A judge ruled in favor of attorneys representing city workers Monday to hold an expedited hearing on April 3 about the language of Measure B, the pension and benefits reform ballot measure. The ruling comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed Friday in California Superior Court that claims the ballot question violates the Election Code because it does not contain impartial and non-argumentative language, as the law requires.

A financial report Councilmember Don Rocha asked city staff to produce last month shows wasteful spending on labor and employee relations consultants and outside legal services, he says. Included in the staff report is a $222,000 study on whether the city should declare a fiscal emergency.

Metro Silicon Valley’s issue this week looks at possible candidates to succeed Mayor Chuck Reed when he terms out in less than two years. Invariably, in every discussion, two names pop up: San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo and Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese. Below is an excerpt focusing on Liccardo’s upbringing, what made him go into politics, and his interest in running for mayor in 2014.—Editor

Metro Silicon Valley’s issue this week looks at possible candidates to succeed Mayor Chuck Reed when he terms out in less than two years. Invariably, in every discussion, two names pop up: San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo and Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese. Below is an excerpt focusing on Cortese’s roots, how he got into office, and who he aligns himself with.—Editor

Chuck Reed released his 2012-13 budget plan Friday, and for the first time in his six years as mayor he finally has the opposite of a budget shortfall. City staff says there is a $10 million surplus for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and with that money the mayor said in a statement that he wants to open four libraries and a community center, allocate $2 million to gang prevention programs, and invest in street repairs.

“Love is in the air,” Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones declared in her opening remarks for the invocation of Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Not long after that, everyone proceeded to attack one another. The public comments portion of the council meeting featured a passionate cast of characters speaking for or against the June retirement benefits reform ballot, which passed by an 8-3 vote.

The City Council will finalize a decision Tuesday for a pension reform ballot measure. This is the question that will likely be put to voters on June 5: “To protect essential services: neighborhood police patrols, fire stations, libraries, community centers, streets and parks, shall the Charter be amended to reform retirement benefits of City employees and retirees by: increasing employees’ contributions; establishing a voluntary reduced pension plan for current employees and pension cost and benefit limitations for new employees; reforming disability retirements to prevent abuses; temporarily suspending retiree COLAs during emergency; and requiring voter approval for increases in future pension benefits?”

In an attempt to box in Mayor Chuck Reed on his worst-case scenario of the city’s pension crisis, a complaint was filed with the SEC on Monday on behalf of three unions. The complaint claims Reed didn’t disclose pertinent information on the pension crisis in forms filed with the SEC and misled investors who helped the city issue $435 million in bonds last year.

Sounding an optimistic note that 2012 would be a year of “hope, optimism and recovery,” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed delivered his State of the City address at the San Jose Civic Auditorium Thursday night. Hours after being pummeled in the media over an actuary’s claim of inflated pension projections, Reed sounded confident and statesmanlike, saying that he wanted “ to thank the leaders of our employee unions who have remained engaged and stayed at the table for many hours, days and months of difficult discussions.“

The $250 million question: Did Mayor Chuck Reed and other city officials knowingly lie about the worst-case scenario for San Jose’s pension crisis? An ethics complaint that included almost 800 city employee signatures was turned into the Elections Commission Thursday. The complaint, filed on the heels of an NBC Bay Area report, states that Reed, Director of Retirement Services Russell Crosby and former city actuary Michale Moehle knowingly used false information to bolster the mayor’s push to declare a fiscal emergency, which may have also had an adverse effect on pension reform negotiations. In an interview Thursday, Mayor Reed defended the worst-case scenario projection.

The list many public employees dread every year—annual salaries—posted to the city’s website. No one came close to matching last year’s top earner, retired police chief Rob Davis, but there were some interesting numbers pertaining to high-profile executives and their subordinates.

Don’t expect to see San Jose’s Chuck Reed join the growing list of mayors who have pledged their support to the Freedom to Marry campaign. In an interview with San Jose Inside last week, the mayor said he supports civil unions and domestic partnerships, but he draws the line at marriage. San Jose is the largest city in the country not to have its mayor supporting Freedom to Marry.

The city of Oakland hired Teresa Reed to be its new fire chief Wednesday, continuing a trend of former San Jose public employees finding work with nearby municipalities. But Reed’s change in employment, after retiring from the San Jose Fire Department less than two weeks ago, appears to be just one example of why Mayor Chuck Reed (no relation) and other city officials in San Jose are clamoring for pension reform.

San Jose made a play for a satellite office with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), submitting a proposal with the help of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Included in the application are letters from Mayor Chuck Reed and Silicon Valley business execs stating their case to David Kappos, Under Secretary for Intellectual Property with the USPTO.

Mayor Chuck Reed put out a memo Friday calling on the city to quit working on a compromise to its medical marijuana ordinance in light of recent developments. According to the memo, Reed recommends rescinding the city’s ordinance for a year as the California Supreme Court reviews four cases that deal with the interpretation of state law relating to medical marijuana collectives. Reed told San Jose Inside that the court’s decision as well as a potential ballot initiative that could go before voters in November made it clear that he and city officials should devote the next 10 months to other issues.

Kansen Chu had a productive holiday season, mainly, the council member says, because he didn’t take a vacation. Fundraising for the District 4 City Council race later this year, Chu says he raised $45,000 for his campaign in the final two weeks of the year.