☆ Supe Abe-Koga ignores cost/benefit analysis in an economically illiterate defense of disgraced Housing First policies

 

The burning of the Amazon Rainforest is a classic example of a common flaw in local government thinking--considering only the benefits of an action, regardless of its price. Image by Amazônia Real from Manaus AM, Brasil, CC BY 2.0

 

One of the biggest problems baked into Silicon Valley progressive governance is the systemic inability to consider the impacts of the high costs of their pet projects. District 5 Supervisor Margaret. Abe-Koga provides a classic example of metrics-free thinking. We unpack. An Opp Now exclusive. 

We hear this all the time:

"Government is not like business."

"You gotta give politicians a break, they are required to make compromises."

"Accountability should be determined by the voters, not city staff."

All of these excuses for local gov't foolishness are linked by a common intellectual and organizational failure: an ostrich-like refusal to consider costs in policy planning, and a rhetorical emphasis only on easy-to-see benefits.

This lack of accountability manifests in a regional political and governing culture that studiously avoids setting data-based objectives upon which the success or failure of policy can be judged.

County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga provides a useful example of this metrics-free, unbusinesslike approach to policy in a recent editorial arguing for the continuation of failed Housing First policies in Silicon Valley. In the piece, Abe-Koga sticks to the No Cost Playbook, as her formulation employs:

  • A lot of hand waving.

  • A lot of hot-button language.

  • A lot of blame-shifting...

But most important:

  • Nary an acknowledgement of the cost side of Housing First's fiasco. There's no success metric linking benefits to costs to determine why Housing First makes sense to her. And not a single attempt to prove, with comparative analysis, why she thinks Housing First outperforms other approaches to homelessness, such as transitional tiny home communities and large-scale congregate shelters.

Simply put, Abe-Koga uses the rhetoric of a non-profit advocate (suspiciously similar to something ChatGPT would write) and not the language of a leader focused on being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

We hope her piece is preserved for future generations by the Smithsonian as a clear example of the degraded nature of social-media and AI-influenced argumentation, circa 2025.

--CJE for the Opp Now team

This weekend's new stories:

When citizens feel gov't is insular and ignoring their will, the center cannot hold. Diligent.com explores how local gov't can build accountability by regaining lost trust.

James Lehman, MSW, in Empoweringparents.com says blame-casting and acceptance of excuses by parents empower bad behavior by children--and stop kids from learning responsibility and goal-setting. A lesson for SV voters? 

André Carlos Busanelli Aquino argues in Taylor & Francis online that local government reform--by definition--is ground zero in the movement for democratic accountability globally. 

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christopher escher