Local fiscal responsibility and community groups are hopeful that Mayor Mahan can get city services back on track, and worry that Labor-aligned councilmembers will block the voters' will. An Opp Now exclusive.
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California Policy Center’s Jackson Reese, and frequent Opp Now contributor, tackles the question of the hour post-election season: What on earth is holding back vote counting in CA? An Opp Now exclusive.
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Political leaders explore how the Mahan/Doan victories may signal a return to middle-of-the-road, good gov't priorities for SJ City Council. An Opp Now exclusive.
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Elisabeth Halliday, Campbell Union High School District Area 2 trustee-elect, shares her biggest takeaway from this election cycle: School board elections — while underemphasized by many — impact our community’s safety, quality of living, and leaders of the next generation. An Opp Now exclusive.
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Policy advocacy org the Independent Women’s Voice explains why local school choice initiatives are financially smart for taxpayers: On average, students in such programs require $5,000/yr from the gov’t, in contrast with traditional public schools’ $14,000. Allowing families to customize their kids’ schooling in states like CA wouldn’t “drain money from public education,” the IWV says.
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Business and nonprofit leaders chime in on how the results of Election 2022 point to a call for change and a citywide thumbs down to Labor's race-baiting and false smears. An Opp Now exclusive.
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The California Policy Center’s Edward Ring asserts in Fox & Hounds Daily that pouring more money into teachers unions' billfolds will not help students succeed. Instead, revitalizing CA’s underperforming schools could involve a wholly new model: giving parents vouchers and the freedom to choose where to send their children, whether to public, private, or micro-schools. This competition encourages schools to offer the best education, Ring points out.
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Local media has called the mayoral and most other local races. Opp Now caught up with former mayor Chuck Reed and Biz PAC member Tracey Enfantino for their analysis on the election's broader meanings. An Opp Now Exclusive.
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Well, there's been a lot of chatter online in SJ this election season about potential race-baiting and unseemly dogwhistling in campaign mailers. While some of the over-the-top accusations from the left have been effectively rebuffed by local media, other, perhaps more dangerous, complaints were left unaddressed.
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The recriminations have already begun in the Labor/Left media and advocate community. So who’s to blame for their disappointing showing in the mayoral and District 7 race? It’s not the candidates, their campaigns, or their policies, of course. It’s—take a deep breath—People Who Didn’t Vote. The Opp Now team unpacks the false nature of the low-turnout myth. An Opp Now exclusive.
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John Inks—former Mountain View mayor, termed-out councilmember, and longtime Libertarian—analyzes local governments’ plans for construction and development projects. While praising these plans’ comprehensiveness, Inks suggests that too-stringent courses of action constrain owners’ crucial decisions about their own projects. An Opp Now exclusive.
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The Opp Now team spoke with educational expert Michael Alexander to parse unsettling recent news: The Bay’s public schools are sliding behind local privates in statewide rankings. Alexander finds COVID-19 mandates to blame for local public institutions’ bad break — not declining school quality. An Opp Now exclusive.
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