Cupertino Matters
- Local News
- UPCOMING – City Council, Tues., June 3, 2025, 6:45 p.m. ; Closed Session 5:00 p.m.;
- RECAP – City Council, Tues., May 28, May 29, 2025
Summer is on our doorstep, with the resulting heat waves and need for cooling centers. June is also budget month, with government jurisdictions required to finalize budgets by fiscal year end, June 30. Though the budget is tight, overall, Cupertino is in good financial condition with only minor budget modifications after last year’s belt-tightening.
The county and state budgets show much greater challenges due in significant part to the uncertainty of federal funding. Social services are particularly at risk, most especially food services for seniors, as documented in this San Jose Spotlight article entitled: Need for Santa Clara County senior meals outgrows budget. Local volunteer efforts help bridge the shortfall, as demonstrated in the Mercury News: Cupertino fruit harvest yields 250 lbs. for local hunger relief: Volunteer effort spearheaded by Rotary, West Valley Community Services
Though there is general acknowledgement that transportation systems need to evolve, progress remains slow. To that end, and to encourage more coherent policymaking, the City is engaging the public in developing an Active Transportation Plan (ATP). This plan will prioritize transportation projects that promote active transportation within the City. The planning process includes conducting an inventory of existing infrastructure, developing a prioritized list of implementation projects, identifying non-infrastructure elements for community engagement, creating a realistic approach to project funding, and conducting extensive public outreach. Readers are encouraged to complete the first survey on this topic. Significant public engagement is already underway. If the ATP were cancelled, Cupertino would be left footing the bill for resources already spent, since this plan is grant-funded and would have a harder time applying for grants in the future.
The need for transportation for residents is not limited to the city of Cupertino. For instance, this project would greatly help bicyclists commuting northward to the Stanford Industrial Park area and beyond: Santa Clara County considers path along Foothill Expressway: Intention to improve safety, mobility from San Mateo County to Cupertino. As part of its Active Transportation Plan adopted in 2020, the city of Sunnyvale found the community asked for more easy-to-use north-south bike and pedestrian routes. The East Channel runs from the northern city limits at the Bay Trail to the southern limits at Homestead Road. That Plan recommends creating a 5.78-mile bike and pedestrian-only trail along the East Channel. This path includes a Class I shared-use path for most of the segment between the Bay Trail and Inverness Way. It also proposes a Class IIIB Bicycle Boulevard from Inverness Way to Homestead Road. Meanwhile, Cupertino loses out on shared funding with the city of San Jose to study, not implement, improved safety improvements along Bollinger Road, one of the most dangerous streets in our city, as documented in a San Jose Spotlight article: Cupertino pulls funding for road safety improvement study.
Approval of the Westport assisted living/memory care project has finally garnered positive press for Cupertino on the topic of housing. From the Mercury News: Cupertino: More housing units slated for Westport development: Construction on the final phase of the development is expected to begin in the next two to three years. And from San Jose Spotlight see: Cupertino assisted living facility scales down parking, retail
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL, Tues., June 3, 2025, 6:45 p.m. Regular; Closed Session; 5:00 Closed Session
Closed Session: 5:00 p.m.
Item No. 1 Conference with legal counsel – anticipated litigation; California Government Code Sections 54954(c) and 54956.9(e)(1): (1 case). This is vague with no details. Is this an opportunity for the contract city attorney to run up billable hours?
Item No. 2: Conference with Labor Negotiators pursuant to Government Code § 54957.6 (Kristina Alfaro and Christopher Boucher). The city’s two collective bargaining units have regular intervals at which their agreements call for potential changes.
Item No. 3: Conference with Labor Negotiators, unrepresented employee; Title: Acting City Manager; California Government Code Sections 54954.5(f) and 54957.6(a). What action is being taken with regard to Pamel Wu, the current city manager, now on paid administrative leave?
Open Session; 6:45 p.m.
Closed Session Report
The sole Ceremonial Item is Item No. 1: Proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. The city held a flag raising on June 1 in honor of this month’s celebrations.
The sole Presentation is Item No. 2: Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC) presentation on SCCFSC’s history, programs, technologies, and Firewise USA
Oral Communications from the public on non-agenda items precede the Consent Calendar, which contains three 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, council’s procedural rules require it to be addressed after all regularly scheduled action items, unless council votes to reorder items on the agenda. Members of the public may comment on that item when it is considered.
Item No. 6: Approval of renewal of the 1992 Storm Drain Fee (with no increase) and renewal of the 2019 Clean Water and Storm Protection Fee with a 2.38% increase. These are two minor property tax fees that must be approved annually by the council. The 1992 Storm Drainage Service Charge Fee (1992 Fee) is $12 per year for a single family home, and the 2019 Clean Water and Storm Protection Fee (2019 Fee) is approximately $47 per year for an average single-family home. These fees help cover the cost of complying with stormwater pollution prevention measures.
Item No. 7: Amend Chapter 16.74 of the Municipal Code to adopt CAL FIRE’s recommendations for Fire Severity Hazard Zones in the Local Responsibility Area and Chapter 16.40 of the Municipal Code to update a reference to the updated map. Recent changes to state law require local jurisdictions to adopt all three Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) classification categories—Very High, High, and Moderate—based on CAL FIRE’s 2025 hazard maps. The proposed ordinance reflects these updates, applies the highest FHSZ designation to parcels with multiple FHSZ classifications, and updates code references accordingly. These designations affect building construction and fire code standards applicable to these properties. The potential impact on insurance is unknown as insurers do not, as a matter of industry practice, rely on these maps in defining coverage areas. Readers can determine classification of their homes by entering their address on this webpage Explore Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
Item No. 8: Consideration of Recommended Operating and Capital Improvement Program Budgets for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26, Adoption of the Operating and Capital Improvement Program Budgets for FY 2025-26, Establishment of the Appropriation Limit, and related actions; Direction on past and current City Work Program and FY 2024-25 Special Projects. This may be a lengthy session on budgets, which must be completed no later than June 30. Overall, the Final Budget for both Operating and Capital Budgets for Fiscal Year 2025-26 is recommended at $136,063,401 across all funds with estimated revenues of $133,654,373, which includes the use of one-time funds of $2,373,901. Focusing on the General Fund, the City’s largest tax-supported fund, a proposed budget of $99,186,741, with estimated revenues of $97,229,134 resulting in a use of fund balance $1,957,607. The final budget incorporates relatively minor changes to the draft budget released early May. The Presentations for the meeting give an overview; the 25 page staff report gives more detail. Overall, there are 33 attachments to review.
Item No. 9: Consider the potential purchase of and appoint a negotiator for 10480 Finch Avenue, owned by the Cupertino Unified School District, adjacent to Sedgwick Elementary School. This property was purchased by CUSD for potential expansion that didn’t materialize. Annually, CUSD reviews district properties for revenue potential, and the Finch property is under consideration for a third party exchange in order to generate ongoing revenue. The staff recommendation is to appoint the Acting City Manager and Interim City Attorney to explore negotiations with CUSD after spending approximately $10,000 for due diligence reports. The site sits at the end of Finch Avenue down the street from Cupertino High School where the street dead-ends into Phil Lane. It was previously improved with a single-family home that has long since been demolished and now sits vacant.
Item No. 10: City Manager Report, (now submitted in written form).
Item No. 11: Council Reports, (now submitted in written form) are provided by Councilmembers Fruen, Mohan and Wang. Mayor Chao and Vice-Mayor Moore did not submit reports.
Item No. 12: Upcoming Draft Agenda Items Report. These are known agenda items for city council. Many items which will appear on future agendas are not scheduled in advance. Oddly, the Stevens Creek Corridor Vision Study, which has already been recommended for support through the Bicycle-Pedestrian Commission and the Planning Commission and adopted by partner jurisdictions, is now slated to appear on the council agenda in September.
RECAP – City Council, Wed., May 28, 6:15 p.m., Special Meeting (Teen Commission and Audit Committee Interviews); 5:30 p.m., Closed Session.
Councilmember Wang was absent. Closed session was cancelled due to Mayor Chao’s minor car accident.
RECAP – City Council, Thurs., May 29, 5:30 p.m., Special Meeting (Teen Commission Interviews).
Councilmember Ray Wang was absent.
For research, past issues back to January 2020 of Cupertino Matters are posted on the website. Encourage your friends who would like to become better informed about our community to subscribe to our email newsletter at CupertinoMatters.org.
CUPERTINO COURIER: May 30, 2025
The front page and article on page 4 is entitled Neighborhood harvest: Pilot project fathers fresh fruit from local trees. Cupertino fruit harvest yields 250 lbs for local hunger relief: Volunteer effort spearheaded by Rotary and West Valley Community Services. Community briefs are (1) Express path, (2) Wildfire prep webinar and (3) AI for young scholars. Legal notices include (1) Foreclosure of Foothill Crossings property at 10625 Foothill Blvd., Cupertino (former Foothill Market) for $10,621,573.78, and (2) Public Hearing before the Planning Commission on June 10, 2025 for Summerhill homes application for 20770, 20830 and 20840 Stevens Creek Blvd. (Staples, Fontana’s, and Pizza Hut).
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
