In a cornerstone Medium essay, President of the United Housing Alliance, Irene Smith, JD, PhD contends that perhaps the most significant factors driving unaffordability emanate from City Halls all around Silicon Valley and the State. These include a spiderweb of often unnecessary and complicated regulations that drive up costs to providers and renters alike. Below, Smith lists her perspective on the Top 10 cost increases to housing providers that drive unaffordability.
Read MoreIt’s not a club you want to join: cities that could break past 11% sales tax rate this November. The regressive half-cent transit tax for boondoggle bailouts wants to soak the poor and blast small businesses in Oakland and Berkeley.
Read MoreUnder pressure from a nascent taxpayer revolt, Sacto Dems chose to advance an initiative that supports the 2/3 voter threshold for local taxes. Lance Christensen of the California Policy Center unpacks the big conclusions.
Read MoreExtravagant BART bailout would drive Gilroy sales tax over 10%. Plus, does Gilroy even benefit from these vast transit system expenditures?
Read MoreJust weeks after the SJ City Council harrumphed their opposition to the Local Taxpayers' Act initiative, Gov. Newsom and huge majorities in CA Senate and Assembly voted to forge ahead on the initiative's key element: new local taxes should require a 66% majority. Jon Coupal of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Ass'n explains the key recent developments below.
Read MoreThose mostly empty light rail trains trundling down the tracks are actually environmental menaces, claims author and transit expert Randal O’Toole. He revealed some inconvenient transit truths last weekend at a seminar hosted by SHIFT Bay Area, here summarized by AI.
Read MoreDemocratic Socialists' sweep in NYC elections this week highlights the growing influence of the far-left movement in the Silicon Valley political scene.
Read MoreYesterday's (June 23) SJ Council vote advancing the idea of Ranked Choice Voting for (special) elections was seen by many as a classic example of Incrementalism. This is a process by which major systemic changes are achieved through a series of small and politically viable steps that camouflage sweeping overhauls likely to be opposed by the populace. Concepts from Thea Snow, LinkedIn.
Read MoreBay Area voters are being asked to pass a half-cent sales tax increase this November to keep transit agencies like VTA on the rails. But what if VTA doesn’t need a rescue? Mark Joffe of CocoTax explains. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe Mayors of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Campbell, Saratoga, and Milpitas ask Speaker Rivas for a temporary halt to the flood of new state housing demands and policies, so they can figure out what works and what doesn't--and save their staffs from administrative overload. Edited May 7, 2026 letter below.
Read MoreMerc says: "A Santa Clara County civil grand jury report sharply criticized the VTA’s handling of the nearly $13 billion San Jose BART extension." Below, the latest list of VTA costly flubs.
Read MoreBefore yesterday’s 9-2 vote to oppose taxpayer protections, San Jose officials were forced to peddle some blatant falsehoods to justify their attack on taxpayer rights. We caught up with HJTA’s Susan Shelley who made quick work of the council’s wild disinformation-palooza…
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