David Schonbrunn, president of transdef.org, takes a look at Bay Area transit management and sees a business model that doesn't work, services that are no longer in demand, and out-of-control misspending. From a Merc op-ed.

With the state’s cost of living skyrocketing and two tax-increasing initiatives looming on the statewide ballot, it’s no surprise that Californians are growing increasingly weary of their leaders’ relentless pursuit of more funds. Melissa Melendez in CA Globe says that efforts to boot the Taxpayer's Protection Act off the ballot are an affront to democracy.

Irene Smith, head of the Independent Leadership Group and United Housing Alliance has done a deep dive into what works--and doesn't--when all type of affordable housing ** developments are built in or next to traditional neighborhoods. Her recommended ground rules--which she says can improve quality of life for tenants and neighbors alike--are excerpted below, originally from Medium. 

An SF bill designed to help preempt scandals and inefficiencies among nonprofits is set to be signed by the mayor. It will impose audits and performance goals on 600 orgs taking over a billion dollars every year from taxpayers.  And of all the scandals to highlight, SF Examiner’s Adam Shanks selects one associated with law enforcement. Still, here’s hoping? 

Following a California state audit which found that SJ's homeless programs were disorganized, untransparent, and wasteful, CM's Arjun Batra and Bien Doan propose that the City conduct its own audit. Market Urbanist's Scott Beyer unpacks what has to happen to ensure that this audit actually overhauls the city's current flawed system of expenditure and impact to create ongoing accountability on the metrics that really matter. An Opp Now exclusive.

Tracey Enfantino, chair of the Silicon Valley Business PAC--the leading group advocating for local small and medium businesses--is thumbs up on the Doan/Batra city homelessness audit. The main reason? According to Enfantino, the City Housing Dept has ignored basic business logic and ethics for decades, and the bill is way past due.

Continuing the bipartisan support for the proposed audit of SJ's homelessness expenditures, SCCAOR Gov't Affairs Director Gina Zari urges much greater transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in how the city addresses its homelessness crisis--which is clearly the #1 issue for residents. An Opp Now exclusive. 

Mayor Mahan underscores calls from CMs Doan and Batra for greatly improved transparency and efficacy re: city homelessness services, urges public dashboards to daylight program costs and impacts.

Six old supportive housing buildings can’t seem to find a home after both Los Angeles and the buyer walked away from a deal last month. The nonprofit set to take on the properties didn’t have a plan for addressing social services and code violations, said the city. The nonprofit for its part balked at millions of dollars in repairs, and major operating losses. Liam Dillon writes via California Political Review.

Momentum grows for implementing a comprehensive audit of how City of SJ spends millions upon millions of local taxpayer dollars on homelessness programs--spends that appear to have zip impact on solving the problem. Shane Patrick Connolly of the Santa Clara County GOP and Tobin Gilman, board member of Families and Homes SJ, chime in. An Opp Now exclusive.