Two rules in this political life: 1. Never fight a land war in Asia; and 2. Never send out an attack ad saying police aren’t doing their jobs. San Jose Councilmember Rose Herrera apparently missed the memo on the latter maxim.

At 6pm tonight at Hofstra University, the second Presidential Debate of 2012 will take place. Debate moderator Candy Crowley, CNN’s chief political correspondent, will introduce the candidates for a Town Hall meeting format. The stakes for the two candidates are huge, especially for the incumbent.

The San Jose City Council met last week to discuss and prioritize certain ordinances the city should pursue in the coming year. Creating an ordinance requires staff time from the department that the ordinance will affect and, as always, time from the City Attorney’s office. In many cases, outreach for ordinances must be done to garner resident and stakeholder input which takes time and staff facilitating the public meetings.

An examination of DFR forms, or Disclosure of Fundraising Reports, filed in the last two years by San Jose city councilmembers shows that many not only spend their time soliciting contributions for community events, but also partisan organizations and even family members in two particular cases.

Police Chief Chris Moore is on the mend after having hip replacement surgery this week. Moore, who announced last month that he will retire at the end of January 2013, said in a telephone interview Friday that he expects to be back on the job by Oct. 22. He added that he has no plans to file for disability when he does retire.

Voters will elect representatives and decide state and local governments’ fiscal futures in this year’s election. Here are Metro‘s endorsements for the local measures on the Nov. 6 ballot.—Editor

Voters will elect representatives and decide state and local governments’ fiscal futures in this year’s election. Here are Metro‘s endorsements for the propositions on the Nov. 6 ballot.—Editor

The San Jose City Lights production of “44 plays for 44 Presidents” is terrific for political hacks, history majors and local political wannabes. It is engaging, poignant and most people will learn something new of the Presidency. But—**spoiler alert**—the ending does encourage everyone to register and vote. In the spirit of democracy, I respectfully disagree.

Craig Mann vacated his county school board seat in August and filling it should be no big deal. But the appointment has set off a flurry of activity that will reverberate in other races, because that’s the way things work around here with ambitious rising politicians and established ones who want to keep their privileges in the era of term limits.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed decided to endorse Johnny Khamis for the District 10 City Council seat in November’s election. Reed, who was joined in supporting Khamis with former San Jose Councilmember Pat Dando and State Assemblymember Jim Cunneen, both of whom are Republicans, called Khamis “a long time friend and a loyal supporter” in a press release sent out Tuesday morning. His selection is interesting on a number of fronts.

I am very embarrassed. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, I have contributed to diluting the critical conversation about the quality of public education in Santa Clara County. The debate on how to ensure a high quality public education experience for every child in the county is too important to have it held hostage to a serious error of judgment. The focus of far too many articles in the San Jose Mercury News has been about a condo and contract debacle that I have tried to own for personal naivety. And not asking the right questions of legal counsel when the new superintendent’s contract was negotiated in March 2012.

Last week, I hosted a community discussion on identity theft. Our expert that evening was the Director of the Identity Theft Council. The meeting was filled with shock, drama and some hope at the end.

Over the weekend, Milpitas Councilmember Debbie Giordano sent out a mass email to address the accusation that she stole her ex-husband’s mailbox. A report was taken by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, but Giordano asserts that it was all a misunderstanding that is now being used for political purposes.

Gadfly
noun ˈgad-ˌflī
1: any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock
2: a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism

This story involves definition No. 2, but we’re not here to make fun of a strident citizen in the snarky manner you might expect. No, this Story of the Week focuses on a gadfly getting the best of an elected official. The whole deal is pretty absurd, so, of course, it happened in Milpitas.

The last week of September was busy for Gov. Jerry Brown, as he signed and vetoed bill after bill. A bill that many justice advocates were watching was SB 9, called the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act and authored by San Francisco Senator Leland Yee. The bill carved out a narrow opportunity for certain adults who were convicted as juveniles—serving life sentences without the possibility of parole—to appeal for resentencing. The Governor signed the bill September 30. 

Here comes the plethora of mail, radio, television, emails, blogs, YouTube ads and Facebook posts designed to win over the uninformed, the misinformed, the naive, and the truly rare undecided voter. But these messages are important, believe it or not.