Archive for June 2023

The loss of CA’n companies continues to take a toll on the Bay Area’s once-vibrant economy, particularly in Downtown SF—where announcements of yet another closed shop have become a regular, and seemingly never-ending, refrain. The California Globe’s Katy Grimes analyzes how CA’s exorbitant income tax is forcing out businesses and individuals, who frequently relocate to…

GrowSF reports that California plans to keep local transit agencies afloat, according to the latest budget revision. However, BART’s essential problems—pervasive passenger drug use, violence, and unclean conditions—will remain. A sharp 180 turn is needed, says GrowSF, to ensure people are comfortable taking public transportation again in the Bay Area. Besides the the downtown “doom…

San Jose is abandoning its commitment to transparency by adopting controversial protocols to limit public access to city records while also cutting out the only independent party that reviewed appeals to denied requests. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously last week without discussion to advance a proposal from former Mayor Sam Liccardo to “reduce the fiscal…

San Jose officials are being challenged by a formerly homeless resident to stay in a shelter before voting to open more—and one is up for the offer. Sketch Oppie, who sits on the San Jose’s Housing and Community Development Commission, recently asked the City Council to experience what a homeless shelter is like before diverting funds for affordable…

Panicked nonprofits and housing advocates are spinning all sorts of nonsense in their efforts to hold onto their poorly-spent Measure E proceeds. Local Real Estate Agent Mark Burns cuts through the yak to provide a clear-eyed understanding of what Measure E was supposed to do, and how to ethically and intelligently spend those monies. An…