Rising costs and complaints have cast a cloud over one of the city’s favorite events, Music in the Park. The San Jose Downtown Association will decide this fall if this should be the 23rd and final year of the free summer concert series.

The City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to determine if the city should conduct an audit of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency’s incubator programs. As San Jose Inside first reported, a study buried for two years shows the RDA spent more than $30 million on start-up companies that often provided a poor return on investment.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting should get interesting when public hearings are held on recent recommendations by the redistricting advisory commission, as well as sewer service and use-rate increases.

Despite having strong support from voters, Chuck Reed does have his critics. Capitol Weekly in Sacramento is not one of them. The publication recently picked its 10 best mayors in California, and Reed made the list.

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.

The City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics relating to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport. Included in items to be discussed are: an advertising concession agreement with Clear Channel, Inc.; leasing space agreements with airlines; public transit for the airport; and development of land west of the airport.

Councilmember Sam Liccardo submitted a memo late Thursday calling for an audit of four incubator programs funded by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. The request responds to a 2009 study—unseen by most city officials for two years—which finds that RDA spent more than $30 million on business-building incubator programs which, it says, showed very poor returns on investment.

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.

Tuesday’s city council session, the second of the new fiscal year, will feature a hearing regarding the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) and a separate item giving City Manager Debra Figone the ability to accept a federal grant for public safety.

The planning commission is advising the City Council to take a less rigid approach in capping medical marijuana collectives. Included in recommendations voted on in July, the planning commission suggests a cap of 25 instead of the council’s preferred number of 10. As of this spring, there were more than 100 medical marijuana collectives operating in San Jose.

Polling done in July indicates voters aren’t especially interested in raising taxes until the city negotiates true pension reform, which is why the City Council decided on Tuesday to delay any action on revenue ballot measures.

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.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance Friday at an event hosted here in San Jose by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. At the event, he proposed several plans to boost the state’s economy while also eliminating agencies that he says are redundant.

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.

A few weeks ago, there seemed to be a greater sense of cooperation between the city and five public employee unions over pension reform. Agreements were made to extend negotiations and work together on ballot measures. But last week, the city sent out its first draft of proposed measures. The ideas did not sit well with more than a few unions.

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.