Conventional wisdom is a funny ol' thing: it sometimes shifts so fast that we don't even notice. Just two years ago, thought leaders advocating for sanctioned encampments in SJ were derided by the local Labor/left as slumlords and racists, guilty of promoting internment camps. Now, even some of the (previously) most hostile critics of funding this type of interim housing suddenly are acknowledging its importance. The educational website conceptually.org explains how the Overton Window—or conventional wisdom—shifts in modern society.

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Local SJ officials seem perplexed that the County Board of Supes appear to be pulling a switcheroo regarding what had been an interim housing site on Monterey and Bernal. The county wants to turn it into a jail diversion site that's an alternative to jail or prison for alleged offenders awaiting trial. Neighbors are livid, and below, Mayor Mahan expresses wariness re: the County's mixed signals in a letter to a constituent. {And it makes Opp Now editors wonder: is this the result of the county's recent strategy to delay—yet again—a new jail, for which decarceration zealots like Supe Ellenberg have been advocating?}

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This November, Californians will vote to take a stance on Proposition 5 (which lowers the required 66% supermajority to 55% to approve new special taxes). SJ City Council, in a divided vote with Batra and Doan voting no, has endorsed Prop 5. Below, attorney and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association's president Jon Coupal analyzes how the ballot measure's language may be confusing, misleading, and ultimately a backdoor way to voters' pocketbooks. (Sound familiar?)

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SJ CM David Cohen drew jeers when he stated—inaccurately to many—that his support for Prop 5 was about "democracy." The good folks at the California Policy Center disagree, and suggest it's a backdoor maneuver to boost union employee wages.

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Universities' Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs aren't as loud or aggressive today as in 2020, but they certainly haven't disappeared—yet. In an excellent NY Times article, Stanford University's Paul Brest and Emily J. Levine discuss a rising DEI alternative: “New Pluralism.” A pluralistic approach unites students of different identities/ideologies through open conversation (rather than pushing One Preferred Agenda).

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SJ CM David Cohen revealed a lack of understanding of the nature of democracy on 8.27 when he equated democracy with majority rule, as part of his misguided defense of Proposition 5 (which would lower the long-held threshold for new local taxes from 66% to 55%.). Majority rule does not equate to a democratic society—as historians and political scientists readily attest. Paul Woodruff at the Oxford University Press sets Cohen straight with the following essay.

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With SCOTUS' Grants Pass decision, updates to SJ's homelessness strategies, and Gov. Newsom's call for cities to get more aggressive regarding encampments, we asked the SJ Housing Dept for updates on key, related data. They replied quickly with the info below. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Responding to pressure from residents and Gov. Newsom, Los Angeles (which has been slow to abandon its failed Housing First orthodoxy) is starting to move more aggressively to remediate longstanding, inhumane homeless encampments in the City of Angels. The LA Times reports.

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In a rare development, SJ City Council on August 27 couldn't achieve a unanimous vote on endorsing Prop 5 (it passed 8-2). Prop 5 aims to lower from 66% to 55% the majority needed for new local taxes, undoing Proposition 13's precedents. Prop 13 was passed by a large margin of Santa Clara County and San Jose voters. CM Doan, who voted against the Prop 5 endorsement, queried city staff as to why there hasn't been broad outreach by the city to residents regarding the endorsements. Staff responded by saying that the city's Intergovernmental Relations Group engages only with nonprofits and non-governmental organizations, and that they will continue with that limited outreach model. The Doan/staffer exchange below.

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Now it's official: school's back in session. Restarting our exclusive Opp Now series, three more econ professors (teaching in local cities including SJ) went all out to sell the Opp Now community on their discipline's best books—interesting, foundational, applicable, and, yep, no degree required.

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