While the rest of the SJCC followed the admonitions of big state union interests, new D7 CM Bien Doan made a thoughtful and considered statement in support of the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPGAA) earlier this year. An excerpt from Doan's Council comments on 2.28 appears below.
Read MoreIn her Medium blog, Mayor Lydia Kou breaks down builder's remedy provisions, which sidestep local communities' approval of new construction as long as they qualify as “affordable” housing developments. Kou argues these provisions ignore true causes of housing inaccessibility, weakening local elected leaders' voices while barely—if at all—making SCC homes, yep, affordable.
Read MoreFreddie deBoer, longtime “old-school” Marxist/leftist, has extensively researched what he dubs the “Nonprofit Industrial Complex” for his book How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement. In this Opp Now exclusive, deBoer explains the prevailing phenomenon of underperforming homelessness nonprofits—and where the social justice-focused left is taking good intentions to grisly conclusions.
Read MoreThanks to urban-growth boundaries, most CA'ns inhabit cities that, together, occupy 5% of available State land. These pro-density boundaries make it much costlier for locals to develop and buy homes. Edward Ring argues in the Pacific Research Institute that artificial land constraints are unnecessary, impractical, and detrimental to already-struggling downtowns like SJ's.
Read MoreThe SJ Mercury reports that local State Assembly Rep. Evan Low's controversial bill to police what doctors say about COVID-19 vaccines and public health mandates has been quietly repealed by Gov. Newsom. Prof. Daniel Klein of George Mason University provides needed context in the Wall Street Journal's Letters section, and explores how scientific research has often been the target of illiberal regimes intent on enforcing Thought Uniformity across the populace.
Read MoreWage subsidies. Citizen's income. GBI. Known by a trove of monikers, this proposition posits that supplementing people's salaries (e.g., with $1,200/month in SCC's unhoused HS grad program) keeps them out of poverty and encourages career success. But the Journal of Economic Issues' Robert E. Prasch begs to differ. He explains why income subsidies reduce employees' bargaining power and consumers' purchasing power, which amplifies unemployment.
Read MoreOn September 21, the State Auditor announced a winter release date for the audit of the troubled Valley Transit Authority (VTA). This audit could offer further insight into the murky reporting VTA staff has provided regarding the wild BART cost overruns, ever-lengthening completion dates, and ever-shrinking ridership projections. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreCPC's Will Swaim argues that SCA 7 could, in establishing a constitutional right to union organizing, open the door for Labor to call “infringement” on any political decision they dislike. For instance, might shuttering a failing school, project, or program be considered a constitutional trespass under SCA 7? From the National Review.
Read MoreSJ suffers disproportionately from Californian outmigration, having lost 0.5% of residents last year—many to places more affordable and which have sufficient housing supply. The Globe analyzes how CA'n population losses (only expected to escalate in coming decades) could compromise local jurisdictions' education, pensions, health care, and transit systems.
Read MoreCalifornia had to beg the fed gov't for $20 billion during Covid, just to stay up-to-date on providing unemployment benefits. Yet some union members think they should get checks after voluntarily striking for 2+ weeks. As the NY Times reports, Gov. Newsom recently vetoed controversial SB 799, citing CA's existing “sizable debt.”
Read MoreIn the shadow of Newsom & Co.'s efforts to remove from 2024's ballot the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, the Wall Street Journal fact-checks ridiculous claims that upholding Prop 13 would prevent cities from, yep, doing their jobs. Like Newsom, SJ's City Council has deemed the Act “one of the most egregious ballot measures” (CM Cohen) and voted to oppose it earlier this year.
Read MoreWith news that VTA's misbegotten plans to extend BART to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara have gotten (hold on to your seats) even more expensive than previous budget-busting estimates, Marc Joffe at the Cato Institute wonders anew if it's time for a re-think on the whole project. Even the Merc agrees. An Opp Now exclusive.
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