Leading up to 2016's successful Prop 64, local pols touted promised benefits of legitimizing marijuana cultivation/distribution in CA. Almost seven years later, NPR reflects on these claims, finding that while the State budget is singing hallelujah thanks to legal pot revenue, crime rates and product prices haven't improved.
Read MoreActual results of State homelessness initiatives seem lost in the cosmos, remarks Jeff Vaughn on Twitter, and get this: The $17.5 bil CA's spent over the last four years could have paid for every unhoused person's rent. But where's it all going? In SJ, every unsheltered homeless person could get over $15k/yr from our $116 mil budget, but are instead reaping costly (and largely ineffective) PSH projects.
Read MoreDefunding the police. Confiscatory rent controls. Extremist racial equity policies. Back-door public housing. Decarceration. Brandon Poulter at the Daily Caller takes a look at the far-Left wing of the Democratic Party, and how it’s pressuring moderate Democrats in the Bay Area and around the country into extremist positions that are out of step with the party's mainstream.
Read MoreSan Jose's Housing First neighbor Los Angeles observes similar results when pols try to combat homelessness by building costly permanent shelters (while ignoring mental illness and substance abuse patterns). The Post Millennial reports that LA's homeless population has increased by 10% since 2022, and city officials are “disappointed” that dollars invested ≠ worthwhile outcomes. Time to switch gears?
Read MoreIn a letter to the Gilroy Dispatch, Joseph P. Thompson, Esq.—past Gilroy-Morgan Hill Bar Association president and Legislation Committee chair—highlights just how much taxpayer money subsidizes SCC's “bankrupt boondoggle public sector transit.” Why continue feeding a system designed to be unsustainable from ridership fees alone (which cover, yep, just 1% of costs), and needing the constant crutch of residents' cheddar?
Read MoreAs with San Jose, San Diego's high vacancy rates for city employees can be traced to marathon-long onboarding processes, finds a 64-page audit published in July. The San Diego Tribune lays out the audit's recs for clear, efficient hiring operations (hint: it doesn't involve more union strikes).
Read MoreIn a 7.27 letter, Oakland's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People condemns the city's hands-off position on public safety. Rather than garishly labeling policing as racist or subsidizing substance addiction, Oakland should ensure its streets are safe again by actually prosecuting crime. From Hot Air.
Read MoreWill Sherman reports on a recent Fairfax City Council public discussion on the possibility of repealing “extreme” rent control in 2024. Residents are concerned about investors gradatim pulling out of Fairfax, which feeds into a citywide revenue doom-loop.
Read MoreThe County is dipping its toes into “contingency management” techniques for substance abuse, which reward abstinence via tangible rewards (usually vouchers). But research hedges on long-term benefits of gov't cash incentives for sobriety. Two widely cited meta-analyses excerpted below.
Read MoreRampant Silicon Valley tech layoffs coincide with hushed eliminations of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion positions, reports the ABC News. DEI careers skyrocketed by over 168% from 2019 to 2022, but are being quietly removed from more orgs/job boards—leaving some to wonder, did pandemic-era politics only spark flash-in-the-pan organizational Woke theater?
Read MoreMarc Joffe remarks in the OC Register that open debate between the People and the Policymakers is vital for effective local democracy. After all, the Platonic epitome of a small all-knowing ruling class is unrealistic in today's world; thus, leaders' decisions (even if well meaning) may circumvent science, such as widely criticized Covid public school closures.
Read MoreHead of the Market Urbanism Report Scott Beyer digs into the NY metro area's rising competitor: Jersey City, to which many are fleeing from NYC's top-dollar but housing-scarce market. What is JC doing that NY, and Bay Area cities like SJ, isn't? They quickly and regularly approve housing permits and encourage creative construction as the free market dictates.
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