Sandy Springs, Georgia services its general obligation debt with the general fund—not by targeting homeowners to pay back school and infrastructure bonds. Their food bank and recreational programs are successes because the city provides basic funding and infrastructure but leaves the rest up to the community. So say the Mayor and City Manager in Part 4 of an Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read More
It isn't hard to do. Local tax and transit expert Marc Joffe explores the (now not so fantastical) possibility of a shutdown of VTA, as suggested by many transit riders on local social media in response to transit workers' strike. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read More
Contracting out city work doesn’t mean employees have to lose their jobs. Often, contractors are willing to make use of city staff already in place and doing the work. So say Sandy Springs, GA, Mayor Rusty Paul and City Manager Eden Freeman in Part 3 of an Opp Now exclusive Q&A.
Read More
It’s like DOGE has come to deep-blue LA County. LA Supes will vote in April on redirecting the vast majority of funding for the deeply troubled Homeless Service Authority. The exceptional LAist reports.
Read More
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 More
Supremely qualified Asian students still getting nixed by higher-ed admissions departments. Guess why? Orange County Register reports.
Read More
Along 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 More
GrowSF'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 More
Back 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 More
Silicon 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 More
We 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 More
Maybe 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 More