Billions spent nationally, two years of nonstop campaigning and essentially nothing changed. But the outcome of Tuesday’s election will help the economy. Gov. Jerry Brown reigns supreme. People voted to tax themselves and Democrats have super majorities in the legislature. Happy days are here again!

At 8:58 this morning, Robert Braunstein sent out a mass email congratulating Johnny Khamis on his victory. “The voters of District 10 made their choice,” he wrote. “I know Johnny will work hard on City Council to represent San Jose and this District well.”

In polarized San Jose, where unionistas have been battling pension reformers, both camps racked up victories and defeats, and neither was fully vanquished. As of early Wednesday morning, with two-thirds of the precincts in District 8 reporting results,  Councilmember Rose Herrera was gliding to a ten-point triumph over Jimmy Nguyen.

The day you’ve all been waiting for is almost here. No, not Election Day. We’re talking about the day after tomorrow, when people can put partisan politics to bed and go back to calling each other $%&#! at the dinner table based solely on the content of one’s character. For now, here’s en election night preview of the two City Council races.

Metro reported this week that Supervisor George Shirakawa—the top elected official in the county—has been submitting fraudulent expense reports. He has spent thousands of dollars on lavish dinners, alcohol and luxury hotel rooms and rental cars with a county credit card. Amazingly, he avoided detection despite two audits of his county credit card purchases. Many of the people Shirakawa treated to meals were unaware that taxpayers were picking up the tab, and have since sent checks reimbursing the county. This group includes San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore.

When the media gets the facts in a story wrong, it is a great disservice to the public. Once a false narrative gets into the minds of the public it is very difficult to reverse. The most recent local example is the story regarding campaign signs, Rose Herrera’s husband, a videotape, dueling charges and two separate press conferences.

And to think there’s still six more days of crazy before District 8 voters go to the polls. The expensive race between Rose Herrera, Evergreen’s City Council incumbent, and Jimmy Nguyen has had it share of distractions, but now come conflicting allegations over Herrera’s husband attempting to put Nguyen’s campaign signs in a park trash can late Monday night.

If you are like the majority of San Jose residents, you probably work during the day and/or are involved in a child’s education at school/home. Your ability to attend a daytime San Jose City Council meeting is limited. For this reason, holding council meetings in the evenings for all issues, not just land use items, would increase public awareness and involvement.

Thursday marked the last filing deadline for campaign disclosure forms and independent committee expenditures before the Nov. 6 election. This means the next 11 days will feature a flurry of campaign spending, the details of which won’t be known until after people go to the polls. One thing that can be said for certain, though, is that the District 8 City Council race between Rose Herrera and Jimmy Nguyen is costing major money. How much? More than $700,000 so far, and it could approach $1 million by the time the election is held.

The saying goes: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But in politics, if you can’t join ‘em, buy ‘em. That’s exactly what San Jose City Council candidates Rose Herrera and Johnny Khamis did in a recent slate mailer to boost their public safety cred. But it seems the smartest men in the room are the voter guides’ organizers, who are making a killing selling endorsements up and down the state.

The San Jose City Council race between Rose Herrera and Jimmy Nguyen just got a little crazier. The Police Officers Association announced late Friday that a political action committee (PAC) supporting Herrera will need to return $100,000 to a PAC controlled by Mayor Chuck Reed. But the mayor says that has yet to be decided.

Oktoberfest traditionally serves as Campbell’s annual reminder that people love an excuse to get wasted. But this year, Campbell Vice Mayor Evan Low experienced a whole new level of belligerence, and it’s not clear if alcohol had anything to with an incident that borders on being a hate crime.

The San Jose City Council met last week to discuss and prioritize certain ordinances the city should pursue in the coming year. Creating an ordinance requires staff time from the department that the ordinance will affect and, as always, time from the City Attorney’s office. In many cases, outreach for ordinances must be done to garner resident and stakeholder input which takes time and staff facilitating the public meetings.

An examination of DFR forms, or Disclosure of Fundraising Reports, filed in the last two years by San Jose city councilmembers shows that many not only spend their time soliciting contributions for community events, but also partisan organizations and even family members in two particular cases.

Police Chief Chris Moore is on the mend after having hip replacement surgery this week. Moore, who announced last month that he will retire at the end of January 2013, said in a telephone interview Friday that he expects to be back on the job by Oct. 22. He added that he has no plans to file for disability when he does retire.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed decided to endorse Johnny Khamis for the District 10 City Council seat in November’s election. Reed, who was joined in supporting Khamis with former San Jose Councilmember Pat Dando and State Assemblymember Jim Cunneen, both of whom are Republicans, called Khamis “a long time friend and a loyal supporter” in a press release sent out Tuesday morning. His selection is interesting on a number of fronts.