County executive Jeff Smith is strategizing moves that will pay off 70 years from now—all while tweaking his political adversaries in San Jose.

Decisions made by Morgan Hill's defunct Redevelopment Agency will now force 11 downtown businesses to relocate. Some of these businesses, as a result, could go out of business.

San Jose should move forward with plans to enact a developer fee that would pay for much-needed affordable housing, Councilman Don Rocha urges.

City leaders are demanding a public hearing on airport security after two widely publicized security breaches called into question the safety of the San Jose airport.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider a one-year, $650,000 contract with the San Jose Streets Team, an organization that finds work and housing for homeless people who can and want to work.

John Dowling and other residents of the Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Park could be forced out of their homes if developer Pulte Homes buys the park property, which is adjacent to Santana Row and the Valley Fair mall in San Jose. Cali-Arioto Properties owns the land, and like a lot of mobile home park owners in the region, the family proprietor is exploring the option of selling the lot, which houses more than 145 mostly low-income seniors and disabled residents. Real estate prices are going up and the park lies in a part of the city pegged for future mixed-use development under the city’s General Plan.

There is a reason Mike Fox Sr. and his wife Mary Ellen are revered in this valley—their generosity seemingly has no bounds. Their latest endeavor, which featured former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, raised money for Habitat for Humanity, a project started by Carter after his presidency.

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.

Starting in September, as a result of federal budget sequestration earlier this year, rent will rise significantly for Santa Clara County’s Section 8 tenants, close to 60 percent of whom are elderly or disabled.

News slows down in the summertime, so San Jose Inside columnist Rich Robinson takes note of some of the bigger and more under the radar stories of August.

Since slashing construction fees for high-rise development in downtown, two towers have broken ground, including the $135 million 23-story project at One South Market. Hoping to spur more nearby development, the City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to vote in a similar half-off discount for buildings of any size as long as they create jobs. Other items on the agenda for the first council meeting of the 2013-114 fiscal year include another look at building restriction height around the airport, a potential study of the city’s sewer system and an update on the city’s graffiti abatement contract.

Most election observers thought Teresa Alvarado’s second-place finish in the June 4 primary exceeded expectations. Coming within 10 percentage points of Cindy Chavez for the District 2 county supervisor seat was seen as a momentum-builder, considering Alvarado’s campaign didn’t really get its act together until the final two weeks. But not everyone agreed—namely, Alvarado. Shortly after election night, Alvarado dismissed her entire campaign staff.

The city expects to clear up 40 to 60 homeless encampments a year—indefinitely. Annual cost for the cleanups will range around $550,000, and possibly more, if the city approves a contract with Tucker Construction, Inc., at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Other agenda items for the last council meeting of the fiscal year include a settlement for a man struck by a police car, a renewal agreement with the city’s Sacramento lobbying firm and a potential shift to store city data through cloud computing.

The transfer of the naming rights from HP to SAP is a positive move. The naming rights deal has an annual value of $3.35 million. Even better, SAP is a software company known the world over.

A proposal for a new construction fee to rake in more money for affordable housing has sharply divided the City Council. Vice Mayor and 2014 mayoral candidate Madison Nguyen and Councilman Don Rocha say San Jose desperately needs another funding source for low-income housing since the state-ordered end of Redevelopment Agencies (RDA). But councilmen Pete Constant and Johnny Khamis strongly disagree. Other issues at Tuesday’s City Council meeting include a public hearing to raise the medical marijuana tax and a fight over a recycling facility near the San Jose Flea Market.

Should the city recruit more department heads from outside or promote from within? Councilman Don Rocha says he thinks the city needs to do a better job casting its net to outside talent.