Following Gov. Newsom's blistering critiques of housing and homelessness spends, so-called affordable housing programs got cut substantially in the state budget. Lynn La reports for Cal Matters about which programs came out on the short end in the budget negotiations.
Read MoreThe list lengthens. To review: SJ Housing Dept. VTA board. Sta Clara City Council. SJ Unified. And now Oakland--all torched by independent entities for crummy governance. Natalie Hansen from Courthouse News surveys the safety critiques in the East Bay.
Read MoreThis November, Marin County voters will face at least a dozen different local measures all seeking to raise revenue at a local level either through bonds or sales tax hikes. Sarah Nagle at the Marin Independent-Journal, argues that these increases could backfire on municipalities and drive business away.
Read MoreCharter 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.
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