In an Opportunity Now exclusive series, local leaders weigh in on what this election cycle reveals about the bigger issues shaping Silicon Valley’s direction. We caught up with former SJ Councilmember and SVBA President Johnny Khamis, who marvels at voters’ trust in government no matter how dubious a tax hike may be:
A group of neighbors and friends have discovered several major dangerous wood blockages that have been allowed to build up in Coyote Creek. However, because of different property owners (sometimes the City of San Jose, sometimes Valley Water, sometimes private individuals, etc) – as well as differing opinions about whether the blockages constitute a flood threat and who is responsible for flood control — none of the parties are willing to take responsibility for clearing these blockages.
CoCo Tax VP Denise Kalm joins an Opportunity Now exclusive series looking at the bigger issues behind this November’s election. She warns of how persistent tax hikes move the state further away from affordability, and the devastating costs of wasteful government:
What does this November’s election say about where the state is going? As part of an Opportunity Now exclusive series, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal warns that a move toward even higher taxes and regs could further hollow out the middle class. He says an electorate so under informed by California’s struggling school system only perpetuates the downward spiral:
First, our local chamber raised eyebrows when they lined up with DSA on Prop 5. That was just the start; they're teaming up again in support of a regressive sales tax bid to bail out floundering transit agencies. Proletaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Former governor candidate Thunder Parley unpacks the Chamber's weak claims supporting RTM and finds a whole lot of deflection and double talk, in this exclusive q and a.
Counter-narrative result: data center buildout between 2015 and 2024 *reduced* electricity prices in America
In an Opportunity Now exclusive series, we’re asking thought leaders about the bigger picture behind this fall’s election, and what direction California is heading in. Manhattan Institute fellow Tim Rosenberger opines:
Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg wrote an op-ed for the Merc complaining about Prop 43, a November ballot measure that would make “citizens initiative tax increases” harder to pass. Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Ass'n Susan Shelley daylights how Ellenberg's oppo to voter thresholds for new taxes reveals governance and historical illiteracy
