It’s budget season in Santa Clara County, and once again the powers that be are ringing the familiar bells of control and fear. San Jose is facing a deficit. Are you surprised? I’m not.
Here’s the playbook: Elected officials keep the public locked in a scarcity mindset of “never having enough” to distract from their own lack of due diligence with public funds. When the spotlight is fixed on what we don’t have, we can’t see how they’re spending what we do have. It is a calculated strategy to lower our expectations while mismanaging collective resources.