The City Council votes this afternoon on the mayor’s proposal to drastically limit the city’s medicinal marijuana dispensaries, auction licenses via eBay or randon lottery, and require onsite cultivation. At the same time, the council will be asked to consider a more conservative plan being put forward by Councilmembers Donald Rocha and Pierluigi Oliverio.

The events of the last 10 years have been incredibly significant in the shaping of American history:  9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Great Recession, the election of Barack Obama, to name a few. One of the most critical of these events occurred on Jan. 8, 2002, with the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act by President Bush.

The debate over what to do with the city’s 100-plus medical marijuana collectives looks like it will finally result in some action Tuesday, when the City Council will vote on setting up a complete regulatory program.

The citywide Community Budget meetings started last week with the city manager and other city department heads in attendance to answer questions. Ten public meetings will be held with one meeting in each Council district.

The San Jose Redevelopment Agency laid off over half of its staff on Wednesday, leaving just 31 people to oversee RDA projects.

Yesterday, April 4, marked the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. To commemorate that tragic event, union workers nationwide held rallies to protest recent moves against workers’ rights to organize.

Whatever happened to the ability to compromise for the sake of the whole? We are drowning in a sea of debt and it will get worse without a solution soon, but not one Republican wants to throw out a life preserver to the children and schools of California, which account for 54 percent of the state’s budget. Not one!

Rather, the Republicans seem content on a doomsday scenario. If there is no continuing/new revenue and it must be a “cuts-only” budget students will be in school only seven months and on vacation for five months. How sad for our children. How selfish can we be?

In society we have chosen to give up some of our liberty or ability to do anything we want for the the trade off of having more opportunity under law. If we do not like the rules of society than we can move away to a remote mountain and have more freedom, but one would give up certain benefits we have in society based on law.

Press reports indicate that San Jose’s old city hall property site, with an assigned value of $10 million, will be transferred to the Santa Clara County Government as part of a debt settlement between the county and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.  But the old city hall property belonged to the city, not the RDA.  Is the plan to transfer the old city hall complex to the county government a lawful action?

San Jose’s airport looks to be moving one step closer to privatizing its fire and security services, leaving city firefighters and police officers out of the loop in cost-cutting measures.

San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant is the closest thing that this city has to a Tea Party Republican in local politics. Or at least he was. In a surprising announcement late last night, Constant said that he is abandoning the Republican Party and registering as a Democrat.

The future of professional sports in the nation’s 10th largest city is in limbo. In furious preparations for an opportunity that may never materialize—and to protect the land holdings that may one day house a ballpark—San Jose has taken extraordinary steps.

The civil case against former DeAnza baseball players for a 2007 group sex incident appears to be unraveling. Of the nine original defendants, only two defendants are left and one intends to fight back in court regardless of whether or not he is exonerated in the case. San Jose attorney Bruce Funk, who represents defendant Kenneth Chadwick, would not confirm or deny if the plaintiff’s attorneys have attempted to settle out of court, though we hear that an offer was made and rejected. But Funk did say “we will go back after that plaintiff’s attorneys for financial compensation.”

Is anyone in public education championing progressive reform today? Are local school boards and superintendents working to only improve Academic Performance Index scores and Adequate Yearly Progress goals at the expense of gutting classrooms from meaningful intellectual inquiry? I learned last week that there is still tremendous passion for progressive reform in Santa Clara County for our public schools. For that I am grateful and reinvigorated.

With the firefighters’ union becoming the first labor organization to formally reach a deal on compensation concessions with the city last week, this week’s City Council meeting will feature even more discussions regarding labor negotiations. Other items of note will include the approval of assistance for low-income housing and a proposed rate increase for recycling.

Last week the council took up the firefighters union contract with more than 100 firefighters in attendance. I thought I would share why I voted no. First, I think it is clear that if you have worked in city government over the years that things are drastically changing due to structural budget deficits. Second, if you are new to working in city government, you will most likely not have the same career as those before you.