To paraphrase Emily Dickinson: "Once a bad idea is let out of the bag, it's hard to put it back in." Judge Glock takes issue with Belle of Amherst, and reports in City Journal that the widely-panned (and often misunderstood) 9th District decision in Martin v. Boise, which has been read as severely limiting Bay Area (and other) cities' ability to clear dangerous homeless encampments, may get a re-do at the Supreme Court.
Read MoreAuthor Ellery Adams famously said that "Words have power, and all things of power are dangerous." Many of our readers and contributors were struck by that notion while reading the transcript of County Supe Susan Ellenberg's recent State of the County address. We're all used to politicians tap dancing, but Ellenberg's formulations struck many as reaching a new level of spin altogether. A collection of edited reponses is below, from the greater Opp Now community. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreRecent media coverage of BART to SJ's wild cost overruns--and opposition from leading pols--has BART advocates scrambling for a convenient excuse. Here's what BART fans have come up with: the problem, they say, is that we're just not building it fast enough. Brian Holtz, an officer of the SCC Libertarian Party, takes a critical look at VTA's business logic, and finds their "build-now" thesis spurious. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIt's 2024: you're back in Econ 101, but this time, you're much more invested in both the “Required Texts” and “Additional Reading” lists. Below, economics professors at San Jose State, Foothill College, UC Berkeley, and Santa Clara University share their go-to texts that are informative, approachable, and, yep, just plain fun (did you know game theory intimately affects local politics?). An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreWater District bonds flood the ballot. BART's budget bloats. Local leaders cry out for more taxes, lavisher utilities, gaudier union wages. David Eisbach (San Jose real estate broker since 1975) surveys the damage from systemic and out-of-control gov't spending in the Bay Area. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreGov. Gavin Newsom’s March Proposition 1 ballot measure would raise billions of dollars for mental health housing and treatment facilities, but some clinics fear it would strip them of revenue they need for services they provide today. City of SJ and County of Santa Clara Supes will be reviewing Prop 1 on February 6, 2024. CalMatters parses the debate about the proposition below (edited for length).
Read MoreBills legalizing “missing-middle” construction are passing nationwide, but other regulations stand in the way. Scott Beyer of Market Urbanist suggests that customized high-density proposals can effect real change, in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe College Fix summarizes an ongoing lawsuit that challenges Cal student orgs' ability to prohibit guest speakers simply because they affirm Israel's right to exist. Since it was filed in November, law experts have disagreed whether the First Amendment allows university groups to screen out most Jewish speakers for, essentially, being Jewish. College Fix's synopsis (ft. comments from Berkeley & plaintiff's counsel) below.
Read MoreNoted author and attorney Greg Lukianoff on Substack explores the ways that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements at California colleges function as political litmus tests on campus, creating a very difficult barrier to entry for anyone not in lockstep with the prevailing ideological orthodoxy. He calls it the Conformity Gauntlet.
Read MoreSince voters overwhelmingly approved it by a 2:1 margin, Prop 13's endured constant attacks by Big Gov't advocates who'd rather mount taxes than cut expenditures. Even SJ's City Council is open to ballot measures that undermine Prop 13. In the Power Line blog, Independent Institute's K. Lloyd Billingsley analyzes what about Prop 13 resonated with 1978 voters—and why blaming it for CA's budgetary woes is plain ridiculous.
Read MoreThere's increasing disagreement among area pols re: the controversial (and costly) BART extension to SJ and Santa Clara. Palo Alto CM (and congressional candidate) Greg Tanaka, however, suggests that effective public transit needn't be a financial mess—and that strong oversight and businesslike procurement reform can deliver 21st Century transit solutions at reasonable costs. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreSince Oakland's airport-adjacent In-N-Out closed its doors over increased crime (cue Hunger Games' death cannon for another lost tribute local retail establishment), Bay Areans have branded the area America's “most dangerous square mile.” But who, or what, is the real culprit? Daily Mail reports that City officers are curbed from adequately protecting residents, thanks to nonsensically “restrictive” policies.
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