In the second installment of an exclusive Opp Now series, three contributors—UC Berkeley College Republicans' Utkarsh Jain, public policy prof Joel Fox, and local housing provider Dean Hotop—analyze how State gov't performs verbal sleight-of-hand when it comes to titling and describing ballot measures.
Read MoreA recent Merc article observes that some developers are invoking the “builder's remedy” to downsize or downzone SJ projects, while the provision was intended to encourage and expand affordable housing options in NIMBY jurisdictions. Yet, YIMBY Law's executive director Sonja Trauss is all in favor of (what she frames as) developers bypassing minimum density restrictions to pursue fiscally feasible projects. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreIt's hard to bubble in “no” on pleasant platitudes like “The Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act” (which downplayed property theft penalties and—according to Mayor Mahan—wreaked havoc on SJ's downtown). And that, political watchdogs say, is exactly the point. In this exclusive, three Opp Now contributors (Pat Waite, Johnny Khamis, and Marc Ang) review some of the most egregiously titled ballot measures of recent years—and how taxpayers were “supposed” to read between the lines.
Read MoreIn this Opp Now exclusive, three experts (SJSU's regional planning professor Kelly Snider, Bay Area Council's senior VP Matt Regan, and California YIMBY's research director Nolan Gray) parse the builder's remedy provision of CA's Housing Affordability Act—which lets developers bypass local zoning laws for affordable housing projects if that city's Housing Element is noncompliant. The provision has yet to be tested in court, as many jurisdictions are negotiating with—or, like SJ, throwing their hands up at—developers to prevent lawsuits.
Read MoreLocal media recently celebrated a poorly designed Joint Venture Silicon Valley study, which discovered that people who get free money from universal basic income (UBI) programs (like Santa Clara County's) are more able to afford things that—hold your breath—cost money. Stanford economics prof John Cochrane provides deeper analysis, noting that UBI historically doesn't rescue people from poverty long-term or incentivize workforce participation. Wouldn't it help low-income folks better if cities purged their burdensome regulations/taxes and helped create real jobs instead? An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreLocal media remarks that SB 274, which deep-sixes the ability for schools to suspend students for “willful defiance,” is being questioned by some SJ teachers who prioritize safe learning environments. Lance Christensen, Education Policy VP at California Policy Center, discusses why defiant behavior is a valuable indicator of family life and future safety risk—and why teachers, admin, and students suffer when class discipline is curtailed. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreRabbi Dov Greenberg, Chabad at Stanford University executive director, comments on a now-removed professor's disturbing activity of singling out Jewish students for what the university acknowledges as “identity-based targeting.” An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreOn September 21, the State Auditor announced a winter release date for the audit of the troubled Valley Transit Authority (VTA). This audit could offer further insight into the murky reporting VTA staff has provided regarding the wild BART cost overruns, ever-lengthening completion dates, and ever-shrinking ridership projections. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreWith news that VTA's misbegotten plans to extend BART to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara have gotten (hold on to your seats) even more expensive than previous budget-busting estimates, Marc Joffe at the Cato Institute wonders anew if it's time for a re-think on the whole project. Even the Merc agrees. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read More22-year-old Business major Jacob Spangler is SFSU's College Republicans club president; he also holds office with the SF Republican Party/Young Republicans. In this Opp Now exclusive, Spangler analyzes what's keeping young folks from meaningful political involvement, particularly at First Amendment-tentative institutions like San Francisco State—and how local orgs can shift gears accordingly.
Read MoreEven the Merc is coming around and questioning the SJ BART extension, pointing to various factors: VTA's lack of transparency on careening costs and “definitely there” funding, bleak ridership projections, and the need for independent reviewers to determine if the project is even worthwhile. In this updated Opp Now exclusive, the Cato Institute's Marc Joffe analyzes how the extension would most likely have to be stopped by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Read MoreBob Raymer, the California Building Industry Association's technical director/senior engineer, also formerly chaired three CA'n code advisory committees (Green Building, Building & Fire, and Accessibility). Here, Raymer unpacks excessive building codes and permitting fees that stifle affordable housing—in and beyond the SCC. An Opp Now exclusive.
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