Rich Robinson examines the organizational structure and attitude of his beloved San Francisco 49ers, just days before they take on the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl. Robinson will be in New Orleans for the game.

Last November, a few hundred people donned their best suits and gowns and converged on San Jose’s historic Hayes Mansion to toast some of the East Side’s most accomplished alumni. The stars that night, honored in the East Side Union High School District Education Foundation’s Hall of Fame fundraiser, consisted of a 10-person class led by Khaled Hosseini, a 1984 graduate of Independence High School and author of The Kite Runner. But on Nov. 15, 2011, the IRS revoked the foundation’s nonprofit status. And yet almost no one outside of its board—including donors—knew about its lost certification when it threw a fundraiser a year later.

Nobody likes to lose an election, but it seems Robert Braunstein—TV sports host and vanquished candidate in San Jose’s District 10 City Council race—has yet to call it quits. Braunstein is behind a south San Jose newsletter that is directing residents to local stories while also taking shots at his former campaign opponent, Johnny Khamis.

Since this is my first column for San Jose Inside, I’ll begin by framing my current endeavor, the San Jose Parks Foundation. Some of you may know of my past, as San Jose Rep Founder, San Jose Arts Roundtable Co-Founder and the After School All-Stars Founding Executive Director.

The audience at the SF Commonwealth Club, in the sold out Herbst Theater, stood for a sustained ovation Monday in honor of Sonia Sotomayor. The Supreme Court Associate Justice is traveling across the country to discuss her new book, My Beloved World. Her inspiring talk touched on the importance of her schools, and it made me think of how Rocketship and other charter schools are impacting the local educational landscape.

A city commission that handles election and ethics complaints needs two new members. The deadline to apply is Friday. New members would have a chance to form recommendations to update the cavity’s municipal code. Suggestions created by the election’s commission last year include modifications to the city’s sign ordinance, clarifications on campaign disclosure methods and rules to prevent bribes.

In a report at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Manager Debra Figone will talk about efforts to save city jobs and services while noting the sacrifices employees have made in recent years. Also on Tuesday, the council will discuss the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan and the transfer of several properties.

When it comes the garbage services, residents have two simple requests: 1. Pick up the garbage every week in a reliable manner; 2. Do it in the most cost-effective way possible. Easy enough, right? Well, no. Potentially higher costs for garbage services were the topic under discussion at the last City Council meeting.

Working Partnerships USA, the labor-aligned nonprofit headed by former San Jose vice mayor Cindy Chavez, yesterday released its most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990, after eight days of refusing requests to view the document. A review of the organization’s filings over the years found spending increases during key elections despite IRS restrictions on political activities by charities. In total, the nonprofit has raised and spent more than $25 million since 1998.

Gun violence, healthcare reform and community health lead the list of topics Supervisor Ken Yeager will speak about during his State of the County speech next week. Also on Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss strict fines for not filing campaign disclosure forms on time and funding for the county hospital system, amongst other agenda items.

When the calendar ticked over to 2013, a slew of bills authored last year by our local state senators and assembly members became actual law. Moving forward, those lawmakers have until late February to introduce bills, which means they’re in the middle of planning a legislative agenda for the coming year. We compiled a list of their just-enacted bills and called up those same representatives to ask them what they have planned for the upcoming year.

Voters love term limits for politicians, but they shouldn’t. The quaint notion that public service should be held only for utilitarian purposes for a short period of time, and that these limits create better government, is misguided and fundamentally flawed. The proof can be seen locally in the current mire that represents our public policy.

San Jose’s fire chief, William McDonald, will present a verbal report along with a 46-page written report about the department’s response times—and failure to accurately report them—at Thursday’s Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee meeting. Also on the agenda is a survey that finds San Jose police officers are about as racist as the rest of local citizens—which isn’t a good thing—and a report on crime around the city’s two casinos.

To keep people on task, the city’s IT department developed a prompt back in the Internet’s toddler years—circa 1997—to notify workers that they may be attempting to visit websites prohibited by city policy. Fly was then dismayed and downright harrumphed when it learned last week that the Metro-affiliated political website San Jose Inside provoked the prompt for city workers as if it was some sort of personal blog about cats and the things they fancy.

The National Rifle Association heard about a local attorney’s idea to crack down on assault weapons in San Jose and hired a law firm to write up a disapproving missive to City Council. Other items going before the Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday include support for a Constitutional amendment acknowledging companies aren’t people, a report on how transparent the city is in holding meetings and disseminating information and more rants from City Hall critic David Wall.

The city recently acknowledged that it was missing thousands of emergency response times when calculating how long it takes first responders from the San Jose Fire Department to arrive on scene. Robert Sapien, president of San Jose’s firefighters union, explains in an op-ed why emergency response times matter not only in life and death situations, but also when calculating the city’s budget.—Editor