Bay Area voters are being sold a new story: save transit, prevent “catastrophic” service cuts, keep the region moving. That’s the public pitch behind SB 63, the “Connect Bay Area” sales-tax campaign heading for the November 2026 ballot. So says Los Altos Institution fellow and wunderkind contributor Athan Joshi in an Opportunity Now exclusive op-ed.
Read MoreThe common understanding of a "right" is that it's something neither governments nor other people can take away from you. It's inalienable. It doesn't mean it's something your gov't is obliged to give you. Robert Valdez at Forbes contends that housing is what it has always been understood as: a commodity, and we should be focused on making it cheaper.
Read MoreBay Area's premier tax-and-spend concert series –Taxapalooza –announces 2026 headliners. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreExtending his ongoing efforts to jack SJ residents' tax burden even higher, SJ Mayor Mahan on Jan. 13 voted to oppose the "Save Prop 13" ballot initiative. And, yes, he was joined by his cadre of faux fiscal conservatives, CMs Casey, Doan and Mulcahy. They also voted to support the upcoming tax bailouts of the region's flailing, nearly bankrupt transit agencies. Opp Now roving contributor Tobin Gilman reports on Nextdoor.
Read MoreNobody’s arguing a city can’t survive year-to-year by deferring maintenance and raising taxes. But Mark Moses, author of The Municipal Financial Crisis, cautions that if Silicon Valley cities fixate on this year’s budget cycle, they risk ignoring the “compounding burden” of underlying, unaddressed liabilities. This could mean major service cuts by the end of the decade. An Opportunity Now exclusive warning for 2026.
Read MoreLocal governments’ aggressive tax, spend, and regulate agenda is already pushing tech innovators to greener pastures, says San Francisco Libertarian Party Chair Starchild. But what if policies to restrict AI and immigration intensify the exodus? An Opportunity Now exclusive 2026 prediction.
Read MoreSan Jose social media contributor MamaMilz reports on X that the alleged suspect in a sexual assault on a 15 year-old female student walking to school was, in fact, a resident at one of the city’s much ballyhooed interim homelessness shelters (One Branham Lane). Curiously, leading city officials and the Mercury News failed to mention this salient fact in their coverage and comments on the attack. The suspect also has a previous sexual assault conviction. From X.
Read MoreDowntown developer Gary Dillabough suggests that homeless vandals are trashing the properties he wants to improve in SJ's struggling downtown. SJ Mercury reports.
Read MoreSan Jose's belated turn away from Permanent Supportive Housing is not unique: In city after city, county after county, and state after state, Americans have turned away from the idealistic but empty promises of Housing First advocates and toward commonsense policies. But Housing First advocates stubbornly refuse to acknowledge how their failed policies have caused untold misery--and have lost both the argument and their own credibility. National Review reports.
Read MoreCalifornia is not only the home of innovative technology; sadly, it is also the home of innovative tax ideas. The latest bad new idea, says Marc Joffe of the California Policy Center in a CA Globe article, is a one-time billionaire wealth tax levied on a retroactive basis--which could have disastrous consequences for CA's already beleaguered budget.
Read More“There have been so many fees and taxes that have driven out all the developers,” says Silicon Valley Business Alliance’s Johnny Khamis. He’s hopeful that rolling back fees will increase building, not just downtown high-rises but throughout San Jose. Will voters keep trusting the tax hikers who still haven’t fixed housing, health care, transportation or mental health services? An Opportunity Now exclusive.
Read MoreCA Assembly 28 candidate Carol Pefley looks forward to a 2026 characterized by an end to gaslighting and systemic misgovernment, and a statewide rebirth of accountability, growth, and community spirit. An Opp Now exclusive.
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