The vast majority of local officeholders (we polled SJ City Council and Sta Clara Cnty Supervisors) refused to communicate to their constituents their position on the statewide abolition of single-family zoning bill (SB9), recently signed into law by Governor Newsom. Four SJ councilmembers, however, did wade into the controversial water: CM's Davis, Foley, Mahan, and Peralez. Their statements are below.
Read MoreTime was, Palo Alto was renowned as the place for hot startups, but no more. Greg Tanaka, Palo Alto Council Member and US Congressional Candidate for California District 18, criticizes a vague new business tax proposition as "a solution looking for a problem," noting that the council hasn't even identified the specific need for the new tax. Interviewed by Pierluigi Oliverio of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers' Association, in an Opportunity Now exclusive.
Read MoreLocal parents may successfully push back against their school districts' extremist, Critical Race Theory-inspired teachings. But Tony Woodlief, author of I Citizen, argues that those victories could prove pyrrhic, as big, left-wing bureaucracies will swallow up the reform in spreadsheets and evasive maneuvering. The real solution: cut down the size of the school districts to a manageable, accountable size. First published in the Wall Street Journal.
Read MoreThat's the headline chosen by the noted George Skelton, not us, in describing the impact of SB9's passage on Santa Clara County neighborhoods. Skelton is responding to the bait-and-switch offered by housing advocates who told us that SB9 was a necessary game-changer to increase housing stock, only to suggest within minutes after its passage that it's no big deal--and if you want real change consider San Jose's radical Opportunity Housing proposal. Originally in the L.A. Times.
Read MoreEdward Ring at the California Policy Center takes a look at California’s “Transportation Plan 2050” and finds it a depressing journey into groupthink {perhaps he's attended some of the city's or county's "community meetings"}. He contends it is a bland product of endless meetings between “stakeholders” with the only common thread being a terror of contributing anything that might violate the pieties of climate alarm and the desperate need for “equity.”
Read MoreHere's a quick glimpse into the issues and dangers our police force experience every day--and night. From the Twitter account of Paul Joseph of the SJPD describing the evening of Septermber 11, 2021.
Read MoreIncreasingly, local progressive politicians are making wild, public race- and gender-based accusations that are demonstrably and transparently false. But local media doesn't hold them to account, and influential institutions cave under fear of being accused of Thought Crimes. Forensic attorney and linguistic scholar Dr. Alan Perlman explores the long-term impact on local political culture, and how it can be reversed. An Opportunity Now exclusive interview.
Read MoreCM Sylvia Arenas raised eyebrows earlier this year when she harshly questioned historical designations for homes in SJ's Garden Alameda neighborhood because, over half a century ago, the neighborhood had race-based covenants applied to it. Arenas inaccurately accused the current neighborhood and neighbors of racism and ongoing segregation (here, here, here, and here). Mayoral hopeful CM Dev Davis represents the Garden Alameda district as its councilmember. However, when a home in the Naglee Park neighborhood was recently considered for historical preservation, Arenas supported it. According to the City of San Jose's Housing Dept., Naglee Park properties--including the home being granted historical preservation--had precisely the same type racial covenants applied to them as did the homes in Garden Alameda. Keen-eyed observers could not help but notice that Naglee Park is represented by mayoral hopeful CM Raul Peralez, whom Arenas has endorsed in the mayoral race. The Merc covered the story.
Read MoreThere was a time when Silicon Valley politics was characterized by an alliance between labor and business. Sure, it was often a creaky alliance but it was a workable one focused on the goal of building out our Valley in a way that benefited everyone. Those days of ascendant free market capitalism sometimes appear lost in the divisiveness of Woke politics and Shakedown regulations from local government. Samuel Gregg at The Spectator opines that enthusiasm for free markets comes and goes and could be ready for a resurgence.
Read MoreRemember when workers of the world needed to unite? That they had nothing to lose but their chains? With the broad real-world failure of Marxism and Communism, radical thinkers needed a new set of victims to spark their longed-for revolutionary fires. Welcome to Critical Theory and Wokism, staples in local progressive's arsenal of divisive politics and inaccurate rhetoric. Mike Gonzales at the Heritage Foundation, via the Claremont Review of Books, explores.
Read MoreModernity has created its own health crises--and cities have been at the center of those crises. Diseases such as COVID-19 and environmental disasters have caused tremendous damage and loss of life. Joel Kotkin puts 2020 and 2021 into perspective in City Journal.
Read MoreWages are up, especially for local low-income workers but they're not bringing any relief as the cost for basic subsistence items soars: food prices are up 5.7%--led by meat, poultry, and egg prices up more than 10%. George Avalos at the Merc and Sarah Cambon at the Wall Street Journal outline how undisciplined federal spending takes away whatever gains the market is providing workers.
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