West Coast ports are increasingly losing revenue to the East and Gulf coasts (19.4% since 2006). This problem destabilizes locals’ employment opportunities and raises manufacturers’ exportation costs, incentivizing out-of-state production. While states like Pennsylvania reward manufacturers to export goods through their ports, CA has only expanded port-related mandates and fees. Lance Hastings and John McLaurin suggest action steps for CA’n political leaders in Fox & Hounds Daily.
Read MoreLocal companies that finance underutilized office buildings may be in the red — making more attractive the housing conversion argument. However, turning San Jose’s unused office spaces into residential units involves a unique price tag, says real estate expert Clare Trapasso. Cities where workers are abandoning physical offices, like SJ, are often the same places with excessive building regulations/costs.
Read MoreDawn Collier of the California Policy Center evaluates teachers unions’ recent demands for higher teacher salaries. Their resounding rhetoric of being underpaid falls apart when confronted by data. Plus, districts can’t afford exorbitant wage spikes without heavily cutting staff members and budget items. If unions are trying to invest in students, they’re doing everything wrong (a sentiment echoed by CPC’s Jackson Reese), asserts Dawn.
Read MoreLocal historian and longtime community activist Tobin Gilman chimes in on Mayor Liccardo's State of the City speech, and warns about threats to core services budgets.
Read MoreCan everyone be a Bill Gates, reading 50 books/yr? Even local and statewide changemakers often struggle to make time for reading. In this latest Opp Now exclusive, Marc Ang—Asian Industry B2B president and esteemed journalist—and Tobin Gilman—former longtime SJ resident, Charter Review Commissioner, and history advocate—spotlight their favorite political books. While “political book” conjures images of overly abstract documents, Ang and Gilman highlight practical reads on prevalent issues, written for real people.
Read MoreDuring the pandemic, CA established zero dollar bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies, citing the health risks of overcrowded jails. Though recently dropped by SCC, zero bail still finds champions in locals who claim socioeconomic equity (while denying safety consequences). Mike Luery’s KRCA article explains how two inimical CA’n felons were empowered to “continue on their criminal path”—to grand theft, sexual battery, and gun charges—due to lack of bail.
Read MoreMichael Bernick, former director of the California Employment Development Department, analyzes the UI system and bureaucratic problems uncovered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom’s “Strike Force” identified recommendations that were then successfully implemented, decreasing backlogged claims. However, continued “vigorous” action is required, says Bernick.
Read MoreZealous “green” energy legislation will (in a stroke of irony) make manufacturing electric vehicles near-impossible, says energy consultant Ronald Stein. Many materials required for EVs are sourced from crude oil derivatives, which will be slapped with an illegal label under Gov. Newsom’s mandate. Plus, tightened environmental regulations across the world currently constrain the lithium mining market (without which EV batteries can’t function). Might CA’s non-renewable moratorium mean a “death spiral for the automobile industry”?
Read MorePat Waite, president of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, notes budgetary irresponsibility is creeping back in SJ--this time in the form of grandiose ideas about a futuristic airport connector and SJ's own public utility organization. Citizens, beware.
Read MoreSilicon Valley and other parts of California must find alternative solutions to address its growing homeless crisis, suggests Market Urbanism Report founder Scott Beyer. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAnyone who's worked in a mix of government, nonprofit, and business jobs knows that each sector is different, and provides its own strengths and weaknesses. Irene Smith, D3 council candidate, made the same point in a forum with her opponent, Omar Torres. But thin-skinned nonprofit veteran Patricia Gardner took bizarre offense in the Letters section of the Merc, sadly proving the point she was purportedly trying to oppose. The Opp Now team unpacks her twisted logic, below.
Read MoreIn an exclusive conversation with Opp Now, the California Policy Center’s Jackson Reese gets to the root of the SCC Democrats’ recent letter on school board candidates that they label as dangerous. Reese identifies how liberal-leaning school boards fund teachers unions, which fund the Democrat party—together keeping state gov’t overinflated and progressive.
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