CITY COUNCIL REPORT
for the “Councilmember Reports” agenda item
under the “COUNCIL REPORTS AND COMMENTS” section
Meeting: Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Reporting Councilmember: Councilmember Liang Chao
Report Activity Dates: 10/03/23 to 2/12/24 (since the last report) Event Date, Title, and Description:
(This list does not include internal meetings with staff only, such as prep sessions or meetings with the City Manager.) 2023-10-04 meeting with President of US-China Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley, which consists of a group of small businesses run by Chinese Americans.
We discussed potential opportunities to host lunar new year festivals in Cupertino or surrounding cities. 2023-10-04 Field Screening “$100 A Day” (click to watch) + panel discussion in Mountain View, hosted by County Supervisor Joe Simitian.
The film tells the story of Rick Walker, a man convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and for which he was imprisoned for more than a decade. AB 1302 was passed 20 years ago by the legislators to right these wrongs to provide compensation for false imprisonment.
What’s most inspiring from the film is how Rick Walker stayed positive against all odds and made positive contributions to the society, beyond helping others who are like him.
The Innocence Project is still actively working “to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone.” 2023-10-06 Cal Cities Mental Health Forum in Mountain View, hosted by Cal Cities and County Supervisor Joe Simitian.
Resources shared:
Newsom's Proposed Mental Health Service Act Reform and Bond SB 326 (Eggman) and AB 531 (Irwin)
NAMI Policy Platform
2023-10-07 CASPA Dinner Banquet
Chinese American Semiconductor Professional Association (CASPA) to elect new board members and President, present highlights of their activities and acknowledge volunteers. 2023-10-08 Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy Ribbon-cutting for a new center in West San Jose Tai Ji Meng Qing Kong Academy has been located in De Anza Ave in Cupertino for many years, providing both physical exercise and mental health support for families. This new center includes an exhibition hall and more meeting rooms. 2023-10-14 Kids Fun Festival at Milpitas
Kids Fun Festival has been offered in Memorial Park in Cupertino for many years. This year it is moved to Milpitas, in a much smaller location. There are performances, food, booths by scouts and nonprofits.
The organizers expressed their desire to move back to Cupertino in 2024 if possible. 2023-10-16 Diwali Festival, hosted by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, at Memorial Park Diwali offers performances and many booths and food. Always colorful and fun. 2023-10-16 Meeting residents at the Cupertino Sports Center Residents expressed their desire to preserve CSC, rather than being developed into mixed use, as being considered as one of the options in a future Council agenda.
It is great to hear how appreciative the users of CSC explain how CSC is providing something other cities do not offer or providing better services. 2023-10-22 California Acupuncture Day in Cupertino Community Hall, hosted by Assemblymember Evan Low The event is hosted to celebrate the historic resolution to declare July 12th, 2023 as California Acupuncture Day. The day July 12th was chosen because of its historic significance as the date acupuncture was legalized in California.
Assembly Low has been working with AACMA (American Association of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture) to allow more people to access Chinese medicine and acupuncture with more healthcare coverage. 2023-10 luncheon and meetings with the Hsinchu City student delegation - did not attend I was not able to attend the meetings for Hsinchu City student delegation this year, although I have attended them almost every year since 2019. I am glad that the other Councilmembers were able to attend them this year. 2023-11-11 Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans’ Memorial in Memorial Park As always, the event offers inspiring speeches and wonderful opportunities for us to pay our tribute to the Veterans and also others like First Responders for their services and sacrifices for our country and our communities. 2023-11-18 National API Elected Officials Summit, hosted by API Coalition “The API Coalition and CLUSA are hosting an inaugural National API Elected Officials Summit in San Francisco on November 18-19, immediately following the pre-eminent economic forum, Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit and CEO Summit. The summit will bring together over 300 API elected officials (1200+ invited) to exchange experiences/ideas and build relationships. More than 200 government and business leaders from APEC member countries are also expected to attend.” (From their website) 2023-12-02 Interfaith Celebration: Light Over Darkness Festival. in San Bruno “Different faith leaders will give a 3 min talk about “Light over Darkness” based on their scriptures. There will be an Indian dance performance followed by Indian dinner.” (From the invitation) There were speeches from various religions, such as Hinduism, Sikhs, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Unity Church, etc. I spoke about Buddhism and Taiwanese folk religion a little. 2024-02-28 "The Chair at Columbia University" a large-scale Chinese immigrant historical drama, at De Anza College Visual Performing Art Center “This remarkable production, organized in collaboration with Maple Silicon Valley Drama (硅谷枫香剧社) and Chunhui Art Academy, tells the inspiring story of Ding Long, a humble Chinese laborer who, over a century ago, faced prejudice and discrimination in the United States. Against all odds, he dared to dream of establishing a "Sinology department" at Columbia University, contributing to mutual understanding between China and the United States.” (from the invitation) The play is made more interesting knowing that the amateur performers are engineers, and other professionals who use their spare time to put on this performance.
The historic event, depicted in this drama, could be verified from the Columbia University’s website: ““I send you here with a deposit check for $12,000 as a contribution to the fund for Chinese Learning in your university.” This letter, signed by “Dean Lung, a Chinese person”, was written to Columbia President Seth Low by the valet of University Trustee General Horace Walpole Carpentier in 1901. “ (http://ealac.columbia.edu/department/short-history/) —----------------------------------
Council Comments: (In the past, for this agenda item, each Councilmember reports their activities and also makes any comments/announcements they feel are important for the community to know. Thus, I am continuing that tradition here.) Cupertino Budget Discussions:
Cupertino’s revenue from sales tax is expected to plunge by $30M from the 2021 level due to a CDTFA audit. (city site, news article) The Annual Actuals from 2012 to 2022 could be found from Cupertino’s OpenGov Transparency Portal (click on “Annual Actuals”), where you can see how much of our annual revenue comes from sales tax, property tax etc.
The City Council has started to look at potential revenue generation options (increasing sales taxes/TOT tax etc, increasing fees for services) and cost-cutting options (cutting services, stopping hybrid commission meetings) A roadmap of what’s upcoming is in the Feb. 6 Staff Presentation for the Fee Study Agenda Item:
Housing Element Update:
The deadline to have a compliant HE is Jan. 31, 2023 and the deadline to complete all rezoning is Jan. 31, 2024. Cupertino has failed to meet both deadlines, but is expected to submit a compliant HE by May 2024 and finish rezoning properties in another 3 months.
The third draft is expected to be published for a 7-day commenting period around Feb. 20 and then to be submitted to HCD in May. All dates are subject t o change.
Cupertino settles the lawsuit with YIMBY Law (the judgment and the news article - use SCCL to access for free) With the settlement, the city agrees to a timeline for finalizing the City’s housing element; “builder’s remedy” provisions of the Housing Accountability Act will apply until a compliant housing element is adopted, and requires the City to pay limited fees and costs to petitioners (totaling $15,000); The EIR process would be replaced by an Environment Assessment under this settlement.
Information from Selected City Newsletters:
Monthly Development Activity Reports: https://www.cupertino.org/businesses/economic-development/development-activity-report Vallco SB-35 Project: Resubmitted plans on December 5, 2023. Please review www.cupertino.org/vallcosb35 for plans and modifications.
Westport: Westport BMR Building now accepting applications for residents. Townhomes currently for sale.
School District related:
FUHSD By-Trustee-Area Election in November 2024
FUHSD is drawing boundaries of the 5 Trustee Areas. The FUHSD Board is expected to adopt the final map right after the 4th Public Hearing on April 24, 2024. Here are the upcoming community workshops and public hearing dates:
Upcoming meetings:
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 6:30pm Community Webinar on Trustee Areas (Zoom link: https://fuhsd-org.zoom.us/j/97114517518) Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3pm Community Webinar on Trustee Areas (Zoom link: https://fuhsd-org.zoom.us/j/92215579626) Oct. 17, 2023 (Presentation - includes proposed maps and revised timeline) Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 (6:15 p.m.)
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 (6 p.m.) - likely to finalize the maps April 24, 2024 (6 p.m.) - likely final adoption of the resolution (Last Activity Report in the Oct. 10, 2023 Council Meeting Agenda.) 2 1