☆ If overbearing Silicon Valley gov’t just stepped back a bit …
… how much might the market accomplish, especially re: making life affordable for locals? Taxpayer advocates Jon Coupal and Shane Patrick Connolly share some common-sense suggestions for our electeds in this Opp Now exclusive—relating to transit boondoggles, minimum wage debates, “boutique depts,” and more. Part of an ongoing affordability series.
Jon Coupal, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association president: Reduce or eliminate regulations. Municipalities in red states are much more affordable and only regulate when absolutely necessary.
Also, understand that public funds to transit projects are wasted dollars.
Shane Patrick Connolly, California Republican Party delegate, Log Cabin Republicans of Silicon Valley president: Most broadly, local governments must understand that their core mission is to deliver efficient, effective, affordable services to the public—not employ people.
My specific recommendations:
Eliminate rent control and other property-owner regulations that interfere with free markets.
Eliminate living wage requirements for entry-level jobs, and pay market or negotiated wages like other employers.
Deploy robust employee suggestion programs with financial rewards for individuals and teams that contribute to quantifiable, implementable cost savings, efficiency improvements, or improved services.
Streamline Development Services, and allow AI to enhance plan review processes and speed throughput.
Prepare form environmental clearances for large development areas to relieve builders from the most onerous aspects of environmental reviews and delays.
Save for planned expenses, and use accurate reserve studies with stochastic analysis to model conditions under various economic climates.
Audit departments for span-of-control, and compare those with similar governments in other states: does a department have too many highly-paid administrators and not enough people doing the actual service delivery or service procurement and monitoring?
Eliminate boutique departments/positions that cater to specific segments of the community (“The Office of [insert special interest] Affairs”), which ultimately divert resources from local governments’ core missions to the detriment of both the special interests and the public at large.
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