Like no citizen input. Hardly any council review. And a shady approval process. Tobin Gilman, retired tech executive, local historian, and community leader chimes in.
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In October, California Policy Center announced its Local Fiscal Health Dashboard, which grades school districts/cities/counties on key financial metrics. But San Jose and Santa Clara County might need to redo some homework assignments (with overall fiscal health scores of 57/100 and 59/100)—especially when it comes to unfunded pension debt, general fund reserves, and liquidity. CPC's Sheridan Karras interprets the data for us in this Opp Now exclusive.
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Parting is such sweet sorrow—emphasis on the “sweet” for AC Transit general manager, who is only kind of retiring. His new gig won’t come with any work expectations; but as late as 2022, records show, he was already pulling down $556,045. Did he threaten a lawsuit or something? Not even. The Oaklandside’s Jose Fermoso reports.
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The Silicon Valley Business Alliance, a new business advocacy organization aiming to decrease cost of living and cost of doing business in the area, is asking the city to get behind reforms to CEQA and to back off on lobbying efforts to dismantle Proposition 13's taxpayer protections. Below, comments from SVBA head Johnny Khamis in public comments to council.
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California’s Proposition 36 was officially enacted over the holiday break, following voters’ overwhelming approval of the initiative aimed at driving down serial theft and fentanyl crimes through harsher prosecution and more aggressive drug diversion policies. But are local DAs like Jeff Rosen trying to undermine The Voters' Will? Robert Salonga (with our editors' notes) reports for the Merc.
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Opp Now contributor Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanist lays out, below, why letting the private sector do its thing re: transit is—no surprise—way more effective than public transportation initiatives (looking at you, CA HSR and BART's DTSJ extension). From Catalyst.
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In City Journal, Christopher F. Rufo exposits “The Quiet Right” as a growing movement going beyond economic policy and seeking to transform local art, education, literature—even town landscapes. And from all around Silicon Valley, you can see evidence of enthusiasm for a vibrant counterculture that’s knowledgeable, thoughtful, and optimistic about Silicon Valley (and what it could be!).
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While SJ and SF brag about small percentage improvements in homeless population, the truth—according to experts—is that the data is dubious, at best. And that agencies are leaving a huge proportion of the truly unhoused uncounted. From X, Public Integrity, and StreetSense media.
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“Expect a rough 2025 for BART,” said Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility prez Pat Waite this Wednesday—citing declining ridership and depleted Covid funds, but ever-ballooning costs. Below, the Mises Institute wonders if public transit could instead be governed by the “sovereignty” of free consumers' decisions (not, like BART, propped up by gov't funds regardless of performance).
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SF’s lax shelter policy is turning out to be a destructive, expensive failure, says Randy Shaw, director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic in the excellent Beyond Chron.
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SJ's new Housing Director Eric Soliván and a unanimous (!) SJ City Council raised eyebrows recently when they gifted a local nonprofit known for assaulting employees of local business groups with a cool $5m to help buy properties in ESJ. Soliván/Council claimed that the scheme would block new development on the property and thus ease worries about neighborhood “displacement.” Only problem? The logic is all wrong, says SF housing expert Kate Pennington, who notes that data says new development actually helps alleviate overall displacement and rent hikes in affected neighborhoods.
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VTA's BART-to-SJ extension highlights the (hugely expensive) wishful thinking underlying far too much of American transit planning. The excellent Strong Towns website unpacks the false assumptions that doom big transit systems like VTA and BART.
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