Charles “Chappie” Jones should fill San Jose’s District 1 City Council seat, and not just because he isn’t Paul Fong.

For a serial officeholder, Paul Fong sure has issues running smooth campaigns. The state assemblyman who carpet-bagged his way from Cupertino to San Jose to run for a seat on the City Council has found trouble yet again. This time his campaign manager has thrown out the race card.

Campaign disclosure forms covering the first half of 2014 came due Thursday, giving political nerds their first chance to break down exactly how much money was raised and spent in the first half of the year. The numbers also show who's well poised for the November runoff.

The November election will either shift the body politic in San Jose toward change or provide a continuation of the status quo. With the problems facing the city, change should be in the air.

There are enough candidates for mayor of San Jose to field a football team with a few water boys, but no one entrant should expect the blessing of Mayor Chuck Reed just yet. With a year left on his final term, the mayor’s five pension reform supporters on the City Council—a.k.a. The B Team—are all vying to drag their files over to the 18th floor’s corner office, and he needs their support to gets things done.