Archive for July 2024
Valley Water Board of Directors postpones decision on proposed ordinance to reduce encampments along creeks, waterways and water supply facilities
SAN JOSE — At its meeting on July 9, 2024, Valley Water’s Board of Directors postponed a decision on a proposed ordinance to reduce encampments, prevent re-encampments and prohibit related activities along creeks, waterways, water supply facilities and other lands where Valley Water holds land rights. The Board of Directors sent the ordinance back to…
Read MoreNo excuses #5: “No more passing the buck.” Cities now have tools to clean up inhumane encampments–immediately
Image by Wikimedia Commons As tent cities filled with homeless people proliferated in West Coast communities in recent years, elected politicians dealt with the problem by passing the buck, saying they were tied by a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that prohibitions on homeless encampments amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” In City of…
Read MoreNot surprising: California’s $2B transit bailout will “exacerbate operating losses”
Image by Ken Lund Public transit experts warn that investing in struggling transit systems’ expansion while ridership remains low could be a recipe for financial disaster, as these expansions may lack the future ridership to cover the cost of their growth in the future. Kenneth Schrupp explains in The Center Square. SB 125 in 2023…
Read MoreCase study Denver: small basic income pilot shows promise for housing the homeless–way more cost-effective than brutally expensive new, subsidized apartments
Denver gave homeless people cash and now half of them live in their own place. While humanitarian middlemen like SNAP and Medicaid impose severe spending restrictions, basic income relies on trust. Denver’s pilot suggests that people who know what they need can spend it rather efficiently—and housing is a popular choice, as 45% of recipients…
Read MoreValley Water begins annual maintenance work in creeks for flood protection
Every year, Valley Water performs work in creeks across Santa Clara County to ensure that flood protection projects continue to provide their designed levels of protection and keep our communities safe. This critical work includes managing vegetation to reduce the intensity and harmful impacts of fires, particularly important when conditions are dry. Valley Water primarily…
Read MoreCM Batra tells council and staff they shouldn’t approve city positions on controversial ballot initiatives without proper public review
Did you know that SJ Council often takes positions on statewide ballot initiatives–even if those initiatives have zero to do with the city’s finances? District 10’s Batra thinks it’s time to daylight this odd, if poorly understood, council practice. Batra’s 6.14.24 comments to Intergovernmental Review team, edited for brevity. below. This is the amount of work…
Read MoreNo more excuses #1: SCOTUS clears the way for CA cities like SJ to manage inhumane and dangerous homeless encampments
Rejecting the argument that preventing homeless from appropriating public parks and spaces violated the 8th Amendment, SCOTUS empowers cities like SJ to enforce anti-camping ordinances. Legal Insurrection unpacks the decisions logic and issues. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided whether cities should enforce anti-camping ordinances against the homeless in an Eighth Amendment challenge to an…
Read MoreSlow progress for a fast train. Musk and the Internet mock CA rail authority’s “$36.96 billion per mile” overpass to nowhere
Image by 10 10 on Flickr In fairness, it only took nine years to complete one of the bullet train’s first structures, which appears to be floating in space. Even a cryptocurrency creator marvels at the impracticality. Critics wonder if the SF-LA line will come barreling through Santa Clara County by 2400, and perhaps being…
Read MoreSticker shock: Californians pay more for power than anyone else in the continental US
It’s too bad bank accounts don’t come with surge protectors. After a yearly $400 rate spike, PG&E customers in San José and much of CA now scramble to make their household budgets work—one San Francisco resident saw her energy bill jump by $100 in a single month. SF Chronicle’s Julie Johnson reports. North Beach resident Serena…
Read More☆ No on Regional Housing Tax group makes case at BAHFA meeting
To nobody’s surprise, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, an outgrowth of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, agreed on Wednesday morning to put a $20 billion regional bond on the November ballot in nine counties. But opponents of the mammoth tax offered a serious, compelling critique. Will Sherman reports in this Opp Now exclusive. Although outnumbered,…
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