As an active resident in Santa Clara County’s District 2, I, like so many others, am ashamed of George Shirakawa. The former supervisor blatantly violated the trust of the most vulnerable residents of our district. His deplorable actions have led this district, which suffers from high rates of poverty, gangs, drug issues, under-education and lack of healthcare, to have absolutely no representation until August.

It’s always a shame to let facts interfere with a good story, but county Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr.‘s downfall didn’t start with a hushed voice from a trench coat in the dark corners of a parking garage. Here’s how Metro/San Jose Inside uncovered some of the disgraced politician’s illegal activity.

The city’s poised to deny for the second time a Public Records Act (PRA) request from a journalist who wants to glimpse the behind-the-scenes workings of Casino M8trix. Other items on the Rules and Open Government Committee agenda fro Wednesday include a dispute within the Vietnamese community and a passionate letter from our favorite city critic.

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.

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.

Madison Nguyen, San Jose’s vice mayor and councilmember for District 7, filed paperwork Dec. 19 with the City Clerk’s office declaring her intent to run for mayor.

San Jose came closer to banning Styrofoam and expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers after the City Council voted 9-2 Tuesday to move forward with a phase-out. Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Pete Constant opposed a ban.

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.

Tomorrow is a big day for District 6. After 13 years of waiting—the past three of which were spent staring down a fully-functional yet sadly dormant shell—we finally get to see the Bascom Library and Community Center open all of its doors to the public. For residents of Blackford, Buena Vista, Burbank, Del Monte, Shasta/Hanchett Park, Sherman Oaks, and Winchester, the 2pm ribbon cutting at 1000 South Bascom Ave. will be the culmination of a protracted struggle with City Hall, and the district’s own councilmember.

After nearly four years of waiting for the MLB to approve the Oakland A’s potential move to San Jose, the office of baseball commissioner Bud Selig has finally provided guidelines for the A’s to follow, according to a LA Times report.

ABV News’ sixth issue hit digital news racks Monday, this time with a little less sensationalism and a little more transparency. Robert Braunstein, high school sportscaster and defeated District 10 City Council candidate, now signs his name at the end of the newsletter, which includes news links and a brief editorial.

First came a ban on smoking in public places; now local lawmakers are targeting a particular style of cigarettes. Seeing that menthol smokes are so popular with youngsters, especially minorities, several city officials want to support a Food and Drug Administration resolution that proposes banning the sale of menthol cigarettes. The motion brought by councilmembers Kansen Chu, Ash Kalra and Xavier Campos goes before the Rules and Open Government Committee Wednesday.

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.

Johnny Khamis’ sudden exit before a City Council vote that will include the city of San Jose in an amicus brief supporting same-sex marriage had nothing to do with his conservative views, the councilmember insists.

San Jose’s police union leadership says it wants what’s best for its members. But how many members will be left if the Police Officer Association keeps on hosting other departments’ recruiters in its headquarters? In an ad in Sunday’s Mercury News, the Austin Police Department announced it was hosting two recruiting sessions in San Jose. After stopping by The National Hispanic University on Tuesday morning, the Texans moseyed over to the POA shop to hold court for three afternoon hours.