So SJ’s tentative agreement with the public sector unions may prevent a strike. But that’s “a very low bar,” says The Municipal Financial Crisis author Mark Moses in an Opportunity Now exclusive commentary: did the city surrender its authority in the deal? If so, why? CPC’s Lance Christensen points to a “conflict of interest” when councilmembers who are endorsed by the unions then ratify milestone agreements with the unions.

The state’s lavish handout regime comes at a cost -- ever increasing taxation that threatens the opportunity and prosperity that once made California attractive. So says former Monte Sereno Mayor Liz Lawler in an Opportunity Now exclusive comment for our ongoing election series: the tax-and-spend tyranny of Sacramento’s supermajority is matched only by voters’ willingness to endorse it.

When it comes to homelessness, cost of living, infrastructure, and expensive legacy transit systems, politicians have been strangely silent. So says former State Assembly candidate Ted Stroll in an Opportunity Now exclusive comment for our series leading up to this year’s election:

Our Susie Murillo takes a look at the debris from this year's campaign material and notes that everyone's infected by social media's Everpresent Now. An Opp Now exclusive.