Measure A money can be spent on anything. But even if it does get sunk into SC County’s health system, well, why? SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly asks why the county overleveraged into failing facilities when 94% of CA hospitals are private. There’s a market if the Supes wanted to trim the fat. Instead, they recently rejected an offer on O’Connor. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreEverybody knows that SJUSD public schools will start to shutter soon, as alternative schooling and a crashing birth rate drag down enrollment. So says John Muir Middle School SSC member Shane Lewis in an Opp Now exclusive Q&A: rather than hike taxes for “self-preservation,” the district might learn a thing or two from charter schools about accountability and healthy competition.
Read MoreIf residents think a 5/8-cent sales tax hike will save county hospitals, they’ve got another thing coming. So says HJTA VP Susan Shelley: the cynical Supes made it a general tax, needing just 50% approval. SCC GOP Chair Dave Johnson calls it a deceptive maneuver that fuels profligate, unaccountable spending. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreIf Measure A is supposed to address Medi-Cal limits, it’s “premature” says SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly: why not let funding shake out in the state legislature—before making Santa Clara County take one for the team? But is this even about the hospitals? Brierly says the county's wanted a new sales tax for “quite a while.” An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreFollowing critiques from Rishi Kumar and Dawn Davis, HJTA VP Susan Shelley says “there’s no such thing as a temporary tax in California.” SCC GOP Chair Dave Johnson agrees, noting the rapid special election means residents “won’t even know what hit them.” An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreHJTA’s Susan Shelley questions why Santa Clara County would raise sales taxes on struggling residents. If the issue is a 4–5% Medi-Cal shortfall, SCC GOP Chair Dave Johnson asks, is that really an “emergency”? He notes supervisors had no problem doubling hospital funding in recent years—now 50% of the county budget. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreSC Supes say the sky is falling on the county hospital system, and the only way out is yet another tax hike. But SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly wonders how catastrophic this so-called funding emergency really is. She warns that Measure A is a “regressive sales tax on the working poor who don’t rely on the county, who have insurance, and who follow the rules.” An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreMeasure A money can be spent on anything. But even if it does get sunk into SC County’s health system, well, why? SVTA Board Member Elizabeth Brierly asks why the county overleveraged into failing facilities when 94% of CA hospitals are private. There’s a market if the Supes wanted to trim the fat. Instead, they recently rejected an offer on O’Connor. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreSo say Gregg Dieguez (SHIFT-Bay Area) and Jan Soule (Silicon Valley Association of Conservative Republicans)—especially when it comes to “virtually bankrupt” yet overcharging local water, sewer, and transit agencies. Perhaps deficits aren’t—and shouldn’t be—inherent to the public sector, after all? More below in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreA 5/8 cent sales tax might not seem like much, but it’s part of a “death by a thousand cuts” for small and medium-sized businesses in Santa Clara County. So says SVBA Board Member and Treasurer Pat Waite, who argues Measure A will push prices up and hurt local businesses, forcing retailers with thin margins out of business—if they haven’t been shuttered already. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreCould CA’s skyrocketing costs to insure a home ever, you know, go down? According to United Housing Alliance’s Irene Smith and Manhattan Institute’s Tim Rosenberger, we need: proactive wildfire prevention, local gov’t championing older apartment buildings, + state-level advocacy. An Opp Now exclusive roundup.
Read MoreSC County Supes warn funding changes threaten county hospitals. But Dawn Davis, plaintiff in a suit against Measure A, points to chronic waste and degradation in the system. She marvels at O’Connor Hospital’s long wait times, despite county employees’ $1 million salaries and lavish artwork at SCVMC. Rather than squeeze the taxpayer, she asks, why not cut the fat? An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
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