In a 6.23 e-mailer, Reform California, summarizes why SJ's Housing First methodology is plain illogical: It's costly but doesn't actually combat homelessness, which is 50% more often associated with mental health/substance abuse issues than with economic displacement. The Bay Area needs other, creative, more holistic solutions to our homeless epidemic—not another tax hike to build more PSH.
Read MoreBay Area real estate broker Tony Xu is a board member at CA'ns for Equal Rights (CFER), the nonprofit that spearheaded the campaign against Prop 16 (which would have legalized race-based school admissions). In an Opp Now exclusive, Xu expresses that despite the Supreme Court's recent ruling against affirmative action, he expects CA universities to use workarounds to maintain discriminatory enrollment—until they're legally challenged.
Read MoreMarc Ang, former Director of Outreach at Californians for Equal Rights (CFER), was a local leader in the “No on 16” fight against affirmative action in 2020. Here, Ang celebrates and unpacks the SCOTUS' landmark decision that bans discriminatory race-based college admissions, and why he believes it's a “win” for all CA'ns who oppose racism. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives colleges' speech codes one of three ratings: green (no suppression of free speech), yellow (ambiguous wording that could be used to suppress free speech), or red (clear structural suppression). Along with myriad public CA'n universities, San Jose State gets a dismal yellow for prohibiting “[bias]ed” conduct. But who exactly gets to define what a bias-related incident is (and could that in itself be one sided)?
Read MoreSan Jose's rent growth, at 1.7%/yr, has slowed down significantly since Covid. And it's not the only city seeing a downward trend in median apartment rent due to increased housing supply and weakened tenant demand, concocting an unusually competitive landscape for landlords. The WSJ's Will Parker breaks down how 2023's turn in the market is forcing property managers to more affordably list apartments.
Read MoreEducational expert Larry Sand writes in Front Page Magazine that myriad organizations on the Left remain worried about public school libraries “banning” (read: not offering to students) books deemed as developmentally inappropriate. Sand suggests a creative solution to preserve parents' right to raise their kids, while averting censorship dilemmas entirely: an organization-run book rating system, à la the Motion Picture Association's film classifications.
Read MoreThe loss of CA'n companies continues to take a toll on the Bay Area's once-vibrant economy, particularly in Downtown SF—where announcements of yet another closed shop have become a regular, and seemingly never-ending, refrain. The California Globe's Katy Grimes analyzes how CA's exorbitant income tax is forcing out businesses and individuals, who frequently relocate to friendlier states like Texas.
Read MoreHomeless shelters without behavioral requirements are known to endure some gnarly treatment by residents who sidestep much-needed rehabilitation for mental illness/addiction (see: LA's Skid Row Housing Trust disaster). KQED reports that SF is expected to pay millions in property damage to Hotel Whitcomb, which housed people during the pandemic—and supervised “safer” (though noting 18 overdoses) hard drug use.
Read MoreGrowSF reports that California plans to keep local transit agencies afloat, according to the latest budget revision. However, BART's essential problems—pervasive passenger drug use, violence, and unclean conditions—will remain. A sharp 180 turn is needed, says GrowSF, to ensure people are comfortable taking public transportation again in the Bay Area.
Read MorePat Waite, president of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (CFR) in San Jose, unravels a Biz2Credit report that drops the City from #1 best city for small businesses in 2022 to #7 in 2023. He attributes our dismal new ranking to a business-unfriendly regulatory climate. But what's more boggling: San Francisco has made its way to the nation's top spot—and Waite isn't quite buying it. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe California Policy Center's Sheridan Swanson breaks down a recent LA Area Chamber of Commerce research study, which finds that CA's long-competitive economic standing is, yes, being eroded: by overbearing regulations and unaffordable costs of living. If local gov't relaxed our restrictive laws, says Swanson, we'd encourage creativity in a historically innovative, tech-progressive state.
Read MoreDistricts around the Bay continue mixing instruction with ideological agendas, while ignoring basic performance failures and budgetary follies. Atascadero USD board member Rebekah Koznek exhorts CA'n school districts to refocus on teaching students valuable skills and spend funds more moderately. An Opp Now exclusive.
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