Taxpayers should demand accountability from their government, said Los Altos Institution fellow Athan Joshi. At a rally against Measure A, the Opportunity Now wunderkind contributor (he's in high school) reminded his audience that the 5/8-cent sales tax is the latest, but not the last, in a decades-long cavalcade of tax hikes funding “mediocre services.” Some residents will even be “double taxed,” he warned, to prop up bloated payrolls and retirement benefits for SC County employees.
Santa Clara County Assessor candidate Bryan Do says that when the government faces a budget shortfall, the easy answer is almost always the same: raise taxes. Measure A, the County’s proposed 5/8-cent sales tax increase, is exactly that kind of “easy answer.” But just because it’s easy, says the East Side Union High Trustee, doesn’t make it right. An Opportunity Now exclusive op/ed.
Mayor Mahan and faux pro-business SJ CM's link arms with The Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America in endorsing the widely-panned Measure A. But George Casey, CM for District 10, sets them straight.
Cupertino Mayor Liangfang Chao and the City Council called out Santa Clara County’s “suspicious special-election timing,” says Purissima Hills Water District Director Brian Holtz. By voting to oppose the sales tax hike, Cupertino demonstrated “true leadership” says County Assessor candidate Rishi Kumar. Silicon Valley Business Alliance Treasurer Pat Waite commends the “principled stance against Measure A.” An Opportunity Now exclusive commentary.
The county Measure A campaign reveals deeply unethical impulses informing our local political ecosystem. Citizens need to demand better, or risk becoming enablers. Our Weekend Reading unpacks the issues in this Opp Now exclusive.
Prof Deann Gayman of the University of Nebraska explores data which daylights a bracing fact: blood sport American politics makes supporters--not just pols--lose their ethical bearings, contributing to the deeply nihilistic behavior we see in our current Silicon Valley special election season.
For many voters, partisan loyalties override moral judgment, leading to the degraded political culture and corrupt politics we see in Silicon Valley. So says Associate Prof James Lemoine of the University at Buffalo’s Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
A Harvard Business School professor turns the stage lights on the supporting cast that facilitates unethical acts in politics and business. And hey, it looks a lot like what we see when we look in the mirror. From Daniel Oberhaus in the Harvard magazine.
The No on Measure A campaign, chaired by County Assessor candidate Rishi Kumar, announced plans to file legal action against Santa Clara County following reports that the County used taxpayer dollars to distribute a mailer resembling campaign material promoting Measure A. Text of press release below.
