CC 02-19-2025 Oral Communications (2)CC 02-19-2025
Oral
Communications
Written Communications
From:Liang Chao
To:City Clerk
Cc:Rhoda Fry
Subject:Fw: Non-Agenda Public Comment 2/19/2025
Date:Tuesday, February 18, 2025 6:24:03 PM
Please add the email to the written communication of the 2/19 council meeting.
Thanks.
Liang
Liang Chao
Mayor
City Council
LChao@cupertino.gov
408-777-3192
From: Rhoda Fry <
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2025 6:41 PM
To: City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org>; City Council <CityCouncil@cupertino.gov>
Subject: Non-Agenda Public Comment 2/19/2025
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,
Can you please ask the City Manager as to the necessity of signing a contract with
Environmental Innovations of Santa Cruz to conduct “Single-use disposable food service ware
ordinance compliance work” at a cost of up to $92,279.30 on 1/13/2025?
The summary for the scope of work is in pages 10 – 12 of the contract.
Here is the first paragraph:
The goal of this Scope of Work is to ensure that all “ covered” Businesses are in compliance
with
the Single- Use Plastics Foodware Ordinance (“Ordinance”). The contractor will provide
expertise in municipal code single-use plastic food service regulations, municipal code
compliance assessments, food and beverage service business models, multi-lingual outreach,
technical assistance, and graphic design. The Contractor shall be the lead for conducting the
Ordinance compliance assessments and outreach for all Ordinance- covered food and beverage
facilities (“ Businesses”), including distribution of outreach materials, and providing technical
and financial assistance to eligible Businesses.
The entire agreement can be found here:
https://records.cupertino.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?
id=1143909&dbid=0&repo=CityofCupertino
It seems that this type of work, at a simplified level, could be done by members of the
Sustainability Commission or by the Chamber of Commerce to help establish connections
with local businesses or by our Economic Development manager or by our Enviro Manager or
by Code Enforcement and more. I understand that our former enviro manager would do
outreach to local businesses.
I am all for environmental programs. However, this seems to be an unnecessary expense.
I would like to remind you that the City’s current plan is to dip into savings at a rate of $10M
per year.
Keep in mind that our projected sales-tax revenue is around $9 - $10M annually down from an
average of about $27M.
We will NOT be able to double our sales tax revenue.
Transient Occupancy is now below $7M annually, down from a high of slightly over $9M.
And Apple, which is responsible for over 25% of our property-tax revenue, is negotiating to
reduce its property value, which translates to property-tax.
We will not be able to double our projected sales-tax revenue in the short term or even in the
long term.
We need to stop spending on non-necessities now.
I would also ask the City Council to do three things:
1. Reduce the maximum contract value without council approval to $50K
2. On a monthly basis, at the same time as accounts payable reports, provide a cumulative
summary of the contracts signed during the fiscal year.
3. If possible, reduce or eliminate this contract.
Thank You.
Rhoda Fry