Cupertino Matters
- Voting Information
- UPCOMING – Special Council Meeting on Housing, Wed., Oct. 23, 6:00 p.m.
- RECAP – Council Meeting, Tues., Oct. 15, 6:45 p.m.
Only two more weeks until Nov. 5, Election Day! There are two ballot drop-off boxes at civic plaza, one chained to the post at the front door of city hall and one chained to a pillar at the library. Starting Oct. 26, the Cupertino Library will host a walk-in Vote Center with staff to deposit ballots and get assistance with any Registrar of Voters issues. Usually open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
Good news for city council – Council Member Hung Wei was able to attend the regular Tuesday night council meeting via Zoom. She continues to campaign for re-election, along with Rod Sinks, former mayor and current Fremont Union High School District trustee.
The League of Women Voters has completed their election forum series. The recordings have been posted to their website, In addition to candidate forums, check the Ballot Measure Pro & Cons. Readers can also check their registration and the candidates that they will be voting for at Vote411.org, a League of Women Voters site. This site is personalized to your address, so you may find district boundaries have changed your representative.
In addition to the LWV forums, the Rotary Club/Chamber of Commerce City Council Candidate Forum 2024 was held with a live audience and different questions about the real issues facing Cupertino, from the LWV moderator. Candidates Rod Sinks, Barry Chang, Gilbert Wong, and Claudio Bono expressed their positions, as well as last minute Kitty Moore. Ray Wang was a no-show (which seems to be a pattern). Hung Wei, who was unable to attend, provided a statement.
Previously, the Mercury News published an article with profiles of the seven candidates in: Meet the candidates vying for a seat at the Cupertino City Council: Seven candidates are in the race to fill two open council seats. Likewise, the San Jose Spotlight also provided an article Meet the candidates running for Cupertino City Council with a profile on each candidate as well as fund-raising coverage in: Money flows into Cupertino City Council race. The most recent article summarizes the Spotlight in-person forum on Oct. 16, 2024, Cupertino candidates talk housing, budget before election. There was no video recording.
As a reminder, there are 7 candidates for city council:
- Claudio Bono – Hotel manager, Parks and Recreation Commissioner
- Barry Chang – Former mayor
- Kitty Moore – Incumbent (not selected as mayor by colleagues)
- Rod Sinks – Former mayor / Fremont Union High School District Trustee
- Ray Wang – Technology speaker / consultant (previously removed as a Planning Commissioner)
- Hung Wei – Incumbent/Former mayor
- Gilbert Wong – Former mayor / Foothill Deanza Community College District Trustee
In addition to the resources listed above, readers are advised to take the additional step of doing Google searches on each candidate. All have been in the news at some point, with stories not touted on their candidate websites. Note there are stories from an “alternative facts” site co-mingled with authoritative news sources. Suggestions are:
- Candidate name Grand Jury
- Candidate name removal
- Candidate name lawsuit
For more research, past issues back to January 2020 (two election cycles) of Cupertino Matters are posted on the website. Readers may review current council members voting records, particularly nay votes (and abstensions) on key issues. Encourage your friends who would like to become better informed about our community to subscribe to our email newsletter at CupertinoMatters.org.
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL – Special Meeting, Wed., Oct. 23, 6:00 p.m.
The sole agenda item is Statewide Housing Laws that Apply to Applications for Housing Development Projects. Specific development projects will not be discussed.
CANCELED – PLANNING COMMISSION – Tues., Oct. 22, 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
RECAP – CITY COUNCIL – Tues., Oct. 15 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
YouTube: 3 hr. 59 min.
Item No. 6: Study Session on Unhoused Services and Programs. This was an excellent session on the complexity of homelessness. Two options were presented: (1) Continue the current model based on the City’s Unhoused Task Force, Process for Assisting Unhoused Residents, and partnerships with the County of Santa Clara to measurably serve the City based on the relative needs of existing unhoused residents, including continuing to seek partnerships and possible grant opportunities; or (2) Direct the City Manager to propose an item for the Fiscal Year 2025-2027 City Work Program to develop an encampment management policy by evaluating examples from other jurisdictions in the Bay Area and incorporating best practices for review by the City Council.
While the City of Cupertino consistently has fewer homeless individuals than nearby cities, there were still 48 homeless individuals in 2023 (a significant decrease from 159 individuals in 2019 ) according to the semi-annual PIT (point-in-time) count. Two speakers spoke movingly from actual experience: (1) Deb Feng, now CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, with the Apple/Vallco encampment when she was City Manager in 2020, and (2) Belinda, a currently unsheltered person on her personal experience. After discussion, Councilmember Chao moved option 1, to continue the current program, with an amendment to agendize an update in a year. The motion was approved unanimously.
Item No. 7: Amendments to Cupertino Municipal Code Chapter 2.32 (Planning Commission), Chapter 2.74 (Technology, Information, and Communications Commission), Chapter 2.86 (Housing Commission), Chapter 11.08 (Bicycles), and Chapter 13.04 (Parks), and repeal of Municipal Code Chapter 15.04 (Waterworks System – Rates and Charges). There was limited public input and discussion of this minor code cleanup, with some time spent on allowing bicycles on an overlarge sidewalk designed to accommodate bicycles along a stretch of space near Cupertino High School. The staff recommendation was modified in the supplemental to rescind inadvertent changes to the Housing Commission. Council approved 5-0.
Item No. 8: Unassign funds from the Committed Sales Tax Repayment Reserve. This should have been a celebratory acknowledgement of the city’s settlement with CDTFA, on Oct. 2, 2024 for $74.5 million, rendering continuation of the Sales Tax Repayment Reserve unnecessary. Instead, many public comments, along with Councilmembers Chao and Moore, failed to grasp the basic financial practice of accurately labeling fund balances and transferring funds from the no longer necessary restricted liability account to the unrestricted General Fund account. No expenditures were authorized. Allocations of these funds–to specific program funds, reserves or capital expenditures, will be considered in the regular FY 2024-25 First Quarter Financial Report in November. Council approved 3-2 with Chao and Moore voting nay.
CUPERTINO COURIER: October 18, 2024
The front page story and article on page 5 is entitled Family affair at county fair: The Gulmons have been instrumental in amassing historical collection. Community briefs are (1) Emergency prep training, (2) Ballot drop-off and (3) Educational awards. Legal notices include (1) Solicitation for LED Streetlight Rebid, (2) RFQ for Photovoltaic Systems Design and Installation, and (3) Unclaimed funds.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
