Let's face it: Local approaches to the crime, drug, and homelessness trifecta aren't working, says Coalition for a Better Oakland's Steve Heimoff. So-called solutions tend to be costly and contract with minimally monitored nonprofits, casting aside accountable, data-evidenced results. Heimoff calls for Bay Area cities to “stop playing around” and, instead, strengthen law enforcement responses to public safety threats.
Read MoreSJ's Housing Dept has often characterized its strategy with clever alliteration: “PPP”—shorthand for Production, Preservation, and Protection. But as homelessness and affordability get even worse, it's clearly time for a pivot. Irene Smith of SJ's United Housing Alliance suggests reforms—and a greatly increased role for local rental vouchers. From Medium.
Read MoreThanks to Oakland's 2020-established eviction moratorium, a tenant has been living for three years in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath completely on landlord John Williams' dime. And he can't evict her because—Covid. CBS News explores yet another case of “tenant protections” going overboard and hurting honest, everyday people trying to make a living.
Read MoreAnn Althouse of Althouse breaks down why scandals like the Stanford Law free speech incident continue to happen across the US: As the extremists get louder, the moderates—really, anyone with common sense—tend to get quieter. They seek “invisib[ility]” and avoid conflict, which only serves to encourage existing radicalism.
Read MoreThe more people look closely at the cozy relationship between local nonprofits and the city government entities that fund them, the more concerned people get. Local neighborhood coalition and planning group Families & Homes SJ extends the argument by wondering how it's okay that the city's Housing Director can sit on the board of a local housing nonprofit, and asks the Mayor and Council for greater transparency.
Read MoreNonprofit advocates and SJ Housing Department staff (oops, did we repeat ourselves?) have struggled for three years to get Council approval for their flawed proposal to privilege local nonprofits when it comes to buying up older properties (it's called COPA). Since a Council economic committee rejected the latest COPA version on 3/27, the spin machine from city staff and nonprofits has shifted into high gear in an effort to restart the broken-down concept. The Opp Now team examines their rhetorical maneuvers in this exclusive.
Read MoreThe Bay Area's transit system is considering batting its eyelashes and saying “pretty please” in future elections, as the favored solution to sinking ridership numbers is—ask taxpayers to cut more checks. Costs to run Caltrain keep rising, and post-pandemic passengers are both staying away and staying home. Bay City News reports on BART's proposed solution to a growing issue.
Read MoreIf the Left is truly for diversity, why aggressively label people who don't fit into their ideological mold? Stanford's Federalist Society student org president Tim Rosenberger, Jr. discusses how labeling all nonconformists as “far-right” is divisive, and in opposition to truly diverse representation (how ironic). A Washington Post excerpt.
Read MoreIt's a wonder that anyone with eyes and ears can label the recent violent SFSU ambush, of women's rights guest speaker Riley Gaines, as “peaceful.” Yet the university's VP of Student Affairs has praised the fiasco as being exactly that: peaceful, brave, and, laughably, insightful. The NY Post delineates peaceful vs. violent protests to provide actual insight on the latest local anti-free speech snafu.
Read MoreRemember all the confetti around upzoning reforms in SJ? How advocates claimed that Opportunity Housing/SB9 would relieve the housing affordability crisis? And ADUs would provide much needed density? Well, those proposals passed and... not much has happened. A new report from the Urban Institute explains why (spoiler: it's because the property deregulations were so narrow).
Read MoreWhat does it mean to criminalize homelessness? An expert concludes that Mayor Mahan's proposal to enact no encampment zones across the City doesn't violate unhoused individuals' rights, as some wonder. Jeff Rowes, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, breaks it down in this Opp Now exclusive: Reasonably regulating public health/safety in no way penalizes homelessness, as long as people are offered alternative housing options (as is integral to Mahan's strategy).
Read MoreSteve Heimoff of Coalition for a Better Oakland chimes in on Newsom's CARE Court proposition, which is backed by local pols including former SJ councilmember Khamis. Here, Heimoff indicates that contrary to some dichotomous criticism, sheltering unhoused people who are mentally unwell will uphold individual rights—by keeping our public streets safe for everyone.
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