In a shocking act of political chicanery, county supervisors are considering a redrawn county electoral map that would effectively prohibit two already-announced candidates (not labor-backed, of course) from participating in the election by redistricting them out of the communities in which they are currently campaigning. Two-term San Jose councilmember Johnny Khamis is one of the potentially-banned candidates and explains the wild county exploits in an exclusive Opportunity Now interview.

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The follies continued at the Charter Review Commission (CRC) this week, as three commissioners whined loudly in local media that their insistence on adding policing, climate change, equity, and housing provisions to the CRC's work was subject to questions and deliberation. {The CRC is supposed to be exploring mayoral election cycle timing and mayoral powers}. The complainers claimed that the commission used "procedural attacks" to temper their far left, progressive agenda. In reality, those “procedural attacks” and “bureaucratic roadblocks” are more commonly known as "rules of order." They are used at all public meetings in San Jose and throughout most democratic countries. A friend of Opp Now reports from the CRC public meeting.

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San Jose's activist Housing Department is promoting COPA (Community Opportunity to Purchase Act), an extremist city intrusion into the local housing market that would disadvantage small property owners and systemically privilege the non-profit housing organizations that the Housing Dept funnels so much money to. The program has been roundly rejected by local business as an onerous and awkward corruption of market forces, as public comment at an October 25 public meeting revealed. Edited versions of comments and letters from that meeting are below.

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After more than a year of school closures, during which time children received substandard remote learning and SF Unified busied themselves with renaming the city's schools, local parents said "Enough is Enough." They have launched a recall petition that looks like it has a very good chance of success. Joanne Jacobs reports.

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Greg Tanaka, Palo Alto Councilmember and candidate for US Congress for Silicon Valley, provides a business leader's perspective on the roundly-criticized County Supervisors' Bonus for Bureaucrats program, and emphasizes the importance of aligning workplace incentives with an enterprise's mission and goals.

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San Jose's activist Housing Department is promoting COPA (Community Opportunity to Purchase Act), an extremist city intrusion into the local housing market that would give non-profits the first right to purchase rental properties and forbid sellers from listing their property on the open market. Small local property owners would be especially disadvantaged by the proposal, as public comment at an October 25 public meeting revealed. Edited versions of comments and letters from that meeting are below.

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Local parents are up in arms about extremist, doctrinaire Critical Race Theory curricula being forced upon their children by local school districts and county governments. But at the same time, many of these parents welcome a fair-minded, even-handed approach to teaching students about how racism fits into American history. The Alliance For Constructive Ethnic Studies explores that kind of thoughtful alternative, in the excerpt that follows.

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Neighborhood residents have uncovered and harshly criticized the divisive and dangerous nature of a racially-based redistricting plan for San Jose that has been concocted by a collection of militant partisans--some of whom don't even live in SJ. The scheme (with the charming Orwellian name of "Unity Plan") breaks up established communities of interest in the pursuit of heavy-handed, race-based gerrymandering. A collection of resident emails to the city follows.

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County Supervisors, on the heels of their roundly-ridiculed Bonuspalooza giveaway, are considering a redistricting plan (euphemistically entitled "Unity Plan") that would dissect and mangle south county neighborhoods and communities of interest, in clear violation of redistricting law and guidelines. The Silicon Valley Business PAC voices its disapproval in a letter to the County Supes.

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San Jose's Rules Committee on October 25 was the scene of foot-stomping outbursts from local progressives as they tried, unsuccessfully, to push back on the city's efforts to get the commission to perform the duties assigned to it in a timely manner. The Commission was supposed to explore mayoral powers and election cycle, but predictably the hard-left activists who have hijacked the commission have greatly expanded the scope of work to include (you guessed it) climate change, police reform, housing and a host of other progressive bugaboos. The meeting ended with activists thwarted as the City reiterated its insistence that the core work on the Commission be done on time in December of this year. Notes from the meeting below.

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Santa Clara County Supervisors did more than embarrass themselves locally with their recent extravagant bonus program for county workers who make more than $200k/year, they humiliated themselves on the state level, too. California Policy Center, the leading state think tank on California politics, places the Supes' misguided giveaway in context, and provides some acute, critical analysis. Chris Reed of CPC is the author.

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The purpose of San Jose's Charter Review Commission was to look at the schedule of the mayoral election cycle and the scope of mayoral powers. Not surprisingly, the mostly hard-left members of the Commission have tried to greatly expand the sweep of the body to include charter revisions that would address the usual progressive "equity" wish list: police reform, climate change, housing, upzoning, etc. Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Coucilmember Sergio Jimenenz recently wrote a memo to the Commission (appended below) attempting to get the Commission back on track and on brief. We will see if the horse has already left the barn; the Commission will discuss this memo at its next meeting.

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