Cupertino Matters
Spring must be here! This is the weekend for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival on April 29 and 30 at Memorial Park. This is a traditional highlight of the spring festival season, with the full program available here.
The city has announced the 2023 CREST (“Cupertino Recognizes Extra Steps Taken”) Awards Winners
- Lifetime Achievement – Jim Walker
- Organization of the Year – Friends of the Cupertino Library
- Volunteer of the Year – Fari Aberg
- Public Safety Champion – Fari Aberg
- Rising Star – Adhya Kasamsetty
This year’s CREST Awards Ceremony will be held at Cupertino Community Hall on Thursday, May 25 at 5:30 p.m. Congratulations to all the winners who have contributed so much time and energy to our city.
As reported in last week’s issue, the city is facing fiscal challenges due to an audit by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) which has targeted the sales tax reporting of a major sales tax producer. An article published in the Mercury News, Apple’s local tax arrangement with Cupertino comes under fire, outlines the situation. The preliminary number from the state is an ongoing reduction of $31 million (or approximately a 30% loss of revenue) according to a city press release, though this number is preliminary and represents a worst-case projection according to the staff presentation, though the exact size of the shortfall remains unknown.
Budget cuts will be necessary, even if just as a prudent precaution, so the city is asking residents to provide input on the prioritization of areas for reduction. Readers are urged to complete this 2023 Community Budget Survey to guide the Finance Department as the new budget is prepared. For context, Public Works is 27% of the budget, followed by Law Enforcement (18%) and Community Development (12%). Given the large size of the shortfall, Finance is focusing on larger areas of potential savings and/or revenue generation.
The annual Lehigh update hosted by County Supervisor Joe Simitian is April 26, 6:30 – 8:30 in Cupertino Community Hall. There will be a panel of representatives from various oversight agencies. Members of the public will be able to ask questions of the panel.
The next city council meeting will occur on May 2.
UPCOMING – PLANNING COMMISSION – Tues. April 25, 2023, 6:45 p.m. Regular Meeting
The previous meeting was canceled. There is a single action item on the agenda in addition to (1) a presentation on Email Phishing by the Infrastructure Division and (2) approval of minutes for March 28.
Item No. 3 Consider a Conditional Use Permit for the concurrent sale of alcoholic beverages and gasoline at an existing Chevron gasoline service station. (Application No.: U-2022-006; Applicant: Steve Rawlings on behalf of Chevron Stations; Location: 11010 N De Anza Blvd; APN# 309-42-041) (Continued from February 14, 2023). As noted, this item was previously before the Commission in February. This gas station is located at the corner of Homestead and De Anza Boulevard / Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road. The site already holds a license to sell beer and wine for offsite consumption. This request is to allow the sale of harder liquor–specifically, pre-made mixed drinks–in addition to wine and beer, between the hours of 6 am and 11 pm. The proposed display area is roughly 52 sq. ft. or 3% of the sales floor area, and would be located behind the cash register. The Sheriff’s Department has approved the security plan. There are currently 5 other gas stations in Cupertino which have alcohol licenses within walking distance of residential housing and schools with no history of code enforcement issues.
CUPERTINO COURIER: April 21, 2023
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Rise Against Hunger: Over 100 volunteers turn out at Saratoga High School to aid nonprofit. Local Rotary clubs package 24K meals for hunger relief nonprofit. Community briefs include (1) Earth and Arbor Day Fest, (2) older adults survey, and (3) Teen Commission recruitment. There are no legal notices.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
