DRAFT MINUTES
CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, March 3, 2025
SPECIAL MEETING
At 5:01 p.m., Mayor Liang Chao called the Special City Council Meeting to order in the Cupertino Community Hall Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue and via teleconference.
ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Liang Chao, Vice Mayor Kitty Moore, and Councilmembers J.R. Fruen, Sheila Mohan, and Ray Wang. Absent: None.
COUNCIL WORKSHOP
1. Subject: FY 2025-2027 City Work Program Prioritization and Goal Setting Workshop
Recommended Action: 1. Confirm City’s Strategic Vision
2. Adjust or Re-Affirm Council Goals
3. Finalize Council Priorities for Fiscal Years 2025-2027
Written communications for this item included a staff presentation, emails to the Council, and the following desk items:
• Supplemental S taff Report - Fiscal Years ( FY) 2025- 2027 City Work Program Prioritization and Goal Setting Workshop
• Attachment D - Ranking sheet from Councilmember Mohan • Attachment E - Ranking sheet from Vice Mayor Moore
• Attachment F - Revised Consolidated List for Ranking
• Final Ranking Sheet from the Workshop 3.3.25
• Middle Ranking Sheet from Workshop 3.3.25
City Manager Pamela Wu introduced the item and Deputy City Manager Tina Kapoor gave a presentation.
The Council reviewed resources on effective City governance.
Councilmembers discussed developing and adopting a strategic vision framework to
City Council Minutes March 3, 2025
guide decision-making and long-term planning.
MOTION: Fruen moved and Moore seconded to confirm Strategic Vision Option 2:
• Public Engagement & Transparency
• Transportation
• Housing
• Quality of Life
• Environmental Sustainability
• Fiscal Strategy
Focus Areas:
• Fiscal Resilience
• Small Business Revitalization
• Emergency Management
The motion passed with the following vote: Ayes: Chao, Moore, Fruen, Mohan, and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None.
Councilmembers asked questions and made comments.
The Council conducted a straw vote on whether to remove the City Hall r etrofit project from the City Work Program and potentially add to the CIP list. Ayes: Chao, Moore, and Wang. Noes: Fruen and Mohan.
Mayor Chao opened the public hearing and the following people spoke.
Eric Zhang, representing Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action , discussed prioritizing sustainability and climate action.
Anoop Singhal, Doug, Albert, John, and Judy, representing the Cupertino Pickleball Club, discussed prioritizing pickleball activities.
Bianca, Danny, Meaghan, Kate, Diana representing Cupertino Pickleball Club discussed prioritizing pickleball activities.
Erika Kristaly, Craig Davis, Chris tine, Ch en, and Susan Li discussed prioritizing pickleball activities.
Frank Chu , representing Cupertino Pickleball Club discussed prioritizing pickleball activities.
Jennifer Griffin discussed prioritizing adopting Level of Service (LOS).
City Council Minutes March 3, 2025
David Lim, representing Cupertino Pickleball Club , discussed prioritizing pickleball activities.
Dashiell Leeds , representing Sierra Club, discussed prioritizing environmental sustainability.
Planning Commissioner San R (representing self) discussed pickleball activities and prioritizing public noticing, urban forest, and Blackberry Farm facilities use.
Planning Commissioner Tracy Kosolcharoen (representing self) discussed prioritizing City Hall retrofit/EOC readiness, Memorial Park renovation, and economic development.
Mayor Chao closed the public hearing.
Councilmembers discussed conducting a priority ranking exercise to identify and align Council’s top projects with community needs and available resources.
At 7:00 p.m., Mayor Chao recessed the meeting for Councilmembers to rank their top projects and for staff to compile a consolidated list (Final Ranking Sheet ). The meeting reconvened at 7:50 p.m. with all councilmembers present.
Councilmembers reviewed the Final Ranking Sheet, which was prepared during the break. Items were sorted in priority order and separated into High, Medium, and Low priority projects. Council agreed to forego the low priority projects and move the high priority projects forward.
Chao requested an informational memo on Blackberry Farm’s picnic area and swimming pool usage including the history of restricted operation s, settlement offer details, operational costs, revenue, and expenses for current and previous year.
At 8:49 p.m., Mayor Chao recessed the meeting to allow Councilmembers to rank the medium priority projects again (Middle Ranking Sheet). The meeting reconvened at 9:04 p.m. with all Councilmembers present.
Councilmembers discussed the Middle Ranking Sheet , which was prepared during the break.
Council agreed to add the top six medium projects to the already approved h igh priority projects, which resulted in a list of top 19 projects (the top 18 items plus a City Hall project).
City Council Minutes March 3, 2025
MOTION: Moore moved and Wang seconded the staff recommendation as amended to:
1. Confirm the City’s Strategic Vision;
2. Adjust or Re-Affirm Council Goals; and
3. Finalize the Council Priorities for Fiscal Years 2025-2027.
Amendments to Item 13 from the Consolidated Revised Top 10 List:
• Revised title: City Hall Retrofit and City Hall Annex Renovation including the EOC
• Item description: Implement the previously approved 2022 Council plan with EOC migration
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: Chao made a f riendly amendment that, in addition to the top 18 items, to also include the remaining items in black for consideration; the item will return to Council to finalize the FY 2025 -2027 CWP on March 18, 2025 . (Wang seconded the friendly amendment).
The amended motion passed with the following vote: Ayes: Chao, Moore, and Wang.
Noes: Fruen and Mohan. Abstain: None. Absent: None.
A summary of the workshop and the strategic vision is available in Exhibit A (attached).
ADJOURNMENT
At 9:18 p.m. Mayor Chao adjourned the Special City Council meeting.
Minutes prepared by:
_________________________
Kirsten Squarcia, City Clerk
EXHIBIT A
Council Priority Setting Workshop Summary
On March 3, the City Council participated in a Priority Setting Workshop facilitated by Deputy City Manager, Tina Kapoor. The workshop provided an opportunity for Councilmembers to celebrate the current City Work Program (CWP) progress, discuss priority projects of importance, and conduct rank voting to establish the CWP for FY 2025 -26 and FY 2026 -27.
Council also directed staff to return to Council to finalize the FY 2025-2027 CWP on March 18, 2025.
Workshop Objectives
The Workshop focused on the following objectives:
• Reviewing resources on effective City governance.
• Developing and adopting a strategic vision framework to guide decision-making and long-term planning.
• Conducting a priority ranking exercise to identify and align Council’s top projects with community needs and available resources.
Workshop Outcomes
1. Effective City Governance: Staff presented best practices and strategies from Institute for Local Government to promote collaboration, transparency, and effective governance.
These included approaches for handling policy and operational matters efficiently.
2. City Council Goals: Councilmembers then reviewed the existing five City Council Goals and unanimously voted on staff’s recommendation to split their existing goal of “Sustainability and Fiscal Strategy” into two separate goals -- Environmental Sustainability and Fiscal Strategy.
3. Focus Areas: Staff introduced three new focus areas as part of the Strategic Vision Framework – Fiscal Resilience, Small Business Revitalization, and Emergency Management. These were unanimously adopted by Council and will help guide strategic initiatives and resource allocation to better serve the community.
4. Strategic Vision Framework: Following a discussion on long-term Goals and Focus Areas, the Council unanimously adopted a Strategic Vision Framework that will serve as a foundation for guiding policy decisions and organizational priorities.
5. Priority Project Ranking Exercise: Councilmembers engaged in a structured ranking process to identify priority projects for the upcoming two fiscal years. The results of this exercise will inform the City’s budget and Work Plan to ensure alignment with Council’s vision and strategic goals. The ranking exercise is detailed below:
Ranking Exercise
At the workshop, Council ranked their top projects, using the Council adopted methodology.
After the first ranking, items were sorted in priority order and separated into high, medium, and low priority projects. Council agreed to forego the low priority projects and move the high priority projects forward. Council then ranked the medium priority projects again. Once that ranking was finalized, Council agreed to add the top six medium projects to the already approved high priority projects, which resulted in a list of top 19 projects. All ranking lists were posted as part of written communication following the Workshop. Additional information can be found on the City Work Program website.
Strategic Vision Framework
The Strategic Vision and newly adopted goals can be found on the city’s Vision and Goals website, as illustrated below.