“Avoiding layoffs is not in the interest of the taxpayers,” says Mark Moses, and it’s “too late to find savings from efficiency gains this year.” Instead, he argues, San Jose should begin a long-term approach to financial health: management should slowly regain control of the workforce, and sunset wasteful programs. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreWhile Dem gubernatorial candidates cherrypick policy tweaks to address the state's eternal housing crisis, Blockchain Real Estate gets to the nonpartisan heart of the matter with a full list of issues for SJ that need to be addressed at the city or state level.
Read MoreA recent Spotlight article frames San Jose’s $65 million shortfall as a short-term balancing act, but nobody’s asking how to solve the structural deficit. So says municipal finance guru Mark Moses, author of The Municipal Financial Crisis. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A response.
Read MoreAccording to Forbes, MoneyGeek's fifth annual report on the safest cities in America (2025 report) places SJ 159th out of 315 municipalities, behind San Diego, Anaheim, Irvine, and Riverside in CA alone.
Read MoreWhile one Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local waxes eloquent about the evils of wealth inequality, its sister locals are pushing regressive sales tax measures in multiple counties. The unifying principle is not egalitarianism but more dues revenue for the union. Marc Joffe of Contra Costa Taxpayers' explores.
Read MoreThrough widespread collective bargaining, market failures can be corrected, decades of income inequality may be reversed, and economic growth can be supported. The Workrisenetwork explains.
Read MoreHarvard Business Review says cooperative management/worker strategies make for a better business and a better society.
Read MoreLower tariffs combined with an improved regulatory environment could be good for business this year, says Shane Patrick Connolly. Locally, however, he wonders if voters will finally push back against Santa Clara County’s “moribund” yet tax-ravenous government. An Opportunity Now exclusive forecast for 2026.
Read MoreChinese authors X. Zhu and M. Zhang explore how China aimed to reimagine labor relations as the county quickly transformed to a more market-oriented system.
Read MoreRealtor Mark Burns worries Santa Clara County will keep hiking taxes instead of containing expenses, while realtor Gina Tse-Louie argues that voters’ rights have been systematically dismantled by the state government. She hopes an initiative to address the “death tax” will make it on the ballot this year. An Opportunity Now exclusive look ahead to 2026.
Read MoreUnelected transit and housing bodies are scheming for more control, but the Plan Bay Area 2050+ has serious problems. So says Former Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou, who argues that along with its 37 negative environmental impacts, the PBA 2050+ can’t be paid for without more borrowing and higher taxes. An Opportunity Now exclusive 2026 forecast.
Read MoreAs the Bay Area’s most vulnerable are pushed further to the brink by a fraying safety net this year, regional planners will flail about for unworkable fixes. So says Susan Kirsch of Catalysts for Local Control, who argues that, instead of supporting Plan Bay Area 2050+, which uses fantastical population predictions, local leaders should restore local control. An Opportunity Now exclusive 2026 prediction.
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