As an antidote to biased local South Bay media, the San Mateo Daily Journal offers thoughtful, balanced reporting of RM4's ballot language errors and why families making more than $200k per year might receive subsidies.
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At at an encampment photo-op in LA, Gov. Newsom issued a sharp funding threat to cities too slow, or unwilling to get more aggressive about remediating dangerous homeless public camping. Newsom said he would start taking funds away from cities and counties which are not doing enough. Tran Nguyen at LA Daily News reports.
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The irony was delicious: BAHFA last week was compelled to admit it had been peddling prejudicial and inaccurate information in its RM4 ballot language. So the Merc played defense for BAHFA by employing--you guessed it--a bushel of bias of its own in its coverage of the walkback. An Opp Now exclusive media analysis by FOON (Friend of Opp Now) Susie Murillo.
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Former SJ CM and fiscal responsibility leader Johnny Khamis spoke with local TV regarding the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) admission that it wildly lowballed (by more than $240 million) annual costs to taxpayers in the mammoth, misguided regional housing bond.
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The on-the-ball SF Standard digs into the numbers about where all the homeless people SF is bussing outa town end up. And--no surprise--the most popular destinations are California cities.
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Talk about misinformation. The discredited Bay Area Housing Finance Authority yesterday admitted that they'd misrepresented in ballot language the annual cost to taxpayers of the mammoth bond by (hold on) more than $240 million (you read that right) per year. A press release from the opposition group explains how the fiasco went down, and what other false claims are being investigated.
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Polling finds insufficient support for new park taxes, and city officials say citizens are increasingly fed up with constant increases to local cost of living. The Merc's report surveys the situation, and is excerpted below.
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It sure looks like California is splitting into two groups. One, cities and counties taking heed of Gov. Newsom's call to ameliorate the unsafe conditions in homeless encampments, as enabled by the recent SCOTUS decision. And two, those who remain stuck in the pre-Grants Pass world. Fresno Bee continues its superior reporting and suggests that Fresno County has opted for #1.
Read MoreWhy did BAHFA have to pay pollsters up to $260/hour to explore the viability of RM4? If only to discover that it has--surprise--a very narrow path to victory? If voters approve RM4, BAHFA promises strict oversight of the $20 billion housing bond. Yet early signs are not encouraging, as even efforts to promote the measure have begun to burn a hole in the agency’s pocket. Documents obtained by Opp Now give a peek into BAHFA’s disconcerting spending habits. An Opp Now exclusive.
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It was like Christmas in late July when San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo invited constituents to an imaginary RM4 unwrapping session over Zoom: how should San Mateo spend its portion of the regional housing bond? For a meeting billed as “informational,” its announcement was inauspicious. The Opp Now team discovers that the email magically doubled the number of units RM4 would build. It also left out a troubling disparity—San Mateo could pay the region more than it gets back. An Opp Now exclusive.
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The exceptional Heather Knight reports for the New York Times that as SF starts to roll out a more vigorous strategy for sweeping inhumane homeless encampments, they're finding complications: unhoused who refuse offers of shelter (up to 2/3ds, says Breed) and drug crimes.
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Southern California pols are split over the impact of the recent SCOTUS decision allowing cities to enforce no-camping laws. LA Mayor Bass is worried LA's less aggressive approach to clearing encampments will result in neighboring cities sending their homeless to the City of Angels. Long Beach Mayor and Orange County Supes say Grants Pass adds a needed tool to their homeless plan. The LA Daily News reports.
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