City of Sunnyvale
Meeting Minutes
Charter Review Committee
6:00 PM Online and Redwood Conference Room,
City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale,
CA 94086
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Special Meeting
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Larsson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
Chair Larsson led the salute to the United States flag.
ROLL CALL
Chair Gustav Larsson
Vice Chair Kristel Wickham
Member Kathryn Filley
Member David Newswanger
Member Timothy Oey
Member Ken Olevson
Member Martin Pyne
Member Gail Rubino
Member Barry Vickrey
Present: 9 -
Member Galen Kim DavisAbsent: 1 -
Member Davis’ absence is excused
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Steve Scandalis voiced support for clear and transparent communications from the Committee to the public.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Public Comment opened at 6:06 p.m.
No speakers.
Public Comment closed at 6:06 p.m.
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes MOTION: Committee Member Newswanger moved and Vice Chair Wickham seconded the motion to approve agenda item 1.A as submitted.
The motion carried with the following vote:
Yes: Chair Larsson
Vice Chair Wickham
Member Filley
Member Newswanger
Member Oey
Member Olevson
Member Pyne
Member Rubino
Member Vickrey
9 -
No: 0
Absent: Member Davis1 -
1.A 25-0020
Approve the Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes of September 4, 2025
Approve the Charter Review Committee Minutes of September 4, 2025 as submitted.
PUBLIC HEARING/GENERAL BUSINESS
2 25-0229 Discussion and Possible Action on Survey to Gather Community Feedback on Potential Charter Amendments
Related to Council Vacancies, Council and Mayor
Compensation, and City Manager Claim Settlement Authority Deputy City Manager Connie Verceles provided the staff report.
Committee Members provided comments related to the survey Sections 1 (Filling City Council Vacancies) and 2 (Council and Mayor Compensation):
- Comments in support of including in the survey responses context related to the cost and voter turnout for general and special elections. - Comments in support of including in the survey responses the word(s) “much” or “much more” for the cost for special elections compared with general elections instead of cost ranges.
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes - Comment in support of defining special and general elections.
Staff provided comments:
- Comment that Question 2C will not be included in the final survey per the Committee’s recommendation at their September 4 meeting.
Public Hearing opened at 7:03 p.m.
Zachary Kaufman requested that the Committee consider revisions to the background information for Sections 1 and 2.
Steve Scandalis shared a presentation outlining revisions to Sections 1 and 2 for the Committee’s consideration.
Mei-Ling spoke towards Section 1 and shared opposition to having a prolonged waiting period to fill a vacancy.
Public Hearing closed at 7:12 p.m.
Committee Members provided additional comments related to Sections 1 and 2:
- Comment in support of including in each question a description that lets the reader know what is required of them. For example, “select two”. - Comment in support of moving the median income amount information from Question 2B to the background section.
- Comments in support of dropping Question 2E because it is essentially the same as Question 2B.
- Comment in support of expanding the salary ranges listed in question 2C. - Comments in support of revising Question 2E to state “Should pay be adjusted automatically each year?” and “If so, what should it be based on?”. - Comment in support of adding “encourage” to question 2F. - Comments in support of dropping Question 2F.
- Comments in support of the Council and Mayor Compensation questions moving to Section 1 and Filling Council Vacancies questions to Section 2. - Comments in support of leaving the Sections in the order being presented by staff.
Chair Larsson polled members to revise the first response to Question 1A to include the word “much” to “even if cost is more” and “turnout is lower”. The revisions will
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes be incorporated into the survey.
Chair Larsson polled members to move the median income information from Question 2B to the background section. The salary information will be moved.
Vice Chair Wickham left the meeting at 7:42 p.m.
Chair Larsson polled members to revise Question 2B to state “Which way of setting Councilmember and Mayor pay do you prefer?” with the response options of “keep salaries fixed at the flat amount until changed by voters, annually adjust salaries to a percentage of Sunnyvale’s median income, annually adjust salaries based on inflation, and not sure.” The revisions will be incorporated into the survey.
The Committee took a recess at 8:22 p.m. and reconvened at 8:35 p.m. with Chair Larsson and Committee Members Filley, Newswanger, Oey, Olevson, Pyne, Rubino and Vickrey present.
Chair Larsson polled members to remove questions 2E and 2F from the survey. The questions will be removed.
MOTION: Committee Member Oey moved and Committee Member Pyne seconded the motion to revise the Question 2C to state “Which salary ranges are most reasonable for Sunnyvale?” and to expand the salary range options to:
For Councilmembers
- $20,000–$40,000
- $40,000–$60,000
- $60,000–$80,000
- $80,000–$100,000
- $100,000—$120,000
- $120,000—$140,000
- Over $140,000
- Not sure
For Mayor
- $40,000–$60,000
- $60,000–$80,000
- $80,000–$100,000
- $100,000—$120,000
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes - $120,000—$140,000
- $140,000—$160,000
- Over $160,000
- Not sure
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: Member Pyne offered a friendly amendment to adjust the salary of the middle ranges to begin with $1 (e.g. $60,001) and to include Question 2C in the survey. Member Oey accepted the friendly amendment.
MOTION AS AMENDED RESTATED: Committee Member Oey moved and Committee Member Pyne seconded the motion to revise Question 2C to state "Which salary ranges are most reasonable for Sunnyvale?" and to expand range options to:
For Councilmembers
- $20,000–$40,000
- $40,001–$60,000
- $60,001–$80,000
- $80,001–$100,000
- $100,001—$120,000
- $120,001—$140,000
- Over $140,000
- Not sure
For Mayor
- $40,000–$60,000
- $60,001–$80,000
- $80,001–$100,000
- $100,001—$120,000
- $120,001—$140,000
- $140,001—$160,000
- Over $160,000
- Not sure
The motion as amended carried with the following vote:
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes Yes: Chair Larsson
Member Filley
Member Newswanger
Member Oey
Member Olevson
Member Pyne
Member Rubino
Member Vickrey
8 -
No: 0
Absent: Vice Chair Wickham
Member Davis
2 -
Chair Larsson polled members to remove the word “always” from the first and second response options for !Question 1A. “Always” will be removed from the statements.
Chair Larsson polled members to remove the “Another method” response option for Question 1A. The response will be removed.
Chair Larsson polled members for staff to submit response options to Question 1A to the Chair. Revised responses will be provided to the Chair for review.
The Committee took a recess at 9:43 p.m. and reconvened at 9:48 p.m. with Chair Larsson and Committee Members Filley, Newswanger, Oey, Olevson, Pyne, Rubino and Vickrey present.
Committee Members provided comments related to the survey Sections 3 (City Manager’s Authority to Settle Legal Claims):
- Revisions were shared related to the background section. - Revisions were shared related to the response options to Question 3A. - Comments in support of removing the last two statements in the background section.
- Comment in support of revising Question 4a to read “Are you registered to vote in Sunnyvale?”
- Comments in support of dropping Question 3C.
Public Hearing reopened at 10:10 p.m.
Attachment 1
September 25, 2025Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes Steve Scandalis shared a presentation outlining revisions to Sections 3 for the Committee’s consideration and urged the Committee to consider adding Section 4 (Alternative Delivery Methods) to the survey.
Public Hearing closed at 10:13 p.m.
Chair Larsson polled members to revise Section 3 as follows:
- In the background section, add “state” to the first sentence to read “By state law…”.
- In the background section, add a comma between “Council” and “which”. - In the background section, remove the last two sentences. - For Question 3A, capitalize “manager’s”.
- Revise the response options to Question 3A to “Keep the current limit of $50,000 (no change to the Charter)”, “Increase the limit and keep a specific amount in the Charter”, “Allow the City Council to set the limit by Ordinance”, and “Not sure”.
The revisions will be incorporated into the survey.
3 25-0418
Discussion of Timeline and Recommended Template for
Completing Charter Review Committee Report
Senior Assistant City Attorney Melissa Tronquet provided the staff report.
Public Hearing opened at 10:47 p.m.
No speakers.
Public Hearing closed at 10:47 p.m.
NON-AGENDA ITEMS AND COMMENTS
-Committee Member Comments
None.
-Staff Comments
None.
ADJOURNMENT
Chair Larsson adjourned the meeting at 10:48 p.m.
Attachment 1