I was recently approached in my district by a married couple who told me that they hold “very liberal” perspectives on political matters, with the exception of pensions. When it comes to that topic, they said, they are in line with Rush Limbaugh. It is evident to me that whatever degree of pension reform is put on the ballot—and, yes, pension reform for current employees must go to the ballot since it would require a change to the city charter—will pass. But it will be necessary to reallocate a portion of the savings to increase certain salaries.

Five public employee unions in San Jose put forward a pension reform proposal Tuesday that they estimate will save the city $467 million during the next five years. The unions represent police officers, firefighters, architects, engineers, middle managers and maintenance supervisors.

We live in an extraordinary community where you often hear stories of philanthropists writing large checks from their foundations to personal causes. Last week, Meg Whitman announced in East San Jose that she is giving $2.5 million to Summit Charter schools for 10 new 400 student high schools over the next decade. That same amount would pay for youth gang prevention services for up to 14 San Jose Schools in six districts for four years. Let me explain.

While participating in last week’s Game Changers 2012 event, which focused on Silicon Valley’s economy and was sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I had the sinking feeling that public education was in a baseball “pickle” and down to its last out.

It is clear that the budget deficit this year and in future years cannot be solved only by pension reform. Even if the city stopped matching the employee contributions at the current rate of 250 percent to the average employer match on a 401K of 3-6 percent, taxpayers would still have a multi-billion dollar unfunded liability from commitments to current and future retirees already vested. Why beat around the bush when we know taxes will have to be raised to afford the pension obligations and maintain bare minimum services laid out in the city charter?

A small ceremony was held on Saturday with little fanfare, but it was big on Americana style. An eagle scout was honored for his project that constructed a new sign at the Willow Glen Community Center. Volunteer work done by this scout and others helps augment the government’s work in the community during these tough budget times. Also, some suggestions on what the council should do this week when it takes its first decisive actions on how to regulate medical marijuana.

Camping is a time to enjoy nature and the adventure of the great outdoors. Last week, I attended a community meeting about San Jose Family Camp. There were approximately 25 residents who all appeared to be Family Camp boosters. They expressed support for Family Camp, recalling fond memories that for some dated back approximately 30 years. But in these tough budget times, Family Camp might need to be outsourced or eliminated.

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.

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.

Redevelopment agencies in California will have their day in court, and a decision on whether or not the 398 active entities will be allowed to continue operations will reportedly be made by January.

After months of political wrangling that has left the public weary, a compromise to raise the debt ceiling appears to have been reached. On Monday, the House of Representatives voted to prevent the nation from defaulting on its loans and having its credit rating downgraded. Everyone seems less than thrilled with the compromise, and some Bay Area politicians have different opinions on whether the right decision was made.

The first City Council session of the new fiscal year won’t be nearly as significant as expected. The council is planning to defer any action on declaring a fiscal emergency from Aug. 2 to Sept. 20. This is the second time the matter will be deferred.

Since being elected in November, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed for a special election to extend several taxes, including a motor vehicle tax, to help balance the state budget. He received little to no support from Republicans, and the result was a budget compromise that many panned for including gimmicks. On Wednesday, the city of San Jose announced that Brown’s inability to get motor vehicle taxes extended will cost the city $2.8 million, which will have to be accounted for next budget season.

Editor’s Note: Police union president George Beattie wrote an op-ed blaming city officials for police layoffs. City Manager Debra Figone responded by sending a memo to the mayor and city council detailing why layoffs occurred and San Jose passed on a federal police grant that would have saved jobs. Beattie has now provided San Jose Inside with a response to Figone’s memo.

City manager Debra Figone didn’t let the police get the last word of the fiscal year regarding contentious labor negotiations and first layoffs of officers for the first time in the city’s history. On Thursday, she sent a memo to the mayor and city council countering an op-ed written by Police Officers Association president George Beattie, which blamed city officials for the layoffs of 70 officers.

Running a deficit for the 10th straight year, San Jose was forced to cut $115 million through a mix of program cuts, layoffs and salary and benefit reductions. It’s no surprise then that public employee morale, according to a just-released survey, has dropped dramatically compared to pre-recession survey in 2006.