Cupertino Matters
- Councilmember Hung Wei resumes campaign
- Election Forums
- UPCOMING – City Council, Tues. Oct. 1, 2024, 6:45 p.m.,
- RECAP – City Council, Tues., Sept. 17, 2024
The big news this week was that city council incumbent, and former mayor, Hung Wei is restarting her election campaign. She originally temporarily suspended her reelection campaign to focus on her health as covered in a San Jose Spotlight article entitled Cupertino politician drops reelection bid. This was also covered in the Mercury News: Cupertino City Council candidate Hung Wei drops out of election race:Wei is suspending her reelection campaign to focus on her recovery from stage 4 lung cancer.
Support from friends and the community was overwhelming and she received very good medical news. Since her name remains on the ballot for the Nov. 5, 2024, election, Wei decided to restart reduced campaign efforts while still undergoing intensive therapy, which is expected to be successful. She explained her decision in a YouTube video. San Jose Spotlight covered the story Cupertino candidate reenters race despite health concerns as well as the Mercury News Cupertino Councilmember Hung Wei makes surprise jump back into election race.
As an overview, the Mercury News published an article with profiles of the seven candidates: Meet the candidates vying for a seat at the Cupertino City Council: Seven candidates are in the race to fill two open council seats. Candidates are Hung Wei (incumbent), Kitty Moore (incumbent), Claudio Bono, Barry Chang, Rod Sinks, Ray Wang, and Gilbert Wong. This article was reprinted in the Sept. 20, 2024, issue of the print Cupertino Courier.
Elections are coming quickly with ballots for the Nov. 5 election expected to drop the first week of October. Be sure to check the candidates that you will be voting for at Vote11.org, a League of Women Voters site. Your representative may have changed with the adoption of trustee areas for Fremont Union High school district and Foothill-De Anza Community College. The same website can be used to check your voter registration.
Candidate forums are an excellent means to learn about candidates as well as state propositions and local bond measures. The League of Women Voters will host a forum with candidates for the Fremont Union High School District Trustee Area #5, which includes parts of Saratoga, West San Jose, Santa Clara, and part of southwest Cupertino, on Mon., Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Candidates are:
- Danny Choi – High school teacher
- Aegean Lee – Graphic designer
The Rotary Club of Cupertino is sponsoring a live Candidates Forum for Cupertino City Council on Oct. 2, 12:00 p.m. at the Quinlan Center, Cupertino. The forum is open to the public. If desired, lunch can be ordered in advance of the meeting by clicking the “Lunch Served” link on the Cupertino Rotary home page.
Candidates for Cupertino City Council
- Claudio Bono – Hotel manager
- Barry Chang – Former mayor
- Kitty Moore – Incumbent
- Rod Sinks – Former mayor
- Ray Wang – Technology conference speaker
- Hung Wei – Incumbent/Former mayor
- Gilbert Wong – Former mayor
The League of Women Voters-Cupertino Sunnyvale is holding a virtual Candidates Forum for the Cupertino City Council on Oct. 9, 2024 , 7 – 9 p.m. Registration is required to obtain the Zoom link
The League is also presenting a Pro/Con forum for the CUSD bond for maintenance of schools in the Cupertino Union School District on Sunday, October 6, 2024. 3:00 PM, at the Cupertino Public Library. No registration is required for this LIVE and In-Person event.
The League of Women Voters is hosting many forums in October, most on Zoom. The full calendar is available on the website, where the recording is posted after the forum is over. Cupertino Matters will include notification of major forums as they come up.
Do you have friends who would like to become better informed about our community? Please encourage them to subscribe to our email newsletter at CupertinoMatters.org. Past issues back to January 2020 are posted on the website for research.
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL – Tues., Oct. 1 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
There is one Ceremonial Item to recognize the 2nd week of October as Code Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week followed by three Presentations:
- Item No. 2 Annual Report of the Parks and Recreation Commission
- Item No. 3 Annual Report of the Teen Commission
- Item No. 4 Annual Report of the Public Safety Commission
The Consent Calendar contains six routine items. Members of the public may speak on any or all consent calendar items when the mayor asks for public comment on the Consent Calendar. If an item is pulled from the Consent Calendar, it will be addressed after all regularly scheduled action items. Members of the public may comment on that item when it is considered.
Item No. 11. Proposed amendments to Municipal Code Chapters 19.04 (General Provisions), 19.08 (Definitions), and 19.60 (General Commercial (CG) Zones) and Associated Environmental Review. This is a periodic update of land use and zoning regulations. On Sept. 10, the item was thoroughly reviewed by the Planning Commission which recommended some changes that staff subsequently incorporated into council recommendations. (1) Definition of Farmer Markets, (2) Elimination of 20% restriction on outdoor seating, but still subject to parking requirements, (3) Convenience stores to remain a Planning Commission-approved use permit, and (4) Eating establishments with music to be a permitted use.
Item No. 12 City-Owned Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Program and award of a contract for the lease of ALPR cameras to Flock Safety for an amount not to exceed $300,000. Utilizing ALPR systems to improve safety has been under discussion since 2022. The process involves setting relevant policies as well as evaluating the technology. Currently, Flock Safety is the only ALPR system approved by the County of Santa Clara and the Sheriff’s Office as it conforms to the County Surveillance Use Policy. A number of nearby cities have begun deploying ALPR systems recently in partnership with Flock Safety, including the Town of Los Altos Hills, the City of Saratoga, the Town of Los Gatos, the City of Palo Alto, and the City of San Jose. This is a relatively low cost experiment to determine effectiveness of this technology.
Item No. 13: Council Reports, (now submitted in written form) are provided by Mayor Mohan, Vice-Mayor Fruen, Councilmember Chao, and Councilmember Moore.
CANCELED – PLANNING COMMISSION – Tues., Sept. 24 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
RECAP – CITY COUNCIL – Tues., Sept. 17, 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
YouTube: 2 hr. 45 min. (Short meeting)
Consent Calendar Item No. 9: Future agenda items requested by City Councilmembers (“TBD List”) was pulled by Councilmembers Chao and Moore for consideration after the Action Calendar. Fourteen of the 15 items were requested by these two council members. Councilmember Chao had to be repeatedly reminded to focus on the agenda item, and not wander into substantive commentary. After nearly an hour of discussion, council agreed to accept staff recommendations, other than keeping (1) Review of the City’s financial policy and (9) Access to closed session documents on the Future Agenda Item List. Two items were added (1) Sound amplification in parks and (2) Informational memo on downzoning. Council approved 4-0-1 with Wei absent.
Item No. 11: Designation of Residential Permit Parking (RPP) on the north side of Lauretta Drive between Ann Arbor Avenue to 200 feet east of Ann Arbor Avenue, the south side of Lauretta Drive between Ann Arbor Avenue and a point 150 feet east of Ann Arbor Avenue, and on Ann Arbor Avenue between Lauretta Drive and Hazelbrook Drive. Several residents in this area spoke about the effect of increased parking in the last few months. Since this is a modest expansion of existing permit parking at the north side of Memorial Park there was minimal debate. Council approved 4-0-1 with Wei absent.
Item No. 12: Adoption of local amendments to the California Energy Code and repeal of Municipal Code Chapter 16.32 (Local Sustainability Requirements for Newly Adopted Buildings). There was minimal discussion of the staff recommendation to increase building energy performance requirements via local amendments to the California Energy Code as the preferred alternative to the current all-electric code. The same goals are achieved, but this approach is more legally sound. Council approved 4-0-1 with Wei absent.
CUPERTINO COURIER: September 27, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Get to Know the candidates: League of Women Voters hosts online event Oct 9.The sole community brief is Election forums. Page 5 is a previously published Mercury News article entitled Ailing City Council candidate Hung Wei drops out. There are no legal notices
CUPERTINO COURIER: September 20, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Environmental mission: Church members return from South America eager to share story. The sole community brief is Compassion Week. The sole legal notice is Notice of Public Hearing for Municipal Code Amendments to be heard at the Oct. 1 city council meeting.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
