Image generated using Dall-E San Jose Mayor Mahan wants to tie merit pay raises for city leadership to outcomes across four key areas. In an Opp Now exclusive Q&A, San Jose native and licensed local real estate agent Mark Burns suggests adding “find and eliminate unnecessary expenses” to the list. Opportunity Now: Do you support…

Image by Pictures of Money Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s role as the first state in the nation to offer healthcare to all income-eligible immigrants one year ago. But cost overruns and threatened fed clawbacks are forcing some tough trade-offs in Sacto. LA Times reports. California became the first state in the nation to offer healthcare to…

Image in public domain San Jose City Council looks to be zeroing out funds for PSH in the coming year: Measure E proposed allocation is 90% interim housing, 10% prevention. In this exclusive roundup, Opp Now contributors Pat Waite, Irene Smith, and Tom Weissmiller analyze how treatment-free “Housing First” has long failed our homeless neighbors—and…

After contractor premiums shot up, Sandy Springs, GA pulled many services inhouse to save tens of millions of dollars. But going from a mostly privatized city to more of a hybrid model didn’t come without a sacrifice, says Mayor Rusty Paul in Part 2 of an Opp Now exclusive Q&A. When it comes to procurement,…

Depicted: Sather Gate at UC Berkeley. Image by Wikimedia Commons Supremely qualified Asian students still getting nixed by higher-ed admissions departments. Guess why? Orange County Register reports. Despite a 4.2 high school grade-point average, near-perfect SATs, and the fact that he founded a software company while still a high school sophomore, Stanley Zhong was rejected…

D3 has waited too long.  D3 and San Jose representatives continue to pursue go-slow approaches to solving homelessness.  The latest is a misguided idea to needlessly move unsheltered people into the justice system.   Ask yourself, what’s faster: Eighteen months+ or 5 months?  I am the only D3 candidate advocating for immediate implementation of a large-scale shelter plan. The…

Image by Alden Jewell Many free market folks were glad to see SJ’s abolition of parking minimum req’ts in 2022. But, as explored by Housing Commissioner Roberta Moore, this move—along with recently proposed changes to SB 9—doesn’t come without consequences for already-dense communities nearby. Excerpted from a 3.6 email. Infill to protect open space is…

Nevada Cares Campus ne of the major reasons we haven’t put a dent in SJ’s homelessness crisis is that our approach has been scattershot, not strategic—a long list of small-scale bureaucratic maneuvers. So says Irene Smith, D3 CM candidate who provides an update to her 2022 Incremental Ladder of Housing Success proposal, which focuses on…

  Dear Neighbor, During my first two years in office, we held our city accountable for building out our shelter system to help homeless neighbors come indoors. This year, we’re opening up enough units todouble our capacity. Last week, alongside our police and fire unions, I announced a new initiative as part of our budget…

Image by Paul Tomlin Silicon Valley’s no stranger to ballot wording that’s been tweaked and twisted to seem more palatable to voters. And just last week, a Contra Costa school district was court-ordered to set right its misleading language on a proposed parcel tax. SFGate clarifies, below. A judge this week ordered the Contra Costa…

Jean-Simon Berthélemy: Man formed by Prometheus and animated by Minerva, 1802. Image by Wikimedia Commons What if parents were given a yearly $10k check to send their kids to whatever school they like (public, private, or home)? Many states are doing it. Others like TX are considering it. Here, the Federalist unpacks how ESAs benefit…

There’s a lot of noise coming from local media regarding the comparative costs & benefits of differing D3 and SJ homelessness solutions. So let me don my accountant’s cap, and I will summarize the key points we all need to remember. 1.) Large-scale structures are the fastest way to get shelter to the homeless. Months instead…