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Title: Ed Jew tenders resignation from S.F. Board of Supervisors
Source:
http://www.sfgate.com/
URL Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic ... 2008/01/10/BA19UD1T2.DTL&tsp=1
Published: Jan 11, 2008
Author: Wyatt Buchanan,Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicl
Post Date: 2008-01-11 03:06:08 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 69
Comments: 1
Suspended Supervisor Ed Jew has resigned his seat on the Board of Supervisors effective Friday and will never seek public office again, his lawyer said at a City Hall press conference with City Attorney Dennis Herrera today. In a statement read by his lawyer Stuart Hanlon, Jew said, "I've decided to resign from my position as supervisor because I feel it is in the best interest of my family and for my district under the current situation. I reached this decision with a heavy heart, but I've decided I must make a decision that is in the best interest of my family." The resignation came in exchange for Herrera and Mayor Gavin Newsom dropping a civil lawsuit and official misconduct proceedings before the city Ethics Commission to seek Jew's ouster for allegedly lying about where he lived to run for District 4 supervisor in 2006. Hanlon said he advised Jew not to attend the press conference because he still has criminal charges pending against him. Hanlon said he is seeking to resolve those cases with county and federal prosecutors. Jew signed an eight-page settlement wherein he agreed to resign and not seek any legal action against the city. In return, Herrera and Newsom agreed to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in October and the Ethics Commission proceedings begun in September. Jew also agreed not to run for office for at least five years, though Hanlon said the former lawmaker has made that a personal lifelong commitment. "He has decided this is not the world for him," Hanlon said. Jew made no admission of guilt in the agreement. "I ... want to acknowledge the difficult but principled decision made by Supervisor Jew himself, and to offer my prayers and best wishes for him and his family," Herrera said, adding later that the settlement concludes "what has been a long and difficult negotiation." In his statement, Jew said the expense of fighting all his legal battles had become too much to bear. "The cost of defending the two criminal cases I am now facing with the civil actions brought by the San Francisco City Attorney ... and the Ethics Committee brought by the Mayor are overwhelming," the statement read. "I cannot continue to fight all the battles which I am now facing." In the statement, Jew also noted the cost to San Francisco taxpayers, which Herrera estimated at about $300,000 in legal fees. After suspending Jew from office in Sept. 25, Newsom appointed his budget aide Carmen Chu to fill the post on an interim basis. Now, Newsom will appoint a permanent replacement by noon Friday and that person will hold the post until the November election. With Jew's resignation, seven of the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors will be up for election Nov. 4. Ron Dudum, who came in second to Jew in the 2006 election, said he will again seek that office. He said Jew's resignation, "gives our district an opportunity now to choose its representative and that person, whoever that person is..., can proceed with authority as the elected representative of the people." Jew's troubles started in May 2007 when FBI agents carrying out a corruption investigation searched his City Hall office, Chinatown flower shop and homes in the Sunset District and in Burlingame. That investigation resulted in a Nov. 6 grand jury indictment of Jew on bribery, fraud and extortion for allegedly shaking down Sunset District businesses for $84,000 in bribes. But early on in the course of that investigation, questions were raised about whether Jew actually lived in the Sunset District house on 28th Avenue he claimed as his residence to run for the office. Investigations by District Attorney Kamala Harris and City Attorney Herrera concluded the Sunset District house was an address of convenience and the supervisor actually lived in Burlingame all along with his wife and daughter. The residency investigations led Harris to file nine felony perjury and fraud charges against Jew in June, claiming he had lied about where he lived to run and vote in local elections. The resignation agreement has no bearing on either the federal or county criminal prosecutions, though earlier Jew was offered and rejected a deal by Harris that would have required him to resign and plead guilty to a single felony charge. No trial date has been set in either of the criminal cases. E-mail the writers at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com and cvega@sfchronicle.com.
Poster Comment: Only in America...
Supervisor Ed Jew is expected to resign today in a deal to bring an end to a lawsuit and proceedings before the Ethics Commission to oust him from office for allegedly lying about where he lived to become a candidate for the Board of Supervisors in 2006, sources familiar with the arrangement say. Chronicle file photo, 2007, by Kurt Rogers
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#1. To: robin (#0)
politicians lie about where they live all the time in order to qualify to run for that district. This fellow Jew was obviously singled out for some reason.
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