1 CITY COUNCIL ACTIVITY REPORT
Meeting: Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Reporting Councilmember: Councilmember J.R. Fruen
Report Activity Dates: 9/12/23 to 10/2/23
Event Date, Title, and Description:
Event 1. September 14, 2023 – VTA Policy Advisory Committee Meeting – I attended this meeting in my capacity as Cupertino’s representative on the Committee. Two items recommended to the Board for approval included funding for infrastructure projects in Cupertino: Item 8 included approval of the city’s request for approximately $166,000 for the installation of buffered bike lanes on De Anza Boulevard under Article 3 of the Countywide Transportation Development Act (one of 6 funded projects in the county); and Item 9, approval of the 2024 State Transportation Improvement Program projects, which included $6 million in funding for the I‐280/Wolfe Road interchange. The latter remains short of its full funding goal.
Items 10 and 11, both informational items, would also be of interest to Cupertino resident. The first is an update on the Valley Transportation Plan 2050, the second is an introductory presentation to the Equitable Vehicle Miles Traveled Mitigation Program grant project. The full agenda and supporting materials are available here:
http://santaclaravta.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=3777
Event 2. September 14, 2023 – Cities Association Legislative Advisory Committee Meeting – I filled in for Mayor Wei as the alternate for this meeting. The main focus of the meeting was the Association’s support of ACA 1 and ACA 13 coupled with the Association’s opposition to the California Business Roundtable’s tax and fee initiative which Cupertino has already opposed because of the catastrophic effect it would have on city revenues and the city’s ability to provide services. The Association voted to support ACA 13.
Event 3. September 20 ‐ 22, 2023 – League of California Cities Annual Conference – This three‐day conference covered a variety of topics important to local governments. I attended workshops on mitigation fees, the implementation of state housing laws, city governance best
2 practices, and the general economic forecast’s impact on city revenues, among others. The conference also afforded useful networking opportunities with other electeds across the state and various municipal service providers at the Exposition.
Event 4. September 23, 2023 – 2nd Heritage India Faire – Konark Festival – I joined the rest of
the city council to honor the Cupertino ‐ Bhubaneswar Sister City Initiative and visiting dignitaries at the 2nd Annual Heritage India Faire held at Memorial Park. The festival celebrates the cultural heritage of India in general and the state of Odisha in particular. The event was well‐attended and made especially good use of the rear courtyard behind the Quinlan Center.
Event 5. September 30, 2023 – Cupertino
BikeFest – This year’s BikeFest brought the
community together around the value of biking and how to bike safely. I was especially impressed by the bike maintenance and repair offerings, which were heavily subscribed. The reprise of the Bike Blender Booth which allowed participants to make a blend a smoothie using the power of a bicycle was especially well‐received.