There’s nothing more partisan than a disputed election, however, voting and cybersecurity consultant Harry Haury says that as US citizens, “we all ought to be paying attention to whether our government is working like it’s supposed to, lawfully.” We caught up with him during his recent visit to the Bay Area for an Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreOn Wednesday the No on Measure A committee filed a formal complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) against the Yes on Measure A, Santa Clara County Public Health and Safety Coalition, sponsored by public health, safety, and labor organizations, and Sheriff Robert Jonsen, alleging multiple violations of California’s Political Reform Act and Government Code Section 3206. A press release from the "No on A SCC 2025" committee is below.
Read MoreSC County residents have already begun voting on a 5/8-cent sales tax increase, which they’re told will be “temporary” and will “save the hospitals.” But are either of these incantations believable? SVBA’s Pat Waite flips through county’s greatest hits: so-called “temporary” taxes that never went away—and underdelivered on what they promised. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Read MoreMeasure A is “good money after bad,” said Cupertino Mayor Liangfang Chao at a rally last week, citing mismanagement as the problem which a sales tax won’t fix. The coming $3 billion yearly deficit has nothing to do with federal cuts: the hospitals were already “bleeding money.” She urged those gathered to look at El Camino Hospital, which runs at a surplus and isn’t asking for a regressive sales tax to stay afloat.
Read MoreTaxpayers should demand accountability from their government, said Los Altos Institution fellow Athan Joshi. At a rally against Measure A, the Opportunity Now wunderkind contributor (he's in high school) reminded his audience that the 5/8-cent sales tax is the latest, but not the last, in a decades-long cavalcade of tax hikes funding “mediocre services.” Some residents will even be “double taxed,” he warned, to prop up bloated payrolls and retirement benefits for SC County employees.
Read MoreSanta Clara County Assessor candidate Bryan Do says that when the government faces a budget shortfall, the easy answer is almost always the same: raise taxes. Measure A, the County’s proposed 5/8-cent sales tax increase, is exactly that kind of “easy answer.” But just because it’s easy, says the East Side Union High Trustee, doesn’t make it right. An Opportunity Now exclusive op/ed.
Read MoreMayor Mahan and faux pro-business SJ CM's link arms with The Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America in endorsing the widely-panned Measure A. But George Casey, CM for District 10, sets them straight.
Read MoreCupertino Mayor Liangfang Chao and the City Council called out Santa Clara County’s “suspicious special-election timing,” says Purissima Hills Water District Director Brian Holtz. By voting to oppose the sales tax hike, Cupertino demonstrated “true leadership” says County Assessor candidate Rishi Kumar. Silicon Valley Business Alliance Treasurer Pat Waite commends the “principled stance against Measure A.” An Opportunity Now exclusive commentary.
Read MoreThe county Measure A campaign reveals deeply unethical impulses informing our local political ecosystem. Citizens need to demand better, or risk becoming enablers. Our Weekend Reading unpacks the issues in this Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreProf Deann Gayman of the University of Nebraska explores data which daylights a bracing fact: blood sport American politics makes supporters--not just pols--lose their ethical bearings, contributing to the deeply nihilistic behavior we see in our current Silicon Valley special election season.
Read MoreFor many voters, partisan loyalties override moral judgment, leading to the degraded political culture and corrupt politics we see in Silicon Valley. So says Associate Prof James Lemoine of the University at Buffalo’s Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
Read MoreA Harvard Business School professor turns the stage lights on the supporting cast that facilitates unethical acts in politics and business. And hey, it looks a lot like what we see when we look in the mirror. From Daniel Oberhaus in the Harvard magazine.
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