Critics like SJ's Assemblymember Ash Kalra claim Newsom's CARE Court initiative and local encampment restrictions harm an already vulnerable, stigmatized community. But Reason magazine asserts that helping people off the street and into shelter actually lowers violence involving homeless folks, and cities' violent crime overall. Below, Reason's data analysis of two big cities.
Read MoreWhile the debate about whether to extend BART to downtown SJ and Santa Clara gets more and more controversial, the unfortunate link between mass transit and increased drug crimes/use becomes progressively more poignant. Reporting from Planetizen, LA Times, and SF Gate below.
Read MoreDespite Californians' consistent opposition to State-sponsored racial discrimination, legislators keep trying to find ways to elbow affirmative action agendas into State law. Proposed ACA 7 is the most recent example, explains Gail Heriot, law professor at the University of San Diego. An excerpt from her Instapundit analysis follows.
Read MorePolitical theorist Sarah Gustafson remarks that smart tax credit systems would directly assist low-income homebuyers by removing “middle man” bureaucracies/organizations. SJ sadly doesn't follow this advice: nonprofits partnering with our Housing Dept receive millions of dollars in grants annually, while our housing market remains dismal, restrictive, and unstable. From the American Enterprise Institute.
Read MoreTo 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.
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