This week’s column is a tribute to one of San Jose’s most amazing and accomplished people: Miss Irene Dalis, founder of Opera San Jose and a world-class international opera star. I consider myself fortunate to have known Miss Dalis for more than three decades and even more fortunate to have witnessed the growth and development of the company she created.

After Russia imposed a number of draconian anti-gay laws over the summer, LGBT advocacy groups asked U.S. leaders to sever sister-city ties with any Russian towns. San Jose fielded some of those requests, but councilmembers Xavier Campos, Ash Kalra and Pete Constant say the city’s in a better position to use that international relationship with Ekaterinburg to open up a meaningful dialogue instead. The trio said as much in a memo to the Rules and Open Government Committee, which will meet Wednesday.

City Manager Debra Figone’s annual budget performance review, which will go before the City Council on Tuesday, shows that 2012-13 revenue totaled $2.29 billion, about 1.2 percent ($28.6 million) below the budgeted estimate. Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include Xavier Campos hosting a gun buyback at a District 5 church, Kansen Chu pushing a solar panel incentive program and a semi-annual review of city audits.

After spending most of this year’s anticipated Measure A revenue to pull out of a deficit and boost some service levels, Santa Clara County officials are looking for ways to spend a remaining $9.7 million of the 1/8 cent sales tax. Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include the county picking up the full cost of the Healthy Kids program—rather than getting a little help from San Jose, a plan by Supervisor Ken Yeager to save a Santa Clara library and Supervisor Joe Simitian looking to grade local restaurants.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday that grants drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, while a number of gun control measures are pending approval.

Community members will have a chance to weigh in on San Jose’s gang-prevention efforts at a series of town hall meetings this fall. The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force will host four meetings this month through November to gather input about the city’s efforts to suppress local gang activity.

Robert Reich’s powerful new film, “Inequality for All,” breaks down the disparity of wealth that is so pronounced in this country. It solves the riddle of why San Jose is really two cities, and it explains the great political divide we face locally and as a nation.

San Jose is in desperate need of neighborhood coalitions and the community involvement they foster. Crime has increased and extensive cuts have been made to basic neighborhood services. With our quality of life at stake, it is important for residents to get involved with their local neighborhood associations or community groups.

Steve Holmes represents the kind of citizen leader that we need in the years ahead, as the new paradigm of limited government requires more involvement from private sector volunteers, donors and visionaries. Mr. Holmes is all three and the group he launched, Friends of Los Gatos Creek, has already had a significant and positive impact on one of San Jose’s key environmental challenges.

Hyperbole is the crudest way to make a point. It’s also the easiest way to lose an audience. But there’s a desperate talking point in local political circles going unchallenged. No longer.

After failed past attempts to regulate medical marijuana collectives in San Jose, the city should take up the issue again, says Councilman Don Rocha—just as a voter initiative to legalize the stuff cleared for signature gathering. Other items on the agenda for Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government Committee meeting include Councilman Xavier Campos asking for the city to sponsor a gun buyback event, Voice Mayor Madison Nguyen wanting some pension reform clarification and David Wall doing his best David Wall impersonation.

Agencies in Santa Clara Valley have finalized a sweeping conservation plan that will set out guidelines for development in exchange for preserving South Bay creeks, trails and open space. State, county and local agency leaders will meet Thursday morning at the Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill for a signing ceremony to launch the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan.

On Wednesday, the county Board of Education will make a decision on the charter petition for Alpha: Blanca Alvarado Middle School 2. The vote will be difficult for me.

A nearly 100-year-old Chinese restaurant may get a historic designation, protecting it from new development. The City Council on Tuesday will vote whether to make Ken Ying Low an official historic landmark. Located at 625 N. Sixth St. in Japantown, the building is the last vestige of what was once a Chinese neighborhood. Other items on the council agenda include a $154,000 contract for a company to count trees in San Jose and stricter requirements for healthy options in city-owned vending machines.

Last year it was utility bills. This year, the San Jose Independent Police Auditor’s office has placed signs on more than 100 buses in San Jose, asking residents to reach out if they think a police officer has has broken the law or acted inappropriately. Judge LaDoris Cordell, who oversees the IPA, says the buses on which the ads are displayed—in English, Spanish and Vietnamese—come out of the Chaboya garage line and criss-cross East San Jose and downtown.

Santa Clara County is going forward with a new ordinance to govern lobbyists. By definition, everyone who has an issue or interest is a lobbyist. But this new ordinance would apply only to those who are paid to redress county government.