P&R 11-01-12APPROVED :MINUTES
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
CITY OF CUPERTINO
Regular Meeting
November 1, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA
Note: This meeting will be televised
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson David Greenstein called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. in
the Community Hall Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino,
CA.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
Commissioners present: David Greenstein, Darcy Paul, David Fung,
Siva Bud araju
Commissioners absent: David Lee
Staff present: Mark Linder, Jeff Ordway, Rachelle Sander
Note: Chair Greenstein introduced newly appointed Commissioner, Siva
Budaraju
4. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED
A. Staff oral reports
Director Mark Linder said the Environmental Review Process has
started on the fenced -in dog park on Mary Avenue. There is a 30-
day review period for the Mitigated Negative Declaration process
which will end on November 30. The key meeting dates are:
• Environmental Review Committee will meet on Thursday,
November 15 at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room C in
Cupertino City Hall
• Planning Commission Meeting on Tuesday, January 8, 2013,
at 6:45 p.m. in Community Hall
• City Council Meeting on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 6:45
p.m. in Community Hall
Director Linder also said that there are some important events
coming up. The annual Veteran's Day event will be on Sunday,
November 11 at the Veteran's Memorial in Memorial Park. On
November 30, at 6:00 p.m., the Tree Lighting event will take place
at the Quinlan Community Center. Then Breakfast with Santa will
follow the next day, December 1, beginning at 8:30 a.m. He
reminded everyone to sign up early for this event because it will
cost more if you come and sign up on December 1.
B. Commissioner contacts
Commissioner Fung said he attended the "Goose Summit" session
at City Hall where other city representatives came to share their
ideas of eliminating geese in their communities. City of Cupertino
Public Works Department said they are considering hiring trained
dogs to disrupt the nearby nesting patterns. Director Linder said
that the Ordinance prohibiting the feeding of ducks and geese in
Memorial Park that was previously recommended by the
Commission will be resurrected and comeback soon, possibly as
early as late December or early January 2013.
Commissioner Paul said this coming Saturday, November 3, at 2:00
p.m., the one -hour play of "A Mid -Summer's Night's Dream" by SF
Shakes will be presented in Community Hall. The introduction
will be by the City's new Poet Laureate, David Denny. There will
also be a Q & A session after the play and it is free.
Commissioner Greenstein said he attended the Blackberry Farm
Community members meeting and the feedback from the
community is very positive. He said they thanked Director Linder
for listening and for addressing past problems. He said there was
one request that came up to install swing sets for tots, kids and
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grown-ups. Director Linder said he will look into the possibility of
installing the swing sets.
5. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
A. Regular meeting of SeptembE!r 6, 2012
Action: Commissioner Fund; made a motion to approve the
minutes and Commissioner Paul seconded the motion. The
motion carried 3-0-1 with Commissioner Budaraju abstaining and
Commissioner Lee was absent.
6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None
7. NEW BUSINESS
A. Social Media update by Parks and Recreation Staff — Jeff Ordway and
Rachelle Sander, Recreation Coordinators
Jeff Ordway showed a brief video showing why social media is so
important to marketing our programs and events. Rachelle said
currently, the Parks and Recreation Department is using Twitter,
Facebook, Constant Contact. In addition, they have offered special
deals through other social media like Living Social and Daily Deals in
the San Jose Mercury. Jeff said that in addition to the main Parks and
Recreation Department Facebook page, the Senior Center, Sports
Center, McClellan Ranch Park, and Teen Center also have their own
Facebook page. They also use Constant Contact for notifying their
customer base of over 10,000 people when they offer specials for
certain programs.
Commissioner Paul asked who maintains the different web pages, etc.
and Rachelle said several Recreation Coordinators manage their own
social media sites and web pages.
Commissioner Fung said the Coordinators should consider having an
official blogger or group of bloggers that people could follow at
different events and could also tie keyed into ongoing discussion on
certain issues within the City. Rachelle said it was definitely worth
looking into.
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Commissioner Budaraju asked if there were just certain events and
programs that were on the social media sites or if it was everything.
Rachelle said she manages the Twitter page and she checks the City
website for information on up and coming events and she will post as
much as she can and link it back to the City's website.
Commissioner Greenstein asked how long they've been using the
different social media sites and Rachelle said it has been about a year
since they went to a class and decided to look into using more sites.
He also asked if they were able to track how many people actually
used the special deals offered and Jeff said they were able to track it
and they had actually exceeded their goal.
Commissioner Greenstein also asked if the Coordinators would come
back in six months to a year to report the continuing results and
expectations of using social media. Jeff and Rachelle said they would
be happy to return and report to the Commission.
Commissioner Paul said he agreed with having a follow-up report next
year after tracking the results. Commissioner Budaraju also suggested
"Tweeting" the date and time of the next Commission meeting to see if
people would follow the meeting on Twitter.
B. Math/Science Competition — verbal report by Mark Linder
Director Linder said he asked the past Teen Commission Chair to
research this possibility as one of her internship assignments and she
came back with the idea of having a competition revolving around
creating new "apps". Director Linder said he is exploring this idea
with various local companies to see if they are interested in partnering
with the City in this kind of competition. He will bring this back on a
future agenda if there is any interest to report.
C. Consider Special Events Policy
Director Linder spoke about his staff report to the Commission
regarding City sponsorship of special events. He said he would like
the Commission to consider the Draft Special Events Policy he
presented and either bring it back for further discussion or forward it
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to the City Council, with the Commission's recommendations for final
action.
Commissioner Greenstein asked if the criteria statement saying "City
of Cupertino's sponsorship should be no more than 25% of the total
event budget" is a benchmark, a;nd if so does it compare to other cities
sponsorship. Director Linder said he did not compare the 25% to other
cities but that he would research this and report back to the
Commission.
Commissioner Budaraju asked if the new policy would impact any of
the previous years' events and cause them not to qualify. Director
Linder said no, they would not Lie affected.
Commissioner Fung said he thinks it's important to have Director
Linder return with the total costs of an event are in order to set the 25%
City sponsorship fee. Director Linder said the percentage can be
changed or dropped by the Commission because the amount is not a
set amount. Commissioner Fung said it would be useful to have a
benchmark amount and asked Director Linder to ask the organizations
currently having events what their operating budget is and what a
good percentage number would be.
Commissioner Paul recommended an addition the criteria by asking
for letters of support from Cupertino residents and/or Cupertino -based
businesses. Commissioner Greenstein asked if this would only apply
to new requests or be grandfathered-in to the events that have been
coming to Cupertino for years. Commissioner Greenstein also asked if
they would to have to re -apply Every year. Commissioner Paul said
the events that have been coming to Cupertino previously should be
grandfathered-in and should not have to provide the letters of support.
Director Linder said he will report back to the Commission at next
month's meeting regarding the following suggestions:
• Check with other cities regarding their percentage of
sponsorship
• Ask organizations to submit their "true" event budget
(including volunteer and staff time)
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• Previous years' events don't have to re -apply for sponsorship
unless their event was dropped and they want to be reinstated
• Look at the level of City support based on whether the
organization is non-profit or private for -profit
• Ask for letters of support from Cupertino residents and
businesses for new events
• Add to policy process to send notices to neighbors and
neighboring businesses regarding new events so they will have
a reasonable amount of tirne to comment at a City Council
meeting
8. ADJOURNMENT - Chair Greenstein adjourned the meeting at 8:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Henriques, Administrative Assistant
Minutes approved at the December 6, 2012 regular meeting
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