The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has announced it will vote against a board's committee if comprised of less than 30% women. Last year, linguist Dr. Alan Perlman unpacked on Opp Now the DEI fallacy of “Discrimination [= ‘equity’] is Equality,” the idea that unfair, identity-based opportunities will lead us to—equality. California Globe's comments on the CalSTRS controversy below.
Read MoreAny hopes that Sylvia Arenas' exit from the SJ City Council would signal the end of wild comments from the dais were dashed on 4.25 as District 5's CM Peter Ortiz picked up Arenas' mantle with gusto. Ortiz proclaimed that votes against a memo to expand SJ's housing preservation efforts were "violence against working families." Mayor Matt Mahan took exception to Ortiz' incendiary claim, but Ortiz was undeterred. In an Opp Now exclusive, the team unpacks Ortiz’s falsehoods and reframes them to reveal unreasonable hyperbole and unseemly bullying.
Read MoreThe Fallon statue is gone; the Americana painting that arguably glorified violence against the police has similarly disappeared from the Public Square. Good riddance, says Opp Now co-founder Christopher Escher, who posits that the city shouldn't even be in the business of funding political art at all. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAfter over-regulating many major corporations out of the Golden State, pols including Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) plan to over-tax any left behind, “to protect California progress.” Katy Grimes of the CA Globe discusses why Skinner's proffered tax increase, though seemingly beneficial to the everyday person, will overall hurt workers and consumers the most.
Read MoreThe Free Press's Bari Weiss breaks down the infectious ideology that is trying to shove out classical liberalism. Under Wokeism, people are defined and valued by their intersectional identity check boxes, they must atone for ancestors' sins, and they are swiftly “canceled” for speaking against the orthodoxy. Sound familiar, Silicon Valley?
Read MoreSan Francisco, like SJ, has lately seen the hazy curtain lifted on nonprofit/gov't interrelations. Most recently, according to a SF Standard investigation (and confirmed by US prosecutors), SF org Clean City Coalition is alleged to have engaged in highly illegal, dangerous money laundering behaviors. Yet SF's Dept of Public Works maintains that contracting Clean City was completely above board.
Read MoreSan Jose isn't the only Californian city where public transportation—once a hallmark of all successful and progressive urban areas—is sinking in quality and losing once-loyal riders in droves. Many no longer feel safe taking the train to work and back. In recent news, the Westside Current reports that local Eric Lewis was viciously beaten by eight teenagers who were also on LA's Metro Expo train.
Read MoreHoning in on New York, Judge Glock and Renu Mukherjee of City Journal discuss the left's mounting failures to resonate with local Asian American voters. Rent control, kindly called “rent stabilization” in SJ, is proving a cogent battleground issue for Asian Americans, many of whom have bought/rent out their own homes and may not be able to shoulder higher rents emerging from stringent COPA-esque policies.
Read MoreAccording to the SF Standard, SF's Board of Supervisors' Budget and Legislative Analyst Office recently released a report on the city's Housing Dept. A key finding was what was missing: much documentation on local affordable housing projects, including how the Dept—you know—actually spends their funds. SJ's Housing Dept, too, is no stranger to financial black holes (did we say billions?).
Read MoreCalMatters reports on the post-Covid public transportation quandary: Ridership is plummeting, federal funding is running out, and quality continues to go down as revenue thins. Yet, whether additional funds (and the associated extra burden on taxpayers) would improve the situation remains doubtful.
Read MoreZoila Herrera Rollins ran for Union School District Board this past November to advocate parents' rights and transparency to families. Here, Herrera explains that budgetary accountability within the USD means getting rid of pointless positions (hint: the USD's paying $100k/yr for a DEI expert). After Stanford's free speech disaster, many others, too, are questioning if Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion jobs belong in education. The first of two Opp Now exclusive comments.
Read MoreSJ church Calvary Chapel drew national attention over the last couple years for boldly refusing to adhere to local Covid ordinances. Though their controversial contempt-of-court charges were dropped last year, Calvary was recently fined $1.2 million for mask violations. Bob Tyler, president of Advocates for Faith and Freedom (which represents the church), analyzes how invasive laws infringe on private liberties. An Opp Now exclusive.
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