California’s Largest Landowner-in-the-Making
The Stealthy Pivot For nearly two decades, Californians have debated High-Speed Rail as a transportation project. The public discussion has focused on construction costs, ridership forecasts, travel times, funding gaps, environmental impacts, and whether the system will ever connect San Francisco and Los Angeles as originally promised. The newly released 2026 Business Plan suggests that […]
The Housing Debate Has Taken a Strange Turn:
Now We’re Afraid of Maps California’s housing crisis has produced some strange policy debates over the years. We’ve argued about CEQA, parking requirements, density bonuses, impact fees, design review, and almost every other obstacle to building homes. Now, we’ve apparently reached a new low. Some of the state’s most powerful housing industry groups are arguing […]
How AI Data Centers Could Be Driving Up California Electric Rates Before They’re Even Built
https://vimeo.com/share/6b64233d-9b4f-4b14-a94a-ca7e72b1d50e How AI Data Centers Could Be Driving Up California Electric Rates Before They’re Even Built Buried in next week’s San José City Council agenda are two items that, at first glance, appear unrelated. The first would authorize San José Clean Energy (SJCE) to enter into a 15-year agreement worth up to $124.5 million for […]
San José’s Affordable Housing Audit Reveals the Real Test for GovAI
How Artificial Intelligence Could Strengthen Affordable Housing Oversight and Protect Taxpayer Investments San José has spent years positioning itself as one of the nation’s leaders in government artificial intelligence. City leaders have promoted GovAI as a tool that can modernize government, improve public services, and help employees work more efficiently. The initiative has generated national […]
Will San José Cut Services Too Soon as Its Reserve Falls to $12.5M?
San José’s reserve has dropped to $12.5 million while financial discipline and new revenue proposals move forward at the same time. San José’s Budget Stabilization Reserve has fallen from $63 million to just $12.5 million in roughly 18 months. At the same time, the City is projecting a $55–$65 million General Fund shortfall and signaling […]
Why I’m Doing This
I’ve spent years watching how choices get made in city halls, commission chambers, and behind closed doors — choices that shape how we live, work, and move around the Bay Area. Some are smart. Some are baffling. Many never get the attention they deserve. And too often, the people who care the most — residents, […]
It’s Time for San José to Stop Using Roundup in Our Parks
San José continues to rely on glyphosate-based herbicides in public parks despite health warnings, safer alternatives, growing community concern, and increasing uncertainty at the federal level. Most mornings I take my two beagles, Bailey and Parker, to Williams Street Park. They sniff every corner, pull toward the same patch of grass, and treat the place […]