Bay Area homeless policy advocates Irene Smith and Tom Wolf discuss why they believe CA's extreme Housing First approach (barrier-free Permanent Supportive Housing) harms our homeless neighbors and community. What if local pols pursued “middle ground” solutions instead? Part 2 of an Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAfter CA Community Colleges adopted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mandate for profs in 2023, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed suit for six faculty. As FIRE explains, below, CCC just changed their tune—saying they actually won't penalize anyone based on DEI viewpoint. (The lawsuit's been dismissed based on that promise.)
Read MoreGiven ongoing concern about the Bay Area’s failure to reduce homelessness, we sat down with two experts—SJ D3 Council candidate Irene Smith and Recovery Education Coalition's Tom Wolf—for a 4-part interview series. In part 1, they focus on the importance of interim housing and the prospects for large-scale shelters. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAs SJ Council gears up to figure out how to manage an upcoming $60m budget deficit, Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio explores the benefits of zero-based budgeting and a tighter focus on evolving citizen priorities. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreJoining a growing chorus of municipal officials from all across the political spectrum, Aurora, Colorado mayor Mike Coffman (who's actually spent time living in homeless encampments) reports what many have been saying for too long: Housing First's orthodoxies exacerbate the inhumanity of the homelessness crisis—and has to go. Perhaps Silicon Valley officials will take note. USA Today reports.
Read MoreCitizens for Fiscal Responsibility's chief Pat Waite offers SJ Council some tips on managing its $60m deficit. Spoiler alert: he recommends putting core services first. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreChatting with The Free Press, SF’s president of the Board of Supes (Rafael Mandelman) says progressives have gotta start prioritizing “basic gov’t services” before auxiliary social justice initiatives. Plus, Mandelman wonders if 2020-era changes—defund the police, anyone?—were even helpful.
Read MoreSJ City Council and Housing Dept recently raised eyebrows by gifting a local nonprofit a cool $5m to "preserve" some older affordable housing in ESJ. Turns out, such a strategy may run counter to Best Practices for cities that want to decrease the overall cost of living and housing. From Local Housing Solutions.
Read MoreJoin us, below, as we waft through reviews from Amazon/Goodreads (plus Opp Now’s resident English majors!) on three highly-rated anthologies from local poets.
Read MoreSilicon Valley's obsession with “fast” and “more” (news headlines, social media updates, gov't comm's) isn't leading us to better perspectives on the world, says LA Review of Books. Rather, this “onslaught of information” overwhelms and makes many prioritize hyperrealism over reality.
Read MoreSusan Dyer Reynolds of the excellent Voice of SF says the quiet part out loud: unaccountable nonprofits and virtue-signalling tech execs have blown through hundreds of millions on homelessness, to little effect.
Read MoreHopelessly late. Wildly over budget. And ridiculously over-hyped. California's High Speed Rail project may finally be sent back to the shed, unless new sources of funding are found, says local State Senator Dave Cortese. LA Times reports.
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