CARE Court, passed statewide with “bipartisan and near-unanimous approval,” permits judges to send severely mentally ill/substance addicted individuals to compelled treatment. While many praise the bill as a step forward for local street safety, others like Supe Ellenberg are more dubious. Justin Gordon remarks on Twitter (below) that support for CARE Court is wide ranging, including even the far-left LA City Council when expediting the adoption process earlier this year.
Read MoreCA isn't the first state to attempt to legally codify the access to housing (see ACA 10 perspectives here): for instance, if we look at NY's '80s-established “right to shelter.” Brooklyn Law School Real Estate Finance professor David Reiss discusses how local housing shortages are exacerbated by zoning codes that constrain and discourage new construction. He emphasizes our need for comprehensive, long-term strategies to increase housing supply—which are more effective than top-down controls, like laws guaranteeing shelter rights. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAll sorts of wild claims are (predictably) emanating from the Labor Left about the impasse the City has reached with some unions regarding new contracts. The City's fact-based review of the current situation appears below.
Read MoreGavin Newsom is sounding like John Calhoun. Ash Kalra channels the wild fringes of Critical Race Theory. All because SCOTUS enforced the 14th Amendment. Local GOP chair Shane Patrick Connolly unpacks why the Left is so insistent on discriminating against Asian Americans in college admissions. An Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreIn a recent talk at Walnut Creek, Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute argues that since BART will only attract customers through frequent service—and rides are currently often canceled because hiring operators comes at a high price—we should prioritize developing the tech to make existing tracks driver-less. This, says Joffe, makes more sense than extension projects, which may not attract riders.
Read MoreIn a CNN interview, a collection of experts identifies the behavior patterns of bullies; see how many categories you think Sandy Perry, president of the Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County, checked off during his trespass of the Santa Clara County Association Realtors (see article nearby).
Read MoreSandy Perry is the president of the Affordable Housing Network of Santa Clara County and was a leader of the recent invasion of the offices of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors. In a recent op-ed, which exposed his organization's coercive politics and jejune policy ideas, he attempted to shrug off community disapproval of his storming the SCCAOR offices by characterizing the trespass as "nonviolent." Before dismissing community concerns, Perry might consider the lived experience of women, such as SCCAOR employee Jodee Sousa, when powerful white men like him overrun her workspace and bully her and her colleagues. An excerpt from Sousa's letter to City Council follows.
Read MorePermanent supportive housing advocates peddle the long-disputed idea that homelessness is just that: lack of a home. If providing shelter is the one-and-done approach to abolishing homelessness, why are rates still soaring? The National Coalition for the Homeless, in a comprehensive write-up, highlights the strong link between substance abuse and homelessness. Housing alone is powerless to help unhoused folks, says the NCH, but addiction support services prove a valuable, necessary tool.
Read MoreThe Cato Institute's policy analyst Marc Joffe is a self-avowed transit advocate who has often used BART and “really want[s] it to succeed” (0:51–0:53). But the Bay's rapid transportation system requires more than wishful thinking—or mindless spending—to surpass 2019 ridership levels. During a 6.13 Walnut Creek presentation, Joffe suggested several fiscal reform strategies, including eliminating superfluous post-employment benefits like healthcare coverage.
Read MoreIn this Opp Now exclusive, Tobin Gilman chimes into the ongoing debate on whether SJ Council should direct funds primarily toward short- or long-term supportive housing projects. Whereas some like Khamis and Holtz posit the Measure E reallocation stemmed from “competing visions” about housing, Gilman says it was much simpler: all about consequences for our General Fund.
Read MoreContributors to the Merc's op-ed page are pouting, but the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is applauding SCOTUS' shutting down of race-based admissions to colleges. The PLF filed an amicus brief on behalf of its clients, the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY) and Coalition for TJ, among other groups. Their response below.
Read MoreSan Jose State University locked Dr. Elizabeth Weiss out of the skeletal curation facility because she posted an allegedly offensive Twitter photo in 2021. Weiss then sued SJSU for suppressing her First Amendment rights, and the case has reached settlement. Opp Now exclusively chats with Weiss about De Anza College's termination of “not Woke enough” director Tabia Lee—and how both situations highlight narrow-mindedness in local higher ed.
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