Posts by Take Back San Jose

Image by Michaël Muraz  Has stack and pack zoning in the name of climate change strangled CA’s housing market? Outdated sustainability dogma belongs with the dinosaurs, says California Policy Center’s Edward Ring. He recommends CA expand suburban growth—it’s better for the environment than corralling us all into concrete jungles. Reform CEQA too, which is abused…

Gavin Newsom states he’s not seeing the results he wants from homeless spending. In the May Revise budget, he cut over 25% statewide from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. These funds helped San Jose build nearly 500 interim housing units, a crucial tool to reduce homeless encampments in the city. From Andrew…

Image by Espensorvik on Flickr Rather than flush $30 billion down the Delta Tunnel, why don’t Californians pump that money into big yield water projects? California Policy Center’s Edward Ring argues that with one project alone, half the Delta money could return twice as much water, with the rest of the cash spilling into reservoirs that produce hydroelectric energy. The point here isn’t to proclaim desalination as a more cost-effective…

Image by Wikimedia Commons There were 437 homelessness families tallied across the city, marking an alarming 94% jump since 2022. The data highlights the daunting challenge of tackling the crisis in an expensive city amid a lack of affordable housing, a surge in migrant families and a fentanyl crisis. Maggie Angst at S.F. Chronicle explores.…

Image by City of San Jose, CA. Echoing the blistering critique of SJ’s homelessness programs by the state auditor, District 7 CM Bien Doan, in a 5.14 Study Session, called out staff’s ongoing dissembling and evasions regarding the humanitarian crisis on our streets and creek beds (Edited for brevity) We talk about homelessness over and…

Image by CastorGirl on Flickr Last month, AG Rob Bonta charged LA DA George Gascón’s head of ethics Diana Teran with improperly using confidential police officer personnel information in court or before a trial. Gascón faced recalls in SF and LA for soft-on-crime policies. Despite an informational black hole from the AG’s office Thomas Buckley of California…

CA schools were supposed to work in tandem, from UC’s down to CCC’s like Santa Clara’s Mission College. Today, they suffer from “mission creep”—degree inflation, union power grabs, and administrative bloat now cannibalize resources and inflate tuitions. California Policy Center’s Peter Constant (not the former SJ CM) suggests revisiting the Master Plan. Once the envy of…

Image by Clackamas County Historical. Palo Alto CM and CA16 primary candidate Greg Tanaka reviews the primary season, primary vote, and recount drama. His conclusion: alternate, diverse voices aren’t heard in our election process, and maybe it’s time to consider reforms. An Opp Now exclusive. I always expected there was going to be a recount…

We asked District 10 Council finalists Arjun Batra and George Casey for their perspectives on the upcoming Council debate regarding if, and how, Council should reallocate Measure E Housing funds. Their answers below. An Opp Now exclusive. Opp Now’s 2024 SJ Council elections question: One of the more controversial issues facing City Council is whether…

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…