If you’re a landlord in Santa Clara County, the last few years have been difficult: pandemic-related lockdowns that forced tenants out of work, a federal eviction moratorium, and increasing regulations and rent control at the local level. Many landlords—especially those providing smaller single family home rentals or duplexes and quadplexes—are being forced to call it quits…

California’s near-unaffordable housing market is no secret, but COVID isn’t all to blame. Housing consultant Timothy L. Coyle breaks down California’s high fees, mandated union-friendly project-labor agreements, and other requirements that exacerbate prices for residents. Why isn’t Gov. Newsom fighting against red tape costs to encourage housing construction? The saga of the “Pearl Apartments” is…

Image by WaterArchives.org Hold onto your (wet) wallets. Opp Now contributor and local City Planning graduate student Susie Murillo takes a look at upcoming plans for the county water district to jack up rates, yet again, with little accountability and dubious reasoning. An Opp Now exclusive. “A rise in water rates may sink all who…

Somewhere, George Orwell is smiling. In a brazen example of counterintuitive spin, a collection of the local subsidized housing leaders responded to news that homelessness is rising in the county by saying that—get this—the uptick proves their Housing First programs are working. Astonishingly, the Merc took their comments at face value and—hold on—didn’t seek out…

According to the SF Standard, SF’s Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Legislative Analyst Office recently released a report on the city’s Housing Dept. A key finding was what was missing: much documentation on local affordable housing projects, including how the Dept—you know—actually spends their funds. SJ’s Housing Dept, too, is no stranger to financial black…

The CA state audit that blistered San Jose and statewide homelessness programs for ineffectiveness called forth a prickly, self-justifying, and lengthy response from SJ City Manager Jennifer Maguire. Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report gives Maguire’s 15-pager a close read, and finds that it’s evasive and doesn’t face up to the legit financial and…

Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio contributes to Opp Now’s exclusive Local Gov’t Hopes & Fears series: He emphasizes SJ’s need to focus on a smaller list of city services, rather than try to expand jurisdictions and “duplicate” larger gov’t efforts. My big wish: Focus on core city services with greater financial transparency regarding debt, liabilities, and…

In this wide ranging interview, Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio interviews ex-Mayor Chuck Reed on SJ housing crisis–its roots and potential fixes–the state of the Google project, and the status of pension reform and municipal borrowing in this exclusive discussion for Opportunity Now. Pierluigi Oliverio: Almost every conversation in San Jose politics seems to be centered around…

Former SJ CM and current Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio takes a look back at how SJ’s and the state’s homelessness efforts went sideways. Spoiler alert: good intentions can go astray. An Opp Now exclusive. History books will likely note that this huge spending in California on homelessness over the past decades had the best of…

Michael Saltzman of the Employment Policies Institute investigates why the SF restaurant business is shrinking. “San Francisco was once known for trendy restaurants with lines out the door. Today, the city’s restaurateurs are concerned with keeping the doors open at all. Restaurant closings outpace openings by 9%, according to the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. “How…

The Associated Press breaks down a puzzling new development in California’s Labor saga: Local unions are now demanding they receive State unemployment benefits while on strike. However, CA’s post-“surplus” budget has little, if no, wiggle room for the amenity. The bill, introduced this week, would make California just the third state to do this, joining…

Image by Wikimedia Commons California labor groups have their list of priority bills and the California Chamber of Commerce has a list of “job killers” it wants to defeat. Sometimes the two lists collide. The inestimable Dan Walters comments in Calmatters. An annual political ritual was repeated Wednesday when the California Chamber of Commerce released…