ACC Written Communications 05-22-23
Arts and Culture
Commission Meeting
May 22, 2023
Written Communications
From:Jessica Javier
To:Arts and Culture
Subject:FW: May 2 City Council - using $338,146.86 funds earmarked for public art for a playground
Date:Tuesday, May 23, 2023 10:58:00 AM
Attachments:Playground Staff Report.pdf
B- Art Concept Options.pdf
CMC 19.148 Artwork.pdf
A- Draft Resolution.pdf
CC 06-15-2021 Searchable Packet.pdf
CC 11-16-2021 Searchable Packet.pdf
From: Rhoda Fry <fryhouse@earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 2:37:33 AM
To: Carol Maa <CMaa@cupertino.org>; Rani Agrawal <RAgrawal@cupertino.org>; Dana Ford
<DFord@cupertino.org>; David Wang <DWang@cupertino.org>; Kiran V. Rohra
<KRohra@cupertino.org>
Subject: May 2 City Council - using $338,146.86 funds earmarked for public art for a playground
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Dear Cupertino Arts and Culture Commission,
I am writing you because I am deeply troubled by the proposal to use $338,146.86 in funds
earmarked for public art for playground funding. The playground should be funded through
Capital Budget Funds and not through our Public Art Money. The Public Art Money came
from fees paid by developers for public art. The developers chose to not install public art and
instead paid “Art In-Lieu Fees.” These fees must be used for public art and not for
playgrounds.
This is on Today’s May 2 City Council Agenda #8:
Consider approving the use of funds from the Art In-Lieu Fees for the Jollyman All-
Inclusive Playground (AIPG) Capital Improvement Programs (CIP) project.
There are many reasons to deny the diversion of public-art funding to playground
construction. The playground concept has been known for years and is already funded with
$2.1M of City funds and $2.5M in grants for a total of $4,895,381.86. (By the way, on
6/15/2021, the cost was $3,678,000 and by 11/16/2021 it was 5,465,361. See last 2
attachments.) The proposal to use our Public Art Money is not being used to enhance the
existing project’s design, rather it is taking our Public Art Money that could be used anywhere
in our City. The City should either scale back on the project or instead draw from the General
Fund or even the investment account that has a balance of $150M. Additionally, there are
allocated portions of our budget that we have not used in years, such as the extra library hours
that the County no longer charges for. Finally, at the 6/2/22 Parks and Recreation Meeting, the
survey revealed that artistic / colorful elements ranked #2 in the desires of the public – it
would make no sense for these colorful elements to be eliminated if our Public Art Money
wasn’t made available.
The proposed diversion of funds clearly violates our Municipal Code’s 19.148 Public Art
Purpose and Intent. The Purpose and Intent is to “Enhance community and identity” and
to “Provide attractive public arts to residents and visitors alike.” The short list of over
nearly $340K in playground features do nothing to support our Municipal Code’s Purpose
and Intent. Not only does the proposal violate the spirit of our Municipal Code, it also
violates specific exclusions. Although the Municipal Code deems the following to be
ineligible, “Directional or other functional elements such as supergraphics, signing, or color
coding,” “playground equipment,” and “Landscaping and garden features,” the proposal
suggests using our Public Art Money for a “Multilingual Tactile Sign,” “Decorative sun
kaleidoscope feature,” and even “viewing binoculars.” The CMC states, “Artwork shall be
identified by an appropriate plaque or monument not less than eight by eight inches.” How
do you put a plaque that size on binoculars? Moreover, “The artwork shall be easily visible
from the public street” and this would not be the case. The draft resolution even obfuscates
the objective of this diversion – nowhere does it mention diverting our precious Public Art
Money.
Please encourage City Council to invest our Public Art Money in Public Art, not already
well-funded playgrounds.
Attachments:
Council Packet - Playground Staff Report
Council Packet - Playgorund Art Concepts
Municipal Code
Council Packet – Draft Resolution to divert funds
2 budget documents
Link to City Council Agenda Item #8:
https://cupertino.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6180931&GUID=F55E1791-D0F4-
4E9E-AB6C-E401784EE15C&Options=&Search=
Sincerely,
Rhoda Fry
(408) 529-3560