CalMatters’s Yue Stella Yu reports that demographics could signal an unexpected destiny: a younger, more right-leaning Latino electorate in California.
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If voters' Prop 13 protections are clearly under threat, they'll push back, says HJTA Comms VP Susan Shelley. In this Opp Now exclusive Q&A, she recalls how Prop 5’s proponents claimed it wasn’t a tax, and they were “just asking questions”—but, she says, voters saw right through that tangled, deceptive messaging: although outspent, HJTA’s “shoestring” campaign helped safeguard communities across the state from gov't overreach.
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Concluding our Opp Now exclusive Election '24 series, SJ Housing Commissioner Roberta Moore rejects the notion that ideological polarization is just a fact we must accept in Silicon Valley—pointing instead to common goals we can all get behind (gov't accountability, anyone?).
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Since 2021, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya—Stanford prof of Medicine—has stared down efforts to silence and cancel his fact-based critiques of the medical and gov't establishments' COVID responses. His positions have been wholly vindicated over time, and now he has been nominated with much acclaim to lead the National Institute of Health (NIH). Here at Opp Now, we're proud to be the only local media source to give Dr. J's since-validated views airtime back in June 2021—and re-post our exclusive interview with him, in which he debunked inaccurate claims about COVID response in the SJ Merc's "Lessons Learned" recap.
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With the incoming Trump administration planning to defund California High-Speed Rail, it’s time for local transit officials to revisit the already weak case for extending HSR and Caltrain from 4th and King Street in San Francisco 1.3 miles to Salesforce Transit Center. Below, an Opp Now exclusive analysis from Contra Costa Taxpayers Association prez Marc Joffe.
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In the wake of Election ‘24, Opp Now contributors wonder if State gov't might fix its $68 bn deficit with smarter budgeting (um, it's about time)—or keep throwing taxpayers’ cash to flashy but trivial projects. An Opp Now exclusive featuring: local realtor Mark Burns, past mayor Lydia Kou, transit expert Tom Rubin, and HJTA's Susan Shelley.
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Fiscal woes are not unique to Bay Area cities (lookin' at you, Portola Valley). The Los Angeles Times editorial board notes that the city is teetering on the edge of a fiscal emergency, with its finances in “dire” condition and no money to cover unplanned expenses.
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Boondoggle transit projects. Overbearing environmental reqt's. (And that's just the tip of the iceberg.) In this exclusive, Opp Now contributors suggest changes in gov't at the city, county, state, and federal level could mean less Fed funding for HSR and BART's extension—and “aggressive deregulation” on local water/energy. More comments, below, from: Cato Institute's Marc Joffe, CPC's Edward Ring, Midcoast Community Council's Gus Mattammal, and SVTA's Pierluigi Oliverio.
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The GrowSF Report, self-styled centrists, breaks down results from the recent election in the hipster suburb to the North and finds a pivot from extremism to common sense.
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Prop 5 may have been a wealthy, well-dressed suitor (boasting millions in campaign funding), but SCC voters were smart to decline its tax-raising proposal, say Opp Now contributors in this exclusive. More analyses, below (on Election '24 flubs, surprises, and encouragements)—from Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio, Midcoast Community CM Gus Mattammal, and CFABO's Steve Heimoff.
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“We're here to put a dent in the universe," said Steve Jobs, famously, in 1985. "Otherwise why else even be here?” Below, SF entrepreneur and venture capitalist Om Malik ponders one quality that sets the Valley apart—our “eternal,” ever-persevering optimism. Malik's blog post follows.
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About 100 years ago, SJ CoC commissioned a film on the wonders of “The Valley of Heart's Delight” (later edited for TV in '62). Go ahead: reheat your leftover turkey, get comfy, and get whisked to the 1920's—where families are busily harvesting prunes, taking trips via automobile, and feeling that “anything is possible” in San Jose. Excerpts (transcribed) from the 1962 version, below.
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