Around the Water Cooler: Should Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa resign?

Question of the week: Should Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa resign?

• Lisa Pampuch: Yes. If he does not, I hope that his District 2 constituents recall him.
• David Cohen: Yes. Shirakawa must go. He has repeatedly and continually violated the trust of his office and that of the people of Santa Clara County. His callous disregard for expense procedures and overt willingness to overstep the bounds of responsibility – outrageous at anytime and specifically in a time of fiscal constraint – mandates his departure.
• Chris Bryant: No. However, personal charges on the county credit card over three years show that this was not just an isolated mistake but an ongoing ethics, if not legal, violation that should not be tolerated from an elected official. Reimbursing the county for these charges only after they were brought to light does not negate the fact that he made them in the first place. At the least, he should be penalized for these actions and lose the privilege of a county card.
• Julian Mancias: Yes. He has repeatedly taken advantage of the community trust that he was given.
• Hank Miller: He most certainly should resign. He and others like him are scoundrels and need to get the message that they are elected to serve the people, not rip them off. 
• Karen Anderson: Yes. Everything points to egregious violation of the public trust. He would win a certain amount of respect if he saved the taxpayers the cost of a recall and simply apologized and departed.
• Kathy Sullivan: Yes, if he committed a criminal act, otherwise it should be handled according to their policies related to ethics and conduct. The bigger concern is to tighten up the regulations and oversight about the use of these credit cards. I understand the policies related to these cards were in several locations and the oversight mechanism was not clear and consistent.
• Dave Appling: Yes. And if Shirakawa refuses, he should be recalled. He has failed the most basic tests of stewardship, inexcusably, irredeemably. It makes me wish our county supervisors were elected at large, so I could vote for his recall.
• Dennis Kennedy: Yes! He has lost the public trust and appears to have a pattern of doing so. He doesn’t get it!
• Bert Berson: Yes. I would miss his stories about being persecuted, but it is probably worth the trade-off.
• Jeff Nunes: Yes. At a minimum he has violated the public’s trust.  At worst he has violated the law, and at best he has shown remarkably poor judgment and insensitivity during difficult economic times.