HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 03-03-2026 Item No. 1 Parkland Ballot Measure_Written Communications_2CC 3-3-2026
#1
Parkland Ballot
Measure
Written Communications
From:Srikantan Nagarajan
To:City Council; Public Comments; Tina Kapoor; City Attorney"s Office; City Clerk
Subject:Please include Cupertino Sports Center in the Parkland protection measure
Date:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 1:54:40 PM
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Dear City Clerk,
Please include the below in written comments for 03/03/26 council meeting agenda item on
parkland ballot measure.
Dear Mayor Moore, Cupertino City Council,
I strongly support placing a parkland protection measure on the November 2026 ballot.
Further I urge the Council to draft it broadly enough to include all city facilities including the
Cupertino Sports Center. The current scope falls short.
The Sports Center Has Already Been Targeted
In October 2023, a $76,000 city-commissioned study by Cumming Management Group
recommended selling or leasing the Cupertino Sports Center at 21111 Stevens Creek
Boulevard to private developers to finance a new City Hall. The proposal was shelved, but
only because the economics didn’t pencil out, not because any legal protection stopped it. A 3-
2 council majority could resurrect this tomorrow. Residents deserve better than luck.
Close the Loophole
Because the Cupertino Sports Center is zoned Public Buildings (BA) rather than Open Space
or Public Park, a narrowly drafted measure would leave it completely unprotected. The ballot
measure must cover all city-owned facilities regardless of zoning designation, or it will protect
meadows while leaving the Sports Center, Community Hall, and other beloved assets exposed
to the next developer proposal.
Require Real Thresholds
The measure should require:
∙A two-thirds City Council supermajority before any city facility can be converted to private
use — so no quiet 3-2 vote can initiate a giveaway; and
∙A two-thirds voter supermajority to ratify any conversion, consistent with what Milpitas and
Santa Clara voters demanded and won in 2016.
The Bottom Line
The Cupertino Sports Center is not an underutilized asset. It is a community institution. This
ballot measure is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect it permanently. Please don’t
draft it in a way that leaves the door open. Please include the Cupertino Sports Center and all
city facilities in the ballot measure.
Respectfully submitted,
Srikantan Nagarajan
Cupertino Resident
CSC Member
From:Ravi Shankar
To:City Council
Cc:Public Comments; Tina Kapoor; City Clerk
Subject:Parkland Ballot Measure – The Sports Center Must Not Be Left Exposed
Date:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 1:11:13 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 Mayor Moore, Cupertino City Council,
I strongly support placing a parkland protection measure on the November 2026 ballot.
Further I urge the Council to draft it broadly enough to include all city facilities including the
Cupertino Sports Center. The current scope falls short.
*The Sports Center Has Already Been Targeted*
In October 2023, a $76,000 city-commissioned study by Cumming Management Group
recommended selling or leasing the Cupertino Sports Center at 21111 Stevens Creek
Boulevard to private developers to finance a new City Hall. The proposal was shelved, but
only because the economics didn’t pencil out, not because any legal protection stopped it. A 3-
2 council majority could resurrect this tomorrow. Residents deserve better than luck.
*Close the Loophole*
Because the Cupertino Sports Center is zoned Public Buildings (BA) rather than Open Space
or Public Park, a narrowly drafted measure would leave it completely unprotected. The ballot
measure must cover all city-owned facilities regardless of zoning designation, or it will protect
meadows while leaving the Sports Center, Community Hall, and other beloved assets exposed
to the next developer proposal.
*Require Real Thresholds*
The measure should require:
∙ A two-thirds City Council supermajority before any city facility can be converted to private
use — so no quiet 3-2 vote can initiate a giveaway; and
∙ A two-thirds voter supermajority to ratify any conversion, consistent with what Milpitas and
Santa Clara voters demanded and won in 2016.
The Bottom Line
The Cupertino Sports Center is not an underutilized asset. It is a community institution. This
ballot measure is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect it permanently. Please don’t
draft it in a way that leaves the door open. Please include the Cupertino Sports Center and all
city facilities in the ballot measure.
Respectfully submitted,
Ravi Shankar
CSC Member & longtime Cupertino resident
From:Santosh Rao
To:City Council; Public Comments; City Clerk; Tina Kapoor; Kirsten Squarcia; City Attorney"s Office; Floy Andrews;
Benjamin Fu; Luke Connolly; Chad Mosley; Rachelle Sander; Alex Corbalis, CPRP; Colleen Ferris
Subject:Protect the Cupertino Sports Center. Add it to the ballot.
Date:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 12:55:46 PM
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Dear City Clerk,
Please include the below in public comments for the parkland ballot measure agenda item on
today’s city council meeting.
[Writing on behalf of myself only as a Cupertino resident]
Dear Mayor Moore, Vice-Mayor Chao, Cupertino Council Members,
I write in wholehearted support of a parkland protection measure on the November 2026
ballot, and respectfully urge the Council to ensure it is drafted with sufficient breadth to
protect what the community actually values. As presently scoped, it does not. Please include
the Cupertino Sports Center and all city facilities in the ballot measure.
Cupertino Sports Center Has Already Been Placed in the Crosshairs
In October 2023, a city-commissioned study by a consultant, procured at a significant cost to
Cupertino taxpayers, recommended selling or entering into long-term leases of city-owned
property, explicitly identifying the Cupertino Sports Center as a candidate site for private
residential development, ostensibly to finance a new City Hall.
The proposal was quietly set aside, though not on account of any legal safeguard that stood in
its way. It foundered on large outburst from the community of CSC members and that alone
saved it thanks to the votes of 3 council members including then council members Kitty
Moore and Liang Chao.
A future council, persuaded by a different set of numbers and holding a bare 3-2 majority,
could revive it without obstruction. That is not a position in which residents ought to find
themselves.
A Drafting Gap That Must Be Remedied
The Cupertino Sports Center is zoned Public Buildings (BA), not Open Space or Public Park.
A measure confined to those latter designations would afford it no protection whatsoever, an
outcome that would strike most residents as precisely contrary to the measure’s purpose. The
Council must direct staff to draft language covering all city-owned facilities and properties,
irrespective of zoning designation. To do otherwise would be to protect the periphery whilst
leaving the heart exposed.
The Thresholds Must Be Meaningful
The measure should establish two clear requirements:
∙ A two-thirds supermajority of the full City Council as a prerequisite before any proposal to
convert a city facility to private use may advance, precluding a narrow majority from acting
unilaterally on the public’s behalf; and
∙ A two-thirds supermajority of voters to ratify any such conversion, a standard already
embraced with resounding enthusiasm by the electorates of Milpitas and Santa Clara in 2016.
In Closing
The Cupertino Sports Center is a well-loved civic institution, and its protection ought not to be
left to the vagaries of political circumstance or the mercy of a developer’s spreadsheet. This
ballot measure presents a singular opportunity to enshrine that protection in perpetuity. The
Council should seize it and ensure, in doing so, that no facility of this city is left vulnerable by
an oversight in drafting.
I trust the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and Council will act with the decisiveness this moment
warrants.
Respectfully submitted,
San Rao (writing on behalf of myself only as a Cupertino resident)
From:Rhoda Fry
To:Public Comments
Subject:Special Meeting 3/3/2026 #1 Parkland Ballot
Date:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 10:31:32 AM
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Hi Council,
Regarding Special Meeting 3/3/2026 #1 Parkland Ballot, I concur with the comment from
Peggy and Liana and appreciate the forward-thinking of our City Council on this matter that
has been adopted by other cities. We must protect our public parks for future generations
(including the widely used Library Field). Particularly as the City adds more residents and
high-density projects that offer little open space, it is even more important that we have parks -
we cannot create any more land.
Warm Regards,
Rhoda Fry