Two members of the San Jose City Council are calling for an investigation into whether city funds were illegally used in local campaigns. Councilmembers Pete Constant and Johnny Khamis are asking the city manager and city attorney to “investigate whether any city funds that were provided to either Santa Clara Family Health Foundation or VMC Foundation were used to fund any campaign activities in any manner,” according to a memo released Thursday. The memo notes that the city has given the foundations more than $6 million in the last three years.

Santa Clara County Board of Education member Darcie Green says she is resigning from the board “to avoid a long, messy legal battle to defend my seat.” Green was appointed to the board Oct. 17 of last year to fill a vacancy in Board Trustee Area 6, which was created by the resignation of Craig Mann. New district lines were drawn following Mann’s reelection in 2010. In making the appointment, the County Board relied on its legal counsel’s opinion, which turned out to be a mistake.

Funds from two local non-profit health care foundations made their way to phone banks and mail campaigns of the South Bay Labor Council in 2012 after routing the money through a Measure A’s campaign committee. Both the VMC Foundation and the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation gave more than a quarter-million dollars each—a total of $539,000—to support an 1/8th cent county sales tax measure, Measure A. At least $90,000 of those monies were transferred to the South Bay Labor Council. An incestuous tangle of organizations, directors and consultants characterized the transactions, with common decision-makers on both the giving and receiving ends. None of the organization are willing to discuss how the funds were used and how decisions were made. Former San Jose vice mayor and South Bay Labor Council CEO Cindy Chavez currently heads up the nonprofit SBLC-linked Working Partnerships USA (WPUSA) and sits on the board for the Health Trust and Santa Clara Family Health Foundation.

In a Facebook post this morning, educator and former school board member Patricia Martinez-Roach declared her candidacy for the District 2 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors seat vacated by George Shirakawa’s resignation on Friday. Supervisors have yet to decide whether to fill the vacancy by election or appointment.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said at a press conference this afternoon that George Shirakawa has agreed to plead guilty to all 12 felony and misdemeanor charges, and that his resignation as county supervisor was in response to the discussions between his office and Shirakawa’s attorney. The prosecutor will seek jail time of up to one year. “Jail. I don’t mean picking up trash or weekend work,” Rosen clarified.

Supervisor George Shirakawa, who was charged today with five felony counts related to his misuse of public funds, has resigned.

Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa will face felony charges for actions committed while in public office. The five-month investigation by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office was triggered by reports in Metro and San Jose Inside that Shirakawa had used campaign funds and public monies for personal use, including payments to family members, casino trips, alcohol purchases and expensive meals. The investigation culminated Friday with the elected official being charged with four felony counts of perjury, one felony count of misappropriation of public funds and six misdemeanors for failure to file campaign forms.

Once again it’s Presidents’ Day, or George Washington’s birthday if you yet again want to be that guy. Most city, county, state and federal workers have the day off from work, but we’ll still have a couple stories before calling it a holiday.—Editor

Working Partnerships USA, the labor-aligned nonprofit headed by former San Jose vice mayor Cindy Chavez, yesterday released its most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990, after eight days of refusing requests to view the document. A review of the organization’s filings over the years found spending increases during key elections despite IRS restrictions on political activities by charities. In total, the nonprofit has raised and spent more than $25 million since 1998.

Washignton D.C. came to a halt today, but not because of the usual partisan gridlock. Along with almost every government worker in the nation getting the day off for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, President Barack Obama was also confirmed for his second term in the Oval Office. Enjoy the rest of the holiday and we’ll return Tuesday.—Editor

George Gund III, the original and long-time owner of the San Jose Sharks, passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 75. Gund, who died of cancer, passed away peacefully with his wife, Iara, son George IV, brother Gordon and his wife, Lulie, at his side.

Larry Esquivel will take over the role of San Jose’s chief of police starting later this week. City Manager Debra Figone sent out a memo late Monday afternoon announcing the decision.

San Jose Inside today purchased the abandoned domain of the shuttered political blog San Jose Revealed. Internet users browsing to sanjoserevealed.com will now be directed to the San Jose Inside article revealing that the anonymous hit site was operated by former South Bay Labor Council political director Philip Bump.

Paul Teilh, the longest-serving judge in the history of Santa Clara County Superior Court, passed away Wednesday at his home. He was 96.

A Happy Holidays to you and yours. Check back later this week for Year in Review items and issues to keep an eye on for 2013.—Editor

Mark Zuckerberg donated 18 million shares of Facebook stock on Tuesday to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The gift is worth half a billion dollars and is Zuckerberg’s largest to date. The donation may be the largest ever by a Silicon Valley donor to a local charity. Silicon Valley billionaires are known for giving money outside of the area — or not at all.