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Written Communications (Updated 01-22-21)From:Liang Chao To:City of Cupertino Library Commission Group; City of Cupertino Audit Committee; City of Cupertino Planning Commission; City of Cupertino Fine Arts Commission; City of Cupertino Bike and Ped Commission; City of Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission; City of Cupertino Public Safety Commission; City of Cupertino Sustainability Commission; TICC Subject:RE: Invitation to join the future Meet the Commissioners Series Date:Wednesday, January 20, 2021 1:54:41 AM Sorry. The dates available are Feb. 12 Feb. 19 Not Feb. 26. Liang Liang Chao​ Vice Mayor City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 1:15 AM To: librarycommission@cupertino.org; auditcommittee@cupertino.org; City of Cupertino Planning Commission <PlanningCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Fine Arts Commission <FineArtsCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Bike and Ped Commission <Bikepedcommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission <ParksandRecreationCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Public Safety Commission <PublicSafetyCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Sustainability Commission <SustainabilityCommission@cupertino.org>; TICC <TICC@cupertino.org> Subject: Invitation to join the future Meet the Commissioners Series Dear Commissioners, The first Meet the Commissioners series (Series A) was started in order to encourage more community members to consider applying for the Commissions before the deadline on Jan. 8. I put together program in two days and just randomly picked two people that come to mind. I realized later that I didn’t even ask others who I are on the Commissions longer or who I know longer. I was simply grateful for anyone who would join the meetings. As it turns out, I have learned a lot from each meeting too. You can find the links to those videos at the end. The slide deck I created also provides information on the membership requirements, roles and responsibilities of each commission. I hope to continue the series. The next series will cover the other commissions which do not have vacancies this year. They are Parks & Rec Commission, Public Safety Commission, Sustainability Commission, and Tech, Information and Commission (TICC). Similarly, we could accommodate two Commissions in each meeting, with two members from each commission. We will still do it Fridays at 12pm. The following dates are available: Feb. 12 Feb. 19 Feb. 26 It will be first-come-first-served. Whoever responds first and pick a date, that will be the date for that commission. Then, we’ll see who else is available for the second spot for that commission. So, please respond with the dates you are available to join the Meet Commissioners Series B meeting. In addition to these meetings focused on the roles and responsibilities of each commission, I hope to have meetings on specific topics too. So, if there is one specific topic you are interested to share, please let me know. Thanks. Liang Series A covers the following commissions: Audit Committee: 1 (open) - meets quarterly Bike & Peds: 2 (one partial term is up and can re-apply. The other one is open.) - meets monthly Fine Arts: 2 (two incumbents) - meets every other month Housing: 1 (one partial term is up and can re-apply) - meets monthly Library: 3 (3 incumbents can all re-apply) - meets monthly Planning: 4 (two incumbents who can re-apply. Two vacancies, including one vacated by Kitty) - meets twice a month Series B will covers the following commissions: Parks & Rec: no vacancies Public Safety: no vacancies Sustainability: no vacancies Tech, Information and Commission (TICC): no vacancies Teen: no vacancies (open for application in April/May) Meet the Commissioner Videos Series: ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 1/3 - Audit Committee & Library Commission on December 4, 2020 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oODzdWLnohY) ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 2/3 - Planning Commission & Housing Commission on Dec 11, 2020 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=hOewZ3FVp38) ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 3/3 - Fine Arts & Bike Ped Commission on Dec 18, 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zd-o8i04NI) The slide deck used with information for the commissions and their roles: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19pL0- LcdrUeWqA9PbfsE6hHym3WSNkbOSnaumQsgwcA/edit?usp=sharing Liang Chao​ Vice Mayor City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From:Liang Chao To:City of Cupertino Library Commission Group; City of Cupertino Audit Committee; City of Cupertino Planning Commission; City of Cupertino Fine Arts Commission; City of Cupertino Bike and Ped Commission; City of Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission; City of Cupertino Public Safety Commission; City of Cupertino Sustainability Commission; TICC Subject:Commission Website Date:Wednesday, January 20, 2021 1:46:22 AM   (Note that this is just a friendly suggestion from me for your reference. It is not at all any Council direction. Please do not “reply all” if you respond or remove your own commission from the list.) For each “Meet the Commissioners Series” meeting, I have created slides with information from the Muni Code and the website for each Commission & Committee. As a result, I found some minor inconsistencies how each Commission/Committee is described in Muni Code and I was able to suggest some edits to the City staff/ For some Commission, the roles & responsibilities are quite detailed, but the Commission hasn’t been fully exploring all its potentials, in my opinion. One example is the Housing Commission, which includes advising the Council on housing policies. Bike & Ped Commission also covers transportation issues. Library Commission in fact should advise on Library architecture in the library expansion. So, please review your roles and responsibilities every year. And these are not set in stone. If they should be updated to better reflect the function for the Commission, you could also make suggestions to the Council. We have just approved a new Commissioner handbook. One suggested edit made by me was to clarify that “The Commissions will propose recommendations for the Work Program each year. The recommendations from Commissions will be considered in the creation of the first draft of the City Work Program.” The City Council approves an annual City Work Program to guide the work of the City. The Commissions will propose recommendations for the Work Program each year. The recommendations from Commissions will be considered in the creation of the first draft of the City Work Program. These recommendations will be provided to the City Council for consideration, but ultimately the City Council will determine the final items on the City Work Program. Commissions support City Work Program items within their scope by reviewing the items and making recommendations to City Council. Back in 2019, I requested the following changes to the Commission web pages that the former City Manager Timm Borden has implemented: Each Commission page includes a profile photo and a bio for each Commissioner. All of you are ambassadors of the City so I hope the residents would know more about you than just a name. Each Commission page should include the Commission Work Program so that the public knows what each Commission is working on. Ideally, an archive of work programs from previous years should be linked too to provide some context. Each Commission page should have its own email alias so that it is easy to email all members of one commission. As for the websites, I found there is quite a bit of discrepancies between Commissions/Committees. Some have the current year Work Program; some have only the work program from FY19-20. Some include work programs from prior years; some don’t. Some like Fine Arts Commission have the profile photos of all 5 members; some have only one or two. I found that Fine Arts Commission has an informative section titled “Some of the commission's accomplishments include” is informative: https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/commissions/fine-arts- commission Some of the commission's accomplishments include: ·         Public art ordinance update. The update increased the value of required art in public and private developments from .25 to 1% of construction value. The Cupertino ordinance is now comparable to neighboring cities with public art program. City Council unanimously approved the Fine Arts Commission’s recommendation to update the public art ordinance on July 3, 2018. ·         Review and approval of public art proposals, including local artist James Moore's sculpture "Stargazers" located at Hyatt House, 10380 Perimeter Road. ·         Awards programs such as: o    Distinguished Artist of the Year o    Emerging Artist of the Year; and o    Young Artists of the Year ·         Art in unexpected places, collaboration with Parks & Rec in progress, ·         Working in partnership with local schools for student recognition ·         Serving on art competition panels ·         Community outreach Fine Arts Commission also puts their 2019 Work Program in different categories. Sustainability Commission’s page has links to their Speaker series and grant programs, but they are from 2019. Perhaps, each Commission should review its Commission webpage each year to determine what content to place there to highlight your work. Ideally, the content should be determined and approved by the Commissioners or a designated person to create the content of the web page. Then, the staff liaison and the IP department just need to copy the content. Ideally, this website review should be a regular item to be completed each year in July. For your consideration, Liang     Liang Chao​ Vice Mayor City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192   From: Liang Chao  Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 1:15 AM To: librarycommission@cupertino.org; auditcommittee@cupertino.org; City of Cupertino Planning Commission <PlanningCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Fine Arts Commission <FineArtsCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Bike and Ped Commission <Bikepedcommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission <ParksandRecreationCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Public Safety Commission <PublicSafetyCommission@cupertino.org>; City of Cupertino Sustainability Commission <SustainabilityCommission@cupertino.org>; TICC <TICC@cupertino.org> Subject: Invitation to join the future Meet the Commissioners Series   Dear Commissioners,   The first Meet the Commissioners series (Series A) was started in order to encourage more community members to consider applying for the Commissions before the deadline on Jan. 8. I put together program in two days and just randomly picked two people that come to mind. I realized later that I didn’t even ask others who I are on the Commissions longer or who I know longer. I was simply grateful for anyone who would join the meetings. As it turns out, I have learned a lot from each meeting too. You can find the links to those videos at the end. The slide deck I created also provides information on the membership requirements, roles and responsibilities of each commission.   I hope to continue the series. The next series will cover the other commissions which do not have vacancies this year. They are Parks & Rec Commission, Public Safety Commission, Sustainability Commission, and Tech, Information and Commission (TICC). Similarly, we could accommodate two Commissions in each meeting, with two members from each commission. We will still do it Fridays at 12pm.     The following dates are available: Feb. 12 Feb. 19 Feb. 26   It will be first-come-first-served. Whoever responds first and pick a date, that will be the date for that commission. Then, we’ll see who else is available for the second spot for that commission. So, please respond with the dates you are available to join the Meet Commissioners Series B meeting.   In addition to these meetings focused on the roles and responsibilities of each commission, I hope to have meetings on specific topics too. So, if there is one specific topic you are interested to share, please let me know.   Thanks.   Liang   Series A covers the following commissions: Audit Committee: 1 (open) - meets quarterly Bike & Peds: 2 (one partial term is up and can re-apply. The other one is open.) - meets monthly Fine Arts: 2 (two incumbents) - meets every other month Housing: 1 (one partial term is up and can re-apply) - meets monthly Library: 3 (3 incumbents can all re-apply) - meets monthly Planning: 4 (two incumbents who can re-apply. Two vacancies, including one vacated by Kitty) - meets twice a month Series B will covers the following commissions: Parks & Rec: no vacancies Public Safety: no vacancies Sustainability: no vacancies Tech, Information and Commission (TICC): no vacancies Teen: no vacancies (open for application in April/May)     Meet the Commissioner Videos Series: ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 1/3 - Audit Committee & Library Commission on December 4, 2020 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oODzdWLnohY) ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 2/3 - Planning Commission & Housing Commission on Dec 11, 2020 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=hOewZ3FVp38) ·  Meet the Commissioners Series A, Part 3/3 - Fine Arts & Bike Ped Commission on Dec 18, 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zd-o8i04NI) The slide deck used with information for the commissions and their roles: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19pL0- LcdrUeWqA9PbfsE6hHym3WSNkbOSnaumQsgwcA/edit?usp=sharing   Liang Chao​ Vice Mayor City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192   From:Dan Marshall To:Gilee Corral Cc:John Ennals Subject:Please share the attached file with the Sustainability Commission Date:Thursday, January 21, 2021 3:48:13 PM Attachments:DRAFT Cupertino-CFD-Resolution to share with Sustainability commission.rtf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello Gilee, John Ennals and I are both Cupertino residents. We'd like to take a few minutes during the open portion of today's Sustainability Commission, to request that the Commission recommend to the City Council, that they sign the attached endorsement document. Dan Marshall See a two minute video about a promising approach to addressing climate change. 1 CITY OF CUPERTINO RESOLUTION NO. XXX (2021) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO IN SUPPORT OF A CARBON FEE AND DIVIDEND NATIONAL POLICY TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE WHEREAS, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, are causing rising global temperatures; and WHEREAS, climate.NASA.gov says that 19 of the Earth's 20 warmest years on record have happened since 2001; and WHEREAS, climate.NASA.gov says that the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (C02) exceeded 414 parts per million (ppm) in November 2020, the highest level in 650,000 years; and WHEREAS, fire.ca.gov reports that in 2020 California experienced almost 10,000 fires destroying 4.2 million acres and 7 of the 20 most deadly fires in California history have been since 2017; and WHEREAS, in Cupertino we can, and are, taking local steps to reduce global warming; but WHEREAS, national policy is required to achieve the substantive change required; and WHEREAS, Climate Leadership Council says that 3,500 US Economists (including 4 former chairs of the Federal Reserve, 28 Nobel Laureate Economists, 15 Former Chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers) have endorsed a national climate policy including a carbon tax with the revenues returned to citizens; and WHEREAS, The IPPC Special Report, Global Warming of 1.5°C (pg 377) says “Explicit carbon prices remain a necessary condition of ambitious climate policies'', though additional measures likely will be necessary. (IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel of the United Nations, focused on Climate Change); and WHEREAS, The US Chamber of Commerce announced 1/19/21, “"Clearly, there is consensus favoring a market based approach as opposed to a command and control regulatory approach. That is clearly the preferable path."; and WHEREAS, the Cupertino City Council demonstrated the city’s commitment to addressing climate change when they approved Cupertino’s Climate Action Plan in 2015 as a strategy to put Cupertino on the path to achieve a 15% reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2020, 49% reduction by 2035 and 83% by 2050; and Resolution No. XXX (YYYY) Page 2 of 3 National Carbon Fee and Dividend on Fossil Fuels to address Climate Change WHEREAS, the Cupertino City Council passed Resolution No. 18-094 on September 18, 2018, declaring a climate emergency and calling on the State of California, the United States, and all governments worldwide to initiate an emergency mobilization effort to mitigate climate change, stop rising greenhouse gas emissions, and immediately initiate an effort to safely draw down carbon from the atmosphere; and WHEREAS, a national carbon fee will benefit the economy, human health, the environment, and national security as a result of correcting market distortions, reducing toxic pollutants, reducing the outflow of dollars to oil-producing countries, and improving the energy security of the United States; and WHEREAS, a phased-in carbon fee on GHG emissions 1) is an efficient, transparent, and enforceable mechanism to drive an effective and fair transition to a renewable energy economy, 2) will incentivize manufacturers, businesses, and consumers throughout the economy to produce and use less fossil fuel, and 3) will stimulate investment in alternative-energy; and WHEREAS, equal monthly dividends (or "rebates") from the funds generated by the carbon fee paid to every American household can help ensure that families and individuals can afford the energy they need during the transition to a GHG-free economy, and these dividends also will stimulate the economy; and WHEREAS, enacting a national carbon fee would make the United States a leader in mitigating climate change and in the clean energy technologies of the 21 century, and would incentivize other countries to enact a similar carbon fee, reducing global GHG emissions; and WHEREAS, a national carbon fee, starting at a low rate and increasing steadily over future years, is a market-based solution that would minimally disrupt the economy while sending a clear and predictable price signal to businesses to develop and use non-carbon-based energy resources; and WHEREAS, a fee on fossil fuels can be assessed once, as far upstream as possible in the economy as practical, or at the port of entry to the United States, for efficient administration; and WHEREAS, border adjustments levied on carbon-based products imported from countries without comparable carbon pricing, and refunds to exporters, will help level the playing field and maintain the competitiveness of United States' businesses in global markets; and WHEREAS, a national carbon fee can be implemented quickly and efficiently, and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis, because the federal government already has in place mechanisms, such as the Internal Revenue Service, needed to implement and enforce the fee, and already collects taxes from fossil fuel producers and importers; and Resolution No. XXX (YYYY) Page 3 of 3 National Carbon Fee and Dividend on Fossil Fuels to address Climate Change WHEREAS, Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy released a report in Nov 2019 analyzing the impacts of a Carbon Fee and Dividend Policy; and WHEREAS, Columbia’s report says Compared to 2005 levels, implementing a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy leads to economy-wide net GHG emissions reductions of 36–38 percent by 2030, which exceeds the US commitments to the Paris Agreement over this period; and WHEREAS, if 100% of the carbon fee revenue is returned to households in equal shares, approximately two-thirds of Americans will break even or come out ahead, as their dividends will match or exceed direct and indirect price increases due to the fee, protecting lower and middle income households; and WHEREAS, continued widespread use of fossil fuels and impacts due to climate change pose a present and growing risk to the residents of Cupertino; and WHEREAS, a nation-wide, revenue-neutral carbon fee will significantly mitigate those risks and promote the health, safety, and prosperity of communities in Cupertino, across the United States, and around the world; and WHEREAS, The city of Cupertino is particularly exposed to climate change related increased risk of wildfire on our hillside properties; and WHEREAS; The city of Cupertino is also exposed to increased risk of heavy rain events that will cause flooding along our creeks, Stevens and Calabazas, due to climate change. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, HEREBY RESOLVES that: 1. The City Council urges the Congress of the United State to enact, without delay, a revenue neutral fee on carbon-based fossil fuels. 2. The fee should be collected once, as far upstream in the economy as practical, or at the port of entry into the United States. 3. The fee rate should start low and increase steadily and predictably with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the United States to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, 4. All fee revenue should be returned to households to protect low and middle income Americans from the impact of rising prices due to the fee. 5. The international competitiveness of the United States businesses should be protected by using border tariffs and fee refunds. 6. In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines section 15378 (b)(5), participating in the effort is an administrative activity that will not impact the environment and is therefore not a project subject to CEQA. RESOLUTION NO. 111 (2021) adopted by the City Council of the City of Cupertino, California, at a regular meeting held on MMM DD, YYYY, by the following vote of the City Council: AYES: Council Members Name, Name, Name, Name Resolution No. XXX (YYYY) Page 4 of 3 National Carbon Fee and Dividend on Fossil Fuels to address Climate Change NOES: Council Members Name, Name, Name, Name ABSENT: None ATTEST Clerk Name: City Clerk Mayor Name: Cupertino City Mayor