What the heck is going on here?  I take two weeks off from blogging while on special assignment to find the best pho restaurants in town and the city almost falls apart.

I figure there are plenty of you out there who are like me and can barely read the paper sometimes.  It’s tough to see the words when my eyes are watering from trying every jar of hot sauce on the table.  So, I’m inaugurating a news of the week feature to make sure everyone is up to date.

The last few weeks have been busy both here on the blog and at City Hall.  I was glad to see that my column day was put to good use.  First, Jim Cunneen posted a column asking for Terry Gregory to resign, on January 13th.  Gregory resigned on the 18th, leading Dave Cortese to post in this space on the 20th that the people should decide who will represent District 7 next.  This past Tuesday, the Council voted to call a special election, and there is already speculation as to who may be jumping in to the race.

In the same council meeting, it was even decided to put questions about the new City Hall’s phone system in the rear view mirror and “move forward,” as Aaron Davis writes in the Mercury News  So, that leaves just the normal, run of the mill goings on.

There are still some unanswered questions out there.  Like the ones raised about why the city is spending so much to put on the State of The City Speech, raised by Sandy Brundage in both the Almaden Resident and Willow Glen Resident this week.  But hey, if they spend that money on food, I may go check it out this year. 

Sandy Brundage did double duty not only in writing for two papers, but also in writing another story whether city staff may have deliberately underestimated the amount of money spent constructing a building by not charging for city employees’ time spent on the project.  I’m trying to think of another instance where the costs of constructing something might have turned out to be different from what the city initially reported.  Hmmm… nope, can’t think of anything.

The Almaden Resident also has a well-written editorial asking the city to please spend taxpayers’ money a bit more carefully than those two stories would suggest they have been.

For those who truly don’t have the time or inclination to keep up on the news, the tone of so much coverage was summed up in an editorial from the Mercury yesterday: “You have to face it: 2004 just wasn’t a good year on the ethics front at City Hall.”

There is some good news out there.  Lisa Toth reports in the Saratoga News that Mike Fox, Sr. is being honored tonight with the dedication of a building at West Valley College.  Mike is a good friend to all of us at San Jose Inside and we tip our caps to him.

Well, it looks like I’ve run out of room and the pho will, once again, have to wait another week.