SJ residents recently reported receiving an online poll from City Manager Jennifer Maguire exploring resident feelings about a tsunami of expensive new city taxes. The potential levies range from upgrading SAP Center to fixing storm drains. This type of polling is often used by cities to determine what messages might help a particular proposed tax increase succeed in an election. A summary of the poll's new tax 'n' spend aspirations below.
Read MoreWashington Policy Center highlights Mariya Frost’s article on Sioux Falls’ SAM Flex app, powered by Pantonium’s tech. It ditches fixed routes for on-demand bus rides, cutting costs and CO2 while boosting rider access. With similar tech in nearby Sacramento, Silicon Valley has the opportunity to adopt this private-sector innovation and take its transit to another level.
Read MoreIf you thought it was over with the bait-n-switch Measure A, think again. November, 2026 will see SB63 on the ballot--a deceptive measure which aims to hide the bailout of the region's bankrupt and unsustainable mass transit systems under the guise of "road repairs." An Opp Now exclusive collated by our editorial team.
Read MorePre-approving modular design libraries. Waiving impact fees for workforce housing. And–yes—keeping CEQA under control. SF Briones Society’s Jay Donde and former Hollister mayor Victor Gomez lay out how local gov’t might streamline the building process—and save residents thousands along the way. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreSJ CM Michael Mulcahy sang the praises of the impact of bankrupt county hospitals in his district as he endorsed the "bait-n-switch" Measure A. Problem is: Mulcahy ignores the negative impact big hospital developments can (and do) have on local residents. Experts and National Community Reinvestment Coalition daylight what Mulcahy doesn't see.
Read MoreCounty Assessor finalist Rishi Kumar has elevated the cause of relief for tax-burdened Santa Clara County residents in his campaign. He advocates for property tax exemptions for seniors as a key part of his candidacy. The local county tax-and-spend cabal, however, is clutching their pearls over his reform ideas, arguing--hilariously--that the county assessor should just be a faceless spreadsheet jockey, and not work for county taxpayers. Jose Esteves, former Milpitas mayor, sets the record straight and highlights how Kumar's tax reform advocacy is on target and sorely needed.
Read MoreSJ CM Michael Mulcahy only spent less than two minutes endorsing Measure A sales tax increase (ostensibly to bail out the county's bankrupt hospitals). But in that brief time, he further diminished his pro-business credentials by misreading the impacts of big hospitals on local business community. Experts (including the National Community Reinvestment Coalition) unpack some of Mulcahy's dubious assertions
Read MoreShooting incident at Valley Fair draws new attention to geographic crime inequities in SJ and Silicon Valley. GISGeography shows which neighborhoods are least safe.
Read MoreDriverless vehicles are now transforming mobility in the Bay Area. While this technology promises to make getting around both cheaper and more convenient, local political and transit leaders are not adequately incorporating autonomous vehicles into their thinking and instead perpetuating the high-cost model of transportation through the 2030s. Marc Joffe explains in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreWhile “unelected regional bodies” promise their Plan Bay Area 2050+ will improve affordability, SHIFT-Bay Area says it doesn’t add up: the transit-heavy, forced urbanization scheme has no off-ramp, and it estimates population growth amidst an exodus. In a newsletter summarizing SHIFT's findings, CoCo Taxpayer Ass'n warns the $1.5 trillion dream isn't yet covered by existing revenues, so new taxes would cost $3,938 per person, per year.
Read MoreHow’s this for irony: a city bureau, taxpayer-funded, lobbying the state to weaken Prop 13 protections and make it easier to pass more taxes. If San Jose’s serious about retaining residents—says former Charter Review commissioner Tobin Gilman—it should start with reforming the IGR (SJ's lobbying arm). And protecting our hard-earned money. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreCato Institute's Randal O’Toole argues that high-speed rail is obsolete tech. It’s slower than jets, pricier than driving, and a fiscal flop that'd bury America in trillions of debt for paltry gains. With California's rotting rail project now lurching past $100B, Silicon Valley taxpayers might wonder: why fund this broken-down bureaucracy any longer?
Read More
