A recent Mercury News editorial called on Supervisor George Shirakawa to resign based on the revelations reported by Josh Koehn in the Metro. Shirakawa’s actions included misappropriating taxpayer money, fraudulent reporting of expenses, misuse of campaign donations and failure to file the appropriate financial documents after repeated warnings. It is right and proper the Mercury News came to its conclusion based on the overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing. Supervisor Shirakawa should resign. But it is a painful conclusion, because I support George’s political agenda.

Thanksgiving holidays have always been a time for self-reflection. This year is no different. My look in the mirror this week will reflect on my role as a member of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Board.

The City Council had a study session last week devoted to affordable housing. The session covered how San Jose could build more affordable housing, even though it has already publicly funded and completed roughly 21,000 such units in years past and has 1,500 additional units currently in the pipeline. As a point of comparison, other cities have done little during the same time period.

Looks like Proposition 35 is already under fire after winning with a resounding 81 percent of the vote on election night. Prop. 35 increases penalties for human traffickers and requires those convicted of even a misdemeanor to report their Internet provider and user name to law enforcement. A judge blocked this part of the proposition after the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a complaint.

California finally has the opportunity to be governable after last week’s election. For too many years the ability to set policy has been obstructed by a system that allows for minority veto.

Election Day 2012 was good for public education in California and the nation. President Obama’s reelection means continued reform of public education through choice, quality early childhood education, meaningful teacher evaluation systems, pay for performance, career technical education and rethinking tenure. Proposition 30’s passage leads to a more stable publicly funded system of California schools.

The media has portrayed a polarized country by classifying states as either red or blue. If states were categorized by voting percentages rather than electoral votes, here’s how the United States of America would look. This map was created using Photoshop values based on voting percentages by New York DJ and producer Cousin Cole.

Billions spent nationally, two years of nonstop campaigning and essentially nothing changed. But the outcome of Tuesday’s election will help the economy. Gov. Jerry Brown reigns supreme. People voted to tax themselves and Democrats have super majorities in the legislature. Happy days are here again!

One of the Election Night’s big surprises was the shellacking County Assessor deputy David Ginsborg took in his aggressive bid to win a board seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Barbara Keegan finished almost 25 points ahead of his paltry 32 percent of the vote, while Drew Spitzer finished a distant third.

I am writing this column as a pragmatic alarmist. This phrase is oxymoronic, but an accurate portrayal of how I feel at the end of my first term on the Santa Clara County Office of Education school board. It is Election Day 2012. Four years ago, 60 friends and supporters watched the returns with me at my election night party. We celebrated the national results along with my election to the county Board of Education. Little did I know that the Board would be at eye of the political storm brewing over charter school expansions.

The new, privately developed Willow Glen Town Square held its grand opening party Saturday. The event was well attended by happy residents, eager business owners, loyal patrons, and other local well-wishers who came to celebrate this wonderful new addition to our community. It’s just one example of how mindful, well-planned and executed development has the potential to increase property tax, sales tax and utility tax revenues, as well as the number of jobs available to those seeking employment.

When the media gets the facts in a story wrong, it is a great disservice to the public. Once a false narrative gets into the minds of the public it is very difficult to reverse. The most recent local example is the story regarding campaign signs, Rose Herrera’s husband, a videotape, dueling charges and two separate press conferences.

Election Day is one week away and the results will tell us the kind of schools and school leaders we will have. I have two very quick pleas for the public good.

If you are like the majority of San Jose residents, you probably work during the day and/or are involved in a child’s education at school/home. Your ability to attend a daytime San Jose City Council meeting is limited. For this reason, holding council meetings in the evenings for all issues, not just land use items, would increase public awareness and involvement.

With the recent sale of the Santa Clara County Children’s Shelter, we have come to the end of an era of using large institutions to serve abused and neglected children.

Many current public polling organizations have mastered the art of the liar poll. These polls are designed to reflect a result, so that voters are deceived into believing that certain candidates or issues are winning, when clearly they are not.