Cupertino Matters

• Memorial Park Specific Plan
• RECAP – City Council, Wed. June 21, 2023 5:00 p.m. Memorial Park; 6:45 Public Hearing

Next week is the Fourth of July. Join the community at this Independence Day Celebration with many activities listed in this full schedule.

Cupertino is in the news in a positive way as highlighted in the Mercury News: Cupertino Rabbit Project leaps into action with unveiling of 12 sculptures; public artworks celebrate Lunar New Year animal.  Twelve painted rabbit sculptures have already been placed around the city, with a total of thirty-eight planned for installation. This is a collaboration among the Chamber of Commerce, the Cupertino Rotary Club and Foothill-De Anza Foundation.

The 5:00 agenda item regarding the revitalization and redevelopment of  Memorial Park was controversial. A heretofore silent group in the community, softball league players, showed up en masse to protest the conversion of the softball field to other recreational uses. Though two other softball fields are available in Cupertino, only the Memorial Park field is lighted for after-work league play, particularly in the fall. The community survey ranked the softball field as lowest priority, with only a 15% utilization of Memorial Park. The only registered league is the 50+ Softball  (Senior  Center “Geezers”) on Thursday mornings. However, according to one email sent to council,  there are actually 16 adult leagues that regularly use the field, but are not registered with Parks and Recreation and have not paid field fees. (Youth sports do pay their field fees.) These leagues are weighted toward women and seniors.

CANCELED – PLANNING COMMISSION – Tues, June 27, 2023, 6:45 p.m. Regular Meeting

RECAP – CITY COUNCIL – Special Meeting – Wed, June 21, 2023, 5:00, Memorial Park (Agenda Item No. 1) with Public Hearing (Agenda Item no. 10) starting no earlier than 6:45 p.m.

YouTube: Part 1: 1 hr. 57 min. Memorial Park; Part 2: 2 hr. 35 min. Regular Meeting 

Agenda and Presentations  (note revised order for the agenda)  Meeting adjourned at 9:47 p.m.

At 5:00, council considered the Memorial Park Specific Plan conceptual design. Public comment was extensive on this item, with over a dozen speakers on behalf of retention of the softball field. After extensive discussion, council instructed staff to move ahead with developing the schematic plan modified to include retention of the softball field, identifying tradeoffs with other proposed amenities. This was approved unanimously.

Five items on the Consent Calendar were approved 4-0-1 (Moore abstaining), but three were pulled for discussion: Item Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were pulled for consideration at the end of the meeting.

Item No. 10: Consider a proposed mixed-use redevelopment project consisting of 34 residential units and approximately 7,482 square feet of commercial space. Project includes the removal and replacement of 51 development trees and a range of site and landscape improvements. Location: 1655 S. De Anza Blvd., APNs 366-10-061, -126 .  There was minimal discussion on this project, which complies with state housing laws and provides much-needed affordable housing. Council approved unanimously.

Item No. 7: Consider To Be Determined list (“TBD List”) of agenda items requested by City Councilmembers. Ten of these items were initiated by Councilmembers Moore and Chao. Many of the items had been previously answered and others are scheduled to be brought before council later in the year. Staff had recommended that requests to consider letters of opposition to SB 423 and SB 403 be considered later in the year.  However, Councilmembers Chao and Moore objected, requesting that these items be brought back in July which already has a packed agenda. Both City Manager Wu and City Attorney Jensen expressed concern that these two items on state legislation would crowd out more substantive agenda items directly impacting the city. The motion by Chao to add these two items in July passed on a 3-2 vote with Fruen and Wei voting nay.

Item No. 8: Consider approval of the May 16 City Council minutes (Continued from June 6, 2023). This was a frivolous attempt by two members of the public, Rhoda Fry and Peggy Griffin, to modify the official minutes. After discussion and a failed substitute motion, the original minutes were approved 3-2 with Moore and Chao voting nay.

Item No. 9: Receive the FY 2021-22 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and related supplemental reports (Continued from June 6, 2023). A member of the public objected to purported out-of-date information in this report. The Finance Department clarified that the information is a point in time for the previous financial cycle, and so does not reflect current conditions. The city is hiring a new audit firm that will produce the next report, so the situation is moot.

Council Reports submitted in written form were received from Fruen, Mohan, Moore, and Wei. Councilmember Chao failed to submit a report. Councilmember Moore’s report duplicates previous activity for the period 4/5/2023 to 6/12/2023, whereas other reports reflect only the current reporting period.

CUPERTINO COURIER: June 23, 2023

The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Aging in Silicon Valley: Rapidly growing older population puts a strain on senior service providers. Communities struggle with growing older population issues – Seniors are projected to outnumber minors by 2030 in Santa Clara County. Community briefs include (1) League of Women Voters meeting, (2) Culture for kids, (3) Blacksmith demo and (4) Choral Project’s ‘Earthsongs’. Page 7 features an article authored by Supervisor Joe Simitian entitled Expanding RYDE program enables senior mobility and empowerment. There are no legal notices.

Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor