While the CA16 voting drama plays out, local political watchers opine that perhaps California's voting protocols could use some updating. Lance Christensen VP of Education Policy and Gov't Affairs at California Policy Center and Brian Hoeltz of the Santa Clara County Libertarian Party, below. An Opp Now exclusive.
On the heels of widening public apprehension about the now-$12.8bn extension of BART through downtown SJ from former mayors, the Mercury News, and nationally recognized transit experts, BART Directors Ames and Allen are asking the hard questions of project leaders across a spectrum of issues ranging from the costs of tunneling designs to ridership projections. Full text of Directors' memo below.
Amid all the drama surrounding the second place tie in the CA16 primary congressional race--and political shenanigans informing calls for a recount--an important principle is being sidelined: what matters most is the accuracy of the vote--not achieving a preferred result. The Opp Now team analyzes, in an exclusive.
Given all the confetti flying around CA16 votes, it's important to remember why recounts happen and what the accepted protocols are. Simply put, a recount is “a retabulation of the votes cast in an election.” It's meant to corroborate the certified election results such that election officials can ensure that all the ballots cast are counted accurately and that the correct candidate or ballot issue wins. Fairvote.org unpacks the specifics. Spoiler alert: recounts rarely change many votes, very rarely change outcomes, although they sometimes do in super tight races.
California labor groups have their list of priority bills and the California Chamber of Commerce has a list of “job killers” it wants to defeat. Sometimes the two lists collide. The inestimable Dan Walters comments in Calmatters.
Alert Opp Now readers will know that we have bemoaned the paltry number of housing permits the oracles at SJ City Hall have approved, greatly contributing to local housing unaffordability. Turns out we're not alone: the number of new housing permits in CA went off a cliff last year, prompting mass exodus. Daily Caller reports, below.
SJ City hosts another panel aiming to solve the city’s housing and homelessness crisis. Another echo chamber ensues. Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report explores how City staff privileges consideration of failed, costly programs that advantage favored non profits and systemically shut out public deliberation of more effective, market-proven solutions. An Opp Now exclusive.
Even as San Jose's homelessness crisis lengthens, city staff continue to slow-walk shelter solutions as proposed by CM's Doan and Batra--and choose instead to throw millions more at their failed Housing First model. San Diego offers a more humane, cost-effective approach: increase shelter capacity quickly via conversions of vacant warehouse space. NBC San Diego outlines the way forward, below.
Matt Haney, SF Assemblymember, intro's AB2479--aiming to unlock state funds for sober living requirements in subsidized, state-funded housing. The bill responds to the epidemic of drug overdoses and addiction enabled by CA's barrier-free, hugely expensive, and painfully slow-to-build Housing First model. Additional reporting from Ethan Varian at the Merc, below.