Former Mountain View mayor and two-term councilmember John Inks sat down with Opp Now to discuss his view on local zoning and housing issues — including the dangers of historic home designation and authoritative approval processes. Inks also offers his “capsule version of Libertarianism,” and how it informs his policy approach. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIn a chat with Opp Now, Santa Clara Sheriff hopeful Bob Jonsen discusses how he would rectify, if elected, the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring’s (OCLEM) lack of collaborative oversight with independent reviewers. Candidate Kevin Jensen has not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreBrian Holtz — the Santa Clara County Libertarian Party Campaigns Committee chair — contends that citywide constraints on land use spike up housing prices, manufacture unnecessary scarcity, and invite discriminatory practices. Unpacking his Libertarian mindset towards governance, Holtz advocates for an end to onerous ordinances in areas like parking and lot minimums. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreWhile advocacy organizations from multiple angles continue analyzing the State’s contentious (and confusing) SCA 10/Prop 1, Californian press remains, for the most part, oddly quiet. In the latest Opp Now exclusive, local attorneys and organizations interpret whether this bill would alter existing restrictions on late-term abortion operations. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreGinny Gentles (co-founder of the Educational Freedom Center at the Independent Women’s Forum) responds to Dan Lips’ National Review article, which explains that parents are justifiably demanding public school reform, particularly expanded parental choice, amidst local schools’ academic failures. Gentles unpacks the challenges of modeling CA’s education system after states like Arizona (which leads the nation in educational savings account programs), as suggested by Lips. Adopting a local program may not be as simple as plug-and-play, but CA’s abundance of charter schools offers us a leg-up, says Gentles. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreFred Tovar, Gilroy councilmember since 2016, was one of several longtime Democrats recently un-endorsed by the local Dem Party — for backing nonpartisan SCC supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis and Republican Gilroy councilmember Dion Bracco. Below, Tovar speaks with Opp Now about this troubling mission drift in the Dem Party, and how collaboration must trump polarization in local political movements. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreMark Hinkle — former Libertarian Party Californian state chair and current Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association president — sat down with Opp Now to analyze drug legislation. Arguing for diminished local governance, Hinkle discusses the Libertarian perspective that all substances should be legalized, a policy stance recently rejected by Gov. Newsom. The first of an Opp Now series on Libertarian approaches to policy. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MorePat Waite, president of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, notes budgetary irresponsibility is creeping back in SJ--this time in the form of grandiose ideas about a futuristic airport connector and SJ's own public utility organization. Citizens, beware.
Read MoreSilicon Valley and other parts of California must find alternative solutions to address its growing homeless crisis, suggests Market Urbanism Report founder Scott Beyer. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAnyone who's worked in a mix of government, nonprofit, and business jobs knows that each sector is different, and provides its own strengths and weaknesses. Irene Smith, D3 council candidate, made the same point in a forum with her opponent, Omar Torres. But thin-skinned nonprofit veteran Patricia Gardner took bizarre offense in the Letters section of the Merc, sadly proving the point she was purportedly trying to oppose. The Opp Now team unpacks her twisted logic, below.
Read MoreIn an exclusive conversation with Opp Now, the California Policy Center’s Jackson Reese gets to the root of the SCC Democrats’ recent letter on school board candidates that they label as dangerous. Reese identifies how liberal-leaning school boards fund teachers unions, which fund the Democrat party—together keeping state gov’t overinflated and progressive.
Read MoreIn SJUSD’s only true election this cycle (Brian Wheatley will be appointed in lieu for a second term in Area 4), incumbent José Magaña and challenger Andres Macias are running for Area 2 San Jose Unified board member this Nov. In the first of a two-part series for Opp Now, Magaña and Macias address SJ schools’ academic attainment problems, and their approaches to student success.
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