Silly season is here. Negative and untrue messages are now hitting the mailboxes of unsuspecting voters. In the past, these messages would be devastating. But the rise of absentee ballots has changed all of that.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to volunteer leaders and a few hundred citizens who have been cleaning our creeks, clearing our trails and preserving our parks while the City Council debates how to allocate its limited resources.

Two new initiatives we’re working on at the Santa Clara County Office of Education have the potential to be a model for how public agencies cooperate together to streamline and improve the delivery of important services to students.

This Saturday at 10am the county Board of Education will co-sponsor a mayoral forum on public education. When you examine the list of critical issues San Jose's next mayor will have to confront—public safety, transportation, affordable housing, libraries, etc.—nearly all relate to our children's education.

"Me," "myself" and "I" are the most over-used words in a political campaign. As we hear the endless platitudes, rhetoric and personal pronouns assaulting our senses, one is left with the perception that only narcissists run for public office.

Foster care youth advocate Sparky Harlan invites lawmakers and leaders to learn firsthand from people who experience homelessness.

On Monday, San Jose Parks Advocates presented a sold out mayoral forum focused on parks, trails and open space—the first-ever forum of its kind. Getting there was a collaborative process.

A recent report from Independent Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell highlighted two incidents involving San Jose police officers having sex on the job. But Cordell was far less critical of the salacious activity and more concerned with the fact that officers lied to investigators about it.

Philip Bump’s ascension from suspected hatchet man to prodigious blogger and Tweeter has been an extraordinary rise over the last half-decade.

I was once optimistic that we could eliminate the achievement gap by 2020. But that seems unlikely if traditional public school supporters and charter school advocates don't start working together.

Public safety has been the number one issue on everyone’s mind during this critical election year. That myopic obsession has effectively forced other important issues off the radar. Luckily, we have a series of opportunities in the week ahead to shift the focus.

Our public education system is a disaster. It is not the teachers, students or even the curriculum. It is the SYSTEM. We need a new innovative approach that utilizes 21st century tools to keep our students competitive.

San Jose Parks Foundations and similar organizations across the country all have public events to celebrate the wonder and beauty of our public parks. It occurred to us that we need something, too, so ordinary citizens can gather together.

In the last two months I have had the privilege of participating in the search for a new provost for San Jose State University. While times are tough in higher education circles, I'm happy to report the school made the right hire in Dr. Andrew Feinstein.

Voters in downtown San Jose will have a chance Wednesday to hear candidates for District 3 discuss issues ranging from pubic safety and traffic congestion to homelessness and downtown development.

I learned an important lesson from former state Sen. John Vasconcellos—politics are personal. Every vote, every issue, every candidate he endorses—it’s all a reflection of his own belief system.