This Opp Now exclusive features Monte Dauer, who ran for Cambrian School Board in November. Dauer argues that rather than regularly being bailed out with additional funds, local schools must be evaluated and compensated based on performance—how it works in the business world. His 2023 hopes and apprehensions for the CSD below.
Read MoreIn 2021, San Jose lost residents five times faster than the rest of California did. Currently, SCC locals continue migrating to other states like Texas in the tens of thousands each year—and they aren’t slowing down. The California Globe’s Sheridan Swanson parses this mounting concern using YTexas, Hartman Income REIT, and UHaul data.
Read MoreAdvocates argue that a total ban on natural gas furnaces/water heaters, as the California Air Resources Board proposed last September, won’t empty residents’ wallets—because of existing rebate and incentive programs. Neighborhood group-based org Families & Homes SJ begs to differ. Existing programs will refund 10% max of residents’ expected costs, leaving $27,000+ out of pocket for locals already struggling with rent.
Read MoreAdducing lofty environmental goals, State and County pols are calling for a ban on natural gas furnaces and water heaters by—or potentially before—2027. Unfortunately, as Families & Homes SJ points out, our grids haven’t caught up quite as fast. With no articulated plan to address increased grid load, the question remains: Can SJ sustain itself on renewables alone?
Read MoreFamilies & Homes SJ digs into the messy implications of the City and Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) proposed gas-to-electric conversion mandate. This “Burn-Out Ordinance” could force locals to wait weeks for drastic residence updates. Further, many homes and businesses don’t have enough space (1,000 cubic feet, to be exact) to accommodate the prescribed heat-pump water heater, and may have to forfeit precious living space.
Read MoreThe Bay Area Air Quality Board District (BAAQBD) votes on March 15th whether to prohibit replacement of all natural gas furnaces and water heaters as early as 2027. Replacements at “burn-out” must be electric. Meanwhile, grassroots coalition Families & Homes San Jose, along with the SCC Association of Realtors (SCCAOR) and FHSJ members, has actually done the math: At $30–60k/home, conversions to meet the “Burn-Out Ordinance” requirements would prove too costly for most SJ families.
Read MoreWhile the rest of the SJCC followed the admonitions of big state union interests, new D7 CM Bien Doan made a thoughtful and considered statement in support of the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPGAA). An excerpt from Doan's Council comments on 2.28 appears below.
Read MoreLocal housing nonprofits may be trying to derail Mayor Mahan's Reform Agenda, especially when it comes to innovative solutions to homelessness, but new D7 CM Bien Doan is having none of it. In his 2.28.23 memo to council (which was approved), Doan proficiently called for a muscular, cost-effective transitional-housing approach to local homelessness, excerpted below.
Read MoreSpeaking truth to (“green”) power, environmental science expert Vijay Jayaraj analyzes in RealClearEnergy why CA requires fossil fuels. Despite Newsom’s push to abandon non-renewables (in lieu of intermittent, unreliable energy sources), fossil fuels remain necessary for products like fertilizers, plastics, and shoes—on which CA’ns daily rely.
Read MoreOpp Now co-founder Christopher Escher takes a ride on BART, only to realize he's wandered into an anarchic, intimidating environment where regular citizens feel powerless to respond to menacing behavior. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe local decarceration movement calls for widespread release of, and legal lenience with, criminals (a perspective that is perhaps compassionate in the abstract, but not for actual crime victims). However, most people in jail were incarcerated for violent activity, so is “emptying the jails” a legitimate strategy? For instance, San Jose is one of many cities that’s seen increased crime under pro-jailbreak policies. City Journal's Thomas Hogan's analysis of the implications of decarceration below.
Read MoreAs of 2023, San Jose has gone down from “moderate drought” conditions to just “abnormally dry,” a particularly impressive feat post-2010s. The California Globe’s Evan Symon reports that while effusive downpours have been helpful against CA’n dryness, continued diligent conservation efforts (e.g., using desalination plants) are required to retain water in the long run.
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