OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY HALL
10300 TORRE AVENUE • CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255
TELEPHONE: (408) 777-3200 • FAX: (408) 777-3366
CUPERTINO.GOV
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
Meeting: October 7, 2025
Subject:
Request Cities Association of Santa Clara County (“CASCC”) to amend the Joint Powers Agency Agreement and Bylaws to rectify undemocratic practices pertaining to the election of Executive Officers, the method of selecting the Chair of the Legislative Action Committee, and to remove the requirement that Executive Officers be elected during a specific month; and to appoint Vice Mayor Kitty Moore to the CASCC Board for the 2026 term and support her election to the Executive Committee.
Recommended Action:
1. Adopt Resolution No. 25-___ (Attachment A) requesting the Cities Association of Santa Clara County amend the Joint Powers Agency Agreement and Bylaws to: 1) require all Executive Officer offices be held by member cities, not by individual council members or appointed directors, and that all Executive Officers be appointees or alternates to the Board of Directors; 2) require the members of the Legislative Action Committee to elect that committee’s chair from its membership; and 3) remove the Bylaw provision setting the time for annual elections of Executive Officers in November or soon after.
2. Adopt Resolution No. 25-___ (Attachment B) to appoint Vice Mayor Kitty Moore to the Board of Directors of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County for the 2026 term beginning in January 2026 and endorsing her candidacy in the election for Executive Officers.
3. Authorize Vice Mayor Moore, the appointed representative to the CASCC Board, to send a letter to the CASCC to inform them of the above resolutions approved by the Council and attach this Council Report by Mayor for information.
Reason for Recommendation and Available Options
The CASCC is a regional body comprised of fifteen cities in Santa Clara County. In January 2024, the member cities adopted a Joint Powers Agency Agreement (“JPA”), thereby converting the prior unincorporated association into a Joint Powers Agency.
The stated goals of the JPA include, among others:
• building consensus on regional issues;
• providing a unified voice for member cities in legislative and policy advocacy; and
• respecting the principle of local control.
The current JPA and Bylaws specify the following:
1. The Board of Directors (“Board”) consists of one member appointed by each member city.
2. The Board shall elect the five Officers to serve on the Executive Committee (“EC”): President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, and Immediate Past President.
3. The President must be a member of the Board.
4. At least two Officers must be members of the Board.
5. The remaining Officers may be any Councilmembers from a member city, regardless of whether their city has appointed them to the Board to represent their city.
6. The Legislative Action Committee (“LAC”) shall be chaired by the Second Vice President and the LAC members shall be appointed by the member cities.
7. The Board shall elect the Officers at the November Board meeting or the first meeting held on or after November 1 of each year. (Art. IV, Section 2(b).)
The current practices are inconsistent with the stated democratic goals of JPA to represent member cities. Specifically, these provisions are concerning:
• Two Officers on the Executive Committee are not required to be appointed by any member city at a public meeting through democratic vote by their home city councils,
• The LAC Chair, designated as the Second Vice Chair, is not required to be appointed by any member city to either the Board nor to the LAC. The LAC could have two councilmembers from one member city, with one serving as the Chair,
• The LAC Chair, who is not required to be appointed by any member city, has the power to determine what bills to put on the agenda to discuss and provide narrative descriptions of the bills.
• Two members of the LAC may be from the same member city. This practice creates conflicts with the “one representative from each member City” rule provided in the Bylaws (Art. VI, Section 1(b).)
• The election of Executive Officers occurs each November, when the member cities usually appoint their representatives to the Board in late December or January.
We propose the following changes to the JPA and Bylaws to ensure that the Officers of CASCC and the LAC Chair consist of members appointed by each Agency Member at a public meeting to better align with the democratic goal of the CASCC.
1. Executive Committee Membership
Amending Article 10 of the JPA to require all Executive Officers offices be held by member cities, not by individual council members or appointed directors, and that all Executive Officers be appointees or alternates of the Board of Directors appointed by member cities.
2. Legislative Action Committee Chair
Amending Article 12 of the JPA to require the LAC members to elect its own Chair from among its appointed members.
3. Election Timing
Eliminating the requirement to elect Officers for the Executive Committee in November or soon after. The Board should have the flexibility to set election dates in a manner consistent with the appointments for the Board by member cities.
If there is a desire to continue to elect the Officers in November, the member cities might consider making appointments to the Board for the next year before the November election for the CASCC Officers to allow certainty that the elected Officers would be members of Board the following year.
To model best practices, we choose to make the appointment to the CASCC for the 2026 term, beginning in January 2026, in October 2025. And we express our support for the application of Vice Mayor Kitty Moore to serve as one of the Officers on the Executive Committee, ahead of the November election, to show that the Officers have the support of the member city in a resolution adopted at a public meeting.
Additionally, the draft resolution (Attachment B) approves the appointment of Vice Mayor Kitty Moore to represent the City of Cupertino as a member of the CASCC Board of Directors for the 2026 term beginning in January 2026, and supports her endorsement for election to the CASCC Executive Committee when that election next occurs.
Councilmember Moore is a Civil Engineer who has served Cupertino as a City Councilmember and Planning Commissioner for over six years. She has represented the City on the CASCC Board and the Legislative Action Committee since January 2025, and her extensive experience ensures she will continue to effectively represent the City and its interests.
Actions to consider:
1. Approve the recommended actions.
2. Do not adopt the resolution requesting the CASCC amend its JPA and Bylaws and maintain the current structure, though some Officers of CASCC and the LAC Chair may not be appointed by any city council of a member city at a public meeting.
3. Do not adopt the resolution appointing Vice Mayor Moore to the Board of Directors for the 2026 term and endorsing her in the election of Executive Officers.
4. Modify the Resolutions.
_____________________________________
Prepared by: Liang Chao, Mayor
Reviewed by: Kitty Moore, Vice Mayor
Floy Andrews, Interim City Attorney
Attachments:
A – Draft Resolution Requesting Amendments to the JPA Agreement and Bylaws B – Draft Resolution Appointing Vice Mayor Kitty Moore to JPA Board of Directors C – Joint Powers Agency Agreement for the Cities Association of Santa Clara County, effective January 26, 2024 (redline)
D – Bylaws of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County Joint Powers Agency, approved May 9, 2024 (redline)