1 CITY COUNCILMEMBER REPORT*
Meeting: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
+for the “Councilmember Reports” agenda item under the “COUNCIL REPORTS” section
Reporting Councilmember: Councilmember Liang Chao
Report Dates: 3/26/24 to 4/9/24
Section 1: Activities by Date (Date, Title, and Description):
NOTE:
● This list does not include internal meetings with staff only, such as prep sessions or meetings with the City Manager.
● This list includes activities to “represent the community I am elected to serve”, “to respond to community needs and complaints,” and “to communicate policies and programs to residents,” among other responsibilities of a City Councilmember.
● Due to my work schedule, I have cut down on the event attendance for ceremonial purposes, especially those I have attended almost every year in the past. Instead, I focus more of my time on constituent services.
2024-04-01 Speech with Boy/Girl Scouts, Troop BSA 2485, on the U.S. Constitution and the Roles and Responsibilities of Citizens (My presentation)
- I started with an example: “your friend has posted several articles claiming that the earth is flat, not round. What would you do?” to initiate a discussion on the rights to freedom of speech versus censorship.
- I showed that the Constitution has been amended a few times to add rights of citizens. But the Equal Rights Amendment to ensure “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex” has not b een rectified by all of the states in order to be added to the Constitution. More info. - I then led an activity to give everyone a chance to talk about how one of the list rights or the responsibilities could be applied themselves now or in the future.
2024-04-02 Visited Memorial Park to observe the pilot pickleball program to provide 8 pickleball courts on two of the 5 tennis courts at the Memorial Park. - The pilot program was likely started last September with 4 pickleball courts in one tennis court and then expanded to two tennis courts recently. The play hours allowed are daylight to 9pm.
2 - Inquired a resident about pickleball at Sports Center and learned that some tennis courts there are also shared with pickleball at some hours.
2024-04-04 Submitted questions to understand any current policies/practices to capture sales tax from building materials for construction projects in Cupertino, in response to a public comment at April 3 Council Meeting.
- A short response will be provided by staff soon.
2024-04-06 Discussed with a constituent about her concern that Cupertino’s ACFR (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report) has not been completed yet, 10 months after the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2023.
- Most cities have filed their ACFR by December 2023, within 6 months of the end of the fiscal year.
An informative table is included in her email , submitted as written communication for the upcoming April 16 Council meeting.
- A table in the email shows that quite a few cities have received the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence” for many consecutive years and some received “Distinguished Budget Award: for consecutive years.
2024-04-07 Discussed with a constituent about the SB 330 project mentioned in this article at 20739 Scofield Drive, Cupertino, where 23 units are proposed to replace a single-family home. Another constituent inquired about the same project too a day later. - From the Cupertino GIS Property Information site , the site is zoned R1- 10 with Low Density 1 -5 units/acre. With 23 units on the 0.32 acre site, the density would be 71.8 units/acre. - The single family homes in that area are mostly zoned R1 -10 or R1- 7.5. In fact, the GIS Property Information site shows that many other areas in Cupertino are zoned R1-10 o r R1-7.5.
2024-04-08 Requested an update on the Cupertino Public Facilities Corporation, since a member of the public questioned it again at the April 3 Council meeting. - A memo was provided to the Council last December. Staff has taken steps to fix the issues found. - The Cupertino Public Facilities Corporation is a legal requirement for the debt issuance for multiple projects, such as the Library and the Community Hall from 2012. After the refinance in 2022, the outstanding balance is $22M.
2024-03-27 Spoke with a constituent on her comment, regarding Accounts Payable , questioning whether the Below -Market-Rate (BMR) funding has been used to pay attorney cost associated with YIMBY lawsuit on the Housing Element.
- The staff has provided memos on this matter and an earlier issue with federal CDBG Grant (memo, timeline). Steps have been taken to address the issue.
- Her public comment from the April 3 Council meeting provided a chart of BMR fund from 2014 to 2023 and expressed concerns on high administration cost and use of funds potentially not meeting the stated purpose.
3 2024-04-08 Spoke to a constituent about potential alternative locations for pickleball courts.
Another constituent sent me the cost for pickleball courts in other cities.
2024-04-09 Phone call with President of Retired Chinese Choir at Mountain View Senior Center
on the posting policies for flyers at Cupertino Senior Center, after multiple emails from her to request to post their flyers.
- The current unwritten policy: "Our practice for posting flyers is to highlight Cupertino Non-Profit programs and programs offered by the City.” Thus, one wonders whether we should allow other non-profits to post their programs to outreach to Cupertino residents?
Section 2: Committee Assignment
- No committee assignment during this period
Section 3: Other Information of Interest to My Constituents:
1. Housing Element Update:
- The revised third Housing Element draft, dated March 20, was posted on the City’s website at engagecupertino.org/public-documents.
- The study session for Housing Element will be held at the April 16 Council Meeting. This would be the first meeting where a draft of the Housing Element is put on the the Council agenda.
2. FUHSD By-Trustee-Area Election in November 2024
- On April 9th, the CTAD Committee selected twp maps to recommend to the FUHSD Board, who would adopt one at their April 24 meeting..
- Upcoming meetings:
- Wednesday April 24, 2024 FUHSD Board Meeting (6 p.m.) - likely final adoption of the trustee-area maps
(Last Activity Report in the April 3, 2024 Council Meeting Agenda.)