When new flight routes started to rattle the skies above Sunnyvale and Cupertino, one local activist led the charge to push back. A voice for residents who felt helpless, Tony Guan and his grassroots team spent years fighting federal bureaucracies, to restore some measure of peace and quiet. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreIn 2026, innovation spurred by Silicon Valley will bring sci-fi closer to reality, suggests Peter Verbica. But as airborne Joby cabs and Amazon drones deliver us from inconvenience, so too might technology help the taxman get creative. The GOP candidate for CA’s 19th congressional district also warns that class divides and ubiquitous surveillance could subordinate the rights of the citizen. An Opportunity Now exclusive look ahead.
Read MoreA scaled-down measure to Save Prop 13 could make it on the CA ballot this year, says Jon Coupal. It would repeal real estate transfer taxes above .11%, and raise the bar for local special taxes to a 2/3 majority vote. In this Opportunity Now exclusive 2026 forecast, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association President fears CA politicians will continue to manipulate the ballot process and drive cities toward bankruptcy.
Read MoreNet-net: SJ Council's "Housing Day" was a continuation of the city's small-ball approach to a big league crisis. An Opportunity Now exclusive.
Read MoreHere's the standard narrative: the state’s transit systems are still struggling because of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Therefore, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Muni and other public systems need a state bailout and higher sales taxes to avoid severe service cutbacks – and carry them over until ridership levels return to pre-pandemic levels. Pacific Research Institute explains how the narrative is bogus--that Bay Area transit is systemically flawed, and more cash won't solve its problems.
Read MoreHousing development is notoriously difficult in California, with every project forced to hurdle over plenty of byzantine obstacles. Despite the complicated and often drawn-out process, Riverside County has managed to increase its apartment stock significantly in the past year, adding thousands of units, while SJ and SF lag. SF Gate reports.
Read MoreBay 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.
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