Posts in Special Reports
☆ Prop 1 and pregnancy centers: Experts weigh in

Clocking in at 78 words, California’s proposed constitutional amendment has more than perplexed locals and advocacy orgs. Opp Now has led journalistic efforts to investigate what Prop 1 means for late-term abortion legislation. In this installment, local constitutional lawyers/orgs parse Prop 1’s implications for pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ FUHSD board candidates dissect district’s successes

Ranked #9 in the Golden State, the Fremont Union High School District is a renowned leader in test scores, graduation rates, and course offerings. All FUHSD board candidates (Kou, Arness, Price, Kim, and Nakano-Matsumoto) identify how the district got to this point — and how they’ll continue cultivating success when elected. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Campbell USD board candidate scrutinizes “Keep schools clean” bond

CUSD board hopeful Vivian Mills critiques the latest-proposed districtwide bond measure: $96 million, to be dedicated to “leaky roofs” and other basic building maintenance. Mills questions the district’s historic lack of accountable spending, and why Measure T is overshadowing constituents’ concerns about student success. Candidates Nguyen, Freedman, Miller, Crownover, and Cohen have not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ CUHSD board candidates on overcoming divisiveness amidst political diversity

Campbell Union High School District board candidates James Kim and Elisabeth Halliday address pursuing unity on boards with ideologically diverse members. In the thick of contentious conversations around CUHSD board campaigns, Kim and Halliday emphasize that school boards must serve constituents first and foremost — not squabble and build petty divides. Other CUHSD candidates have not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Local progressives use Trump-like tactics to silence legit political debate

If you’re rolling your eyes at the over-the-top accusations made by local left wing advocates against moderate candidates in this election cycle, you’re not alone. The Opp Now team analyzes how local lefty advocates are, in fact, cribbing Big Lie tactics from The Trump Team in their unhinged 2022 campaign schemes. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Towards “less is more” city governance: MV Libertarian critiques zoning/housing law

Former Mountain View mayor and two-term councilmember John Inks sat down with Opp Now to discuss his view on local zoning and housing issues — including the dangers of historic home designation and authoritative approval processes. Inks also offers his “capsule version of Libertarianism,” and how it informs his policy approach. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ SCC Sheriff candidate on the need for transparent, accountable police depts

In a chat with Opp Now, Santa Clara Sheriff hopeful Bob Jonsen discusses how he would rectify, if elected, the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring’s (OCLEM) lack of collaborative oversight with independent reviewers. Candidate Kevin Jensen has not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive.

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☆ Libertarian Brian Holtz makes his case against land use restrictions

Brian Holtz — the Santa Clara County Libertarian Party Campaigns Committee chair — contends that citywide constraints on land use spike up housing prices, manufacture unnecessary scarcity, and invite discriminatory practices. Unpacking his Libertarian mindset towards governance, Holtz advocates for an end to onerous ordinances in areas like parking and lot minimums. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ CA’s Prop 1 late-term abortion polemics perpetuate

While advocacy organizations from multiple angles continue analyzing the State’s contentious (and confusing) SCA 10/Prop 1, Californian press remains, for the most part, oddly quiet. In the latest Opp Now exclusive, local attorneys and organizations interpret whether this bill would alter existing restrictions on late-term abortion operations. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Expert: Local school choice policies can emulate Arizona’s widely praised ESA programs—eventually

Ginny Gentles (co-founder of the Educational Freedom Center at the Independent Women’s Forum) responds to Dan Lips’ National Review article, which explains that parents are justifiably demanding public school reform, particularly expanded parental choice, amidst local schools’ academic failures. Gentles unpacks the challenges of modeling CA’s education system after states like Arizona (which leads the nation in educational savings account programs), as suggested by Lips. Adopting a local program may not be as simple as plug-and-play, but CA’s abundance of charter schools offers us a leg-up, says Gentles. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Lifelong Democrat sees abandonment of principles in SCC Dems' recent ousting of moderate candidates

Fred Tovar, Gilroy councilmember since 2016, was one of several longtime Democrats recently un-endorsed by the local Dem Party — for backing nonpartisan SCC supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis and Republican Gilroy councilmember Dion Bracco. Below, Tovar speaks with Opp Now about this troubling mission drift in the Dem Party, and how collaboration must trump polarization in local political movements. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver
☆ Local drug liberalization, through a Libertarian perspective

Mark Hinkle — former Libertarian Party Californian state chair and current Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association president — sat down with Opp Now to analyze drug legislation. Arguing for diminished local governance, Hinkle discusses the Libertarian perspective that all substances should be legalized, a policy stance recently rejected by Gov. Newsom. The first of an Opp Now series on Libertarian approaches to policy. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Special ReportsJax Oliver