In the past, I have written about how fire services are deployed in San Jose with an emphasis on the data that shows the overwhelming ratio of medical calls to actual fires. In addition, I have shared that San Jose’s minimum staffing contract requires four people per fire engine while every other city in the county requires three firefighters or less.

UPDATE: On Monday, public safety unions for police and firefighters signed a joint agreement to extend talks on pension reform with the city. This action follows three labor unions representing engineers and architects (AEA), maintenance supervisors (AMSP), and management personnel (CAMP) signing a similar deal Friday.

Redevelopment Agency director Harry Mavrogenes might be quitting the broke-ass agency—hey, four decades is enough to ask of anybody in this town—but he’s not planning to fade into the sunset and paint water colors. That’s what his one-time boss Frank Taylor did. Or live on a boat in the Caribbean on the San Jose tax money she escaped with, as predecessor Susan Schick did. Maybe he’s a glutton for punishment, but the Mavster will be staying involved in local public affairs.

After a week of tension as members of the San Jose Police Officers Association voted to accept or decline cuts in pay, benefits and retirement—and in effect save the jobs of 156 officers, San Jose cops agreed to concessions by a 674-429 vote. The City Council unanimously approved the terms of the agreement on Tuesday. However, roughly 100 officers are still expected to be laid off.

The epicenter of public education is right here in Silicon Valley from this week to Aug. 10. The local and national spotlight will shine on this moment with unprecedented lumens, casting a potentially dark shadow or bright glow on the decision the County Board of Education and the Santa Clara County Office of Education will wrestle with for the next eight weeks. 

The City Council will convene as usual Tuesday, but the meeting is expected to start earlier than 1:30pm—possibly before noon—because of the numerous items on the agenda. The most notable issue at hand will be finalizing the mayor’s budget message for approval at the June 21 session. Memos from several councilmembers will likely cause quite a debate.

Last week, the Council emerged out of closed session directing staff to communicate and negotiate with the unions regarding the possibility of a ballot measure and pension reform. The goal is to combine these two topics and create/work within a timeframe if possible.

After asking the city’s workforce to accept 10 percent cuts in compensation to help avoid a fiscal disaster, councilmembers Kansen Chu, Xavier Campos and Nancy Pyle voted Tuesday against docking their own pay.

The City Council, acting in its capacity as the Board of Directors of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, announced its decision to appoint Richard Keit to serve as Managing Director of the Agency. Keit is currently the Redevelopment Agency’s Director of Business Development and has held various positions in local government, including manager of the housing division, neighborhood business district coordinator and director of neighborhood and industrial development.

As the 2010-11 school year comes to its all too sudden end the California public and its government leaders have lots of very grave issues to ponder during this summer. In order to secure our social and economic future, significant action must be taken in the 2011-12 school year on several key educational issues.

UPDATED: When Alex Gurza gives an update on labor negotiations to the City Council on Tuesday, he’ll have some explaining to do about pension reform negotiations. City officials refused to discuss pension reform on Friday with unions so they could focus on language for a ballot measure. Union representatives responded by walking out. On Monday, Gurza said he was sorry and his office asked the unions to come back to the bargaining table.

On Friday, Mayor Chuck Reed released his June Budget Message, which included his final recommendations for closing the City of San Jose’s $115 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year and preliminary strategies designed to avoid further service cuts in 2012.

Last week I featured some of the budget memos I submitted to the mayor. Here are the rest that I submitted. Budget memos are only allowed to be signed by one councilmember. Doing things differently in some areas means we can spend more in other areas.

The City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss topics that include infrastructure improvement plans, pay cuts for Mayor Chuck Reed and councilmembers, and a settlement in an incident many considered to be police brutality.

Just when it looked like all hope was lost for the city and the police union to come to an agreement in negotiations over pay cuts and pension reform, a tentative deal was reached Thursday night.

The gloves have officially come off in labor negotiations between the city and public employee unions, and whispers of potential strikes are being heard in certain City Hall corners. On Tuesday, the City Council imposed 10 percent cuts in total compensation for four unions by an 8-3 vote. The cuts in pay and benefits will affect more than half of the city of San Jose’s employees.