SF's Mayor London Breed said the troubled suburb to the north will launch a much more vigorous crackdown on homeless encampments beginning next month. "Thank goodness for the Supreme Court," Breed said, re: SCOTUS' Grant's Pass decision. Maggie Angst at the Chronicle reports.
Read MoreYesterday's rent control advocates are suddenly getting cold feet regarding statewide caps on rental prices, as they realize belatedly that their market-busting schemes have constrained new housing development, exacerbating cost of living and homelessness. The usually liberal SF Grow Report says No to Prop 33.
Read MoreRegional housing tax. Parks tax. Measure E extension. Prop 5. SJ Unified parcel tax. The list could go on, but the threatening tide keeps rising: politicos are coming at Silicon Valley taxpayers with a tidal wave of new taxes--surging over Silicon Valley's already super high tax rates. But analysts suggest that residents may have had enough of high taxes and crummy services, and a new tax rebellion may be bubbling. Nicole Nixon explains in Capradio.
Read MoreTrade unions oppose statewide ballot initiative that would unleash local rent control, calling it anti-housing at a time when California needs to build more. Traditional political allies at odds in the fair suburb to the north. Adam Brinklow at the excellent Frisc website explores.
Read MoreCalifornia mandates a “housing first” model that places homeless people into permanent supportive housing where drug and alcohol use is allowed. Keith Humphreys of Stanford says sober living arrangements are required to help manage homelessness crisis.
Read MoreA $20 billion regional housing bond to raise property taxes for the next 54 years in Santa Clara and eight other counties has a somewhat strange definition of “affordability.” Since when did folks who make over $200,000 need a handout from working class homeowners, renters, and retirees on a fixed income? Will Sherman reports in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIt's dubious that two-thirds of Bay Area voters would agree to a whopping $20 billion regional bond that raises property taxes by thousands of dollars. They may not need to. Enter ACA 1, the bond measure’s shotgun bride, also on the ballot this November. ACA 1 aims to immediately reduce the bond threshold to 55%. In an OC Register op/ed, Jon Coupal of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Ass'n reports that local taxpayers have organized, and they might loudly object.
Read MoreLocal county Dem leaders complain about potential reforms to the misbegotten Prop 47's extreme decriminalization and get-out-of-jail-free agenda, saying it represents a "return to failed mass incarceration strategies". Citizens out in the real world of our city streets, however, beg to differ, as violence and mayhem continue to escalate. LA Times reports.
Read MoreAn Open Letter from San Jose residents to SJ City Council requesting that the council stop endorsing ballot initiatives is getting thumbs up from leaders across the local political spectrum. Shane Patrick Connolly of SCC GOP and Irene Smith of the Independent Leadership Group explain why they signed the Open Letter. An Opp Now Exclusive.
Read MoreThe pandemic lockdowns accelerated flight from states with onerous taxes and a high cost of living. The latest data from the Internal Revenue Service shows that the exodus has continued after life got back to quasi-normal. And CA's revenue drain--led by Silicon Valley--is the hardest hit. The WSJ reports.
Read MorePublic transit experts warn that investing in struggling transit systems’ expansion while ridership remains low could be a recipe for financial disaster, as these expansions may lack the future ridership to cover the cost of their growth in the future. Kenneth Schrupp explains in The Center Square.
Read MoreAs tent cities filled with homeless people proliferated in West Coast communities in recent years, elected politicians dealt with the problem by passing the buck, saying they were tied by a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prohibitions on homeless encampments amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court has taken that excuse away. Stephane Eide of the Manhattan Institute explains.
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