Charter cities are obliged to prioritize spending on core services, as identified in their charter. So why, Tobin Gilman wonders on Medium, is the city asking residents to cough up extra for yet another parcel tax to take care of a core service--the city's parks?
Read MoreDespite ranking last in opportunity, CA policymakers keep making it even harder just to get by. San Jose’s gasoline and energy prices are leaded with taxes, and regulations severely inflate housing costs—most peoples’ biggest expense. Funny thing is, CA ranked ok in economic opportunity, and equality. It’s the high cost that drags us into last place. Kenneth Schrupp writes for The Center Square.
Read MoreVTA helped thwart a state legislative initiative to bail out BART this Spring, while moving forward with a costly plan to extend BART service through SJ. This inconsistency raises the possibility that future SJ residents will be walking atop a white elephant running under East Santa Clara Street. The unstoppable Marc Joffe explores in another Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreAnyone noticing a pattern here? First, SJ Housing Dept ripped by state overseers. Next, VTA's BART extension's governance savaged by an independent audit. Then, Santa Clara's City Council gets taken down by a Grand Jury. Not to be outdone: SJ Unified's leadership taken to ask by yet another Grand Jury. Molly Gibbs reports in the Merc.
Read MoreThe November ballot is expected to include a $20 billion (!) affordable housing bond measure proposed by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. Marc Joffe at Cato Institute argues in the Merc that the initiative's reliance on increasing property taxes to subsidize new housing is wrong-headed and misguided.
Read MoreAlmaden-Quicksilver. Alum Rock Park. Santa Teresa. Alviso Marina. We sometimes forget how the day dreams along with us when we get away from the expressways, the squatty office towers, the torrent of social media. Peter Coe Verbica explores how connectedness can ensue.
Read MoreEven a single-party state knows better than to enact single payer healthcare. Instead, legislators will let under-the-radar price capping do their dirty work. California Globe’s Ted Stroll explains how after rent control decimated housing supply and regulations sent homeowner insurers fleeing, healthcare is next on the chopping block. A new state-mandated spending cap will limit access to treatment by punishing providers.
Read MoreThe California legislature is trying to sabotage another initiative that would toughen penalties for theft and drug crimes. Why do state politicians fear voters? The Wall St. Journal reports.
Read MoreTurns out that many unhoused in the streets of cities like San José don’t need an elaborate suite of social services, but just enough to help with the rent. Housing perfectionists should be reminded that college kids do it, even working professionals do it, so why can’t most healthy homeless folks rent a room in a house? LA Times’s Doug Smith explores how county-run General Relief could serve as a vehicle for basic income.
Read MoreThe inability of supporters to explain even the most basic elements of the colossal proposed regional housing snatch has community leaders throwing red flags. Elaine Goodman at the Palo Alto Daily Post explores.
Read MoreFirst, SJ Housing Dept. gets hammered by a state audit. Next, VTA governance was ripped by a state investigation. Now, the Santa Clara City Council’s effectiveness is blistered by a civil grand jury. The excellent Silicon Valley Voice explains.
Read MoreWhen is a progressive district attorney actually regressive? It’s when the DA in question is Los Angeles County’s jailbreak DA, George Gascon, says Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen. Rosen has chosen to endorse Gacon's opponent, Nathan Hochman, for LA DA, suggesting that Gascon's extremist policies are making LA less safe. Thomas Buckley of the California Globe has the low-down.
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