Flights louder than 89 decibels can’t fly in and out of San Jose from 11:30pm to 6:30am without violating current airport rules. Airlines risk a $2,500 fine and, if a tenant at Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport, they could face eviction if found in repeated violation. The whole curfew conversation came up last week, when downtown Councilman Sam Liccardo asked to delay a City Council vote on a proposed $82 million addition to the airport. Signature Flight Support, whose proposal involves a massive new facility that will house Google’s executive jet fleet, doesn’t think it’s fair for the lease language to allow the city to evict the company over a single curfew violation.

McDonald’s doesn’t make you fat or cause ridiculous amounts of traffic, Pete Constant want people to know. Constant and fellow councilman Xavier Campos signed a memo Friday arguing that a proposed McDonald’s in Constant’s district should be approved on appeal.

McDonald’s wants to build one of its fine dining drive-throughs across the street from a middle school, but San Jose residents who spoke up at a recent public hearing aren’t lovin’ it. A public hearing will be held over the fast-food joint at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Other items on the agenda include the proposal to turn Agnews Development Center into a high school and the San Jose Water Company’s $2 million bid for pipe repairs.

Three years ago, San Jose adopted a policy that allows for the disclosure of elected officials’ text messages and emails regarding city business when sent from personal devices. However,  this week City Council voted unanimously in closed session to appeal a judge’s ruling that would make the policy apply to all city employees.

The Working Partnerships USA executive’s signature appears on county contracts that included salary reimbursements for herself, South Bay Labor Council’s then-chief of staff and current chief executive, Ben Field, and other key campaign officials. The county gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Working Partnerships USA, including more than $200,000 to expand local anti-smoking ordinances […]

Santa Clara County owes the city of San Jose nearly $7 million that was wrongfully diverted to county employee retirement accounts, according to a ruling handed down Friday by a Sacramento Superior Court judge. The ruling found that beleaguered county finance officials ignored “a half century of construction and application of California law governing allocation of tax increment financing.”

Contractors’ bids overshot the city budget to revamp The Alameda last year, so the City Council will consider a second set of proposals when it meets Tuesday. Even this time, the lowest bid comes in 15 percent over the $3.487 million budget. The city will have to take $936,000 from the Department of Transportation to cover the difference if the council agrees to the plan. Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include the sale of several surplus city properties, as well as public safety and clean tech grants.

Santa Clara County has collected some valuable parcels of land near downtown San Jose in recent years. San Jose relinquished its old City Hall site in 2011 instead of paying cash for some outstanding debt. The county’s also about to acquire the old Private George L. Richey U.S. Army Reserve to turn into a first-responder training site, adjacent to the existing County Government Center at San Pedro and Hedding streets. Other items also on the county Board of Supervisor’s agenda include harmful prescription drugs in our water supply and funding for programs run by the District Attorney’s Office.

Bill Kleidon and his son, George Kleidon, formed a free youth sports league in Northside. Recognizing that many families can’t afford to participate in a sports league, and watching the elimination of City-sponsored leagues from budget cuts, Bill and George took action. They hosted fundraising events, gathered several fellow San Jose High alums to volunteer as coaches and refs, and started a flag football league at Watson Park in the fall of 2012 with 120 kids. They’ve now moved on to basketball season, and another 180 kids are enjoying a free opportunity to learn the sport, build friendships, improve their health and find an positive outlet for their energy. 

The Santa Clara Valley Water District paid nearly $70,000 in membership fees last fiscal year to a long list of chambers of commerce and other networking associations. Not surprising, almost every single chamber of commerce on the list endorsed the Measure B water tax.

Nonprofit law specialist David A. Levitt of the San Francisco-based Adler and Colvin law firm writes on behalf of Working Partnerships USA behalf that “no director financial interest was involved” when Cindy Chavez voted on budgets at the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation that funded contracts to her employers because “Ms. Chavez’s compensation is not contingent on Working Partnerships receiving Foundation funding …Working Partnerships had sufficient resources to cover Ms. Chavez’s compensation, even if it had not received any funds from the Foundation.”

District 2 county supervisor candidate Teresa Alvarado kicked off her campaign Wednesday. Alvarado is the first to announce a government reform agenda which includes a county sunshine ordinance, public posting of officials’ calendars, 10-day public notice on items coming before the Board of Supervisors, evening board meetings and a fully-funded Government Integrity Unit at the District Attorney’s office. There are five other candidates in the race. Three have websites up, but none have posted a platform yet.

Based on numerous interviews and an extensive review of documents, Metro/San Jose Inside has learned that Vinod Sharma, county CFO and director of finance, and his second-in-command, Controller-Treasurer Irene Lui, repeatedly made false statements regarding how George Shirakawa Jr. avoided detection of his misuse of county funds. Sharma and Lui decided on their own to direct resources away from reviewing charge card expenses to focus on larger-scale audits in hopes of pleasing their superiors. And by blaming their subordinates and making confusing—if not cunningly calculated—statements at public hearings, Sharma and Lui seem to be more politically astute than some of the elected and appointed officials who listen to their explanations. The following is an excerpt from the full report, which can be found at Metroactive.com. —Editor

Mayor Chuck Reed has sent a blunt letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig asking for a conversation regarding a prospective A’s move to San Jose. The letter expresses frustration with the years of delays, reveals that there is not currently direct high level communication between the city and Major League Baseball and mentions the “L” word: litigation.

Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) wants to turn an old insane asylum into a north San Jose high school serving up to 2,800 students. Other items going before the Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday include an update on banning pesky sidewalk bicyclers and support for state legislation that would free the city to spend housing revenue how it chooses.

The Santa Clara County Board of Education is moving quickly to find a replacement for the seat lost by the resignation of Area 6 Trustee Darcie Green, who stepped down last month after the District Attorney’s offie called into question the legality of her appointment. The school board on Wednesday will consider a timeline and form an ad hoc oversight committee to fill the vacancy. Other items on the Board agenda include efforts to prevent teen suicide and a master plan for the coming influx of charter schools.