San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed decided to endorse Johnny Khamis for the District 10 City Council seat in November’s election. Reed, who was joined in supporting Khamis with former San Jose Councilmember Pat Dando and State Assemblymember Jim Cunneen, both of whom are Republicans, called Khamis “a long time friend and a loyal supporter” in a press release sent out Tuesday morning. His selection is interesting on a number of fronts.

One of the first actions of Tuesday’s City Council meeting will be a commendation honoring Santana Row’s 10th anniversary. Another will note the heroism of Robert Sotelo, who saved a woman from a burning house. From there, the topics touch on a host of city issues, from deferring a tax break for San Jose’s biggest companies and an updated report on graffiti to a government program to retrain people laid off from Solyndra.

San Jose Inside’s Josh Koehn sat down with City Manager Debra Figone for a rare extended interview in late August. The following is an excerpted transcript of their discussion, which touched on Measure B, Figone’s relationship with the mayor and council, her thoughts on the performance of Police Chief Chris Moore, crime in San Jose and when she plans to retire. It should be noted that this interview took place before Moore’s announcement that he will retire from his position at the end of January 2013—Editor

The city begins its trimming of sick leave payouts at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, when three unions and Unit 99, which consists of the city’s top administrators, agree to end sick leave payouts for any employees hired on or after Sept. 30. This will be a negotiated battle that continues into next year with other labor unions, especially fire and police. Other items on the agenda include some good and bad news for Team San Jose, a pivotal vote on a taxi contract and a councilmember having his status changed for a missed meeting.

The City Clerk plans to retroactively mark Councilmember Pete Constant down as an unexcused absence for last week’s City Council meeting. Unbeknownst to almost anyone, Constant, who was out of the office almost all of August after back surgery, was attending the Repubican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

UPDATE: It turns out San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant did attend the Republican National Convention. Check back for more details.

San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra is in Charlotte, North Carolina this week to attend the Democratic National Convention. He is one of almost 6,000 party-nominated delegates. While he is attending the week-long rally, Kalra will be keeping touch with San Jose Inside. At the end of the week, the councilmember will give us a recap of the events, who he interacted with and his impressions of where the party is headed into the November election.

The City Council meets Tuesday to discuss the installation of new bike lanes, fees for events at a downtown park and the expansion of corporate office space at Santana Row, amongst other items. Not on the agenda, according to city spokesman David Vossbrink, is a report expected to come out Tuesday morning from the office of State Auditor Elaine Howle, who took a closer look at Mayor Chuck Reed’s use of the number $650 million in regards to the city’s worst-case unfunded liability scenario.

The last City Council meeting of the fiscal year Tuesday will feature a loaded agenda. Last week, the council unanimously approved next year’s budget, moved past its stalemate on lower benefits for new employees to approve a second tier, and paved the way for paid time off for many city contractors. Here are some of the critical items up for the last meeting of 2011-12.

The topic of government providing transportation to seniors came up during our budget study sessions. Combined, the city and county currently provide a senior lunch program. The discussion was around the cost and value of increasing services like transportation to receive this lunch service.

The territory war between San Jose and the San Francisco Giants got a bit more heated Thursday, with the minor league Giants caught in the fray. San Jose councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Pete Constant said in a memo that before the city spends $85,000 on maintenance for the San Jose Giants’ stadium, they would like to know how much Giants owners are spending to sue the city over land being saved for a potential move to San Jose by the Oakland A’s.

San Jose Stage Company rolls out the red carpet Monday for the 19th annual Monday Night Live! fundraiser. The question is: Who will steal the show this year? A sketch comedy event in which local celebrities, politicians and business people satirize the issues Silicon Valley is facing, as well as themselves, MNL!-Nineteen will be guest hosted by Councilmember and style guru Nancy Pyle, of District 10.

Few classified the pension reform debate in San Jose as partisan. Only one member of the 10-person City Council—Pete Constant—is a registered Republican. But in the lead-up and aftermath of voters decisively passing Measure B, which will cut back public employee retirement benefits if it withstands legal challenges, Mayor Chuck Reed took at least four interviews last week with FOX News and its affiliates, leaving his media calendar a little less than fair and balanced.

Three San Jose councilmembers want Mayor Chuck Reed to sign his name on the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry online petition. More than 200 mayors have done so, but Reed, who supports Prop 8, has thus far refused. This prompted councilmembers Ash Kalra, Don Rocha and Kansen Chu to bring the matter before the Rules Committee today with a “you’re not in Kansas anymore” resolution.

What if someone held an election and one side didn’t show up? Well, that is happening in the ill-advised pension reform campaign called Measure B. While proponents are raising money to pay for the Mayor’s under-employed—yet now overpaid—political consultant, organized opposition to the measure has evaporated. The reason is simple and economical.

The much anticipated San Jose Rotary Club debate between Councilmembers Pete Constant and Ash Kalra did not disappoint. Both Constant and Kalra were spirited advocates for their positions: Constant defending Measure B, the pension “modification” measure; Kalra, a lawyer, presenting the views in opposition. By the end of the debate, to the disappointment of many, it was Kalra who gained the most.

It appears Ballot Measure B is ready to go to voters. Superior Court judges granted small victories to both the city of San Jose and labor when clarifying what language should be used.