Here comes the plethora of mail, radio, television, emails, blogs, YouTube ads and Facebook posts designed to win over the uninformed, the misinformed, the naive, and the truly rare undecided voter. But these messages are important, believe it or not.

For every big city, graffiti too often presents a Sisyphean challenge. Volunteers and abatement crews diligently work to clean it up—particularly the gang-related tags that most demoralize and threaten residents—only to see the same markings return a couple of days later. Happily, community engagement and innovation have combined to lighten our burden in recent months—with positive results to prove it.

Supporters of the minimum wage increase to San Jose businesses fail to consider the impacts of the small business owner trying to do business in this city. The South Bay is predominately suburban communities with no distinguishable borders. Case in point is Campbell, where the Camera 7 operates in the Pruneyard Shopping Center. Camera Cinemas also operates the Camera 3 and 12 in downtown San Jose. Only seven miles separate the facilities. This would certainly not be fair to the employees of the Campbell site where the minimum wage would not be affected. If this ordinance passes, and there is a need to downsize an operation — and in this economy there is a very real possibility of this — the San Jose facilities would be considered first, due to its higher overhead. I’m certain that any other business owner would have to make similar decisions if this ordinance passes.

A comprehensive plan must be developed to chart the best course for the ever-expanding charter school movement—before it is too late. Like urban sprawl, the unplanned process will be disastrous. I believe there is still time for a win for our students, a win for the teachers and a win for our region.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting will feature a fight over the city’s pawn shop ordinance, unforeseen expenses for the Environmental Innovation Center and some political gamesmanship on upcoming ballot measures for the November election.

Tuesday is the day that councilmembers reserve for City Council meetings. Closed session council meetings start at 9-9:30am and often continue past noon. The public council session starts at 1:30pm, often merging into the evening session with a short break. If no evening session is scheduled, then the afternoon session simply continues into the evening until the entire agenda is covered. Woody Allen once said that, “Eighty percent of success is showing up,” and many would agree with that statement.

If we’re grading embarrassing flip-flops on a scale of 1-10, the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s decision this week to unendorse candidate Drew Spitzer for a seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District board has to rate somewhere in the teens.

Prostitutes, look out. One of San Jose’s downtown neighborhoods is coming for you. A press release sent out by Councilmember Sam Liccardo’s office says that at 6:30pm tonight, community members of the Guadalupe-Washington neighborhood and Santa Maria Urban Ministry will march along South First Street in front of Biblioteca Latinoamericana, located at 921 S. 1st Street.

P911. Our schools are OOT. Our classes once had PANS, but today kids are BTD. If you can decipher that, you are probably under 25. More importantly, this new lexicon is the wave of the future and few in education understand where it is leading the next generation.

Outraged! Angry! These two emotions were prevalent last week after Mercury News reporter Sharon Noguchi broke the story that former county superintendent Dr. Chalres Weis wants the county to take back a condo the Board of Education loaned him money to buy in 2008. It is conceivable that this loan might cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, as I said last week, I feel strongly that “the primary interest in this matter is to guard the financial interests of the taxpayer, and the fiscal integrity of the organization.”

One of the first actions of Tuesday’s City Council meeting will be a commendation honoring Santana Row’s 10th anniversary. Another will note the heroism of Robert Sotelo, who saved a woman from a burning house. From there, the topics touch on a host of city issues, from deferring a tax break for San Jose’s biggest companies and an updated report on graffiti to a government program to retrain people laid off from Solyndra.

For over 10 years, San Jose has been struggling with implementing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). HCP is a regulation imposed by the Federal government to restore natural habitats and preserve wildlife, like the spot checkered butterfly and the burrowing owl. HCP is an unfunded mandate from the Federal government levied on local government. Federal agencies are not big on waivers or tweaks, as they have one goal and that is the regulation and job security.

On the same day presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced he will release his 2011 tax returns, we take a look at how the remaining four candidates for two San Jose City Council seats made their money last year.

Last month, I wrote that I was supporting . But now, after speaking with others working in the field of preventing human trafficking, I have changed my mind. The polls on Proposition 35 show almost 90 percent of the people will vote for it. Who wouldn’t vote for a ballot measure that increases fines and penalties for human traffickers? Proposition 35 seeks to alter current state laws regarding human trafficking by expanding the definition and increasing the punishment for those convicted of human trafficking crimes. On the face that sounds like a great way to increase the penalties for terrible crimes against youth and adults forced into prostitution or slavery. However, the devil is in the details. 

San Jose policymakers have put out the welcome mat for criminals of all types. Their war on cops has had the unintended consequence of spiking crime and leaving city residents frustrated and defenseless

San Jose Inside’s Josh Koehn sat down with City Manager Debra Figone for a rare extended interview in late August. The following is an excerpted transcript of their discussion, which touched on Measure B, Figone’s relationship with the mayor and council, her thoughts on the performance of Police Chief Chris Moore, crime in San Jose and when she plans to retire. It should be noted that this interview took place before Moore’s announcement that he will retire from his position at the end of January 2013—Editor