In a stunning gesture, County Supervisor Cindy Chavez this week recommended East Side’s favorite punch line, Xavier Campos, for a commendation for his one and only term on the San Jose City Council.

San Jose Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo announced that an eight-person transition team will help him “identify key initiatives to focus on” during his first term. It appears Carl Guardino, his close friend and CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, will have the loudest voice in the room.

Kansen Chu’s decampment from the San Jose City Council for the State Assembly has spun off a crowded race to replace him. So far, 10 people have expressed an interest in running for North San Jose’s District 4 seat. But a source tells Fly that an interim appointment could be coming.

It’s been called an attempted “coup,” a “hostile takeover” and an effort to “reshape the face of the organization.” What you ask? A democratic election, of course!

Magdalena Carrasco has yet to be sworn in as East Side’s next council member, but she’s already positioning herself to be San Jose’s most enigmatic elected official.

Just how many races would have commenced had Dave Cortese defeated Sam Liccardo?

San Jose’s three council races couldn’t have been more lopsided by bedtime, with Tam Nguyen, Charles "Chappie" Jones, and Raul Peralez all holding commanding leads in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Just as we predicted in March 2012, a Sicilian American, Bellarmine-educated attorney was elected mayor of San Jose this week. As of 2am, Sam Liccardo held a 2-percent lead over Dave Cortese.

A discussion over corporate influence in Milpitas politics took a dark turn last week when Rajeev Madnawat, a candidate for City Council, lobbed a thinly veiled death threat against termed-out Councilman Armando Gomez.

One of the most overlooked races this election cycle focuses on one of our most precious resources: water. Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com, has taken the fight to enviro nerd Brian Schmidt, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s North County trustee. And it’s getting expensive.

It billed itself as “Silicon Valley's Biggest Annual Gathering” and the “biggest tech event of the year”—a bold boast for an event that had yet to draw a single attendee. Unfortunately for Techmanity and it's organizers, attendance numbers don’t always align with ambition.

Four former San Jose police chiefs got together last month for an orchestrated media event. While they blamed the city's pension reforms for driving officers away, none bothered to mention that their huge pension payouts boost the argument as to why pensions needed to be scaled back.

For a serial officeholder, Paul Fong sure has issues running smooth campaigns. The state assemblyman who carpet-bagged his way from Cupertino to San Jose to run for a seat on the City Council has found trouble yet again. This time his campaign manager has thrown out the race card.

Few scenes illustrate the fall of a once-powerful political family like a former labor boss passive-aggressively stalking people at Starbucks.

At this point, anyone interested in running for elected office should be required to take a crash course in social media. For example, one candidate running for San Jose City Council might want to stop posting pictures of vagina cupcakes.

Mike Wasserman’s special brand of milquetoast conservatism has made him the Ray Romano of local politics. He’s beloved for his affable nature, frequent banquet and ribbon-cutting attendance and unwavering commitment to ensuring no boat is rocked unless steady to sleep.