After contractor premiums shot up, Sandy Springs, GA pulled many services inhouse to save tens of millions of dollars. But going from a mostly privatized city to more of a hybrid model didn’t come without a sacrifice, says Mayor Rusty Paul in Part 2 of an Opp Now exclusive Q&A. When it comes to procurement, City Manager Eden Freeman believes that contractors are much more efficient.
Read MoreSupremely qualified Asian students still getting nixed by higher-ed admissions departments. Guess why? Orange County Register reports.
Read MoreAlong with most of its service delivery, Sandy Springs, GA, privatized public employee retirement benefits when it incorporated in 2005. Despite later bringing some city services—and jobs—inhouse, the defined contribution model remained in place. To this day, Sandy Springs has zero retirement liability. But are they a competitive employer? We caught up with Mayor Rusty Paul and City Manager Eden Freeman for an Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreGrowSF's most recent poll reveals some startling opinion shifts from Petrograd-by-the-Bay: residents say new Mayor Lurie's focus on local issues, not national party ideologies, is gaining in popularity—and some surprising thumbs ups for lower taxes and more shelters. Excerpted summary of poll results, below.
Read MoreBack in 2020, Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya took to the screens of this humble website to voice his belief that blanket COVID shutdowns were excessive, and that instead it would be wiser to focus efforts on protecting vulnerable populations. Dr. J was vilified in local and national media for such heresy. But time, of course, has proven Dr. J prescient. And now he’s the head of the National Institute of Health. Spiked reports.
Read MoreSilicon Valley's ultra-industrious “hustle culture” drives much local innovation and success. But, says Culture Critic on Substack, skipping out on leisure—the intentional, restful receiving of what the world has to offer—will over time erode our art, culture, and individual flourishing.
Read MoreWe get funny looks sometimes for publishing exclusive poems (primarily from former Board of Equalization candidate Peter Verbica) alongside more “important” policy analyses. But, as Verbica discusses in this World Poetry Day Opp Now exclusive, “the language of the soul” has much to offer—and, indeed, borrow from—the political sphere. His interview, plus our (growing) library of Opp Now poetry, follows.
Read MoreMaybe developers wouldn't be as spooked about building housing in the Golden State if our Environmental Quality Act wasn't so prone to: Labor corruption, economic inefficiency, and legal blockades. The Cato Institute examines in depth, below.
Read MoreCity Journal analyzes why the nation's first Educational Savings Account (ESA) policy, from the Sunset State, is leaving families increasingly dissatisfied: accessing students' funds is laborious, confusing, and often delayed. CA lawmakers, take notes.
Read MoreGovernments can offer retirement plans that don’t require lifer status—the defined benefit pension, after all, shortchanges employees who seek career-mobility. Instead, a defined contribution plan can deliver retirement security while breaking taxpayers out of unfunded liabilities. Reason Foundation’s Zachary Christensen writes how the “DC choice” helped Utah improve its funded status.
Read MoreIn this Opp Now exclusive Q&A, we chat with Santa Clara CM and engineer Kevin Park about why he believes the “area median income” metric no longer serves the Valley’s lower-income residents. Due to wage disparities, local median salaries (and thus, affordable housing prices) are grossly overinflated—so is it time we rethink affordability?
Read MoreTwo days. Hundreds of engineers. Cash prizes for the winning ideas. ABC News explains how a 2023 “hackathon” event partnering with the Golden City incentivized residents to come up with creative, out-of-the-box approaches to crime, home development, and more.
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