CITY COUNCILMEMBER REPORT Meeting: Tuesday, April 2, 2025 Reporting Councilmember : Mayor Liang Chao Report Dates : 3/12/25 to 3/25/25 ● Last Activity Report in the March 18, 2025 Council Meeting Agenda. Section 1: Announcement - Message from the Mayor : ❖ Mayor’s Initiatives ➢ You are welcome to submit entries to CupertinoStories.org ➢ Look for Mayor’s Initiatives Booth at April 5 Earth Day Festival and April 26 & April 27 Cherry
Blossom
Festival
➢ The first Dance at the Plaza will be held on Saturday April 12 from 3-5pm ➢ The Cupertino Art Show will be held on Saturday May 24, from 12pm to 4pm in collaboration
with
the
APPI
Multicultural
Festival
❖ FY 2025-27 Work Program Prioritization : The staff has proposed a new process for Work Program Prioritization in an info memo. Check the Work Program page for updates. ➢ At the March 18 Council Meeting, the Council adopted a final list of Work Program items for consideration for the FY 25-26 budget. ➢ The final decision will likely be made in April/May before the Council adopts the FY 25-26 budget
in
June
2025.
❖ Revised Council Procedures Manual: Back in 2023, the City Council adopted the Council Procedures
Manual
to
summarize
some
long-standing
practices,
but
that
version
also
included
some
measures
never
done
before.
On
March
18,
the
Council
adopted
a
revised
version
to
restore
some long-standing good practices and also added some improvements. Find the clean and redlined versions at the March 18 agenda. Here are some important changes:. ➢ Restore the ability of any councilmember to file a Public Record Act request, as any member
of
the
public
➢ Restore the Info Memos item to the Council Agenda Packet, since they are often memos requested
by
councilmembers
at
the
council
meetings
➢ Any councilmember can pull an item off the Consent Calendar, although they are encouraged
to
notify
staff
by
12pm
on
the
day
of
the
meeting
➢ The Future Agenda Item at each council meeting would include a document with upcoming
agenda
items
and
requested
agenda
items,
not
yet
agendized
➢ Restore the long-standing practice that any written communications on non-agenda items 1
will be added to the Written Communications document as long as the sender requests such,
rather
than
only
including
the
ones
forwarded
by
a
councilmember.
❖ Monthly Mayor’s Coffee Community Meetings: These meetings will be generally held on the second
Monday
at
5pm
each
month,
but
it
might
be
moved
to
other
Mondays
if
needed.
The
location
will
rotate
so
that
we
cover
different
businesses
each
month.
➢ The third Monthly Mayor’s Coffee was held on Monday March 10 at 5pm at Duan Chun Zhen NoodleHouse,
a
Taiwanese
restaurant,
who
provided
free
appetizers
for
everyone.
More
than
30 people
attended.
I
gave
an
update
on
actions
from
the
last
council
meeting
and
answered
questions.
■ Many had questions about the inadequate parking for Westport independent BMR housing and
the
55 spaces
to
be
taken
away
by
the
upcoming
Mary
Ave
BMR
housing.
➢ The next Mayor’s Coffee will be on Monday April 14th at 5pm. The location is TBD. ■ Sheriff Captain Neil Valenzuela has been invited and confirmed his attendance on April 14th.
❖ Process to Request Certificate of Recognition or Commendation: ➢ To ensure such requests are handled as smoothly and efficiently as possible, the City Manager’s
Office
has
implemented
a
dedicated
process.
➢ We kindly ask that you complete the following form, which will allow Mayor Chao to present a certificate of recognition: https://cupertino.gov/councilmeetingrequest ❖ Proclamations at Council meetings : This year, I plan to follow a tradition upheld by some former Cupertino
mayors
and
other
mayors
in
recognizing
organizations
or
individuals
with
proclamations
during
Council
meetings.
My
goal
is
to
honor
those
who
have
made
consistent
and/or
significant
contributions
to
Cupertino,
with
an
emphasis
on
those
who
are
less
well-known.
If
you
have
any
suggestions,
please
feel
free
to
me
at
Proclamations for contributions will generally be presented at the second Council meeting of each month,
while
the
first
meeting
will
continue
to
recognize
special
observances
(e.g.,
awareness
months
or
weeks)
as
before.
You
are
also
welcome
to
submit
suggestions
for
these
recognitions.
Section 2: Committee Assignment
2025-03-19 Commission Chairs meeting at Quinlan Center - The Commission Chairs meeting will be conducted on the third Wednesday of each odd month - Before each meeting, each commission will submit a three-bullet written summary of what they have done; some also included what’s upcoming on their agenda. (The summary collected as of the meeting) - The staff will collect the written summary and publish it as an info memo this year - Around September, the winners of the CREST Award will be selected during a special Commission
Chairs
meeting.
- The list of Commission Chair, Vice Chair and the staff liaison and their email addresses. 2 Section 3: 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.
2024-03-11 Answer from San Jose Water about a question on the Connection Fee - Question from Resident: “Our water bill had a $232.28 fee (service charge), plus 7 units of actual water
usage
for
$34.49.”
So,
the
Connection
Fee
is
almost
$200.00
regardless
of
how
much
water
you
use.
- Answer from San Jose Water: “ The reality is that most of the costs to deliver reliable water service is
fixed
and
pays
for
wells,
tanks,
and
pipes.
Before
one
drop
of
water
can
be
delivered
or
sold,
we
have
to
install
a
lot
of
infrastructure
under
and
above
ground
to
support
the
delivery
of
water.
This is what the service charge covers.” More detailed answers and links to resources. 2025-03-13 Meeting with Congressman Ro Khanna - Notes with ideas shared with Ro. Cupertino’s economic situation, potential funding requests. 2025-03-14 Visited West Valley Community Services
- Walked through the food pantry and learned the process to “shop” at the food pantry.
Learned
about
the
impact
WVCS
makes
on
people’s
lives
2025-03-14 Attended the State of the County Address by the County Supervisor Otto Lee 2025-03-15 Attended the Award Ceremony by the Know Your Roots Foundation - They take youth dancers to India and other Southeast Asian countries to perform. - During the trip the youth have to endure the hardship of traveling in third world countries and still
have
to
perform.
2025-03-15 Attended FOG Holi, the Festival of Colors in Fremont Washington High School 2025-03-16 Attended the award ceremony and exhibit of the Fifth Annual China Through American Eyes:
Telling
the
Stories
of
XianNing
and
Wuhan
through
Lens
at
the
Cupertino
Library
- This is led by Song Min with the Cupertino-XianNing Friendship City Association, in collaboration
with
the
Youth
Horizon
Culture
Connection
Association
- They take youth to visit China and the youth tell stories through photographs and paintings on what
they
see.
3 2025-02-16 Meeting with Rod Diridon Jr., Government Relations, Apple - Vice Mayor Kitty Moore also joined the meeting. - We asked about the possibility of another grant from Apple. Mr. Diridon informed us that Apple expects
that
all
of
the
projects
funded
with
their
2019
grants
are
completed
before
considering
another
grant.
This
appears
to
be
some
unwritten
understanding
Apple
thinks
of
as
a
“hand-shake
agreement”
with
Cupertino
(or
someone
in
Cupertino?)
2025-03-21 Attended FUHSD Foundation “Spring for Education” fundraiser - The fundraiser is a sit-down dinner served by student servers, with amazing performance from each
high
school
2025-03-22 Attended the Public Safety Fair at Civic Plaza, hosted by an Eagle Scout - Cupertino used to have a Public Safety Forum inside the Community Hall, which has some booths.
So,
it
is
a
mini
indoor
Faire
- The attendance is better with the Faire at the Library Plaza, The fire truck, police and even the bomb
squad
were
there
2025-03-23 Attended Grand Culture Ceremony to honor the common ancestor of Yellow Emperor in San
Francisco
Civic
Plaza
Section 4: Information of Interest to My Constituents: (no update since the last report)
1. Builders’ Remedy (BR) Projects ★ The Planning Staff has completed the “determination of completeness” reviews for the 20739
Scofield
Drive
and
Vista
Heights
projects.
In
both
instances
staff
has
determined
that
the
application
materials
are
incomplete
,
meaning
the
projects
are
no
longer
vested
pursuant
to
Government
Code
Section
65941.1.
The letters that have been transmitted to the applicants are available on the City’s website here:
● Scofield: https://www.cupertino.gov/scofield ● Vista Heights: https://www.cupertino.gov/vistaheights ★ There is one more BR project that is still active: Dividend Homes at the northwest corner of Stevens Creek Blvd and De Anza. The project will replace the existing office building with
town
homes.
★ Status of all BR projects ★ The July 25, 2024 info memo, titled “Scofield Drive SB330 Preliminary Application pursuant to Builder’s Remedy”, has information about what are BR projects and their review process. 4 2. License Plate Reader Camera - City-operated or personal ones ★ The Council has adopted the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Camera program (Resolution 24-094) in order to alert the police when a license plate with previous record is detected. Some cameras are placed at major roads entering Cupertnio. ★ The residents or businesses can connect your home or business surveillance camera with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. The registration form is at the bottom of this page. Section 5: Information Access Useful to My Constituents:
1. Information Memo posted on the City website: City Council Informational Memos are now available on the City website. The information can be accessed from the City website at cupertino.org/memos and the City Council page. You can also find the page by entering search terms “info memos” at the top of the website. ★ Anyone may use the eNotification signup to receive informational memo updates by email.
★ The info memos are now hosted in the digital archive as all other city records. ★ Click “+” to zoom in. ★ On a laptop: ○ To open the document as PDF, click on the Print icon and then click on “Download &
Print”.
The
downloaded
will
appear
in
a
new
tab
for
viewing.
○ This does not work on Safari browser on an iPhone. ★ To copy and paste text, you must open it as PDF and then copy & paste from there. New memos posted, since last report: ● No new info memos published since February 28 3. Recordings of Commission Meetings: Starting in June, commission meetings will be recorded for viewing later, although no teleconferencing
to
allow
remote
participation.
- Find the recordings here under each commission.
4. How to Search an agenda item: A community member showed me a way to search for items on the past city meetings: ● Go to this page: https://cupertino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx ○ Make sure that “Calendar” is selected from the top row of tabs and the “List View” is
selected
from
the
bottom
row
of
tabs.
○ Enter the search term, such as “investment report”. Choose the year or select “All Years”
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