George Shirakawa Jr. shuffled into court Wednesday for the first time since being sentenced to a year in jail. The former county supervisor wore a red jump suit and his wrists were shackled to his waist while his ankles were shackled together. Except for a whispered exchange with his attorney, Jay Rorty, Shirakawa didn’t say a word during the brief proceeding.

Since his unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Santa Clara City Council last year, attorney John Mlnarik has been on the legal warpath. To date, Mlnarik has sued: a couple whose diminutive dog allegedly nipped him on the hand while he was campaigning; blogger and political operative James Rowen for defamation; and a former employee, attorney Elena Rivkin Franz, who supposedly misused company resources to start her own firm and steal clients. The last two targets on that list are fighting back, however, and the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC)—the state political watchdog—could have an interest in their allegations.

Councilman Ash Kalra wants to deliver San Jose from the evils of gas-powered leaf blowers. Also on the Rules and Open Government Committee agenda for Wednesday is a plea from senior citizens for the city to protect older affordable homes, like mobile home parks.

San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos will face a familiar opponent when he runs for re-election in the June 2014 primary. Magdalena Carrasco, who lost the 2010 race for the East Side council seat by a slim margin, quietly filed papers this week to give it another shot.

Seventy-nine percent of the Police Officers Association’s members voted to ratify a contract with the city that will restore veteran officers’ wages to 2009 levels. The agreement, which comes after a weeklong vote, will phase in a 10-percent raise through 2015, making up for salary cuts over the past few years.

Pope Francis urged politicians last week’s in his apostolic exhortation (official papal message) to guarantee all citizens “dignified work, education and healthcare.” As a spiritual man, educated in high school by Jesuits, I was struck by the Pope’s pointed criticism of economic inequality.

An intellectual property attorney has thrown his name into what is becoming a crowded race to replace downtown San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo. Gagliardi joins four others who have filed statements of intent to run in the June primary for the District 3 seat. Other candidates include community organizer Kathy Sutherland, San Jose police officer and sometimes-model Raul Peralez, downtown club owner Mauricio Mejia and youth sports league founder George Kleidon.

Team San Jose, the city’s tourism and facilities management agency, vastly exceeded gross revenue goals last year. In 2012-13, the decade-old nonprofit generated $23.8 million—more than twice the projected target, according to an annual audit up for review at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Also on the agenda are plans to bring a music stage to St. James Park, a citywide financial audit and a discussion about changing building height requirements around the San Jose airport.

A lobbyist-funded ballot initiative will attempt to overturn San Jose’s ban on expanded polystyrene (EPS) to-go containers at local restaurants. Sponsored by the California Restaurant Association, a petition that gathered 38,952 signatures was turned in to the City Clerk’s office Nov. 18. But before the county Registrar of Voters verifies if the necessary amount of signatures were gathered, critics have already lodged complaints with City Clerk Toni Taber that the petition misled signers.

As I have written on a multiple occasions, public education is the most critical civil rights issue of our day. And since it’s that time of the season, I wish to give thanks to those who are making a measurable difference in education results, today and into the future.

More than a baker’s dozen have declared plans to run for mayor of San Jose next year, but no announcement was more startling than former councilman Forrest Williams’. Out of the spotlight since his failed 2010 county supervisor bid against Mike Wasserman, his announcement last month came out of left-left field considering his past supporters at the South Bay Labor Council are all-in for former vice mayor and present county supe Dave Cortese. Fly isn’t the only one scratching its head over Williams’ kind-of, sort-of run. He said SBLC officials have called to “ask what’s my plan,” which is code for “WTF, Forrest?” There are some theories that 2010 figures into his new effort. A look at disclosure forms shows that Williams and his wife, Dorothy, had to forgive $116,950 they loaned his supervisor campaign. Williams insisted that he forgave only about $50-60K, though, and isn’t running to help pay off old debts.

It’s official: Councilwoman Rose Herrera’s running for mayor, bringing the potential headcount in the race to replace Chuck Reed up to 14. A member of the City Clerk’s office confirmed that Herrera filed a notice of intent to run for mayor Tuesday.

Sam Liccardo says kids are never too young to get on that 9-to-5 grind. The downtown San Jose councilmember and 2014 mayoral candidate created a petition last week to pad San Jose school days an hour or few longer to match adult work schedules.

Judge Griffin Bonini denied a motion by George Shirakawa Jr.‘s defense attorney to reseal grand jury transcripts pertaining to the incarcerated former county supervisor’s alleged role in a political mail fraud scandal.

Santa Clara County needs more drug rehab housing for convicts slated for release under the state’s 2011 prison reform measure. On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors will consider allocating $526,000 to the Department of Drug and Alcohol Services to pay for up to 130 more treatment beds by the end of next month. Other items on the Board agenda include skydiving permits, vaccinations, a new fire chief for South County and a $225,000 grant to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley.

George Shirakawa Jr. is currently spending his days in the Santa Rita Jail infirmary, while his county-provided attorney is attempting to seal grand jury transcripts that shed new information on his alleged role in a political mail fraud scandal. Since the documents remain public for the time being, San Jose Inside has decided to publish the grand jury transcripts in their entirety.