CC 02-04-2025 Late Communications (Updated 2-6-25)CC 02-04-2025
Oral
Communications
Written Communications
From:Liang Chao
To:City Clerk
Cc:Mahesh Gurikar
Subject:Fw: New Construction on Mary Avenue
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 5:28:12 PM
Dear Resident,
Thank you for reaching out with your comments.
Due to a change in the implementation of how written communication is collected for
the upcoming council meeting, your email will not be included in the official record
unless a councilmember forwards it to the City Clerk.
Dear City Clerk,
Please enter the enclosed communication as written communication for the upcoming
council meeting from a councilmember, per CMC 2.08.100.
I am submitting this comment at the request of my constituents to ensure that
community voices are included in written communications of council meetings as
requested, rather than at the discretion of councilmembers, which might inadvertently
leave out some minority voices.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Regards,
Liang
~ Cupertino City Council (elected in 2018, re-elected in 2022)
Liang Chao
Mayor
City Council
LChao@cupertino.gov
408-777-3192
From: Mahesh Gurikar <mgurikar@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 5:15 PM
To: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.gov>; Kitty Moore <KMoore@cupertino.gov>; J.R. Fruen
<JRFruen@cupertino.gov>; Sheila Mohan <SMohan@cupertino.gov>; R "Ray" Wang
<RWang@cupertino.gov>; Debra Nascimento <Debran@cupertino.gov>
Subject: New Construction on Mary Avenue
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.
Dear Council Members,
I am resident of Cupertino for almost 40 years.
I am writing this to protest the plan to build new housing on west side of Mary Avenue along Highway 85.
Mary Avenue has already been modified from its original configuration to accommodate bike lanes with
buffer zones. Now the developer wants take away many parking spaces and squeeze in new housing.
This will make the parking situation worse on Mary Avenue. During various events held in Memorial Park
both residents of the city and non-residents come to the events. We need parking for them.
Affordable housing is needed all over Bay Area and should be built. The new development in old Oaks
shopping area was supposed to have affordable housing. I am not sure how many affordable units were
built there.
Please find another city owned or privately owned parcel of land for the proposed affordable housing
(may be as apart of Vallco development). But do not permit any reconfiguration to existing Mary Avenue.
Thank you,
Mahesh Gurikar
10486 Anson Ave
Cupertino, CA
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 5
Tyler New World
Enterprise Resource
Planning Replacement
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Feb 4 Agneda #4 ERP - that seems like a lot of money
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:25:32 PM
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.
Feb 4 Agneda #4 ERP - that seems like a lot of money for ERP.
Is there a less costly alternative?
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 6
City Bridge
Preventative
Maintenance Project
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:feb 4 agenda #6 bridge project
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:28:12 PM
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.
feb 4 agenda #6 bridge project
Is the city guaranteed the grants from the federal government?
Are some bridges more urgent than others?
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 8
Future Agenda Items
(TBD List)
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Item #8 city council meeting feb 4, 2025
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:37:26 PM
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.
Hi City Council,
TBD list – let’s please get the EOC going, renovate city hall, and stop delaying!
Hopefully the purchase of the antiquated building is now off the table.
I agree with items 1-9.
Doing Wednesday meetings is a bit of a drag but I see that it allows for supplemental reports,
so I’m okay with #10.
I agree with line items 11 to 16.
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
From:Jean Bedord
To:City Clerk
Subject:Fwd: Agenda Item No. 8: Future Agenda Items: NO on Economic Development Committee
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:27:29 PM
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.
Sorry, I didn't copy you on this email but I did send it before 4:00. Please include in Written
Communications for this meeting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jean Bedord <Jean@bedord.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Subject: Agenda Item No. 8: Future Agenda Items: NO on Economic Development
Committee
To: City Council <citycouncil@cupertino.org>, City Attorney's Office
<CityAttorney@cupertino.org>, Cupertino City Manager's Office <manager@cupertino.org>
Mayor Chao, Vice-Mayor Moore and Councilmembers Fruen, Mohan and Wang,
While we all can agree on the need to focus on economic development in Cupertino, the
previous Economic Development Committee is NOT an effective platform to
accomplish this goal. It was the wrong "tool" for many reasons, and a waste of staff and
public time.
* Major employers won't participate. They will not participate in a Brown Act governed body
that is recorded with public minutes. They do have representatives who are members of the
Chamber of Commerce. These are generally communications officers who are willing to speak
off the record but are not decision makers. They were noticeably absent in the
initial recruitment (I was there!)
* Cupertino has a wealth of semi-retired and retired business executives who are potential
recruits. However, they may balk at filing a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests,
required by a Brown Act body, which makes their personal finances publicly visible.
* The city is unable to provide the key support that businesses need: (1) Marketing and (2)
Financial know-how. The city can streamline the permitting process, but this is best handled
by the Planning Department.
* Inadequate space. According to a report by Kidder Mathews, Cupertino is in the very
unusual situation of having a 2.3% office vacancy rate, the lowest in the West
Valley, much lower than the 30-35% vacancy rates in SF, SJ, and Oakland, and
among the lowest in the Bay Area. This means there is no space for new
companies to diversify the city economy.Shane Company searched for four years, and
still ended up with a suboptimal location. Splunk used to be in Cupertino and has since moved
to Santana Row. Plus Ai (https://plus.ai/) recently moved from Cupertino to Santa Clara. I
have personally talked with two organizations who are unable to find suitable space in
Cupertino.
Please remove this item. City organized Brown Act bodies are inflexible, and ineffective.
Working with partners is much more productive.
Engaged Cupertino resident,
Jean Bedord
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 9
Award a
construction
contract to Golder
Bay Construction
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Agenda Item #9 - find a less expensive alternative
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:40:45 PM
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.
Dear City Council,
We are in a budget crisis.
It doesn’t look like we are because there is a plan to spend down our savings.
What happens in a decade when they’re gone.
Please consider finding an effective yet lower-cost alternative such as flexible bollards.
I also wonder about how the City will be able to easily do street-sweeping and cleaning out
storm drains.
I am also worried about all of the businesses along Stevens Creek blvd and how all of the
ingress and egress on Stevens Creek affects bike-safety.
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 10
Award a design-build
contract for the
Photovoltaic Systems
Design and Installation
Project
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Agenda Item #10 - please stop the PV project while you can
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:42:54 PM
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.
Agenda Item #10 - please stop the PV project while you can
When we use PG&E we are using wind and solar.
Rebates from the feds are not guaranteed.
We are in a budget crisis and we have no plan beyond a decade.
Cities like San Jose are cutting back and Cupertino is spending like there is no tomorrow - - -
well there will be no tomorrow in Cupertino if reckless spending continues.
Regards,
Rhoda Fry
From:Yuvaraj Athur Raghuvir
To:Chad Mosley; City Council; Pamela Wu; City Clerk
Subject:Reconsidering the Photovoltaic Project Due to Cost and Funding Risks
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 5:24:10 PM
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.
Dear City Clerk,
Please include the below in written communications for 02/04/2025 council meeting.
Dear Mayor Chao and Council Members,
I urge you to reconsider and reject the photovoltaic (PV) project due to escalating costs,
uncertain federal funding, and financial risks to Cupertino.
The project’s budget has grown from $6.3 million to at least $10 million, with the Syserco
Energy Solutions contract at $4.3 million and $225,000 for 4Leaf, Inc. in project management
fees. Given the potential for cost overruns, this is a significant financial commitment.
Additionally, the project relies on a 30% rebate from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and a
10% “Build America Buy America Act” (BABAA) bonus credit, both of which are now on
hold under the new administration and require federal approval. Without these incentives,
Cupertino could face much higher costs than anticipated.
Projected savings of $276,000 annually and $13 million over 30 years depend on meeting the
April 2026 deadline for Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0. Any delays could push the city onto
less favorable NEM 3.0 rates, reducing the return on investment. Given these risks, the
remaining $1.67 million in city funds could be better allocated to more immediate
infrastructure needs.
To ensure fiscal responsibility, I respectfully urge you to cancel this project and avoid
exposing the city to unnecessary financial risk.
Sincerely,
Yuva Athur
From:Deepa Mahendraker
To:Chad Mosley; City Council; Pamela Wu; City Clerk
Subject:Reconsidering the Photovoltaic Project Due to Cost and Funding Risks
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 4:48:27 PM
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.
Dear City Clerk,
Please include the below in written communications for the 02/04/25 council meeting.
Dear Mayor Chao and Council Members,
I urge you to reconsider and reject the photovoltaic (PV) project due to escalating costs, uncertain federal funding,
and financial risks to Cupertino.
The project’s budget has grown from $6.3 million to at least $10 million, with the Syserco Energy Solutions
contract at $4.3 million and $225,000 for 4Leaf, Inc. in project management fees. Given the potential for cost
overruns, this is a significant financial commitment.
Additionally, the project relies on a 30% rebate from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and a 10% “Build America
Buy America Act” (BABAA) bonus credit, both of which are now on hold under the new administration and require
federal approval. Without these incentives, Cupertino could face much higher costs than anticipated.
Projected savings of $276,000 annually and $13 million over 30 years depend on meeting the April 2026 deadline
for Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0. Any delays could push the city onto less favorable NEM 3.0 rates, reducing
the return on investment. Given these risks, the remaining $1.67 million in city funds could be better allocated to
more immediate infrastructure needs.
To ensure fiscal responsibility, I respectfully urge you to cancel this project and avoid exposing the city to
unnecessary financial risk.
Sincerely,
Deepa Mahendraker
Sent from my iPhone
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 11
Study Session for the use
of Committed Future
Use Reserve one-time
funds
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:feb 4 2024 #11 one time funds - save them - don"t spend them
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:45:48 PM
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.
Dear City Council,
feb 4 2024 #11 one time funds - save them - don't spend them
no spending plan
these are not one-time-funds, they are the tail-end of a sweetheart deal
most city “reductions” were not real reductions – only fluff was removed from the budget –
that’s self evident by looking at opengov
we will NEVER be able to get that type of income flow again
Please secure the economic future of our city.
Thanks,
Rhoda
CC 02-04-2025
Item No. 12
Study Session on
revisions to the
Cupertino City Council
Procedures Manual
Written Communications
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Feb 4 2025 #12 council procedures
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:52:44 PM
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.
Feb 4 2025 #12 council procedures
Dear City Council,
There are too many study sessions tonight!!!
Ideas on procedural changes:
1. Allow a council member to be mayor on consecutive years
2. Allow discussion of informational items
3. Put informational memos on the council agenda so they can be discussed if needed and
easily found
4. Add more responsibility to audit committee
5. Bring back the enviro committee, legislative, and economic development among others
6. Allow the public to remove consent items from consent calendar
7. Allow a speaker to have a third more time up to 10 minutes depending on how many
people are added. Hung Wei actually tried to put this one when it was discussed a long
time ago. 1 person up to 4 minutes, 2 people get 6 minutes, 3 people up to 8, 4 people up
to 10 minutes etc… but there’s an easy way to do this.
I agree with EVERYTHING PEGGY GRIFFIN SAYS!!!
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
From:Lisa Warren
To:City Council
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:City Council Mtg Agenda comments Feb 4, 2025 Item #12
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 4:16:30 PM
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.
Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Council members.
I believe that it is in the best interest of our community to change some of the current
ways that CC meetings are organized and run. Including agenda creation.
I am asking that you consider improving what is now in place. A discussion about
restoring some of what we lost within the last 2 years would be very important.
Members of the 'public' should be allowed to PULL Consent items again as was
the case in the past.
'Informational Memos' should surely appear on published agendas. Members of
the public should have a mechanism to publicly comment on them during any
meeting with agendized memos.
All written communications, even on non-agenda items, must be included in the
Written Communications collection. This should include making all comments
available in written communications in the 'archives' for all comments made
prior to the meeting, not only the comments received pre 'deadline' for posting
on meeting day.
I STRONGLY feel that personal, or 'city issued' cellular phones should NOT be
allowed during meetings. This includes Council member AND Staff.
We need to do everything possible to restore and improve transparency.
Your 'constituents' ARE very clear on this matter.
Thank you.
Lisa Warren
Revision to Council
Procedures Manual
2025-02-04 (Revised at 5:44pm)
Expense Reporting Policy NOT FOLLOWED?
CONFIRM: “CM shall keep Council informed of the City
response”
5.4 Responses to Public.
It will be the responsibility of the City Manager to ensure a response is provided to
public correspondence for informational requests addressed to the Council. Staff
shall respond to all requests for services as appropriate, and the City Manager
shall keep Council informed of the City response.[LC1]
[LC1] It seems the responses to residents have not been forwarded to
Councilmembers in practice. I seem to have to request that the city’s response is
forwarded to me.
CONFIRM: CM shall place requests on Agenda
6.6 Councilmember Access to Information. ….it more appropriately be assigned
to staff through the collective direction of the City Council, based on the guidelines set
forth in Cupertino Municipal Code section 2.17.043. The City Manager shall place
requests that impose a significant workload on staff on the Council agenda for
review by the full Council, along with a statement from that Councilmember as to
why the information is needed.
L1. REMOVE: No Good Reason to include these
2.1 Selection of Mayor and Vice Mayor. The Mayor and Vice Mayor shall be
selected annually at a special meeting on the second Thursday of December.
The Mayor and Vice Mayor shall not serve consecutive terms;
provided, however, this provision shall not prevent the Vice Mayor
from succeeding to the office of Mayor.
4.4 Appointment. Commission and Committee applicants will be interviewed by the
Council … Immediate family members residing in the same household as a
Councilmember are not eligible for appointment to any commission or
committee. Former Councilmembers are not eligible for appointment to
any commission or committee within four years of having served on the
City Council.
L2. REPLACE: Commission Removal by Council Approval
4.5 Removal. The City Clerk shall remove notify the Council and make
recommendation for potential removal of commission members for failure to
comply with attendance policies adopted in the Commissioner's Handbook.
Council retains full discretion to review commission and committee member
performance and may take disciplinary action as needed, including removal from
the commission or committee.
[LC1]The Commissioners serve at the pleasure of the Council. The Council should be the
one who remove commissioners, in case there are special circumstances to be considered.
L3. ADD: keep alternate informed of all correspondences
5.3 Regional Bodies.
The Mayor shall appoint Councilmembers to represent the City of Cupertino on ….
If a Councilmember is unable to attend, they should notify their alternate as far in
advance of the meeting as possible so as to allow the alternate to attend. To
ensure continuity of the City’s representation, the alternate should receive all
correspondence from the regional bodies that is also sent to the primary.
[LC1] For example, making such a request to the regional bodies and some
already has such practices, such as the Valley Water. In case a regional body is
unable to fulfill the request, the primary might forward the correspondences to the
alternate, for example.
L4. ADD: Brown Act and Rosenberg’s Rule training
5.6 Council Training. Any member of the City Council and City commissions or
advisory committees formed by the City Council shall receive ethics and anti-
harassment training required by state law and the Brown Act and Rosenberg’s
Rule of Order training. New members must receive the training within their first
year of service and shall comply with ongoing training requirements imposed by
state law.
L5. ADD: CM provides options (ICMA suggestion)
6.2 Council/Manager Form of Government. Under the Council/Manager
form of government, the City Council sets policy direction as the direct
representatives of the community. To enable the City Council to make informed
decisions while weighing community input, the City Manager provides staff
recommendations and presents options, along with their associated pros and
cons. The City Manager provides the professional expertise to manage the
organization.
[LC1] In the first question of the City Manager performance survey from the facilitator Nadine Levin,
which I was told is from ICMA, one of the list of “Indicators to consider for successful performance“ for
the City Manager is “Provides staff recommendations and gives the Council options”.
Indicators to consider for successful performance: (from ICMA City Manager
Evaluation
The City Manager:
●· Acts to encourage mutual honesty, respect, and trust
●· Facilitates open two-way communications
●· Provides for direct contact with each Councilmember that is tailored to the individual preferences and needs of
each Councilmember
●· Takes direction from the Council as a whole
●· Provides staff recommendations and gives the Council options
●· Is responsive to Council requests and needs
●· Provides a high level of information to Council relating to City programs, services and issues, keeping them
well-informed
●· Effectively carries out Council policy direction and provides assistance in policy facilitation
●· Acts with integrity in working with the Council
●· Helps Councilmembers field issues and concerns
●· Provides leadership on significant issues or crises
●· Maintains order, professionalism, and confidence during difficult times
L6. ADD: Assume suggestion, rather than instruction
6.3 Council-Manager Relations. The City Council and its members shall deal with
the administrative services of the City only through the City Manager, except for the
purpose of inquiry, and neither the … and no individual Councilmember shall give any
instructions to the City Manager. In the event that any suggestion or comment from an
individual Councilmember might be perceived as an instruction by the City Manager or
any staff, the City Manager/staff should assume positive intent and treat it as a
suggestion or comment.[LC1]
[LC1]This is intended to facilitate positive Council-staff relationship so that one does not assume guilt on
any party based on someone’s perception, which might differ from the actual intent of any councilmember.
When in doubt, whether any comment is an instruction or merely a suggestion, just assume it is a
suggestion only so that the staff can feel free to decide whether to accept the suggestion or not at all.
L7. REPLACE: Council may file PRA Request
6.6 Councilmember Access to Information. ….it more appropriately be assigned
to staff through the collective direction of the City Council, based on the guidelines set forth in
Cupertino Municipal Code section 2.17.043. The City Manager shall place requests that impose a
significant workload on staff on the Council agenda for review by the full Council, along with a
statement from that Councilmember as to why the information is needed. No Councilmember shall
circumvent the City Manager' s direction regarding a request for information by seeking information
through a Public Records Act request. A Councilmember may file a request for information by
seeking information through a Public Records Act request as any member of the public.
[LC1] In response to any Public Record request, the city would only do a record search of any existing documents,
which should not take any significant city staff time.
This PR request is different from information requested by a City Councilmember. In case the information
requested already exists in any document, I am sure the City Manager would have provided it in a timely manner
as it would not require significant workload. I suppose that significant workload would only be necessary if the
information requested is not readily available.
Thus, I do not see any need to restrict any councilmember from filing PR requests.
L8. REPLACE: Two proposals: add rationale and add to
agenda
7.1 Future Agenda Items. The City Manager, the City Attorney, the Mayor, or any
two Councilmembers may request that an item be added to a future agenda for
Council action. The City Manager shall provide a quarterly report to Council
regarding the status of future agenda items, which may include a request to
remove items from the list of future agenda items. Any item may be removed for
the future agenda items list by a majority vote of the City Council.
At the requestor’s discretion, the agenda request may also include additional
information explaining the rationale for or timing of the agenda item.
Under the “Future Agenda Item” section of each regular Council meeting, a
document listing all current future agenda requests shall be provided.
L9. ADD: Meaningful description and include budget
update
7.3 Agenda Item Descriptions. Each agenda item shall include a brief general description of
the matter to be discussed ( approximately 20 words in length), including any action that may
be taken under the California Environmental Quality Act, and should generally include the
recommendation of the City Manager.
If the item includes any budget request or modification, the amount should be specified for
transparency when possible.
The brief description should be comprehensible by a common resident. For example,
•an amendment to the Municipal Code should include a description of the amendment,
rather than only the Code Section to be amended;
•an item related to a development project should include not only the street address, but
the common name of the project when applicable;
•The second reading of an ordinance should have the same agenda title as the first
reading.
L10. ADD: Staff Report to include dates of past meetings
and maps etc
7.4 Staff Reports.
Staff reports should include the following sections:
1. Subject
2. Recommended Action
3. Background
4. Reasons for Recommendation and Available Options
5. Sustainability Impact
6. Fiscal Impact
7. California Environmental Quality Act
The “Background” section should include the date, at least the month and the year, previous meetings were held
and decisions were made on the item so that the public can easily look the meetings up for reference. When
applicable, maps and charts should be provided in the staff report for easy reference.
[LC1]The staff report has always provided great background information in previous years, especially dates the
item were on the Council agenda in the past and I have been able to find out more about the background of a
project through.
But the practice has not been consistent. So, I thought it’s worthwhile to document the existing best practice.
L11. ADD 7.7: Written Communication
7.7 Written Communication.
All written communications on an agenda item sent after the meeting agenda is posted
shall be included in the “Written Communications” document of the council meeting. Any
written communications on items not on the agenda shall be included in the “Written
Communications” document if the sender indicates the desire to be included.
Written communication will be posted by 5pm before the 6:45pm Council meeting and
updated and posted the next day with any additional comments received.
[LC]: It has been the long-standing practice in Cupertino that the city clerk will include all
written communications for non-agenda items. No need to change the practice.
L12. ADD: When “regular” council meeting is moved to
Wednesday…. It shall be treated like a regular council
meeting
8.1 Meeting Schedule. The City Council conducts its regular meetings on the first
and third Tuesdays of the month, except when Council is in recess. At Prior to the
second regular meeting in January, the City Council will approve the schedule of
meetings for the calendar year, which in addition to the regular meeting schedule
may include the cancellation of regular meetings and the addition of special
meetings and study sessions….
8.1.1 When a regular council meeting is moved to Wednesday, the agenda shall
be published the prior Wednesday and the meeting shall start at 6:45pm and
include all items as a regular council meeting.
L13A. ADD: Add Info Memos to Council agenda
L13B. ADD: Council Report may include matters serving
constituents;
8.3 Order of Business. The order of agenda items for regular Council meetings is as follows:
…
13. Oral Communications (continued)
14. Councilmember Reports
15. Information Memos
15.16. Future Agenda Items
Oral communications shall be limited to 30 minutes. …
Councilmember Reports should focus on include Council committee assignments and may
include other matters serving the constituents, in addition to, ceremonial
appearances.[L13A]
The information memos, as described in Section 11, include additional documents requested
by councilmembers for past or future agenda items, [L13] In the absence of an objection
made by a majority of Councilmembers present and voting, the Mayor may modify the order
of business to facilitate the fair and efficient conduct of Council meetings.
L14. REPLACE: Anyone can pull items. Advanced notice is
appreciated.
8.4.2 Removing Item from Consent Calendar. Items may be removed from the
consent calendar only by a member of the City Council. Any member of the City
Council who would like to remove any item from the consent calendar shall notify
the City Manager and the City Clerk no later than 12:00 p.m. on the day of the City
Council meeting. Items may be removed from the consent calendar by a member
of the public or a member of the City Council. To facilitate an efficient meeting,
advance notice to the City Manager and the City Clerk by 12:00 p.m. on the day of
the City Council meeting or earlier is appreciated.
[LC1] It is a long-standing practice in Cupertino that any member of the public may pull an item off the Consent
Calendar at a Council meeting without any advance notice.
I have asked around and found that Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Fremont have the same practice as Cupertino
used to have. Anyone can pull an item off the Consent Agenda without any advanced notice.
L15. REPLACE: Remove limit that only 5-person group
may combine time
8.5 Public Comment. An opportunity for public comment shall be provided … If a
speaker representing five or moretwo up to five members of the public in
attendance and wishing to comment on the item but electing not to speak, the
speaker may have the combined time of two minutes per member, up to 10
minutes, to address the Council. Consolidation of time among speakers is not
otherwise allowed. If a large number of speakers wish to address Council on an
item,...
L16. ADD: Councilmember yield time to each other
8.8.3 Council Questions and Deliberations. Councilmembers may obtain the floor
by seeking recognition from the Mayor. Following presentations to Council on an
agenda item. Councilmembers are encouraged to yield any unused speaking time
to colleagues who have already used their allotted time. Councilmembers shall
each be given five minutes to ask questions of any presenter. The Mayor may
allow additional time for questions where appropriate. time for questions where
appropriate. …
[LC] This was the practice under Mayor Darcy Paul and it builds positive
relationship between councilmembers to show the willingness to hear each other
out.
L17. REPLACE: Encourage meaningful discussion
8.8.3 Council Questions and Deliberations. ….
Following public comment, the Mayor may request that a motion be made and
seconded. After the motion has been stated to the Council and
seconded, any member of the Council has a right to discuss the motion after
obtaining the floor. A member who has been recognized shall limit their time to five
minutes, but may reserve any portion of their time for further questions or
deliberations, as applicable, by advising the Mayor before yielding the floor. The
Mayor may allow additional time for deliberations where appropriate. This rule
shall displace any conflicting rule in the City's adopted rules of procedure. to
encourage meaningful discussion and exchange of ideas.
[LC] This was the practice under Mayor Darcy Paul and it builds positive
relationship between councilmembers to show the willingness to hear each other
out.
L18. ADD: Access to Closed session materials
9. Closed Sessions
9.1 A closed session may be held at any regular or special meeting for any purpose authorized
by the Brown Act….
9.2 Any documents referenced or presented during closed sessions shall be shared with
councilmembers upon request, and shared in the same manner as other closed session
materials for confidentiality.
[LC] The City Manager does not have the discretion to decide what materials to share with the
councilmembers or not. As long as proper measures are taken to ensure confidentiality as other
closed session materials.
L18. New Item: 11.1 Info Memos
11. Information Memos
11.1 Information Memos by Staff. Two Councilmembers may request an information memo to be provided
on any issue pertain to the City business. The City Manager shall place requests that impose a significant
workload on staff on the Council agenda for review by the full Council, along with a statement from that
Councilmember as to why the information is needed.
L19. New Item: 11.3 Info Memos by Councilmembers
11.3 Information Memos by Councilmembers. Individual Councilmembers may prepare information
memos for inclusion in their Council Activity Reports. Through these memos, Councilmembers can share
any information they have received—whether from staff or other sources —with their fellow
Councilmembers and the public, thereby enhancing transparency and accountability in City operations.
The memos shall not include information which is protected by law from disclosure.
[LC1]This is a new proposal, which is intended to facility more transparency and accountability. Often each Councilmember
pays attention in different areas of the City. One Councilmember may find valuable information that he/she wishes to share
with other Councilmembers and members of the public.
The current practice is that a Councilmember can only submit a written communication which might be buried with other
written communications. Thus, I am proposal a method to improve visibility of such info memos by Councilmembers.
I understand that the memos would likely include opinions and information which might be confidential. Thus, the memo
would require the City Attorney to review for its suitability for publication.
The City Attorney could propose a feasible implementation method, such as the memos must be submitted by a certain
date for inclusion in the Councilmember Activity Report.
From:Rhoda Fry
To:City Clerk; City Council
Subject:Feb 4 2025 #12 council procedures
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 6:52:44 PM
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.
Feb 4 2025 #12 council procedures
Dear City Council,
There are too many study sessions tonight!!!
Ideas on procedural changes:
1. Allow a council member to be mayor on consecutive years
2. Allow discussion of informational items
3. Put informational memos on the council agenda so they can be discussed if needed and
easily found
4. Add more responsibility to audit committee
5. Bring back the enviro committee, legislative, and economic development among others
6. Allow the public to remove consent items from consent calendar
7. Allow a speaker to have a third more time up to 10 minutes depending on how many
people are added. Hung Wei actually tried to put this one when it was discussed a long
time ago. 1 person up to 4 minutes, 2 people get 6 minutes, 3 people up to 8, 4 people up
to 10 minutes etc… but there’s an easy way to do this.
I agree with EVERYTHING PEGGY GRIFFIN SAYS!!!
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
From:Lisa Warren
To:City Council
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:City Council Mtg Agenda comments Feb 4, 2025 Item #12
Date:Tuesday, February 4, 2025 4:16:30 PM
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.
Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Council members.
I believe that it is in the best interest of our community to change some of the current
ways that CC meetings are organized and run. Including agenda creation.
I am asking that you consider improving what is now in place. A discussion about
restoring some of what we lost within the last 2 years would be very important.
Members of the 'public' should be allowed to PULL Consent items again as was
the case in the past.
'Informational Memos' should surely appear on published agendas. Members of
the public should have a mechanism to publicly comment on them during any
meeting with agendized memos.
All written communications, even on non-agenda items, must be included in the
Written Communications collection. This should include making all comments
available in written communications in the 'archives' for all comments made
prior to the meeting, not only the comments received pre 'deadline' for posting
on meeting day.
I STRONGLY feel that personal, or 'city issued' cellular phones should NOT be
allowed during meetings. This includes Council member AND Staff.
We need to do everything possible to restore and improve transparency.
Your 'constituents' ARE very clear on this matter.
Thank you.
Lisa Warren