The CA state audit that blistered San Jose and statewide homelessness programs for ineffectiveness called forth a prickly, self-justifying, and lengthy response from SJ City Manager Jennifer Maguire. Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report gives Maguire's 15-pager a close read, and finds that it's evasive and doesn't face up to the legit financial and strategic failures the audit so clearly revealed. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreHold onto your (wet) wallets. Opp Now contributor and local City Planning graduate student Susie Murillo takes a look at upcoming plans for the county water district to jack up rates, yet again, with little accountability and dubious reasoning. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreFormer SJ CM and current Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio takes a look back at how SJ's and the state's homelessness efforts went sideways. Spoiler alert: good intentions can go astray. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreWhile local media soft-pedaled the blockbuster State Auditor's report that found that SJ (and statewide) homelessness programs don't work, national housing experts and media were more brutally honest. Excerpts from Calmatters, L.A. Focus, L.A Times, and more, below.
Read MoreSan Jose city government is once again taking big-time heat for its homeless spending--this time in the form of a devastating CA state audit that finds the city's programs are ineffective and unaccountable. Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report provides a sorely-needed pathway for a return to fiscal and management sanity. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe California State Auditor has delivered a deeply critical report on San Jose's Housing Department (HD), finding that the HD "failed to adequately track $300 million in homelessness spending" (Merc headline). But did the failures of San Jose's housing department start in 2020 or did they begin much earlier? We exclusively interview former San Jose council member and financial watchdog Johnny Khamis about his experiences with overt San Jose Housing Dept mismanagement during his years in office (2013 to 2020).
Read MoreConcerns about non profit accountability in SJ have a long history of being ignored. Irene Smith of the Independent Leadership Group and United Housing Alliance suggests that the blistering State Audit report on SJ's out-of-control homelessness expenditures means it's finally time to get serious about managing non profits that receive city funds. Originally on Medium NonProfit Accountability Registry.
Read MoreThe sycamores leaf. Twilights linger along the Monte Bello ridge. The crack of baseball bats provides a steady backbeat to the mournful ranchera music that pours out of the open windows of passing cars. It's Spring. Peter Coe Verbica (also known by the pen name "Shijin") explores the celebration, the work, the wonder, and the toil of rebirth in a series of three haiku.
Read MoreThe Dave Cortese-requested audit reveals that the statewide and San Jose homeless-industrial-complex are hoovering up vast amounts of cash with little or no effectiveness--and even less oversight. Thomas Buckely reports in California Globe.
Read MoreMatt Haney, SF Assemblymember, intro's AB2479--aiming to unlock state funds for sober living requirements in subsidized, state-funded housing. The bill responds to the epidemic of drug overdoses and addiction enabled by CA's barrier-free, hugely expensive, and painfully slow-to-build Housing First model. Additional reporting from Ethan Varian at the Merc, below.
Read MoreWhile the CA16 voting drama plays out, local political watchers opine that perhaps California's voting protocols could use some updating. Lance Christensen VP of Education Policy and Gov't Affairs at California Policy Center and Brian Hoeltz of the Santa Clara County Libertarian Party, below. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreOn the heels of widening public apprehension about the now-$12.8bn extension of BART through downtown SJ from former mayors, the Mercury News, and nationally recognized transit experts, BART Directors Ames and Allen are asking the hard questions of project leaders across a spectrum of issues ranging from the costs of tunneling designs to ridership projections. Full text of Directors' memo below.
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