City officials are poised to approve a three-year lease that would breathe new life into Hammer Theatre Center, a.k.a. The San Jose Rep, which went dark a year ago due to bankruptcy.

A curious cultural taboo has been openly flouted over the last two decades in San Jose, and it seems one local institution could soon double down.

There is no question that Willie Brown deserves the honor of having a span of the Bay Bridge named after him, given his lifetime of service to the city and county of San Francisco. Considering the political heavyweights who share that last name, there isn’t an infrastructure project since 1958 that does not have a Brown imprimatur.