CITY OF SUNNYVALE
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
DATE: November 12, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers
CC: Tim Kirby, City Manager
Sarah Johnson-Rios, Assistant City Manager
Rebecca Moon, City Attorney
FROM: David Carnahan, City Clerk
SUBJECT: Additional Charter Review Committee Applicant Responses N ovember 12 and 13, 2024 Council Meetings
Responses from several Charter Review Committee applicants were cut off on the applications included in the Council Packets for the November 12 and 13 Council meetings.
Find the complete responses below:
Martin Pyne
Interview Date & Time: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m.
13. Briefly describe what you learned by attending a meeting of the City Council, board or commission. Describe what improvements you would suggest the City consider.
I think it is important that Sunnyvale residents have the opportunity to address the City Council on matters not on the City Council's agenda for the evening. However, I do think it is a problem when non-agenda items take up so much of the Council's time that agendized items are pushed back so late in the evening that members of the public may be deprived of their ability to sensibly comment on them, and Councilmembers are fatigued due to the hour. There are various ways to limit this but one neutral way could be to cap the total time for start-of-meeting oral communications to, say, half an hour and then re-open oral communications at the end of the agenda (before IGR reports) should anybody have been cut off by the cap.
Kristel Wickham
Interview Date & Time: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6:15 p.m.
6. Are you currently serving or have you served on a City of Sunnyvale staff advi
sory committee? Yes _X_ No __
If yes, which one?
Chair, Citizen Advisory Committee for CAP 2.0, (2017 – 2019) 24-0916 & 24-0044 Added Attachment (posted 20241112)
11. Education: List college degrees and majors, and any relevant training or experience that demonstrates your ability to effectively serve on the Charter Review Committee.
B.S. Engineering Physics
M.S. Engineering
Various continuing education and career development courses spanning people and project management, quality and customer experience.
I'm a 2019 Leadership Sunnyvale graduate.
12. Briefly describe your current or last occupation.
Currently not working for pay. I volunteer in various organizations spanning climate solutions and education.
See LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristel-wickham-9947431/ 22 years at SunPower Corporation in various roles (R&D, Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Customer Experience)
13. Briefly describe what you learned by attending a meeting of the City Council, board or commission. Describe what improvements you would suggest the City consider.
By serving 8 years on the Sustainability Commission, attending city events, interacting with staff and council members, and giving public comments at city council meetings I have learned a lot about how city government works. I have great respect for the city's elected and appointed officials and the dedicated staff who serve the city. I recognize the complexity of running the city and serving all residents and businesses. I do think the city could always improve further in nimbleness, operational efficiency, accountability to decisions and policies, and timeliness of implementing and competing projects (for example accelerating the Active Transportation Plan implementation, and the Actions defined in the Climate Action Playbook).
14. Describe your involvement in community activities, volunteer and civic organizations.
See LinkedIn profile under Volunteering, plus:
- Electric Home Tour host (October 19, 2024)
https://acterra.org/electrification/greenhome/electric-home-tour/ - Recently joined the Board of SunWork https://sunwork.org/ ( June 2024 - ) - Leadership Sunnyvale 2019 cohort
- Livable Sunnyvale member
- Sunnyvale Safe Routes to School volunteer 2017 - 2019 - Vargas Elementary and Sunnyvale Middle School PTA Boards 2009 - 2017
Timothy Oey
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7:10 p.m.
6. Are you currently serving or have you served on a City of Sunnyvale staff advi
sory committee? Yes _X_ No __
24-0916 & 24-0044 Added Attachment (posted 20241112)
If yes, which one?
STEVENS CREEK TRAIL Citizens Working Group, (2012 – 2015)
14. Describe your involvement in community activities, volunteer and civic organizations.
I've been continuously involved as a board member, officer, and/or volunteer in many organizations since elementary school including 4-H, Franklin County Fair, multiple churches, Cambridge Entomological Club, Oxfam America, Community Tax Aid of Boston, Charles River Wheelers, Boston Area Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Almaden Cycle Touring Club, Western Wheelers, Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, Sunnyvale AYSO Region 44, San Jose AYSO Region 64, AYSO Area 2J, AYSO Section 2, AYSO National IT Task Force, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale Historical Society, US Youth Volleyball, Citizens Climate Lobby, Climate Reality Project, Freecycle.org, Trash Nothing, Cupertino Safe Routes to School, Sunnyvale Safe Routes to School, Homestead Band Boosters, and Silicon Valley Reduces.
Gustav Larsson
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7:25 p.m.
11. Education: List college degrees and majors, and any relevant training or experience that demonstrates your ability to effectively serve on the Charter Review Committee.
Undergraduate studies at Stanford University. Elected to two terms on Sunnyvale City Council. Appointed to Sunnyvale Planning Commission. As a Councilmember, served on numerous outside governmental board and committee appointments including the boards of BAWSCA and SVCE.
13. Briefly describe what you learned by attending a meeting of the City Council, board or commission. Describe what improvements you would suggest the City consider.
These public meetings have a structure and formal process that can be unfamiliar to citizens more accustomed to how meetings are conducted in the private sector, non- profits, etc. But the rules and structure are grounded in important goals: to provide the public the opportunity to give their input in a safe environment, to provide the public transparency in how significant government decisions are made, and to foster an environment where major decisions are made carefully, thoughtfully, and with due deliberation.
Gail Rubino
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7:40 p.m.
11. Education: List college degrees and majors, and any relevant training or experience that demonstrates your ability to effectively serve on the Charter Review Committee.
BA in history and rhetoric - UC Davis
MBA in finance - Fordham University
24-0916 & 24-0044 Added Attachment (posted 20241112)
Graduate studies at Stanford
Leadership Sunnyvale graduate
12. Briefly describe your current or last occupation.
25 years in banking and financial services - Vice President at Chase, Bank of America, Marketing Consultant to Financial
Services Businesses
Bruce Paton
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 9:05 p.m.
11. Education: List college degrees and majors, and any relevant training or experience that demonstrates your ability to effectively serve on the Charter Review Committee.
BA in Environmental Science, Wesleyan University
MBA, Stanford University
PhD, Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz 10 years as an academic administrator, conducting meetings, evaluating and updating procedures, making policy and operational decisions. Service on 6 non-profit boards - planning meeting agendas, reviewing bylaws, analyzing complex issues, making recommendations, implementing policy changes.
13. Briefly describe what you learned by attending a meeting of the City Council, board or commission. Describe what improvements you would suggest the City consider.
I have been to many late night Council meetings. City Council meetings often begin the real substantive work late in the evening, after many residents have had to leave or log off. I wonder if there might be a way to structure meetings differently so that serious decisions get made when our elected officials and city residents are awake and alert. (I don't know if this is a charter issue, but it is certainly an effectiveness issue.)
I learned from 8 years of serving on the city's Sustainability Commission, that all parties have good intentions about making boards and commissions effective. However, I don't think the city makes effective use of the volunteer efforts of commissioners. (I don't think this is a charter issue. But some policy changes are certainly in order.)
14. Describe your involvement in community activities, volunteer and civic organizations.
I have been active over the past 20 years on the boards of several nonprofits and 2 public commissions. I served as Chair of the Sunnyvale Sustainability commission for 6 of my 8 years on the commission. I currently serve as Chair of the Santa Clara County Sustainability Commission. I currently serve on the boards of Leadership Sunnyvale and the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.
I also volunteer my services as a photographer for events at Sunnyvale Community Services, public events such as Diwali and the recent Ibero-American Festival, as well as for campaigns for public office.
24-0916 & 24-0044 Added Attachment (posted 20241112)
Paulette Saldanha
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 9:30 p.m.
11. Education: List college degrees and majors, and any relevant training or experience that demonstrates your ability to effectively serve on the Charter Review Committee.
Doctoral Equivalent); (4.0
GPA) Graduated 20
Kathryn Filley
Interview Date & Time: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 10 p.m.
12. Briefly describe your current or last occupation.
My most recent employment was in litigation software, I was the E-Learning development Manager and then a Senior Product Manager. My organization skills and operations management allow me to problem solve and create cohesion in complex and complicated scenarios. I am very skilled at putting processes and procedures into place that increase efficiency.
24-0916 & 24-0044 Added Attachment (posted 20241112)