Behind the scenes, Sacto appears to be following SF's example and getting more aggressive about alleviating the suffering at homeless encampments. The Sacramento Bee's exceptional "Reality Check" series explores.
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SF's Mayor London Breed has started offering SF homeless people a free bus ride outta town. Other big-city CA mayors worry that such aggressive actions may simply "shoo" the homeless to nearby cities with slower and more calibrated approaches than SF. Breed notes that SF's homelessness population is increasingly swelled by visitors from other cities. SF Chronicle reports.
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The negative press on the $20 Billion Housing Tax in Regional Measure 4 (RM4) on this fall's ballot is valid, says Gregg Dieguez of 20billionreasons.com, but that press often overlooks an underlying, fatal flaw in the affordable housing market. An Opp Now exclusive.
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A statement from the mayor’s office said the city’s “street response will consist of offers of support on a daily basis, targeted encampment resolutions, and coordinated efforts to prevent re-encampments and new areas from being encamped.” The exceptional SF Standard reports.
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Tom Wolf (twitter/x@twolf) is one of the Bay Area's most articulate observers of the homelessness crisis--as well as being a recovery advocate and director of West Coast Initiatives for the Foundation For Drug Policy Solutions. He is formerly homeless and in recovery. He says the recent SCOTUS decision as well as Newsom's homelessness directive daylight the flaws in our historic approach to homelessness. From the excellent TheVoiceSF website.
Read MoreAs VTA pushes to lock in $6 billion of federal support for Phase II of its Silicon Valley BART extension, a required evaluation of Phase I remains incomplete. Cato Institute’s Marc Joffe provides analysis in this Opp Now exclusive.
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They say children are the future, and so are bond repayments. Californians already rejected a school construction measure in 2020. This November they may once again answer “no” to a tax hike for the next generation. Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Assn daylights the disturbing data on Prop 2 in the Orange County Register: Prop 2’s $10 billion bond plus interest equals $18 billion, the union prices are 25-30% above market rate, and school districts will tax homeowners to pay the matching fund requirement.
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We know this has happened to you. You're killing some time on your phone, scrolling through some local headlines, maybe clicking on a story . And after reading one sentence, you think: "this is b.s." The BBC provides a helpful 7-point guide to identifying precisely what type of b.s. that is.
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Supe Ellenberg may wave away Newsom's enjoinments regarding our homeless neighbor's well-being as "not helpful," but the Governor's argument is rooted in a focus on the welfare and security of the unhoused. The LA Times reports.
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While County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg calls Gov. Newsom's request for SCC to get more serious about addressing unsafe encampments "not helpful," some Fresno County pols disagree, and start to debate more vigorous plans. Thaddeus Miller reports for the excellent Fresno Bee.
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California voters are running on empty. Without input from the electorate, Sacramento changed the rules to increase the state gas tax yearly and siphon much of the money away from infrastructure. The Taxpayer Protection Act would have let voters pump the breaks on any new tax increases—but the state removed it from the ballot. With nowhere else to turn, US Representative Michelle Steel’s OC Register op/ed asks state leadership to suspend the gas tax.
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Greg Tanaka, Palo Alto CM, chimes in on San Jose's debate about city councils taking positions on ballot initiatives that should be decided by the people. He says cities need to respect diversity of opinon and not sideline that diversity "in pursuit of artificial consensus." An Opp Now exclusive.
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