Cupertino Matters
Enjoy the long days of summer–they will start getting shorter now that the solstice is past.
June is budget month for public agencies. The fallout for programs, particularly social services, is still piling up. At the local level, the sheriff’s contract is a major unresolved issue with the council approving a short term contract through Sept. 30 to continue services–albeit at a higher cost–and to allow negotiation to work its way out. San Jose Spotlight covered the details in Cupertino extends contract with Sheriff’s Office.
City governance continues to be in the news. The front page of the print Cupertino Courier, June 19, 2026 edition featured Councilmember Ray Wang misuse of remote appearance standards in Undermining public access? City’s teleconferencing rules may violate meeting transparency laws outlining the issues presented by Councilmember Wang’s frequent remote appearances and disconnections causing meetings to end early–at least once on purpose. The Civil Grand Jury Report, Convenience vs. Compliance: Brown Act risks in Cupertino’s meeting practices, called out these practices in detail. The required city response is expected in July.
As demonstrated in the last council meeting summarized below, the council’s relationship with its own Commissions is problematic. Commissioners are appointed by the council and are supposed to be the “voices of residents.” However, this council flatly ignored the fully considered commission recommendations of two of their commissions in favor of personal pet projects and micromanagement on Tuesday night. Pickleball usage on Memorial Park courts has been contentious. The Planning Commission had unanimously recommended the allocation of $150,000 (less than $3 per resident one time cost) in the city budget, but a majority of the City Council questioned the expertise of the Director of Public Works in evaluating alternatives. Instead, on a vote supported by Mayor Moore, Vice Mayor Chao, and Councilmember Wang, only $15,000 was budgeted for a sound study, and Parks and Recreation directed to conduct a pilot study which reduces available hours by 50% on a public court.
Council also ignored the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendations for allocating the $32,500 budgeted for Community Funding (this is down significantly from the $100,000+ in earlier years). Applications for grants are time-consuming for applicants, commissioners and staff, and the amounts are small. Instead of allocating some additional funding to cover additional grants, the council–again on a majority vote of Mayor Moore, Vice Mayor Chao, and Councilmember Wang defunded two worthy projects to substitute Vice Mayor Chao’s two pet projects. She even suggested defunding a grant to West Valley Community Services, the city’s primary service provider for families in need. Is this consistent with listening to residents?
In separate community matters, Mr Roger Hunter, Program Manager, Small Spacecraft Technology Program at NASA is the last speaker in the Science and Technology Speaker Series sponsored by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce which will be held on Wednesday, June 24, 6:30 – 8 p.m. in Community Hall, 10360 Torre Avenue. He will be speaking on “The Future of Spaceflight.” Please RSVP if you intend to attend.
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.
UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Tues., June 23,2026, 6:45 p.m.
Other than approval of the May 26, 2026, minutes, the agenda consists of Item No. 2: Study Session on Housing Element update to add capacity at all income levels. Cupertino faces a difficult situation. The state-required Housing Element was approved in May 2024, which planned for 4,588 units with a 28% buffer for a total of 5,881 units. While the buffer was adequate for market rate housing, it has not proven aggressive enough to meet needed capacity for (1) Moderate income and (2) Lower income levels. Several major housing developments have been approved at densities of roughly 20 units-per-acre with a lower number of BMR (Below Market Rate) homes than anticipated in the Housing Element. In addition, the Vallco project has reduced the number of BMR homes in its current iteration. As a result, the city now lacks sufficient zoned capacity to satisfy the legal requirements of the Housing Element. This study session focuses on strategies to correct this shortfall:
- Deed-restricted units through State or County programs in affordable housing projects. Mary Avenue Villas and Wolfe Road Teacher Housing fit this category. New townhome developments add to the city’s production of deed-restricted moderate income homes and help correct the shortfall in this income category.
- Deed-restricted units through the City’s Blow Market Rate (BMR) Housing Mitigation Program. There is a mismatch between the City’s 15% BMR requirement for rental and 20% BMR for-sale projects. The Housing Element planned for 57% at these levels. This mismatch is unlikely to change and helps drive the need for a much greater number of planned homes overall.
- Non-deed restricted units which are available at income levels akin to deed-restricted units. These projects would be higher density apartment units which are affordable by design. The Hanover Apartments project application is the only project in the approval process that fits this criteria. The city is well-positioned to zone for more projects of this sort.
Despite extensive outreach, the City has not seen any interest in additional 100% affordable housing projects. Ownership townhome developments are more lucrative and now dominate new developments in Cupertino–effectively the new single family subdivisions. Staff has prepared maps with a broad range of sites that could potentially be added, taking into consideration the desire to retain retail, maintain evacuation capacity, and address neighborhood concerns.
RECAP – City Council, Tues., June 16, 2026, 6:45 p.m.; Study Session 5:45 p.m.
YouTube: Study Session: 48 min.; Regular: 3 hr. 41 min. Councilmember Fruen was remote.
Study Session
Item No. 1: A study session for City Council to consider existing designations, zoning corrections, and state law protections for recreational facilities and parkland sites. This was a review of land use inventory of the 40+ City owned parcels and associated zoning, including remnant parcels. While generally congruent with current zoning and General Plan designations, there are some discrepancies that warrant routine cleanup. The agenda did not include consideration of a potential ballot measure.
Regular Meeting (Items reordered)
Item No. 7: Amend the Existing Agreement with Santa Clara County for Law Enforcement Services. The current contract for the sheriff’s services expires June 30. The proposed contract would have increased the cost by $7.5 million, an unanticipated 39.6% increase over the current year, which significantly impacts the city budget. Negotiations have been underway since January 1 to reduce the increase. The City has hired an auditor to review overhead calculations in the proposed contract to determine whether they are in line with state law restrictions on county charges for services. The city is also exploring reducing the level of contracted service. The most controversial is the potential shift in funding for the SRO (School Resource Officer) program, which was opposed by school principals who spoke at the meeting. Council broadly agreed that the program was valuable, but Councilmember comments focused on how funding should be allocated between the school districts and the city. Council unanimously approved the short term agreement extending services to September 30 to continue public safety services and continue negotiation.
Item No. 6: Consideration of Recommended Operating and Capital Improvement Program Budgets for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27, adoption of the Operating and Capital Improvement Program Budgets for FY 2026-27, establishment of the Appropriation Limit, and related actions. The city has to approve a final budget no later than the end of the fiscal year on June 30. This should have been a routine agenda item since there were no major changes from earlier study sessions. Rather than focusing on major challenges ahead for the city, such as wildfire safety programs, council spent over an hour and a half second-guessing commission recommendations for two very minor line items, given the total Operating and Capital Budgets of $155,553,264. The first was $150,000 for a sound attenuation wall for the Memorial Park pickleball courts. The Planning Commission had unanimously approved this project. Instead, Mayor Moore, Vice Mayor Chao, and Councilmember Wang insisted on approving only $15,000 for a sound study, along with a questionable pilot to be monitored by Parks and Recreation. A substitute motion offered by Councilmembers Mohan and Fruen to proceed with the original project failed. The second was a miniscule $32,500 in community funding which the Parks and Recreation Commission had thoroughly vetted and recommended. Instead, the Rotary pollinator garden at McClellan Ranch ($3,000) and the Fremont Union High School teacher grant projects ($8500) were defunded, in favor of the Vice-Mayor’s Lions Club Fish-A-Thon ($5000) and Wreaths Across America ($5000). Approved 3-2 with Fruen and Mohan voting nay.
There are no major changes from earlier study sessions. Overall, the Final Budget for both Operating and Capital Budgets is $155,553,264. This budget will require the use of one-time funds of $2,303,500.
CUPERTINO COURIER: June 19, 2026
The front page photo and article on page 3 are entitled Undermining public access? City’s teleconferencing rules may violate meeting transparency. Cupertino’s rules may violate state law on opening meetings; Civil Grand Jury report warns of weaponization of the Brown Act. Community briefs are (1)Community agency hero named and (2) Poetic work, regarding recruitment of Santa Clara County Library District poet laureate. There are no legal notices
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
