Posts by Take Back San Jose

Image by A. McLin Polling finds insufficient support for new park taxes, and city officials say citizens are increasingly fed up with constant increases to local cost of living. The Merc’s report surveys the situation, and is excerpted below. “Obviously, it’s not the feedback we were hoping to see or at least many of us…

Image by ddmeyer on Flickr It sure looks like California is splitting into two groups. One, cities and counties taking heed of Gov. Newsom’s call to ameliorate the unsafe conditions in homeless encampments, as enabled by the recent SCOTUS decision. And two, those who remain stuck in the pre-Grants Pass world. Fresno Bee continues its…

Image by Wikimedia Commons Southern California pols are split over the impact of the recent SCOTUS decision allowing cities to enforce no-camping laws. LA Mayor Bass is worried LA’s less aggressive approach to clearing encampments will result in neighboring cities sending their homeless to the City of Angels. Long Beach Mayor and Orange County Supes say Grants…

Image by Wikimedia Commons The exceptional Heather Knight reports for the New York Times that as SF starts to roll out a more vigorous strategy for sweeping inhumane homeless encampments, they’re finding complications: unhoused who refuse offers of shelter (up to 2/3ds, says Breed) and drug crimes. Fifteen times this year, the city has cleared…

Image by NoHoDamon on Flickr. The potential new bond indebtedness appearing on the November ballot may surpass $80bn –will CA voters say “enough is enough”? Ben Christopher at CalMatters explores why voters may say no to RM4 and other super expensive new tax measures. With lawmakers considering a bevy of bond measures in 2024 that could…

If nine Bay Area counties borrow $20 billion together, shouldn’t they each get their fair share back? Turns out the regional housing bond will make smaller counties pay out far more than they get in return. With a local tax, Napa could fulfill its housing need in 16 years. Instead, RM4 would make North Bay…

On the heels of a savage state audit finding San Jose’s Housing Dept had negligent oversight of fund disbursement to local non profits, comes a new city audit which finds more of the same dating back to 2021. And in SF, the never-ending parade of non profits discovered to have been fleecing the city continues.…

When free marketeers daylight the massive subsidies needed to operate public transit, transit advocates often retort that private automobile driving receives gov’t subsidies, too. The fearless Marc Joffe explores the question in the Cato at Liberty blog, and finds the transit advocates have a legit point.  Subsidizing any form of transportation raises both normative and…

Image by H. Michael Karshis According to the California Apartment Ass’n, economists and housing experts from Stanford and UC Berkeley warn that Proposition 33 would worsen California’s housing crisis by hindering new affordable housing construction and overturning state laws mandating more affordable housing. Additionally, Proposition 33 would remove protections for homeowners, allowing regulators to control…