In a near-unanimous vote Thursday, the county’s Democratic Central Committee agreed to move its endorsement decision for the San Jose mayor’s race from April to February. Moving the schedule up a couple months gives the party more time to mobilize a campaign behind its preferred candidate, who many presume to be county Supervisor Dave Cortese.

The public has a short memory regarding scandals, but there are three transgressions voters will never forgive. One of them is intentionally increasing traffic.

The county’s Democratic Central Committee will vote Thursday night on whether to advance its endorsement process by a month, and the result could have a dramatic impact on the San Jose mayor’s race.

An initiative to reverse a San Jose-wide ban on polystyrene food take-out containers failed after election officials found that more than half the signatures endorsing the measure were made-up or otherwise unusable.

While families bit into churros and navigated the winter carnival that is downtown San Jose during the holidays, the season of giving became a little less magnanimous around Christmas in the Park. And no, we’re not talking about the shooting. Ryan Sebastian, the entrepreneur behind Moveable Feast, approached organizers months ago about providing some food options for the December event. They—well, specifically Christmas in the Park director Jason Minsky—apparently blew him off.

Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee Joseph DiSalvo looks at the top educational initiatives gaining traction in 2014 that could pave the way to increased economic development, job growth, less crime and a burgeoning middle class.

Neither Mayor Chuck Reed nor his union opponents liked the way California Attorney General Kamala Harris worded the official description of a polarizing pension reform ballot measure, which on Monday was cleared for signature-gathering to place it on the November ballot.

An effort to save the outdated Century 21 dome theater on Winchester Boulevard goes before a city commission this week. Preservationists want it designated as a historic landmark.

By all accounts, 2013 was a banner year for the solar industry in the halls of government and the court of public opinion. Across the country, big utilities launched attacks on policies like net metering to stifle innovation and maintain the profit margins that clean solar energy threatens to undermine. And in the face of multimillion-dollar lobbyist brigades, the solar industry grew up and learned to fight back.

Business groups worry that San Jose could scare away developers if it imposes a fee on new home construction to pay for more affordable housing, an effort to recoup a fraction of the money lost when the state closed all redevelopment agencies. The City Council, which was supposed to talk about the inclusionary housing fee in December, decided to table the discussion until the new year.

Reached by phone, Rosa Campos, mother of San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos, said she had no recollection of fictitious business filings related to her son’s campaigns. The business filing for “Xavier Campos for School Board,” created in July 2004, lists her, Xavier Campos and incarcerated former county supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. as copartners. When asked why the filing was created—none of the dozen elected officials, campaign consultants and county and state election officials reached by San Jose Inside had heard of such a practice—Rosa Campos said she wasn’t sure. “I need to talk to my son,” she said. “He caught me off guard. I don’t even remember. Like I said, that was 2004.

San Jose Inside takes a look at some of the biggest stories to come in the year ahead.

The year 2013 will be remembered for its political turmoil, local and nationwide. A former county supervisor went to jail and the spotlight subsequently landed on his political buddy, a San Jose councilman. The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to get married, and the president lied to the nation about domestic spying. San Jose Inside runs down the list of stories that caught our attention this year.

Very few people go out on their own terms, but there’s no doubt that Karyn Sinunu-Towery finished on top. The prosecutor wrapped up a 30-year career in the District Attorney’s office by successfully sending former county supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. to jail in her final case, and she handed off what seems to be a strong case involving Shirakawa and political mail fraud. Last week, colleagues honored her accomplishments with a cash bar fiesta at the De Anza Hotel, where junior and senior attorneys clinked cocktails as equals for minutes at a time.

A ruling on San Jose’s controversial pension reform initiative, Measure B, became public Monday, and both the city and union leaders claimed victory. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Patricia Lucas wrote in her decision that the “legal question is whether and to extent Measure B violates vested rights.” The answer appears to be yes and no. Click to read the judge’s full decision.

It’s been nearly four years since I fought on the front lines of the health care reform battle, eventually resulting in the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). But that feels like a lifetime ago, as the landmark policy now serves as a punchline. Not long from now, though, the joke will be on the critics.