The city council voted 6-4 at its Oct. 25 meeting to keep 69 emails private, saying that an attorney-client privilege allows the city to keep those documents confidential. The city already has identified 1,288 documents that are public.

A Santa Clara County grand jury report in June accused Mayor Ron Gonzales of misrepresenting a contract with the waste hauler. The report revealed that the contract the council approved in 2000 was $11.25 million more expensive than originally believed.

"Waiving this privilege will impede the ability of future mayors and councils to effectively serve the people of our community," Gonzales said. "It's about the council's ability to completely ask candid questions, provide factual information and get well-reasoned answers from our staff."

The vote allows the council to decide after the completion of an independent investigation whether to release privileged documents. The council hired Chris Scott Graham, a Palo Alto-based attorney, to look into the contract.

District 10 Councilwoman Nancy Pyle said that there is a process for disseminating information, and it should be heeded. She voted not to waive the attorney-client privilege.

"Rather than a buckshot approach to getting information to the public, I'd rather it be in a much more comprehensive, cohesive fashion," she said.

City council members Forrest Williams, Cindy Chavez, Nora Campos and Madison Nguyen joined Gonzales and Pyle in their votes. They defeated a proposal by District 8 Councilman Dave Cortese to waive the privilege for those 69 emails. The public is curious as to why those documents are relevant, he said.

San Jose resident Ross Signorino was one of two community members who encouraged the council to reveal what is in the privileged emails.

"The community has a right to know what's going on," Signorino said.

City council members Linda LeZotte, Chuck Reed and Ken Yeager were in favor of Cortese's proposal. District 9 Councilwoman Judy Chirco was absent.

Yeager has reviewed the emails and said he didn't feel the content necessitated that they be kept confidential.

"I certainly come down on the side of open and accessible information," he said.