CC 10-30-2023
Written
Communications
Item No. 1
Public Employee
Performance Evaluation
for City Attorney
From: Griffin
To: City Council
Cc: City Clerk
Subject: 2023-10-30 City Council Meeting Agenda ITEM1-City Attorney Jensen Evaluation Comments Date: Monday, October 30, 2023 11:05:43 AM
Attachments: Cupertino Muni Code 2.18 City Attorney.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING EMAIL AND ANY ATTACHMENTS AS PART OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION FOR THE ABOVE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM.
Dear City Council,
I am re-sending my comments I sent in early July 2023 for City Attorney Jensen’s evaluation since we were told it was “postponed”.
Since July, I’m saddened and frustrated that there has not been improvement.
At the July 25, 2023 City Council meeting-after the evaluation postponement, near the very end of the meeting, City Attorney Jensen looses his temper, stands up and proceeds to pack up his stuff while the Council is trying to discuss the issue! This was rude, disruptive and made it very difficult for both the Council members and the public to hear what was being said. City Attorneys are supposed to be the calm, factual, unbiased face of our city’s legal team and yet this is not what I have seen during our city council meetings.
Also, the Brown Act, a California state law that applies to public meetings, continues to change from year to year and it is up to our legal staff to be knowledgeable about the changes and ensure that our city abides by this law. That has not been the case. At the 9-19-2023 meeting where Vice Mayor Mohan participated remotely several Brown Act issues occurred.
I would expect that a Mayor and Council who have transparency as a top priory would want to have its meetings and procedures adhere to the Brown Act completely, not just substantially.
Please put steps in place to correct behavior and CA law compliance. One Council member expressed concern about the city’s image, well this is part of it!
Sincerely,
Peggy Griffin
From: Peggy Griffin
Date: July 5, 2023 at 11:56:03 PM PDT
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: 2023-07-06 City Council Meeting Agenda ITEM2-City Attorney Jensen Evaluation Comments
PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING EMAIL AND ATTACHMENTS AS PART OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE ABOVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA ITEM.
Dear City Council Members,
Attached is the Cupertino Municipal Code Chapter 2.18 City Attorney for your reference. In particular, please note these 2 sections below:
218.010 Office of the City Attorney Established
2.18.020 Function and Duties
During the last several months, please note that City Attorney Jensen has “overstepped” his bounds with regard to the following item:
1. Hiring investigator without City Council direction:
Hiring Investigator Linda Daube was done WITHOUT City Council direction violating the above municipal code.
a. The contract with Investigator Linda Daube was signed by BOTH City Attorney Jensen and Linda Daube on February 14, 2023 prior to any City Council direction regarding an investigation!
i. Feb. 7, 2023, City Council Agenda Item 17 “tabled the discussion” after public comment was received and closed, until the next City Council meeting. NO mention of an investigation was discussed! ii. Feb. 14, 2023, City Attorney Jensen signs contract with Investigator Linda Daube. iii. Feb. 15, 2023, Investigator Linda Daube spends 2.80 hours on the contract which was not sanctioned by the City Council! iv. Feb. 21, 2023, Investigator Linda Daube spends 3.50 hours on the contract which was not sanctioned by the City Council! v. Feb. 21, 2023, City Council Agenda Item 10, Council Member Fruen adds language #4 “And that the City Attorney will investigate and report back on other violations of the Municipal Code with respect to council-staff and commissioner-staff relations so that the City Council may establish policy to correct or prevent such violations in the future.
From the recently passed “City of Cupertino City Council Procedures Manual”, Section 6 “Relationship with City Staff”, Section 6.5 Decorum. “All Council members and City staff shall treat each other with dignity, courtesy, and respect.” This applies to the City Attorney-City Council relationships, too. The City needs a calm, unbiased approach when dealing with legal and procedural matters but recently this has not occurred.
City Attorney Jensen has had outbursts making snide derogatory remarks and several times making it appear as if he is biased against the minority council members. Since December 2022, the City has been out of compliance providing it’s financial statements (Accounts Payables, Monthly Treasurer’s Report, Monthly Treasurer’s Investment Reports) to Council. It’s been brought up frequently by the public that the city has been in violation of state and municipal code yet this continued for months! (Please refer to the exact violations listed at the end of this email for details.)
Instead of making sure these violations were corrected by staff, he went after Council members for municipal code violations when the City itself and its staff were in violation of codes! This is biased, continues today and needs to stop immediately!
City Attorney Jensen hired Investigator Linda Daube without Council direction and before Council approval. He has also exhibited biased attitudes towards the minority elected council members who represent a large portion of Cupertino! This needs to be stopped and corrected.
CA Jensen has helped the city in many ways but these particular missteps need to be corrected and not be repeated! Please address this matter in his evaluation. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Peggy Griffin
ATTACHMENTS:
-Cupertino Muni Code 2.18 City Attorney.pdf
SPECIFIC CODE VIOLATIONS REFERENCED
I-Violation of Municipal Code Section 2.24.030 Monthly Reports and California Government Code Section 41004.
In the May 16, 2023 Cupertino City Council Agenda, it includes the March 2023 Monthly Treasurer’s Report (Agenda Item #18) which is late and violates both Cupertino municipal code and California state law. This is not the first time since December 2022. They are continually late.
Link to May 16, 2023 Cupertino City Council Agenda
https://cupertino.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1053215&GUID=154456CA-6159-4A41-8BAE-5C85CDECF07E&G=74359C04-A5F0-4CB2-A97A- 0032996BB90E
II-Violation of California Government Code Section 53607, Cupertino Municipal Code 2.24.050 and the Cupertino Investment Policy This is an excerpt from the top of the December 2022 Monthly Treasurer’s Investment Report. This is included in every Monthly Treasurer’s Investment Report as background information.
The May 16, 2023 Cupertino City Council Agenda Item #17 “Receive the Monthly Treasurer’s Investment Report for March and April 2023”, the March 2023 Monthly Treasurer’s Investment Report was late.
CHAPTER 2.18: CITY ATTORNEY
Section
2.18.010 Office of the City Attorney established.
2.18.020 Function and duties.
2.18.030 Council–Attorney relations.
2.18.040 Attorney-staff relations.
2.18.050 Relations between Attorney and individual members of the public.
2.18.060 Bond.
2.18.070 Acting City Attorney.
2.18.080 Agreements on employment.
2.18.090 Assistants and employees.
2.18.100 Eligibility.
2.18.110 Suspension–Removal–Resignation.
2.18.010
Office of the City Attorney Established.
A. The office of the City Attorney, as set forth in Government Code Section 36505, is established.
The City Attorney shall
be appointed by the City Council wholly on the basis of his or her qualifications.
The City Attorney shall hold office for and
during the pleasure of the City Council.
B. The office of the City Attorney shall consist of the City Attorney and such assistants as may be authorized by the Council.
C. The City Attorney shall administer the office, be responsible for the successful performance of its functions, and shall serve under the direct supervision and control of the Council as its legal advisor.
D. The Council may retain or employ other attorneys, assistants, or special counsel as may be needed to take charge of any litigation or legal matters or to assist the City Attorney therein. (Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.020
Function and Duties.
The functions of the office of the City Attorney shall be to:
A. Advise the Council and all City officers in all matters pertaining to their offices; B. Furnish legal services at all meetings of the Council, except when excused or disabled, and give advice or opinions on the legality of all matters under consideration by the Council or by any of the boards, commissions, committees or officers; C. Prepare and/or approve all ordinances, resolutions, agreements, contracts, and other legal instruments as shall be required for the proper conduct of the business of the City and approve the form of all contracts, agreements, and bonds given to the City;
D. Provide the necessary legal services required in connection with the acquisition of land or easements on behalf of the City;
E. Subject to the general direction of the Council, prosecute and defend the City, and all boards, officers and employees in their official capacities, all civil proceedings before judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals.
The City Attorney shall not
compromise, settle or dismiss any action for or against the City without permission of the City Council. Nor shall the City Attorney commence any civil action without the permission of the Council.
F. Prosecute all violations of City ordinance; provided, however, that the City Attorney is not required to prosecute any misdemeanor or infraction within the City arising out of a violation of State law. (Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.030
Council-Attorney Relations.
Individual Councilmembers may seek and obtain legal advice from the City Attorney on any matter or matters pertaining to the legal position of the City.
Any such advice given to individual Councilmembers, however, may be repeated to the entire Council at any regular or special Council meeting.
With respect to advice to individual Councilmembers regarding potential conflicts of interest, the City Attorney may render informal advice; provided, however, that it is understood that a Councilmember is automatically protected from potential liability for conflict of interest only upon taking action which conforms to a written opinion issued by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. (Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.040
Attorney-Staff Relations.
Periodically, but not less than once per year, the City Attorney and the City Manager will meet and confer in good faith regarding the allocation of the City Attorney’s time among City departments. (Ord. 2033, § 1, 2008; Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.050
Relations Between Attorney and Individual Members of the Public.
Consistent with the functions and duties of the City Attorney's office described in Section
2.18.020 of this chapter, the City
Attorney or the Assistant City Attorney may, but is not required, to meet or discuss any matter with individual members of the public, legal counsel, or the media.
(Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.060
Bond.
The City Attorney shall furnish a corporate surety bond to be determined and approved by the City Council, and shall be conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties imposed upon the City Attorney as prescribed in this chapter.
Any
premium for such bond shall be a proper charge against the City. (Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.070
Acting City Attorney.
A. The Assistant City Attorney shall serve as City Attorney pro tempore during any temporary absence or disability of the City Attorney.
B. In the event there is no Assistant City Attorney, the Council shall appoint a qualified attorney to act as City Attorney pro tempore.
(Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.080
Agreements on Employment.
The terms and conditions of employment of the City Attorney shall be established by ordinance or resolution.
If the City
Attorney is a full time employee, any employment agreement between the City and the City Attorney shall contain a provision for performance evaluations of the City Attorney to be conducted by the City Council at least once per calendar year. If the City Attorney is an independent contractor, the City Council shall endeavor to provide periodic feedback regarding the performance of the independent contractor. (Ord. 2040 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2033 § 2, 2008; Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.090
Assistants and Employees.
Notwithstanding the provision of Section
2.52.100 of the Municipal Code, but subject to the other applicable provisions of Chapter 2.52, the City Attorney shall appoint, discipline and remove all assistants, deputies, and employees under his or her authority.
(Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.100
Eligibility.
No person elected or appointed as a Council-person of the City shall, subsequent to taking office as Councilperson, be eligible for appointment as City Attorney until one year has elapsed after the Councilmember has ceased to be a member of the City Council.
(Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
2.18.110
Suspension–Removal–Resignation.
A. The removal of the City Attorney shall be only on a majority vote of the entire City Council.
B. The City Attorney may resign from his or her position upon at least four weeks’ written notice to the City Council. (Ord. 2096, 2012; Ord. 1673, § 1 (part), 1994)
From: Rhoda Fry
To: City Council; City Clerk
Subject: October 30, 2023 City Council Agenda #1 City Attorney Performance Evaluation Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023 10:20:53 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Clerk,
Please add the following comments for October 30, 2023 City Council Agenda #1 City Attorney Performance Evaluation
I am resending the comments I sent this past July.
I am even more discouraged by the actions of the City Attorney now than I was in July.
His criticism of our elected officials is inappropriate and offensive. Recently his letter regarding our former mayor was sent to the press. Our former mayor did some wonderful things for our City. I am very appreciative that Darcy Paul sought to have a system-wide audit that revealed a number of operational holes that need to be plugged - - - especially in the area of finances. Somehow, the attorney has jumped on the council majority’s bandwagon to castigate him. He has also continued to castigate minority councilmembers. It is a bad look and not what I expect out of our City Attorney. What if Mr. Paul were to join the City Council again? That would put the City Attorney in a very awkward position of his own making.
Attorney Jensen, please, stop your petty politicking and do your job. Please also stop admonishing the public. It gives me nightmares to think that a little boy’s last memory of his father was that of being admonished by the City Attorney when he stood up for his little boy so that he could speak, as he had submitted a speaker-card timely. The father died on City property just after the Council Meeting. It is tragic. And even more tragic that our City leaders chose to ignore it.
Sincerely,
Rhoda Fry – 40-year resident
From: Rhoda Fry <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 12:36 PM
To: 'City Clerk' <[email protected]>; '[email protected]' <[email protected]>; 'City Attorney's Office' <[email protected]>; 'Cupertino City Manager's Office' <[email protected]>
Subject: July 6, 2023 City Council Agenda #2 City Attorney Performance Evaluation
Dear City Council,
Please read below input regarding July 6, 2023 City Council Agenda #2 City Attorney Performance Evaluation.
Dear City Attorney Jensen,
When you first joined the City Council, I was impressed by how well-prepared you were for City Council meetings in anticipating questions that councilmembers or community members might have. The previously contracted attorney was less prepared and would tell councilmembers that she could look into items and get back to council. With you on the dais, I felt that the legal affairs of the City were in steady capable hands. I enjoyed coming to City Council and often learned something new from you. Following the appointment of new Mayor Wei, I no longer feel this way.
Now it looks like you hate your job. I feel bad for you. And I feel bad for our City. I want our old Chris Jensen back. The one who I hoped would become an exemplar for City attorneys and would guide our City until he retired. Please review meeting videos past and present and you might understand by constructive comments.
I am deeply troubled by what I’ve seen in 2023. Your actions and demeanor have changed and are inconsistent with my expectations for a City attorney. I expect the City attorney to have a steady hand – to be the adult in the room, so to speak.
Personally, I was taken aback when you interrupted me multiple times during public comment. I had my 3 minutes. Unless I was putting the City in legal jeopardy by my words it was wrong of you to interrupt me. For some people who speak at City Council, speaking does not come easily and putting our thoughts together can be a struggle. For many of us, English is not our native tongue. I felt not heard and I felt disrespected. The summary of my comments in the City Council meeting minutes, although correct, gave an incorrect impression because the context changed from the time the meeting started to the time that the meeting ended. The minutes said that I agreed with the recommendation on February 7. That is true. But on February 21, the recommendation had changed. So saying that I agreed with the recommendation in the context of the February 21 meeting that concluded the action item, was incorrect. It would not have taken much to correct the minutes to something that was an accurate representation of what happened. You shut me down and that’s not right.
And it seems that your office is not taking direction from council. Councilmember Fruen had recommended making POLICY changes. I think that’s a good idea. Suddenly, the staff report suggested PUNITIVE measures, counter to the direction proposed by Council. This seems wrong to me. All City staff should promote a positive work environment. Worse, I was disheartened to see that you had signed a contract and engaged the services of an investigator before the City Council provided any direction to do so.
As you know, I was disappointed by your response to Grand Jury report. The report had given an example where a councilmember had allegedly not followed the rules and directly asked a City employee for information instead of asking the City manager. This allegation was proven to be untrue. The councilmember properly sought information from the City manager and the City manager willingly provided that information. But you stated that the commentary was substantially true. It was not. And now these defamatory comments toward a councilmember remain. And I think that this puts our City at risk. Part of your job should be to keep the peace – and is definitely not to stir things up.
One thing that I’d really like to see you do is to make sure that our City is in compliance. Our financial reports need to be filed timely. We need to make sure that we have written contracts. Recently, it became apparent that yet another contract had not been updated and the City continued to pay on Quartec. Our previous direct-hire Randolph Hom was very concerned about not having proper contracts among other issues. I would encourage you to read his attorney’s report for his wrongful termination. Many of his concerns exist today.
When residents expressed concern about the City Manager taking a City-funded trip to Taiwan on City-time and not her vacation time, you stated that you found the discussion to be embarrassing. I think it was not your place to do so. We were concerned. The City is in a financial crisis. The out-of- pocket expense was not significant, but through the lens of an employee, it could easily represent 5% of their annual pay. And we might be freezing salaries and taking other measures. So talking about the money is, in my opinion, being tone-deaf to your fellow colleagues. The bigger issue is the time away from work that was not vacation. We also have yet to hear what the City Manager did during her non-vacation time. I was embarrassed that you were making these judgements against the public’s legitimate concerns.
I am equally concerned that you have made judgmental comments in public about our elected City Officials and have repeatedly interrupted them. Please hold your commentary behind closed doors.
If you must make comments, please be respectful and only do so if a councilmember is putting the City at legal risk. Your image has become that of a frustrated referee. It is a bad look. And sometimes you’ve been the wrong. In the past, the Chamber of Commerce financed DIRECTLY from their organization and through their PAC political campaign contributions. This is relevant information and you shut the discussion down. So if you must interrupt our elected councilmembers, I would urge you to make sure you’re right.
I’m also disappointed by how the League of Women Voters lawsuit has been handled. Why negotiate when the City has clearly won its case? Any revisions should be made independently of any court actions.
We need you to fight for our City and our community values.
Sincerely,
Rhoda Fry
From: Lisa Warren
To: City Clerk; City Council
Subject: Written Communication for Oct 30, 2023 Closed Session item #1 Date: Monday, October 30, 2023 4:40:31 PM
Attachments: JR Fruen Letter to CC May 11, 2018 - City Attorney"s Duty - city"s Mission Statement.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To: City Council
Re: Item #1 of Oct 30, 2023 Closed Session Performance Evaluation City Attorney
I have attached a letter submitted by JR Fruen, Resident, to city council members on May 11, 2018.
The subject of the message
I have would like to draw attention to the initial comments quoted below in bold.
The letter was submitted under the Public Employee Performance Evaluation: City Attorney, (Randolph Hom)
I do hope that Mr. Fruen, and others, see why this is relevant.
I have concerns related to the way that CA Jensen's actions have altered in the last several months and don't believe they have not supported the city's mission statement. I hope that Mr. Jensen can get back on the right path for our residents, who any city attorney is expected to serve.
" The heart of an attorney's duty of loyalty is his protection and furtherance of this client's interests. For any client, those interests range beyond shielding against legal exposure. In the case of this city, they include community cohesion and vitality as memorialized in the city's mission statement " to provide exceptional service, encourage all members of the community to support one another, and support the values of education, innovation and collaboration. "
There is a later comment that suggests an additional concern :
"I can not recall encountering the city attorney at public events." --- Lisa Warren
From: Lisa Warren
To: City Clerk; City Council
Cc: Kirsten Squarcia
Subject: Comments for Items 1 and 2 of City Council Closed Session Meeting October 30, 2023 Date: Monday, October 30, 2023 4:30:16 PM
Attachments: Written Communications from R Fry and P Griffin City Council Closed Session July 6, 2023 meeting Items #2 and
3.pdf
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
City Clerk,
Please include these comments in public records for todays closed session meeting.
Thank you.
Lisa Warren
Cupertino City Council members :
I support the comments and concerns that were submitted separately by residents Rhoda Fry (on July 6, 2023) and Peggy Griffin (on July 5, 2023) for both Agenda items 2 and 3 of July 6, 2023 Closed session.
I have attached the 4 emails to this message, yet assume that you read them in July and hopefully re-read them prior to today's meeting. The information and concerns in Ms. Fry and Ms. Griffin's statements are echoed by many residents, and also some nonresidents that I am aware of.
Further, I believe that, since July of this year, there have been additional actions taken, or not taken, by City Attorney and City Manager that are cause for concern and reflection. I also am disappointed that the public.. your public... was not made aware of the reason that the performance reviews were not conducted at that July meeting.... why the postponement decision was made.
At a time when the city of Cupertino is in significant 'trouble' with finances, I strongly feel that, if today's review of CA and CM are favorable by the council majority, there should be no increase in compensation for either CA Jensen, or CM Wu.
I hope that you truly consider this input and the statements in the attached July 5th/6th emails to you.
With sadness and frustration,
Lisa Warren
CC 10-30-2023
Written
Communications
Item No. 2
Public Employee
Performance Evaluation
for City Manager
From: Rhoda Fry
To: City Council; City Clerk
Subject: Comments October 30, 2023 City Council Agenda #2 City Manager Performance Evaluation Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023 10:52:17 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Clerk,
Please add the following comments for October 30, 2023 City Council Agenda #2 City Manager Performance Evaluation
I am resending the comments I sent this past July.
I am even more discouraged by the actions of the City Manager now than I was in July.
I am very worried that City Manager has ignored council direction and has taken actions that should have been directed by council.
Council directed staff in February to continue on the City Hall Annex project.
No work has been done and it was reported in October that the work had been abandoned.
If the City Manager believed that work should be abandoned on the City Hall Annex project, she should have notified the council much sooner.
The City Manager has reduced government transparency. Parks and Rec meetings are no longer recorded and live-streamed. The excuse is that there is no money. According to an agreement with Silicon Valley Clean Energy, the City charges only $68 per hour to record their meetings in Community Hall. There doesn’t even appear to be rent for City Hall. So if it only costs $68 per hour, I think that these meetings should be recorded. But more importantly, the City Manager should have brough this issue to the City Council because it is a policy issue. The City Council should decide whether the Parks and Rec meeting should be recorded.
Planning Commission, Audit Committee and other meetings have been canceled. Items that normally would have gone to Planning Commission seem to be handled by an Administrative Hearing.
The City Manager has not been candid about the City’s financial situation and this is required by municipal code. The information has been provided much too late and makes no sense.
It appears that the City Manager has been building her administration rather than building community. The budgeted number of employees and their cost is going up and it should be going down. Certainly, we have much fewer public meetings yet we have more employees. I put together this table for the employment negotiations and was shocked by what I found. The City should be investing in Community Programs. They don’t cost much. Why is budgeted headcount increasing when our population and City income is decreasing? It makes no sense.
2019 2023 % Increase
Contract Services $21.6M $24.8 15%
Employee
Compensation
$19M $24.7M 30%
Employee Benefits $8M $11M 38%
Employee Headcount 203 225 11%
Community
Development
28 37 30%
Administration and
Administrative
Services
30 42 42%
I was shocked to see that City Manager failed to take Council direction regarding the City Hall. The City Staff jumped to looking at private-public partnerships in a $170K contract without asking council first. Council and the public should have been given the opportunity to decide whether we wanted to consider tearing down our 20-year-new community hall in order to line a developer’s pockets with money so that the developer could build a private housing project on public land.
The City Manager has not moved forward on the housing element. We were told – “all hands on deck.” Instead, efforts were focused on a sister-city program. Franky, that report was not ready to be shared with the public. Suggesting that the City subsidize a program that had only 1 student in it was laughable. And there’s more and more focus on the morals of the council members. What about the budget as well? The City Manager has also failed to reveal that our City now has a builder’s remedy project in the works. This is unacceptable.
Another area that is severely lacking is that many of our City’s businesses do not have business licenses. Getting those up to date could certainly pay for livestreaming our Parks and Rec meetings. City Staff also needs to look at revising the business license tax to be more like that of our neighbors. Furthermore, given the likely loss of significant sales-tax revenue, we need to get parity with neighboring cities pertaining to property tax revenue.
Under the direction of our former Mayor Paul and his fellow councilmembers, the City Manager appeared to be by far more poised and responsive to council and the community’s needs.
It saddens me to see that the City Manager appears to have disdain for our City’s community members. I fervently hope that she can change her outlook.
Thanks,
Rhoda Fry
40-year Cupertino resident
From: Rhoda Fry <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 1:45 PM
To: 'City Clerk' <[email protected]>; '[email protected]' <[email protected]>; 'City Attorney's Office' <[email protected]>; 'Cupertino City Manager's Office' <[email protected]>
Subject: July 6, 2023 City Council Agenda #3 City Manager Performance Evaluation
Dear City Council,
Please read below input regarding July 6, 2023 City Council Agenda #3 City Manager Performance Evaluation.
Dear City Manager Wu,
I felt really badly for you the day you first came to City Council. Jean Bedord had made some scathing mean comments. I felt compelled to write you a friendly welcome note. At the beginning of your job, I was impressed by your checking in to clarify direction provided by council. However, things changed with the change in the new mayor. I’d really like to see the old you back.
It bothers me to see you interrupting your own staff during public meetings. It makes it look as though you do not trust them to do their job. I’d like the City Manager to provide a platform for the staff to show their own best work. It would be best to address any differences behind closed doors.
The public should not see that you have no confidence in your own staff. Likewise, it troubles me when you interrupt council members. You were so mean to one of our constituents that she was left crying buckets in our community hall. This is not the behavior that is to be expected of a City Manager.
You have also made erroneous statements during public meetings that are bad for the city’s governance. You abused your power by telling council members that Public Storage would sue the City and win if they were not allowed to install a new sign on the basis of public speech. This was incorrect (I spoke with no fewer than 4 expert attorneys on this issue). Legal advice should have come from the City Attorney. The fact is that the City incorrectly permitted the first sign, which allowed the second sign to be considered. You should have protected the public interest, not that of the storage company. And, by not working in a collaborative manner with Public Storage, the city residents will be dealing with a public nuisance – and that in itself puts the City at risk of litigation. I had hoped that your City Planning experience would have been of use here and it seems that is one of your biggest assets in coming into this job.
More recently, residents asked that the City comment upon State bills. The City has commented on state bills in the recent past, such as Evan Low’s gay marriage amendment. The request to comment on state bills was handled very poorly. First was to tell the public that the City would look at the bills in December. During the council meeting, it became apparent that you full well knew that the fate of the bills would have been decided before December. Why not just state that you didn’t want to look at them? Or ask the City Attorney as to whether it would be prudent to issue an opinion. Instead, the agenda made it look like the City would consider it - - - but in fact it would not. It felt disingenuous. I felt a lack of trust and transparency with the City. And you made matters worse, you said that the City staff would not have time to look at it and it would take too much attorney time. And then the City Attorney corrected you and told you it would not take him much time at all. So why did you make up an answer instead of asking the City Attorney as to whether he had time? It was a very bad look for the City.
Councilmember Fruen had suggested that we take another look at the sign ordinance and you shut down the discussion and said that it would be a huge project like doing a heart-of-the-city plan. That doesn’t seem right to me and now I doubt it given that you have made incorrect assumptions about staff time in the past.
With respect to your city-paid trip to Taiwan, I truly think that you should have taken it as vacation time. And if you didn’t have vacation time, you could have borrowed the vacation or taken time off without pay. The optics were really bad about leaving at a time when we’re “all hands on deck” with the housing element and the budget. You need to set an example for the City staff. Now City staff will feel entitled to taking a vacation when they’re really needed at City Hall. Separately, residents would like to see a full report of the economic development you achieved while in Taiwan.
I was shocked that you spared no time in getting rid of commissions and committees. Commentary on the new bills could have been discussed during a legislative committee, but that committee is gone. I served on the environmental review committee and I think that it provided great value to the city. I wish that you had spent some more time as city manager to make these decisions. We also have a paid lobbyist and it is unclear to me that we are making use of that contract. We need to receive updates from this lobbyist.
I’d like you to make sure that the council and public receive timely financial updates, particularly now. Our municipal codes continue to be disregarded. Additionally, we need to clean up our contracts – we must have contracts for expenditures and this is not happening. The “buck stops here” with the City Manager and it behooves you to make sure that the City’s reports are correct – otherwise you put our City at risk.
City Manager Wu, you have shown yourself to be capable in the past and I hope that you can do so moving forward. Right now, it doesn’t look like you care about our City, our Staff, our Council Members, or the public. Please consider leading from the heart.
Regards,
Rhoda Fry
From: Griffin
To: City Council
Cc: City Clerk
Subject: 2023-10-30 City Council Meeting Agenda Item2- City Manager Performance Evaluation Date: Monday, October 30, 2023 3:32:23 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Please include this email and any attachments as part of written communication for the above city council meeting agenda item.
Dear City Council,
I am including the comments I submitted in early July 2023 again since City Manager Wu’s performance evaluation was “postponed” according to what the public was told was the result of the Closed Session.
In addition, I would like to point out that under the Cupertino Municipal Code section 2.28.040 Powers and Duties, City Manager Wu shall act under the direction and control of the City Council. In February, she was instructed to continue the work on the City Hall Annex yet in October staff reported that this was stopped! This was done without City Council approval or knowledge! Also, in February she was instructed to look into the feasibility of a new city hall but what resulted and was presented to Council in October did not look anything like what was requested! No one mentioned housing on public land! Staff did not ask Council if this sound be considered. It was another decision done behind closed doors without public or Council oversight! City Manager Wu is making decisions that should be done in public with Council direction and public comment. The Housing and Planning Commissions have been completely left out of any participation in the Housing Element input on policies and procedures and their meetings have just about all been eliminated! Decisions have been made without public oversight or input! This is not how our city should be run. Video recordings of Parks and Rec meetings have been eliminated using cost as a reason yet money is spent on meals and travel that far exceed the cost of video recordings. Priorities need to be adjusted! Maybe it’s time for a change in management and improved oversight? Please do your job and fix this! It has gone in too long and it’s not improving.
Sincerely,
Peggy Griffin
“ 2.28.040 Powers and Dutes.
The City Manager shall be the adminisrative head of the City government acting under the direction and control of the City Council except as otherwise provided in this chapter.”
From: Peggy Griffin
Date: July 6, 2023 at 1:37:38 AM PDT
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: 2023-07-06 City Council Meeting Agenda Item3 - City Manager Performance Evaluation
Dear City Council,
With regard to City Manager Wu’s evaluation, please consider addressing the following issues:
ISSUE #1: CUTTING PEOPLE OFF
Often during City Council meetings, City Manager Wu cuts people off, not allowing them to finish their statement or answer questions that were asked of them, not the City Manager. This has happened to her staff, the City Attorney, and to the minority City Council Members. It does not happen to the 3 majority City Council members.
From the recently passed “City of Cupertino City Council Procedures Manual”, Section 6 “Relationship with City Staff”, Section 6.5 Decorum. “All Council members and City staff shall treat each other with dignity, courtesy, and respect.” This applies to the City Manager-City Council relationships and City Manager-Staff relationships.
ISSUE #2: NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN COUNCIL MEETINGS
VERY OFTEN, when a City Council Member asks a question she refuses to answer it and responds that it will be taken offline and answered in a memo. Sometimes, questions are brought up during public comment on an item and Council Members note them and repeat the question during their comment time. These questions need to be addressed in public and often the answers can impact the vote.
This comes across as arrogant and condescending, as if the information is not important enough to be addressed in public. There is no follow up.
The public never hears the answers to these questions and the vote is forced without an answer. When a Council Member asks a question, the City Manager should answer the question or find someone who can!
ISSUE #3: KNOWINGLY ALLOWING MUNICIPAL CODE VIOLATIONS BY STAFF TO CONTINUE Since December 2022, the City has been in violation of California state and Cupertino municipal code regarding the timely reporting of monthly financial information. During the February 21, 2023 City Council meeting, Agenda Item #5 Accounts Payable for Nov. 22, 2022 the frequency of the Accounts Payable reports coming to council was brought up. City Manager Wu insisted that these reports would adhere to the requirements specified in Resolution 5939, Section D Number 3. She repeatedly said this on February 21, 2023!
Even in June, these reports were presented late. The City Manager has been aware of this the whole time yet it was not corrected for over 6 months!
Please address these 3 issues when discussing City Manager Wu’s review. Hopefully, by identifying and discussing these issues they can be resolved which would help improve communication and relationships.
Sincerely,
Peggy Griffin