CC 04-12-2021 Item No. 2 FY 2021-2022 City Work Program Study Session_Written CommunicationsCC 04-12-21
Study Session #2
Fiscal Year 2021-22
City Work Program
(Continued from
3/30)
Written Comments
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Cyrah Caburian
From:Connie Cunningham <cunninghamconniel@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, April 12, 2021 11:53 AM
To:City Council; City Clerk
Subject:April 12, City Work Plan Special Meeting, City Council
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.
April 12, City Work Plan Special Meeting, City Council
Dear Mayor, Vice‐Mayor and Councilmembers:
Thank you for the idea of reviewing the General Plan (GP) in relationship to the annual City Work Plan FY21‐22
review. Twelve 12 principles guided the writing of eight (8) Chapters which spell out detailed policies and strategies,
supported by data.
This Council has three members with strong ties to our school districts which serves us very well in support of Principle
#9: Education. Last year’s City Work Plan strengthened our ties with our local community college by encouraging a
partnership to help students suffering homelessness. President Lloyd Homes, De Anza College, mentioned this
partnership, specifically, when he met for the first time with the Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.
One data point from the General Plan is this: Between 2010 and 2040, Cupertino’s population is expected to grow by
12,898 residents—from 58,302 to 71,200.
Concrete objectives, policies and strategies of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 are guided by principle # 5, Ensure a Balanced
Community, and principle #8, Embrace Diversity.
Chapter 3, Land Use, specifically states that housing needs are changing.
Chapter 4: Housing Element: states “The long‐term vitality of Cupertino and the local economy depend upon the
availability of all types of housing to meet the community’s diverse housing needs.” Chapter 4, also, states the
“City’s commitment to ensuring new opportunities for residential development.
City Work Plan FY2021‐2022
Item 32, ELI/IDD* This Work Item has made good progress in the past two years since Mayor Scharf initially led with
putting it on the City Work Plan. *(Extremely Low Income/Intellectually Developmentally Disabled)
Cupertino’s General Plan clearly states the City’s interest in providing housing for all incomes and abilities. Last year
Cupertino proudly opened 19 apartments at the Veranda. This current project will build on what has been
accomplished. Without it, many, many residents who have been waiting for this housing would be left without options
near their families, current jobs, schools and services.
Item 33, Plan to End Homelessness, also fits within these principles and chapters. COVID‐19 has increased the number
of people suffering homelessness. Cupertino plays a part in the region’s efforts to build housing. Building housing is the
most effective method to improve this situation. While working on that most basic method, funding services for helping
those who suffer homelessness is vital.
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Item 35. Locations for affordable housing are key to solving this seemingly intractable problem of residents suffering
homelessness. Funding for building homes has been made available from the State, the County, non‐profit and for‐
profit organizations. We must find locations.
I urge the Council to rate these three concrete strategies highly.
Sincerely,
Connie Cunningham
Chair, Housing Commission, self only
3
Cyrah Caburian
From:Umesh Toprani <utoprani@yahoo.com>
Sent:Sunday, April 11, 2021 10:04 PM
To:Darcy Paul; Liang Chao; Kitty Moore; Hung Wei; Jon Robert Willey
Subject:Farmers market
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sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Citycouncil Members,
Please consider continuing the Farmers Market somewhere in Cupertino.
The produce and fruits are fresh and there are many vendors to choose from.
I consider this a great asset to Cupertino and something we should try and continue.
Thank you for your consideration,
Regards,
Umesh Toprani
Orline Court, Cupertino
14
Cyrah Caburian
From:Allen Kay <allen.m.kay@gmail.com>
Sent:Sunday, April 11, 2021 2:54 PM
To:Darcy Paul; Liang Chao; Kitty Moore; Hung Wei; Jon Robert Willey
Cc:councilmembers.citycouncil@cupertino.org
Subject:Sunday Farmer's Market
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sender and know the content is safe.
Mayor Paul, Vice Mayor Chao, Council Members,
Can you tell me what is the reason to shut down Sunday's Farmer's Market? The Farmer's market has been a great
benefit for residents of Cupertino ‐ especially for seniors living within walking distance. We get our fresh fruits and
vegetables there weekly. It is a win/win situation for both the local farmers and Cupertino residence. Please do not
shut this great service down without a compelling reason!
Sincerely,
Allen Kay
15
Cyrah Caburian
From:Jean Bedord <Jean@bedord.com>
Sent:Friday, April 9, 2021 5:45 PM
To:Darcy Paul
Cc:City Council; Deborah L. Feng
Subject:Feedback on March 30, continued to April 12, Item #2 Study Session on City Work Programs
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sender and know the content is safe.
Mayor Darcy Paul,
I'd like to commend you for much better management of city meetings in 2021 and ending them by midnight. However,
the last two meetings, on March 30, and April 6, spiraled out of control. Please return to using the timer, and giving
equal weight to all five council members, including yourself, instead of allowing two council members to dominate the
proceedings.
I was particularly disappointed by the five and a half hours for the Work Plan study session on March 30, which
degenerated into a line‐by‐line process utilized by Council member Kitty Moore in the Planning Commission. As a
member of the public, that review was an excruciating and unnecessarily prolonged process. At least one of the
Planning Commissioners skipped a session.
There was a study session on March 9 for the Work Plan, providing ample time for council members to study line items
and get clarification from staff. In addition, details are posted on the city website https://www.cupertino.org/our‐
city/city‐council/city‐work‐program This council has had over a month to mull over these projects for the next fiscal
year. The work documents for the meeting were posted on Thursday, prior to the Tuesday meeting, five days for council
members to have requested minor changes in format. As a member of the public, I expected the council to follow
direction and identify their priorities, NOT wasting both public and council time hashing over brief descriptions. Council
members need to do their homework BEFORE the council meeting.
Please start the April 12 meeting by requiring council members to provide their individual five (5) priorities and their
reasoning, then move to discussion and allow changes in priorities. It's only through collaboration among the entire
council that an overall workable plan can be developed. From the public perspective, please consider the following
priorities:
* Minimize demands on staff time so they can focus on returning city operations to the "new normal" . It just takes
more time and longer to accomplish work in the current environment. Repeatedly asking for more additional
information is simply a way of avoiding making decisions, which is the job of council.
* Prioritize projects to reduce city operating costs, such as the Blackberry Farm golf course.
* Reduce the number of projects to a reasonable number‐ 59 projects in a resource constrained environment is
ludicrous, as those of us who have worked in the private sector are very aware. The city is very, very thinly staffed, and
they have regular operations outside project work, i.e., planning permits. Their faces are tired......it's been a long, long
year. Don't add to their stress level.
* Employee work environment. The current city hall is seismically unsafe, and crowded. My understanding is that the
current building is about 24,000 square feet, but the city needs roughly 40,000 square feet to accommodate its current
workforce, not including staffing for additional growth required under the new RHNA allocations. Councils come and go,
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but long‐term employees are essential to stability of city operations. Cupertino's civic infrastructure is woefully
inadequate. It's time to prioritize this neglected responsibility of the city council.
* Prioritize removing barriers to building housing, instead of restricting development. The "gateway" application on
April 6 to rezone a half acre parcel from Agricultural to Medium Density to add 5 units of housing should have been a no‐
brainer. This was simply approval to go to the next step of developing an actual project in collaboration with the
planning department. Why isn't council encouraging this type of infill housing and rezoning instead of treating this small
local applicant to third‐degree interrogation?
Thank you for addressing these concerns, and I look forward to a more productive council meeting on April 12.
Please include my comments in the public record for the April 12, 2021 continuation city council meeting.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino resident and community advocate
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Dekang Lin <lindek@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, April 12, 2021 3:54 PM
To:City Council
Subject:Farmers Market
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'm a bi‐weekly shopper at the Cupertino Farmers Market. I would very much like to keep it open.
Thank you for your service.
Dekang Lin
Resident on November Street, Cupertino.
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Sudha Kasamsetty <sudhakasamsetty@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, April 12, 2021 4:16 PM
To:Darcy Paul; Liang Chao; Jon Robert Willey; Kitty Moore; Hung Wei; City Council
Subject:Details on work plan requests from Fine Arts Commission
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sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Council members,
Good Evening to all of you. Looking forward to today's work plan meeting. Wanted to highlight couple of requests from
Fine Arts Commission listed in the work plan:
1. Name Change request
Currently, the name "Fine Arts" limits our scope from community perspective limiting to public art display or visual
arts. Municipal code definitions also do not clarify what exactly is Fine Arts. To increase the visibility, our commission
unanimously agreed for this request of name change. We want to bring in cultural aspect into the name to include visual
and performing arts along with retaining or highlighting the beautiful diverse culture of Cupertino. So a name change to
have the word "Culture" in the name would increase the scope and visibility of our commission. Cost is 0 dollars for this.
Hope you can consider this request and grant it.
2. Ethnic Cultural Community Event in Cupertino
Vision: The main Idea is for our city to host Cupertino Ethnic Festival celebrating the diverse cultures we have both in
visual and performing arts. We will bring in:
a) Dance and Music Segments (whole day festival)
b) Lecture demonstrations
c) Have a gallery of art display at the lobby during the festival
d) Promote our local businesses to be partners of the festival in the form of sponsorships. Great partnership
opportunity.
Venue ‐ We could use our local performing theaters in Cupertino
‐ DeAnza Performing Arts Theater as an example ( seating capacity of 450 and rental cost: 3500 dollars)
‐ Quinlan Community center
Cost ‐ We do have costs associated with theater Rental and labor costs, Promotion (Flyers, e‐mail distribution lists),
mementos for artists but definitely, we can have discussions to
effectively control spending costs.
Benefit ‐ Cupertino can be that role model as no other cities have a dedicated festival, not such diverse culture. This
would be a grand event for Cupertino. Our commission unanimously
voted for this. Hope you can grant this request. I have extensive experience in organizing grand events like
this. Fully committed to work on this.
Hope you can consider above requests and looking forward to today's evening meeting.
Thank you,
Sudha Kasamsetty
Fine Arts Commission, Chair