Never mess with Bob Kieve—that’s the lesson San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra learned after trying to bow out of San Jose Rotary Club’s pension reform debate next week against council colleague Pete Constant. David Ginsborg, a Rotary member and the right fist of County Assessor Larry Stone, says Kalra was scared he would be branded as anti-pension reform in the debate when really he’s just anti-Mayor Reed. But others tell a different tale.

UPDATE: The California Superior Court set a hearing for Monday, April 2, to rule on competing lawsuits regarding Measure B.—Editor

Councilmember Pete Constant and Ballot Measure B’s campaign treasurer, Ben Roth, plan to file their own complaint in California Superior Court on Friday morning. Their petition claims opponents of the pension and benefits reform ballot measure used false and misleading statements in their arguments. The filing comes almost a week after labor unions filed their own lawsuit over ballot language. A judge could rule on both the unions’ lawsuit and the more recent petition ahead of the scheduled April 3 hearing.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed makes no secret of his distaste for the union-aligned sentiments of some City Council members. And while he may or may not have beat the bushes for challengers in the upcoming election, rumors suggesting just that may have something to them. This weekend Reed will open his home to host a campaign kick-off fundraiser for Tam Truong, the San Jose police detective who favors pension overhaul like the mayor and is challenging Kansen Chu in District 4.

San Jose’s City Council will return to session Tuesday and discuss banning polystyrene food containers in the future, development of the west side of San Jose’s airport, construction of a new street for the BART line coming to Berryessa and terminating the mayor and council’s CalPERS contract.

High-speed rail looks like it’s on the fast track to nowhere as more people speak out against the project, while the BART system received some excellent news earlier this week. The Federal Transit Administration sent word earlier this week to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority that $900 million in federal funding has been recommended for approval. Construction crews could break ground as soon as this spring on a 10-mile extension that would take trains into the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose.

People within the San Jose Police Department are keeping close tabs on Chris Moore, as an important milestone approaches for the police chief. At the end of January, 12 months will have passed since Moore was officially named the San Jose’s top cop by City Manager Debra Figone. The year mark means that Moore’s retirement pay and sick-time buyout can be cashed out at the highest possible levels when he decides to call it quits. According to police spokesman Jason Dwyer, that won’t be any time soon and definitely not this year.

Councilmember Pete Constant is leading the charge to terminate the CalPERS pension program for the mayor and City Council. Originally asking City Attorney Rich Doyle to study the proposal in June, Constant’s Dec. 19 memo, which suggests Doyle draft a resolution that gives notice of the city’s intention to terminate its contract with CalPERS, went in front the Rules and Open Govt. Committee on Wednesday and was unanimously approved.

It’s not that Debra Figone doesn’t trust the city council to spend money—it’s just that she doesn’t trust the city council to spend money wisely. Rather than let the council decide whether San Jose should accept a federal grant that could have saved 53 police officer jobs—and potentially put the city on the hook for millions it doesn’t have—the city manager chose to protect the council from itself.

City Manager Debra Figone passed on applying for a grant that would have saved the jobs of more than a few dozen San Jose police officers but included some significant costs. Members of the Police Officers Association were surprised by the move, and they weren’t the only ones. It seems Figone did not consult the City Council on her decision to pass on applying for the largest possible grant.

The debate over what to do with the city’s 100-plus medical marijuana collectives looks like it will finally result in some action Tuesday, when the City Council will vote on setting up a complete regulatory program.

San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant is the closest thing that this city has to a Tea Party Republican in local politics. Or at least he was. In a surprising announcement late last night, Constant said that he is abandoning the Republican Party and registering as a Democrat.

Last week, Pat Dando, who announced back in December that she would be leaving her post as Chamber CEO at the end of this month, decided to extend her stay in office. Her stated reason is that she wants to give the Chamber search committee more time to find the perfect candidate. What’s more likely is that she’s keeping the seat warm for Pete Constant.

The brouhaha over Councilmember Pete Constant refusing to hire a union receptionist at a $70,000 annual salary made its way to the airwaves this week. Constant sat down for an interview with Fox Business’s Stuart Varney.

David Satterfield doesn’t claim to be Don Draper, but you’d be a mad man to think the former Mercury News managing editor didn’t help soften the paper’s stance toward Team San Jose. Just a week after Team San Jose signed with Satterfield’s public relations firm, Sitrick and Company, Satterfield put together a meeting between the financially delinquent venue operators and the Merc’s editorial board.

At its meeting yesterday, the San Jose City Council passed the most stringent ban on plastic bags in the Bay Area. Stores will no longer be allowed to hand out plastic bags in 2012, with the exception of restaurants and second hand shops. With this ban, San Jose will be following the lead of ten other cities in California, including Palo Alto, Oakland and San Francisco.

Julie Constant, the wife of San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant, officially entered the realm of local politics when she won a spot on the Campbell Union School District Board earlier this month. And already Fly is hearing rumblings that this could be a sign that the mother of five has aspirations for the District 1 seat that is now occupied by her husband’s newly slender derrière.