Six old supportive housing buildings can’t seem to find a home after both Los Angeles and the buyer walked away from a deal last month. The nonprofit set to take on the properties didn’t have a plan for addressing social services and code violations, said the city. The nonprofit for its part balked at millions of dollars in repairs, and major operating losses. Liam Dillon writes via California Political Review.
Read MoreMomentum grows for implementing a comprehensive audit of how City of SJ spends millions upon millions of local taxpayer dollars on homelessness programs--spends that appear to have zip impact on solving the problem. Shane Patrick Connolly of the Santa Clara County GOP and Tobin Gilman, board member of Families and Homes SJ, chime in. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreConcerns about unaccountable spending by the SJ Housing Dept. go back years--even decades. Johnny Khamis and Pierluigi Oliverio, the two SJ CM's who sounded the klaxon most urgently about ineffective and misguided homelessness programs back in the day--give thumbs up to the Doan/Batra audit proposal. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MorePat Waite of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (CFR) responds to State and Doan/Batra homelessness audit proposals with a call for an independent, non partisan, metrics-based committee untethered from past mistakes. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreFamilies and Homes, SJ's leading grass-roots community group, gives thumbs up to the Doan/Batra homelessness audit proposal, noting the need for an independent, accountable, and transparent process. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreThe State homelessness audit which found shocking levels of ineffectiveness and unaccountability in SJ's homelessness programs was the direct result of the governance direction of State Senator Dave Cortese, who championed the audit, beginning in 2022. SJ CM's Doan and Batra, who are calling to extend the audit to city programs and spend, acknowledged Cortese's leadership in their call for a city of SJ audit.
Read MoreEven though SJ's City Manager and staff tried to wave away the blistering, devastating critique of the city's hugely expensive and ineffective homelessness programs by the State Auditor, SJ CM's Doan and Batra follow the path of fiscal responsibility by demanding an audit of the city's homelessness spend. Their press release excerpted below.
Read MoreNational Review suggests that the clock is running out for far-left politicos, as the City of Roses joins SF and LA (and perhaps Oakland?) in bidding adieu to soft-on-crime prosecutors.
Read MoreLocal pols always say they're in favor of small business--that is, until their insatiable yen for new tax monies reveals their true leanings. National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) comes out in favor of CA's Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA), contra SJ City Council (save Doan) and Gov. Newsom. Their formal statement below.
Read MoreGavin Newsom states he’s not seeing the results he wants from homeless spending. In the May Revise budget, he cut over 25% statewide from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. These funds helped San Jose build nearly 500 interim housing units, a crucial tool to reduce homeless encampments in the city. From Andrew Sheeler in California Political Review.
Read MoreHas stack and pack zoning in the name of climate change strangled CA’s housing market? Outdated sustainability dogma belongs with the dinosaurs, says California Policy Center’s Edward Ring. He recommends CA expand suburban growth—it’s better for the environment than corralling us all into concrete jungles. Reform CEQA too, which is abused by private litigators. In San Jose, CEQA delays building permits by 40 weeks or more.
Read MoreRather than flush $30 billion down the Delta Tunnel, why don’t Californians pump that money into big yield water projects? California Policy Center’s Edward Ring argues that with one project alone, half the Delta money could return twice as much water, with the rest of the cash spilling into reservoirs that produce hydroelectric energy.
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