The tragic departure of Steve Jobs from his CEO position at Apple last week has prompted me to ask if he would please weigh in on how California should evaluate the effectiveness of their public schools. I think the direction we take today will answer the question of whether public schools can ever produce more thinkers and problem solvers like Mr. Jobs in the future.

City officials were evacuated from City Hall at 5:30pm Monday evening after an email threat was received. It’s unclear how many people were evacuated, but a spokesman for Mayor Chuck Reed said 40 to 50 city officials were standing in a particular area outside an hour after the evacuation. City officials said the threat was not directed at any particular person.

The City Council is expected to finalize the city staff’s Top 10 priorities for the current fiscal year at Tuesday’s meeting. With three high-priority spots potentially vacant on the city’s workplan, several councilmembers have submitted ideas on what they think should take a front seat.

The San Jose Redevelopment Agency’s financial obligations were discussed and voted on last week. The final chapter of RDA will be decided by the State Supreme court sometime before Jan. 15, 2012. Should RDA ultimately end, the state wants to know all of the enforceable obligations. Everything needs to be listed, from bond to lines of credit to legally binding contracts not yet paid out, including debt for affordable housing.

In an effort to keep readers better informed about and involved with community issues, San Jose Inside will unveil several new features in the coming weeks.The first new weekly feature will allow readers to become reporters and ask questions. If you’ve ever wondered why a certain question wasn’t posed, this will be your opportunity to step forward and ask. To begin the Q&A series, Mayor Chuck Reed has agreed to answer your questions.

San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore has cut loose two federal immigration agents just two months after being heavily criticized by community groups for his decision to bring in the agents to combat gang violence. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents reportedly helped the city’s METRO unit arrest 215 gang members during the time they were here.

Rising costs and complaints have cast a cloud over one of the city’s favorite events, Music in the Park. The San Jose Downtown Association will decide this fall if this should be the 23rd and final year of the free summer concert series.

City officials in San Jose have now drawn the ire of a powerful special interest group: dog lovers. Parks and Rec’s budget has been chopped to the point that it says it can longer afford to supply free bags at San Jose’s nine dog parks so that owners can clean up after their pups, as the law requires.

The City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to determine if the city should conduct an audit of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency’s incubator programs. As San Jose Inside first reported, a study buried for two years shows the RDA spent more than $30 million on start-up companies that often provided a poor return on investment.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting should get interesting when public hearings are held on recent recommendations by the redistricting advisory commission, as well as sewer service and use-rate increases.

Stepping away from City Hall and community centers to talk about the budget and retirement benefit reform, Mayor Chuck Reed, labor leaders and a couple Stanford University scholars will be meeting Monday night to take an in-depth look at the city’s pension crisis.The event is open to the public.

When I read or hear an economic report about building permits, housing prices, consumer spending, jobless claims, GDP, inflation, stock prices, etc., it always leaves me wondering: What does this data mean to a city? Well, based on current numbers, San Jose shouldn’t expect any significant increase of our No. 1 revenue source, property tax, for several years.

Despite having strong support from voters, Chuck Reed does have his critics. Capitol Weekly in Sacramento is not one of them. The publication recently picked its 10 best mayors in California, and Reed made the list.

Faced with its 11th straight year of a budget shortfall, the city of San Jose is considering selling off and/or converting land used by public golf courses to prevent further cuts to libraries and community centers come next summer. Mayor Chuck Reed and other city officials will be holding the first of several community meetings at 6pm Wednesday at the Mayfair Community Center.

At a July meeting of the Milpitas Planning Commission, Mark Tiernan, the recently ousted chair, was heard hissing at fellow commissioner Noella Tabladillo, telling her (and anyone within earshot) that she couldn’t be trusted. Tiernan is convinced that Tabladillo was part of a “coup” that forced him out three weeks ago, and that Mayor Jose Esteves orchestrated the whole thing.

“It’s hard to improve public education—that’s clear,” Warren Buffet says. “If you’re picking stocks, you wouldn’t pick this one.” Even Bill and Melinda Gates must question whether their $5 billion multi-year investment in public school reform has been worth it.