This IS NOT a shortage of public dollars for public works because your State govt has the taxpayer by the balls. They will raise taxes at will, increase fines, impose regulations to make things more costly so that at the end of day, taxpayers are impoverished. Remember printing money to cover deficits (via Federal Reserve) to monetize deficits is another tactic employed for the last 50 years (at the national level) ever since the dollar went off the gold standard. There is simply no accountability for bad management. All these officials and govt representatives get elected on platitudes and NO ONE holds them accountable. They cater to special interests and the taxpayer is simply a hostage.
Thanks, Ironman33; not just higher taxes but sadly, ZERO DATA supporting why this demand for more taxes are necessity. The results on ground are nil.
Parents give allowances and when I was a kid I had to show mine when I asked for more $ what it is was for. Not just that, they looked at how and what I spent my earlier allowance on (or if I had saved some $) to justify the request and the spend. We don't seem to run the City of Oakland in this manner and need much more transparency to see how our tax dollars are being utilitize to justify these spending desires and demands.
Absolutely, but don't hold your breath. This plan for a Bay Area-wide transit tax in 2026 is the latest example of which Oakland is a big booster. Isn't it about time we get out of the syndrome of BART unions holding commuters hostage for big pay increases every four years or so since ridership is way down? The federal government bailed out BART during the pandemic, but ridership has stayed down. Fortunately, fewer people are using BART and many areas of the Peninsula aren't served by BART and will vote against the tax. Hopefully it won't pass. BART won't reform itself since trustees like Latifah Simon and Rebecca Salzmann who favor artificial re-distribution of wealth consistently out-vote others like Debora Allen, who's on the right track, no pun intended.
PLAs are oppressive tactics and very parochial in the name of "fairness." Union, PLA, Right to work, free economy, min wage etc are all in each other's way. Small contractors struggle with PLA, competition goes out the window and project costs tend to increase per unit. There is no definitive study that PLAs are better overall, only conjecture. So, it's a choice between Union and Homeowners' interest adjudicated by City (interested officials).
This IS NOT a shortage of public dollars for public works because your State govt has the taxpayer by the balls. They will raise taxes at will, increase fines, impose regulations to make things more costly so that at the end of day, taxpayers are impoverished. Remember printing money to cover deficits (via Federal Reserve) to monetize deficits is another tactic employed for the last 50 years (at the national level) ever since the dollar went off the gold standard. There is simply no accountability for bad management. All these officials and govt representatives get elected on platitudes and NO ONE holds them accountable. They cater to special interests and the taxpayer is simply a hostage.
A big problem in Oakland is that the demands of one group always conflict with the demands of another. The only thing consistent is higher taxes.
Thanks, Ironman33; not just higher taxes but sadly, ZERO DATA supporting why this demand for more taxes are necessity. The results on ground are nil.
Parents give allowances and when I was a kid I had to show mine when I asked for more $ what it is was for. Not just that, they looked at how and what I spent my earlier allowance on (or if I had saved some $) to justify the request and the spend. We don't seem to run the City of Oakland in this manner and need much more transparency to see how our tax dollars are being utilitize to justify these spending desires and demands.
Absolutely, but don't hold your breath. This plan for a Bay Area-wide transit tax in 2026 is the latest example of which Oakland is a big booster. Isn't it about time we get out of the syndrome of BART unions holding commuters hostage for big pay increases every four years or so since ridership is way down? The federal government bailed out BART during the pandemic, but ridership has stayed down. Fortunately, fewer people are using BART and many areas of the Peninsula aren't served by BART and will vote against the tax. Hopefully it won't pass. BART won't reform itself since trustees like Latifah Simon and Rebecca Salzmann who favor artificial re-distribution of wealth consistently out-vote others like Debora Allen, who's on the right track, no pun intended.
Need to contact Brenda Forte so i can volunteer for her campaign
PLAs are oppressive tactics and very parochial in the name of "fairness." Union, PLA, Right to work, free economy, min wage etc are all in each other's way. Small contractors struggle with PLA, competition goes out the window and project costs tend to increase per unit. There is no definitive study that PLAs are better overall, only conjecture. So, it's a choice between Union and Homeowners' interest adjudicated by City (interested officials).