is fire or perhaps he simply didn't want to put his family through this again. Whatever the reason for his resigning; If he can't hang with the big dogs then by all means he should get off the porch-- or in this case--- resign. Not allow the city to walk on a treadmill with this distraction.
Perhaps Clifford- the big red dog- who will run with, more colorful and overshadow other big dogs and who sits on the porch in city hall as youth violence surrounds this city--- will take heed and learn transparency and accountability is not just words to be spoken to the public but actions that will be taken by the public and SacPress.
Heck, the mayor often speaks of transparency in government and accountability. If he didn't know or see a need to learn who was being hired then I'm glad community members brought it to the attention of Sac Press and they responded. Holding officials accountable is like pulling teeth in this city. The blame is always shifted....I am glad, thankful, appreciative SacPress saw the need to report this story.
Thank you Kathleen for the article! Thank you for not putting this in a casket and 6 feet in the ground. Thank you for resurrecting truth and transparency!!! WELL DONE.!!!
He may have saved San Jose millions but us poor saps in Sacramento paid tens of thousands for his four month vacation. Mr. City Auditor don't foreget to include this waste of money in your annual savings formula.
Get a grip.
Kudos to Rich E. and Work4U for injecting some rationality and justice into this discussion.
If something similar had been insininuated locally with him, or in his department, then perhaps there would have been some relevance to the question, but it really seems like something the Star with stir up, just for attention or readership. No, it was just a question, the story was not written, but we all know that at some point a story would have been posted here, and then he would have to live this all over again with his family, employer and people that he works with....again, for something he was nevery actually found guilty of.
Do we not have enough tangible or relevant stories that could be writtne about the city and politics, without having to look for something that is 3 years old, and has no direct connection to a current situation or event?