Santa Clara County Assessor candidate Bryan Do says that when the government faces a budget shortfall, the easy answer is almost always the same: raise taxes. Measure A, the County’s proposed 5/8-cent sales tax increase, is exactly that kind of “easy answer.” But just because it’s easy, says the East Side Union High Trustee, doesn’t make it right. An Opportunity Now exclusive op/ed.
Read MoreMayor Mahan and faux pro-business SJ CM's link arms with The Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America in endorsing the widely-panned Measure A. But George Casey, CM for District 10, sets them straight.
Read MoreCupertino Mayor Liangfang Chao and the City Council called out Santa Clara County’s “suspicious special-election timing,” says Purissima Hills Water District Director Brian Holtz. By voting to oppose the sales tax hike, Cupertino demonstrated “true leadership” says County Assessor candidate Rishi Kumar. Silicon Valley Business Alliance Treasurer Pat Waite commends the “principled stance against Measure A.” An Opportunity Now exclusive commentary.
Read MoreThe county Measure A campaign reveals deeply unethical impulses informing our local political ecosystem. Citizens need to demand better, or risk becoming enablers. Our Weekend Reading unpacks the issues in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreProf Deann Gayman of the University of Nebraska explores data which daylights a bracing fact: blood sport American politics makes supporters--not just pols--lose their ethical bearings, contributing to the deeply nihilistic behavior we see in our current Silicon Valley special election season.
Read MoreFor many voters, partisan loyalties override moral judgment, leading to the degraded political culture and corrupt politics we see in Silicon Valley. So says Associate Prof James Lemoine of the University at Buffalo’s Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
Read MoreA Harvard Business School professor turns the stage lights on the supporting cast that facilitates unethical acts in politics and business. And hey, it looks a lot like what we see when we look in the mirror. From Daniel Oberhaus in the Harvard magazine.
Read MoreThe No on Measure A campaign, chaired by County Assessor candidate Rishi Kumar, announced plans to file legal action against Santa Clara County following reports that the County used taxpayer dollars to distribute a mailer resembling campaign material promoting Measure A. Text of press release below.
Read MoreThe County of Santa Clara bought two hospitals and has created a budget issue by overspending, says Saratoga Vice Mayor Chuck Page. To make up for their indiscretions, the county is again turning to the taxpayer for a bailout: problem is, he says, the regressive Measure A sales tax will only hurt the people it’s supposed to help. And Opportunity Now exclusive commentary.
Read MoreYuri Perelman from the Eagle showcases journalists Tara Palmeri and Teddy Schleifer at American University tracing back Silicon Valley’s conservative pivot. Driven by figures like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, this right-leaning tech tide is the newest challenge for local leaders to navigate. Tech wealth fuels local political clout, so this shift is poised to cause clashes.
Read MoreIt “seems odd,” says SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly, that the DA would predict cuts to law enforcement if Measure A doesn’t pass. The feds already increased public safety spending, but now Santa Clara County supes want residents to pay even more? In this Opportunity Now exclusive rebuttal to comments in the Merc, Brierly says the massive county tax precludes cities from raising their own sales tax rates. Is San Jose’s leadership confident there won’t be a deficit in the next five years?
Read MoreEven if there were oversight for Measure A, it should be set up before election day, not after, says SVTA’s Elizabeth Brierly. But such a committee would likely be packed with insiders, she says, and provide no real accountability. In Part 2 of this Opportunity Now exclusive rebuttal to Silicon Vallely Leadership Group's (SVLG) endorsement, Brierly calls out the false choice about trauma care: there’s no reason a private hospital wouldn’t do just as good a job.
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