Local media likes to position SJ politics as bloodsport between Labor and Business--but independent Counclmember Dev Davis isn't buying it. She walks us through the process she led for building trust, agreement, and ultimate win-win on the prickly wage theft issue. An exclusive comprehensive phone interview with Opp Now's Christopher Escher.
Read MoreTo reclaim neighborhoods from rampant homelessness, high-tech shelter tents, as advocated by CM's Doan and Batra, are a first step, notes housing expert Lawrence McQuillan in the Independent Institute.
Read MoreNot so fast. Last week, SJ's City Council unanimously passed a so-called "Tenant Preference" policy that privileges a subset local residents in what the city deems "High Displacement" areas with special access to subsidized, city-funded affordable housing. Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report looks deeper and finds that the good intentions may be misguided, and that rules like these for affordable housing actually perpetuate ghettoization. An Opp Now Exclusive.
Read MoreSJ CM Peter Ortiz raised more than a few eyebrows last week when he wondered aloud if businesses that provide minimum wage jobs "shouldn't be in business." Former CM and Professor of Public Policy Pete Constant differs, and tells of his own--and his family's--lived experiences on the value of minimum wage employment. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreEight years ago, during a big press conference in front of what used to be called The Jungle, elected officials led by Cindy Chavez told taxpayers that passing the Measure A tax increase would be “the best opportunity to solve the problem” of homelessness. Although nearly all the $1 billion of this bond has been spent, the county homelessness numbers are worse than pre-Measure A. Something's not working, notes former CM and small business owner Johnny Khamis in his latest Measure A Mythbuster report. An Opp Now Exclusive.
Read MoreStanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research unpacks the sad story of how monies and resources that could've (should've?) gone to cheaper and faster shelter and congregate homelessness solutions got sidetracked into the brutally expensive, slow and ineffective subsidized Housing First farrago.
Read MoreSJ CM Peter Ortiz shocked many local small business people last week when he suggested that if you're paying your workers minimum wage, "maybe you shouldn' be in business." In addition to the rather chilling, anti-business nature of the comment--especially coming from a powerful City official--many saw Ortiz' analysis as jejune. Page One Economics explores the complex nature of how minimum wage law affects employment, poverty, and the overall business environment.
Read MoreSJ CM's Doan and Batra convinced the SJ City Council to prioritize the study of pre-engineered congregate housing (very low cost group shelters connected to central services) in the 2024-25 fiscal budget process. Serious researchers into homelessness prevention applauded the move, even as some local Housing First diehards continue to lobby for the archaic and brutally expensive Permanent Supportive Housing model which has failed so spectacularly in alleviating city and county homelessness. The National Alliance to End Homelessness explains the important role of congregate housing below.
Read MoreThe end of last week, the Merc reported: "With BART’s Silicon Valley extension expected to cost upwards of $12 billion, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is conducting a new cost analysis of a different approach — the controversial twin-bore tunnel design." It's long overdue, say local transit experts (exclusive to Opp Now and from Merc coverage), and highlights the dubious assumptions undergirding what an increasing number of leaders are calling an out-of-control project.
Read MoreFrom San Jose State to Stanford, Berkeley to SF State, it's hard to ignore the chilling rise in local student (and administrative) efforts to shut down speech and speakers that run afoul of present dogma. Greg Lukianoff at the Eternally Radical Idea parses the metrics regarding this surge nationwide and finds sadly predictable patterns identifying where this attack on free speech is coming from.
Read MoreEconomist Herbert Stein famously observed that "if something can't go on forever, it won't." Stein was referring to federal debt and deficit payments, but the concept applies to SF's free-for-all, hard-left public safety policies, which voters pushed back on earlier this month. The Free Beacon explains.
Read MoreAccording to the Inside Higher Ed website, Prof. Jonathan Roth of San Jose State has been put on administrative leave for--we are not kidding--defending himself when a pro-Hamas demonstrator tried to forcibly stop him from taking photos at what community leaders consider an antisemitic melee on 2.19. It's a curious turn of events for the scholar: He recently received the university's Distinguished Service Award and was lauded (at least then) for his commitment to "being a contrarian." Below, from SJSU website.
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