Archive for June 2024

Image by World Bank Photo Collection Following Gov. Newsom’s blistering critiques of housing and homelessness spends, so-called affordable housing programs got cut substantially in the state budget. Lynn La reports for Cal Matters about which programs came out on the short end in the budget negotiations. • Affordable housing advocates: In a blow to efforts helping to…

The list lengthens. To review: SJ Housing Dept. VTA board. Sta Clara City Council. SJ Unified. And now Oakland–all torched by independent entities for crummy governance. Natalie Hansen from Courthouse News surveys the safety critiques in the East Bay. City leaders in Oakland, California, say they may soon dedicate millions to support an overwhelmed 911 call…

Image by Wikimedia Commons VTA helped thwart a state legislative initiative to bail out BART this Spring, while moving forward with a costly plan to extend BART service through SJ. This inconsistency raises the possibility that future SJ residents will be walking atop a white elephant running under East Santa Clara Street. The unstoppable Marc Joffe explores in another…

Turns out that many unhoused in the streets of cities like San José don’t need an elaborate suite of social services, but just enough to help with the rent. Housing perfectionists should be reminded that college kids do it, even working professionals do it, so why can’t most healthy homeless folks rent a room in…

Image by Seth Anderson The California legislature is trying to sabotage another initiative that would toughen penalties for theft and drug crimes. Why do state politicians fear voters? The Wall St. Journal reports. Law enforcement, businesses and local elected officials across the Golden State are campaigning to roll back parts of Prop. 47. That’s the…

At long last, on 6.11, San Jose City Council reallocated Measure E tax funds to prioritize interim housing and creekside clean-up. This move returned Measure E’s outlays to their original intent–addressing housing and homelessness issues in a balanced way. Just as important, it put an end to years of burning through 75% of the Measure’s annual…

We are not making this up: Murders. Stabbings. Open drug use. Fights. Welcome to LA’s Metro system, which may be giving us an early peek as to what unexpected civic amenities BART to downtown SJ might bring with it. Tim Deegan, the excellent city planning columnist for LA Weekly and Citywatch, provides analysis and first-hand…

Image by QuoteFancy Marin County community and tax authorities express serious concerns that monies generated by huge regional tax won’t be seen by the cities that pay for them–and that the whole regional bill may run counter to popular will in particular counties. Marin Independent Journal reports. Mary Stompe, a board member of the Coalition of…

Image by Wikimedia Commons Gabrielle Antolovich, Board President of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, approves of the SJ CMs’ calls for clarification of different gov’t responsibilities and precise focus on customized services for people in need. An Opp Now exclusive.  When COVID happened a lot of gov’t agencies–including the city, county, and the state– lost a…

San Jose, CA will lose crucial funding for interim housing units  as Los Angeles Council members push to freeze cops’ salaries. Having taken a break from handing out inflationary stimulus checks, the state now wants to explain the concept of lean government to cities and stakeholders. But teachers’ unions won’t learn the lesson—instead they’re asking for $23…