Habemus Papam! We have a Pope! The centuries-old tradition of locking 115 men in a room until they make a decision still works today. This brings us to an old idea for getting rid of gridlock in our political system.

Funds from two local non-profit health care foundations made their way to phone banks and mail campaigns of the South Bay Labor Council in 2012 after routing the money through a Measure A’s campaign committee. Both the VMC Foundation and the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation gave more than a quarter-million dollars each—a total of $539,000—to support an 1/8th cent county sales tax measure, Measure A. At least $90,000 of those monies were transferred to the South Bay Labor Council. An incestuous tangle of organizations, directors and consultants characterized the transactions, with common decision-makers on both the giving and receiving ends. None of the organization are willing to discuss how the funds were used and how decisions were made. Former San Jose vice mayor and South Bay Labor Council CEO Cindy Chavez currently heads up the nonprofit SBLC-linked Working Partnerships USA (WPUSA) and sits on the board for the Health Trust and Santa Clara Family Health Foundation.

Hey, you, bicyclists over the age of 12: Get off the sidewalks. Enough people complained about your scofflaw ways that the city’s about to crack down on the pedestrian-scaring practice. Well, sort of.

Mayor Chuck Reed’s top priorities in a cautiously optimistic 2013-14 budget proposal, released Friday, include restoring public safety salaries and city services. How does he plan to do it? Good question.

After months of reading about the horrors of sequestration, most folks didn’t even blink when President Obama signed the document ordering the cuts beginning March 1, 2013. Call it “sequestration fatigue,” but the hype leading up to the date was akin to the expectation of all computers crashing on Y2K. While I have heard some pundits call the 2.3 percent reduction in Federal government spending “budget dust,” the cuts target certain departments and programs and leaves others alone.

Tonight a third petition to build a second Discovery Charter School in San Jose goes back before county education officials. Other items on the county Board of Education agenda include a report on the $2 million cuts from the federal sequestration, a study on foster youth in schools and an update on Superintendent Xavier De La Torre paying back his home loan from the county.

Cops who make a buck on the side directing traffic or working uniformed security gigs will remain exempt from business taxes if the City Council on Tuesday updates the tax code. Other items on the council agenda include a critical audit of the Office of Economic development, tax proposals to repair San Jose’s roads and a staffing grant for the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant.

The titans of Silicon Valley need some personal public relation advisors. Marissa Mayer, Tim Cook, Meg Whitman, Scott McNealy and many others fail to grasp the most basic PR concepts. They don’t have to look far for good role models. David Packard, Bill Hewlett, Steve Jobs and Gordon Moore were masters at molding their public image.

Santa Clara County could lose millions of dollars if Congress doesn’t quit its bickering and steer clear of the impending sequester. Not since 1985 has the threat of sequestration come this close, the White House says. Sequestration is a big word for slash-and-burn cuts to federal services, which inevitably trickle down to state and local governments.

Liz Kniss termed out of her Santa Clara County supervisor seat at the end of last year, and it was assumed she would ride off into the sunset to finish her political career on Palo Alto’s City Council. During the budget cycle last year, the Board of Supervisors even gave her a parting gift of sorts, donating $47k to Palo Alto Animal Services—while she was running for that city’s council seat—even though it is not a county entity. But it seems Kniss may have been throwing around her own handouts in her final year on the board.

A recent Mercury News article regarding San Jose Rep noted that the theatre’s financials are in a dire state. Unfortunately, that report drew on a note from a 2009 audit, providing a sensationalized makeover of old news.

The San Jose Public Libraries Commission wants the city to extend a parcel tax to avoid laying off 53 of its 314 full-time library employees. Other matters going before the Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday include a memo from councilmembers Don Rocha and Xavier Campos in support of immigration reform, a report on budget priorities and a letter slamming George Shirakawa and anyone else who eats on the public dime.

The Great Recession quashed plans to build a massive apartment and retail center in Japantown, as developers shied away from investing given the global credit crunch. But now the deal’s back and up for discussion at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Other items on the council agenda include tax proposals to help fund San Jose road repairs, and incentives for Samsung, downtown high-rises and affordable housing.

The neighborhood park is often taken for granted as part of the everyday American urban and suburban landscape. The primary value of our parks is economic, but there are also very important health benefits to citizens of all age groups.

San Jose’s largest school district will sue the Santa Clara County Office of Education over an allegedly illegal land-use exemption to pave the way for a private charter school. The San Jose Unified School District Board of Trustees last week unanimously voted to sue the county office because it granted a zoning exemption to build the eighth Rocketship charter in the region.

Call it a preemptive strike but Ken Yeager deserves a little credit for trying to get something while knowing he’d probably get nothing. Last week, the president of the county Board of Supervisors sent a letter to San Jose Mayor, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and the City Council proposing a deal on how to continue funding the Santa Clara Healthy Kids Program. There’s just one problem. San Jose is broke and has no interest in giving another dime now that the county got Measure A passed.