In a punchy conversation with California Insider's Siyamak Khorrami, JConr Ortega—San Francisco homeless advocate who was previously unhoused for 20 years—unpacks the City's failing homeless approach. By incentivizing drug abuse through no-strings-attached paychecks and “safe” injection sites, cities like SF cripple individuals wanting to get clean and resume working life. A selection of Ortega's comments follows.
Read MoreJon Coupal, prez of CA's largest taxpayer rights organization, pulls the curtain back on ongoing ACA 1 & 13 v. TPA kerfuffles. Since the Taxpayer Protection Act would fortify Prop 13 protections against loopholes, Coupal believes opposition from elected officials (as from SJ's City Council) means they'd prefer to maintain the status quo of manipulating taxpayers for tax hikes. Is this “radical” or just plain autocratic? From the OC Register.
Read MoreChris Robell, retired CFO and advocate for clear and lawful ballot questions (follow his San Mateo County school bond lawsuit here), dissects the pros, cons, and glaring empty spaces of the MTC's $10–20 billion housing bond, to be gleaned via serious property tax hikes. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreCiting a lack of outreach and concerns regarding negative economic impact on local businesses, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Northern California is asking SJ City Council to hold off on a vote to a Proposed Construction Ordinance, which they believe would be damaging to all developers. Additionally, ABC notes that unions have carved themselves out of this policy by allowing occupancy permits if the builder is using a PLA or CWA (Union Labor). ABC's letter to the Council, below.
Read MoreWe asked SJ D10's Council candidates to provide their perspectives on some of the upcoming election's most pressing issues—the attacks on Prop 13 via ACA 1 and 13, and the strengthening of Prop 13 with the Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA). Comments from the three who replied to our query below in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreBay Area Rapid Transit board directors Debora Allen and Liz Ames spoke with the Epoch Times on Tuesday to break down BART's latest controversial decision: purchasing a $26M Oakland building (which needs near $100M in renovations) for its police headquarters, while the agency's deficit is a whopping $264M/yr from 2028 on. Allen (finance expert) and Ames (civil engineer) had advised BART instead upgrade its existing infrastructure, but the others voted to demolish it.
Read MoreAt 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.
Read MoreJerry Strangis, San Jose land use consultant since 1975, comments on the City's attempt to get its Housing Element certified. Hand-wringing City officials worry—should the State reject their plan—developers will keep using the “builder's remedy” loophole to avert zoning restrictions. Strangis praises SJ's efforts toward a compliant Housing Element, while recognizing key economic benefits of the builder's remedy. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreCBS 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?).
Read MorePepperdine 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.
Read MoreSince 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.
Read MoreMagistrate 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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