At SJ's latest Council meeting, CM David Cohen claimed—without evidence—that ACA 1 and 13 (two "devious" initiatives that aim to gut Prop 13) would “give cities more control over their financial futures and allow cities to be able to raise the funds that they need.” Jon Coupal—Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association's president since 2001—forcefully rebuts Cohen's logic and conclusions, noting that these bills would replace our longstanding financial rights with unpopular, out-of-control government taxation.

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CBS News rewinds the tapes, and explains how the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency first went off track and began seriously losing business. When BART shifted its focus from effective service to social equity issues, it alienated key customer bases (and really, should that be a surprising outcome?).

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Pepperdine economics prof Gary Galles explains how two proposed '24 amendments would squash California's existing Prop 13 protections (which ensure property owners aren't taxed excessively to fund special projects). Despite County voters' clear support for Prop 13, SJ's City Council has greenlighted ACA 1 & 13, while shaking their fists at the pro-Prop 13 measure called the Taxpayer Protection Act. From the OC Register.

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Since last fall, when nine Berkeley student orgs adopted bylaws excluding pro-Zionist speakers (and possibly members), civil rights and law experts have debated if it's constitutional to only welcome certain ethnic/religious identities to participate in clubs at public universities. As relayed on the SF Chronicle, a Zionist student org filed against the UC last Tuesday for allowing and promoting antisemitic discrimination on campus—via quiet exclusion and overt violence.

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Magistrate Judge Christopher Baker's new 44-page report advises that CA Community Colleges and Kern Community College District (both of which face a lawsuit from Bakersfield prof Daymon Johnson) stop requiring faculty to submit to DEI ideology. Judge Baker explains that mandating DEI/anti-racist “proficiency” really means forcing teachers to communicate a particular message, which blatantly opposes their First Amendment rights. From College Fix.

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For the final stop of their insightful analysis on SJ transit (parts I and II here), the Caltrain HSR Compatibility Blog remarks that a BART extension beyond SJ to Santa Clara is highly redundant, considering how connected they already are via Caltrain/VTA. By applying the brakes at SJ's Diridon Station and going no further north, BART would save $1.5 bn and open up opportunities for more efficient and effectual projects.

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While in office, then-mayor Sam Liccardo used personal email and text messages to conduct City business. The San Jose Spotlight recently sued Liccardo and the City of SJ for violating the CA Public Records Act, and SJ forked over an ungainly $500,000 for insufficiently searching Liccado's personal communications for public records. California Policy Center's Mari Barke comments on Liccardo's “inexcusable” transgression in this Opp Now exclusive.

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This year, Bay Area college campuses have been overrun with cancel culture circuses, leaving residents bewildered by events like: anti-free speech protests of guest speakers at Stanford/SFSU, the firing of De Anza's "not woke enough" DEI dean, and—most recently—hateful anti-Israel demonstrations sponsored by local faculty/student groups. Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott's new book The Canceling of the American Mind codifies how the Left systematically extinguishes forbidden ideas—and steps, for institutions and individuals, to restore our culture's viewpoint diversity. Below, reviews from Substack, WSJ, and Reddit.

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Despite housing advocates' cries that big bad private landlords are behind tenant evictions, a Princeton University study shows that—on the contrary—public housing's responsible for the lion's share of eviction filings. The Greater LA's Apartment Association breaks it down below.

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