San Jose native and local real estate agent Mark Burns argues that even after inflation adjustment in June, Measure E likely will still tax three times the number of residential transactions it was supposed to. An Opp Now exclusive.
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Thanks to pension liabilities, San Jose police and fire get one employee for almost the price of two. But while governments struggle to pay, many employees don’t even want the traditional "defined benefit" retirement plan. So says Reason Foundation’s Len Gilroy in Part 1 of an Opp Now exclusive Q&A. Reform doesn’t have to mean total privatization; but, he asks, why not offer employees a choice?
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SJ Mayor Matt Mahan sits on the VTA Board of Directors. After supporting misguided VTA expansions like Eastridge and downtown SJ BART, perhaps Mahan is awakening to VTA's systemic woes. From an SJ Inside op-ed.
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Tomorrow, SCC Supes will consider adopting ranked-choice voting for future elections. In this Opp Now exclusive, local resident Alice Kao critiques RCV's tabulating methods as non-intuitive and confusing, adding that (by design) they end up discarding many voters' preferences.
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Strong Towns believes local community engagement isn't as effective when we ask granular policy questions, like “What percentage of the city budget should we spend on parks?” Instead, why not take a cue from tech mogul Steve Jobs, focusing instead on residents' actions: “Do you use the park?”
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Next Tuesday, the County Board of Supes will discuss a potential shift to ranked-choice voting (previously rejected by SJ City Council) in county elections. But The Hill wonders, below, if the history of havoc, obfuscations, and voter frustration in counties that have attempted RCV compels us to leave it in the past.
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In one of the most poignant scenes from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, retired professor Faber makes the case for literature to Montag using a few key criteria (that apply also to film; podcasts; and, hey, news commentary!): it's all about “pores,” leisure, and the freedom to act.
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On the first evening of Passover, historian April Halberstadt invites us to pull up a chair as she recounts the fascinating and inspiring stories of three Jewish San Joseans: doctor/musician Ephraim Engleman, and market owners/activists Sarah and Louis Richards. An Opp Now exclusive.
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We revisit a Governing.com analysis of SJ's infamous union deal from two years ago, and wonder if Bay Area gov't strikes—once taboo, recently regaining traction—might fade to the background again post-VTA strike.
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Even as local Housing First bitter-enders complain about moves to redirect city funds towards Shelter First, news from LA underscores the utter financial mismanagement and grift of Permanent Supportive Housing. The Center Square reports.
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SJ Mayor Mahan wants to give pay raises to city leadership if they deliver key outcomes in four major areas. But why just city leadership? And will the proposal work if it only focuses on incentives? We caught up with Mark Moses, author of The Municipal Financial Crisis, for an Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
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