CC 12-03-2020 (Special)
APPROVED MINUTES
CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL
Thursday, December 3, 2020
SPECIAL MEETING
At 6:45 p.m. Mayor Steven Scharf called the Special City Council meeting to order. This was a
teleconference meeting with no physical location.
ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Steven Scharf, Vice Mayor Darcy Paul, and Councilmembers Liang Chao, Rod
Sinks, and Jon Robert Willey. Absent: None. All Councilmembers teleconferenced for the
meeting.
I. ELECTION RESULTS
A. Subject: Resolution stating results of the General Municipal Election held on November
3, 2020 and declaration of candidates who received the most votes and were elected for
the position of City Councilmember. Note: The Registrar of Voters of the County of
Santa Clara will not be able to certify the final election results until December 3 and
after the date of this agenda publication; the final Draft Resolution showing the total
number of votes cast in the City and total number of votes candidates received, and
Certificate of Election Results will be posted on the Cityʹs website and available to the
public at the meeting on December 3.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 20‐139 stating the election results of the
General Municipal Election held on November 3, 2020 and declaring the candidates
who received the most votes and were elected for the position of City Councilmember.
Written communications for this item included an updated Attachment A ‐ Resolution
declaring the election results and Exhibit A ‐ Certificate of Election Results from the
Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia announced the election results for the General Municipal
Election held on November 3, 2020.
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 2
Mayor Scharf opened public comment and the following people spoke.
Charlene Shulien Lee was concerned about the conduct and results of the November 3,
2020 election and her candidate biography posting on the City website.
Mayor Scharf closed public comment.
Scharf moved and Paul seconded to Adopt Resolution No. 20‐139 stating the election
results of the General Municipal Election held on November 3, 2020 and declaring the
candidates who received the most votes and were elected for the position of City
Councilmember. The motion carried unanimously.
II. RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING COUNCILMEMBERS
Written communications for this item included emails to Council.
Vice Mayor Darcy Paul opened the public comment period and the following people
spoke.
Congressman Ro Khanna
Assemblymember Evan Low
Pleasanton City Councilmember Julie Testa
Hope Chahan on behalf of Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez
Palo Alto City Councilmember Lydia Kou
Chief Executive Officer/Air Pollution Control Officer Bay Area Air Quality Management
District Jack Broadbent
Peggy Griffin
Chief Executive Officer at Silicon Valley Clean Energy Girish Balachandran
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian
Jennifer Shearin
Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioner Muni Madhdhipatla (representing self)
Juliet Shearin
Saratoga Councilmember Howard Miller
Ignatius Ding
Jennifer Griffin
Lisa Warren
Helene Davis on behalf of Cupertino Copertino Sister Cities Association
Seema Lindskog
Eric Schaefer
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 3
Reena Rao and Mahesh Nihalani on behalf of Cupertino Bhubaneshwar Sister Cities
Association
Housing Commissioner Connie Cunningham (representing self)
Savita Vaidhyanathan
Housing Commissioner Tessa Parish (representing self)
Govind Tatachari
Planning Commissioner R Wang (representing self)
J.R. Fruen
Library Commissioner Rahul Vasanth (representing self)
Luke Lang
Brooke Ezzat
Richard Lowenthal
Alysa Sakkas on behalf of Cupertino Toyokawa Sister Cities Association
Cupertino Library Community Librarian Clare Varesio
Diana Ding
Santa Clara County Sheriffʹs Office representative Captain Rich Urena
Larry Dean on behalf of Walk Bike Cupertino
Danessa Techmanski
Kiran Varshneya Rohra
Anjali Kausar on behalf of Cupertino Chamber of Commerce
Shani Kleinhaus on behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Chitra S
Vice Mayor Paul closed the public comment period.
A. Subject: Recognition of outgoing Councilmember Rod Sinks
Recommended Action: Recognize outgoing Councilmember Rod Sinks
Outgoing Councilmember Rod Sinks was recognized. A video was shown
commemorating his years of service.
Vice Mayor Paul presented proclamations on behalf of Congressman Ro Khanna,
Assemblymember Evan Low, and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Councilmembers and Councilmember Sinks made comments.
B. Subject: Recognition of outgoing Councilmember Steven Scharf
Recommended Action: Recognize outgoing Councilmember Steven Scharf
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 4
Outgoing Councilmember Steven Scharf was recognized. A video was shown
commemorating his years of service.
Vice Mayor Paul presented proclamations on behalf of Congressman Ro Khanna,
Assemblymember Evan Low, and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Councilmembers and Councilmember Scharf made comments.
III. OATH OF OFFICE OF NEW COUNCILMEMBERS
Written communications for this item included emails to Council.
Vice Mayor Paul opened the public comment period and the following people spoke.
Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioner Muni Madhdhipatla (representing self)
Supervisor Joe Simitian
Planning Commissioner R Wang (representing self)
Jennifer Griffin
Henry Sang
Eric Shaefer
Gilbert Wong
Lisa Warren
Cupertino Union School District Board of Trustees President Lorien Cunningham
(representing self)
Jeff Moe
Peggy Griffin
Reena Rao and Mahesh Nihalani on behalf of Cupertino Bhubaneshwar Sister Cities
Association
Sashi Begur
Chitra S
Tessa Parish
Pamela Hershey
Ignatius Ding
Homer Tong
Dolly Sandoval
Orrin Mahoney
Brooke Ezzat
Foothill‐De Anza Community College District Board member Patrick Ahrens
(representing self)
Fremont Union High School District Superintendent Polly Bove
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 5
Govind Tatachari
Luke Lang
Fine Arts Commissioner Sudha Kasamsetty (representing self)
Richard Lowenthal
Benaifer Dastoor
Housing Commissioner Connie Cunningham (representing self)
Danessa Techmanski
Savita Vaidhyanathan
Assemblymember Evan Low
Bern Steves
J.R. Fruen
Shani Kleinhaus on behalf of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Minna Xu (representing self)
Neil Park‐McKlintick
Kiran Varshneya Rohra
Steven Scharf
Vinod Balakrishnan
Library Commissioner Rahul Vasanth (representing self)
Vijay Chavva
Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioner Ilango Ganga (representing self)
Donna Austin
Janice Sung
Kriti Garg
Saratoga Councilmember Yan Zhao
Jeonghee Yi
Steven Hoffman
Vice Mayor Paul closed the public comment period.
A. Subject: Oath of Office for newly‐elected Councilmember Kitty Moore
Recommended Action: Conduct Oath of Office for newly elected Councilmember Kitty
Moore
City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia administered the oath of office to newly elected
Councilmember Kitty Moore.
B. Subject: Oath of Office for newly‐elected Councilmember Hung Wei
Recommended Action: Conduct Oath of Office for newly‐elected Councilmember
Hung Wei
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 6
City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia administered the oath of office to newly‐elected
Councilmember Hung Wei.
Council recessed from 8:53 p.m. – 8:58 p.m.
IV. ELECTION AND OATH OF OFFICE OF MAYOR AND VICE MAYOR
Vice Mayor Paul opened the public comment period and the following people spoke.
Govind Tatachari
Jennifer Griffin
Danessa Techmanski
Gilroy Councilmember Peter Leroe‐Munoz
Housing Commissioner Tessa Parish (representing self)
Vice Mayor Paul closed the public comment period.
A. Subject: Councilmembers elect Mayor
Recommended Action: Make nominations and elect Mayor
Chao moved and Moore seconded to nominate Darcy Paul for Mayor. The motion
carried unanimously.
B. Subject: Councilmembers elect Vice Mayor
Recommended Action: Make nominations and elect Vice Mayor
Paul moved and Moore seconded to nominate Liang Chao for Vice Mayor. The motion
carried unanimously.
C. Subject: Oath of Office for Mayor
Recommended Action: Conduct Oath of Office for Mayor
City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia administered the oath of office to newly‐elected Mayor
Darcy Paul.
D. Subject: Oath of Office for Vice Mayor
Recommended Action: Conduct Oath of Office for Vice Mayor
City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia administered the oath of office to newly‐elected Vice Mayor
Liang Chao.
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 7
E. Subject: Comments by the Public
Recommended Action: Receive Comments by the Public
Mayor Paul opened the public comment period and the following people spoke.
Mahesh Nihalani on behalf of Cupertino Bhubaneshwar Sister Cities Association
Anjali Kausar on behalf of Cupertino Chamber of Commerce
Mike
Jennifer Griffin
Peggy Griffin
Govind Tatachari
Lisa Warren
Kiran Varshneya Rohra
Library Commissioner Rahul Vasanth (representing self)
Housing Commissioner Tessa Parish (representing self)
Vijay Chavva
Danessa Techmanski
Mayor Paul closed the public comment period.
Council received comments by the public.
F. Subject: Comments by Councilmembers
Recommended Action: Receive Comments by Councilmembers
Councilmembers made comments.
G. Subject: Comments by Vice Mayor
Recommended Action: Receive Comments by Vice Mayor
Vice Mayor Chao made comments.
H. Subject: Comments by Mayor
Recommended Action: Receive Comments by Mayor
Mayor Paul made comments.
ADJOURNMENT
At 10:49 p.m., Mayor Paul adjourned the meeting.
City Council Minutes December 3, 2020
Page 8
____________________________
Kirsten Squarcia, City Clerk