metroactive.com metr oactive.com | sanjos sanjose.com se.com | metr metrosiliconvalley.com osiliconvalley.com m| N NOVEMBER O V E M B E R 21-27, 21-27 2012
THE T HE FL FFLY LY
SSuper uperr Meeting Meeting Supervisor GGEORGE Supervisor EORGE SSHIRAKAWA HIRAKA AWA says he doesn’t doesn’t want his boar boardd colleagues, county staff or the community to be distracted distr acted by the Shirakawa ““political political lynching” taking place inn rregards egards to media coverage fraudulent coverage of hiss fr audulent expense reports. reports. At At its bi-monthly b county Board Supervisors Board of Super rvisors meeting Tuesday, Tuesday, Shirakawa tackled Shirakawa tack kled the issue head on by saying he would w rrelease elease a fformal ormal statement sometime future. som metime in the futur e. Fellow supe DAVE DAV VE CCORTESE ORTESE thanked Shirakawa, Shirakawa, thee board board president, president, for for moving his mo mouth outh and making noises without sayingg anything. But But then, Cortese surpris surprisingly singly took a stand. “There’s siren “There’s a sir en and a blaring in the community … that that’s ’s demanding a response,” Shirakawa, response,”” he told t Shir akawa, before before quickly adding this is just his own opinion and m maybe aybe not everyone hears the same ringi ringing g ngg in Don’t his head. Supervisor Supervisor forget KEN YEAGER KEN Y EAGER was w less diplomatic, noting notting not to tip! only his inter interest esst in FLY@ Shirakawa’s eventual Shirakawa’s ev ventual METRONEWS. explanation bu but ut also COM how county sta staff aff managed to le lett things get so bollixed in its audits. He even had the temerity too mention Shirakawa’s Shirakawa’ss missing campa campaign disclosuree forms. aign disclosur forms. Supervisor Supervisor LIZ LIZ KNISS KNISS echoed no one this by asking if th is whole mess could just it’s be digitalized because b it ’s late and the Palo Alto commute backk to P alo Al to is atrocious atrocious around holidays. MIKE ar ound the hol lidays. Supervisor Supervisor M IKE WASSERMAN W ASSERMAN smiled s and capped off the discussion by saying s he was confident that at the endd of the day the county would get this right. But But earlier in the Wasserman meeting, W asserman bristled that the contract, act, county’s new solar s power contr which will savee an estimated $20 million, wouldn’t wouldn n’t be newsworthy. newsworthy. There’s There’s Wasserman. your bone, W assserman.
Chip Scheuer Scheuer
8
SVNEWS
For the Record IN N THE CLEAR CLEAR N Norma orma Burns had h trouble finding work unti untill she had parts of her record e expunged xpunged at San Jose Jose’s ’s H Hall all of Justice with the help of the t R Record ecord Clearance Project. Project.
P Program rogram run n by San Jose State S s d students provi provides ides d new leases l s on life by expung expunging ging criminal re records ecords B LENA By LENA R RAMALHO AMALHO
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ORMA BURNS knowss ORMA hard times. times. Her Her adopted parents abused her as a child, child d, and an nd from the time she was was 4 years y ears old until she became an adult, ad dult, she says, says, she was was raped rap ped times. m multiple times. “No one pr “No protected otected me me,,” Burns sa says. ayys. F ollowing the worst of these Following in ncidents, Burns ccame ame home to incidents, California C a fo alif ornia and joined the arm army. my. The se ervic i e off ffered ffe d some st abilit bility, yyet et e nott service offered stability, lo ong after she joined the arm my, she long army, st arted drinking and smoking crack.. started “I w aas living with this gentleman,, was and an nd I w was aas basic basically ally in an abusiv abusive ve rrelationship, e elationship ,” Burns rrecalls. ecalls. “It just so o ha appened in that par ticular night, happened particular hi im and a d I got into to an a aar rggument, gu e t, an a him argument,
altercation, and in m altercation, myy st struggle truggle in trying tr ying to get aaway, way, I scra scratched atched him right above ab ove his eeyebrow, yeebrow w, lik like ke as long as yyour our o fingernail.” Police P olice to took ok pictures pictures ffor o or eevidence. vvidence. She had no visible injuries, injurries, but her bodybuilder b odybuilder d b ild ex-boyfriend ex-b boyyfrien f i nd d did. did Burns B Burns,, 53, w was aas plac placed ed in jail ffor or or eight months and fforced orced to take o tak ke a yyear eeaar of domestic domestic-violencee classes violenc classes.. A couple coup ple years years e went b byy after the fraud and assau assault ult charges, charges, and Burns started started to take tak ke steps steeps to put her life lif fe back to together, getherr, visiting visitin ng the Center Center ffor or o Employment Emplo oyyment Training (CET ((CET)) in 20 2006. 06. “While I w was aas going there th here I had a police p olice rrecord, ecord,, and I had ask asked keed them, ‘F ‘For or getting into,, the field of work that I’m m get ttting into ccan an I actually get into th that hat field with a They ‘Well, line,, rrecord?’ ecord?’ The ey said, ‘W Well e l, down the line we’re we ’re going to ha have ave stud students dents ccome ome in from State. We’re start fr om San JJose ose St ate. W e’re going st art a pr ogram her e, to implem ment a pr ogram, program here, implement program, to get yyour our o rrecord ecord eexpunged. xpunged.’ was turning point “That w as the turni ing p oint in myy lif life,” says. knew m fe,” Burns u s sa ayys. “I kne ew that t at I
myy lif life fe needed to slow down and get m together.” to gether.”
Back to Backt to SSchool chool Peggy P egggy Ste Stevenson eveenson st started taarted San JJose ose St State ate University’s Record Clearancee Pr Project U nivveersitty’ n ysR eecorrd Clearanc oject (RCP) 2008. program, believed (R RC CP) in 20 008. The pr ogram, b elieeveed bee the on only to b nly one of its kind ffor or ccollege o ollege undergrads, give under rggradss, is designed to giv ve students hands-on handson eexperience xxperience assisting clients to clear their criminal c rrecords. ecords. “It’s hugely “It ’s a hu ugely needed rresource, esource,” Stevenson Ste veenson sa ssays. ayys. first fivee yyears, program In its firs st fiv eears, the pr ogram approximately 300 “speed has held ap pproximately 30 0 “sp eed screenings, wheree trained students go scr eenings,” wher through individual interviews thr ough in ndividual inter views to see parts person’s bee what par ts of a p erson’s rrecord ecord ccan an b eexpunged. xpunged. Over life program, Ov veer thee lif fe of the pr ogram, Stevenson have helped Ste veenson sa ssays, ayys, students ha ave help ed 151 petitions clients file p etitions in ccourt ourt to eexpunge xxpunge have criminal rrecords e ords or ha ec ave ffelonies eelonies misdemeanors.. In just this rreduced educed to misdemeanors petitions have been yyear, eear, 133 p e etitions ha ave b een filed on behalf clients.. b ehalf of 52 2 clients Before this process starts, Bef fo ore th his pr ocess st arts, though, Stevenson’s Ste veenson n’s students ttake ak ke a ccourse ourse ccalled alled “Practical Legal Skills..” The Theyy ccan “Practic al L egal Skills aan then onduct apply ffor or o an n internship and cconduct education presentations ccommunity ommunity ommunit ttyy educ ation pr esentations