At the busy headquarters of one the world’s most iconic companies, a new oasis beckons to contemplate the diversity of our planet. Mirage is a new glass sculpture commissioned by Apple and created by artist Katie Paterson and architectural studio Zeller & Moye. It is located adjacent to the Apple Visitor Center in Cupertino.
Paterson and architectural studio Zeller & Moye partnered with UNESCO’s International Geoscience and Geoparks programme, sand experts from around the world, and local glass artisans to create the artwork.
Mirage is free to the public, and is accessible 24 hours a day. At night, the pillars are lit with a gentle glow. Parking is available at the Apple Visitor Center parking lot. Learn more at mirage.place.
FUHSD Begins Move from At-Large to By-Trustee Area Elections
The Future of Housing in Cupertino: Challenges and Opportunities
FUHSD Begins Move from At-Large to By-Trustee Area Elections
THE FACTS: The Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) is transitioning to By-Trustee Area Elections. This means that starting in 2024, residents will be able to vote for only the board member(s) in their designated trustee area. In the past, voters were able to elect FUHSD Board Members for the entire district.
HOW IT WORKS: To transition, FUHSD must first draw the geographic boundaries for trustee areas. Per federal requirements, each district must have equal population. Gerrymandering to draw lines by race or ethnicity is prohibited. There are no rules about how lines are drawn around or through cities. The board may adopt a resolution to provide greater direction on how the lines are drawn.
PERSPECTIVES ON THE CHANGE: During the March 7th, 2023 board meeting in which By-Trustee Area Elections were discussed, numerous Sunnyvale residents expressed support for the move. During the public comments, they expressed the sentiment that their needs had historically been underrepresented by the board.
For Cupertino residents, the potential impact is dependent upon how the lines are drawn. If Cupertino is split into multiple trustee areas, it could become harder for candidates from Cupertino to be elected.
SHARE YOUR INPUT:
Learn moreabout the change to by-trustee area voting
Join the FUHSD board meeting on Tuesday, September 19th at 5:15 PM to share your feedback on how the boundary lines should be drawn. By law, boundary maps cannot be reviewed during these meetings, but feedback is welcome. Details here.
View the documentation for the public hearings on trustee areas during the August 22nd FUHSD Board Meeting (Agenda Item #8)
The Future of Housing in Cupertino: Challenges and Opportunities
BACKGROUND: The Housing Element (HE) is a roadmap for housing development. On July 25, 2023, the Cupertino City Council received an update on the 6th Cycle Housing Element for 2023-2031:
Cupertino is required to identify 4,588 potential housing locations to accommodate its Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) assignment.
HCD recommends that each city allocate a “RHNA buffer” of an additional 25-30% of the total RHNA obligation, especially for homes for people with low or moderate incomes. 2017 SB 166 “No Net Loss” law mandates that jurisdictions must maintain adequate site inventory to accommodate remaining unmet RHNA by each income category (very low, low, moderate, market rate). Cupertino, then, is expected to identify sites for the construction of 5,735 – 5,964 new homes (4,588 RHNA + 25-30% buffer).
THE CHALLENGE: Like many other communities in the region, Cupertino is challenged to identify so many housing sites, as most lots are already developed. What sites are vacant/available, close to transit (within 0.5 mile of a bus stop), and sized between 0.5 and 10 acres?
HCD’s comments during the 7/25/2023 Council meeting suggest allowing all eligible retail and commercial locations in Cupertino to become future housing sites. Candidate sites will most likely be found along the City’s current and dwindling retail and commercial corridors: Homestead Rd, Stevens Creek Blvd, De Anza Blvd, and to a lesser extent Foothill Blvd, Bubb Rd, Stelling Rd, and Bollinger Rd.
Current retail along Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino
Cupertino must add 2,635 homes for individuals and families with very low, low, and moderate incomes. However, the State and federal government have removed themselves as providers and administrators for most affordable housing. Since affordable housing is not lucrative, it is unclear how much of it the private sector will build and maintain. Private property owners might also accept a housing entitlement, but then decide not to build.
If current density bonus laws require developers set aside no more than 10-20% of new multi-family dwellings for people with incomes <50-120% of the area median, would Cupertino need to approve 13,175 – 26,350 new homes to assure the construction of 2,635 below market rate homes to fulfill HCD requirements?
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: Cities are often frustrated when they rely on the private sector and non-profit organizations to build and maintain a public good. Some cities are turning to other solutions to meet the RHNA requirements to build the homes that people need today.
The National Housing Policy Guide describes these solutions for affordable housing:
Land Banks – Created by local jurisdictions, land banks hold “abandoned, vacant, and tax-delinquent properties for future development.”
Community Land Trusts (CLT) – “The CLT owns land which is leased to households who purchase the homes that sit on CLT land. Removing the cost of land from the cost of purchasing the home provides a significant subsidy to the households.”
Why rely solely on for-profit developers, property owners, and investors to decide what and when to build, when land banks and CLTs can help directly alleviate the need for affordable housing in our community?
Click below to find out what’s next for Cupertino’s Housing Element, revisions that might help it get approved, and how Cupertino’s RHNA numbers compare to those of neighboring cities.
Memorial Park Redesign Takes Another Step Towards Completion Council Makes Unusual Move to Reduce Transparency into Lobbyist Activity
A Simple Explanation of RHNA and how it impacts local residents
Memorial Park Redesign Moves Closer to Completion
After a year of research and community outreach, plans for a revitalized Memorial Park are moving closer to completion. The new plans will provide recreational opportunities for all ages and abilities, improve upon dated features, and increase connectivity with more bikeways and walkways.
Proposed Park Plan
Source: Memorial Park Preferred Draft Concept Presented 6/21
Many features in the park plan put forth by city staff appear to have council support. However, a few areas generated questions during the June 21st City Council meeting:
Removal of softball field: The new Memorial Park plan proposed eliminating the softball field. This is one of the only local softball fields with lighting at night, a size large enough for slow-pitch (adult) softball, and home run fencing. It is currently used by at least 16 teams, and helps draw business into the city. To save the softball field, a few other features in the new park plan (basketball courts, pickleball courts) would be moved or eliminated. Given strong demand for the field, including a petition with 835 signatures, Council voted to have staff return with a revised schematic plan including the softball field.
Aerial view of Memorial Park as it is today with the softball field
Source: Memorial Park Preferred Draft Concept Presented 6/21
High cost of redesign: While cost estimates have not been provided, one should expect such a large-scale renovation to cost significantly more than the Jollyman Park playground renovation, which will cost about $5M for a much smaller scope. The Memorial Park renovation plan was initiated in 2022, before Cupertino was hit by a significant budget deficit. Currently, only its design phase has funding, with a $650,000 budget. “The City is facing a very tight budget now, so I hope that staff can come back with a more economical version of the plan,” stated Council Member Liang Chao during the meeting. “We tried to pack [many things] in the proposed plan, but we don’t have just one park, we have many parks. Many of these nice features, even if they don’t get implemented in Memorial Park, can be implemented in other parks in the city,” said Chao. For example, instead of replacing the highly-used softball field with basketball courts, residents could use the brand new basketball courts at Wilson Park.
Read more to find out what new features are planned to be added to the park, what will stay the same, when the Memorial Park renovation might begin, and more.
Cupertino Council Majority Moves to Reduce Transparency into Lobbyist Activity
At the July 6, 2023 City Council meeting, three Councilmembers (Wei, Fruen, and Mohan) approved first round changes weakening Cupertino’s lobbyist registration ordinance. The changes include a provision that allows lobbyists who are paid less than $5,000/quarter to avoid publicly disclosing their activity. Councilmembers Moore and Chao opposed the changes.
Background
In February 2021, the Cupertino Council enacted an ordinance that requires lobbyists to publicly disclose their activities. The term “lobbyist” included individuals, media, businesses, and select organizations that attempt to influence the government in exchange for paid compensation. This ordinance provides transparency to Cupertino residents around lobbying activity, and helps ensure that our city’s democratic processes are not unduly influenced by conflicts of interest.
Council Moves to Limit Lobbyist Ordinance
Three Councilmembers approved first round changes to the lobbyist ordinance (Wei, Mohan, and Fruen voted YES; Chao and Moore voted NO). This means:
Expenditure lobbyists will no longer be required to publicly disclose activity (Defined as entities who pay others to lobby the City or elected officials on behalf of a position).
Media will no longer be required to disclose lobbying activity, regardless of who funds the media activity.
All nonprofits including member benefit organizations will no longer be required to disclose lobbying activity, regardless of who funds them.
Any lobbyist who is paid less than $5,000 per calendar quarter will not be required to register as such with the City of Cupertino.
A Comparison of Local Lobbyist Ordinances
One justification made for the changes was to make Cupertino’s lobbying ordinance consistent with other local cities, counties, or the state. However, lobbying ordinances in the cities and counties closest to us are actually in line with the current Cupertino lobbying ordinance. For example, both Santa Clara County’s and San Jose’s lobbyist payment thresholds are $1,000/consecutive three month period or $5,000/year for expenditure lobbyists. In-house lobbyists who lobby for 10 hours or more in a consecutive 12-month period must also register.
During the July 6th meeting, Councilmember Chao disagreed with using California (population: 39 million people via July 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates) as a benchmark for Cupertino. “For the entire state of California, the limit is $5,000 per quarter,” stated Chao. “For a tiny city of Cupertino, if the limit is $5,000 per period, I don’t think anyone would ever qualify.”
A Loss of Transparency in Cupertino
The U.S. District Court upheld the 2021 lobbyist registration ordinance, dismissing a lawsuit filed against the ordinance by the League of Women Voters Cupertino Sunnyvale. However, the City chooses to disregard the Court’s ruling, and dismantle the ordinance by adding exemptions and raising threshold reporting amounts.
From 2021 to 2023, the Cupertino City Council has shifted in sentiment from favoring transparency to shielding lobbyists more than the rest of the county. Failure to provide real accountability, and instead focusing only on partisan politics, further sacrifices quality governance at the expense of undisclosed pandering.
The lobbyist registration ordinance will be discussed by Council again in September 2023. Click below to get the full story about why the ordinance was challenged and revised.
RHNA is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment — the number of housing units (a place for at least one person to live) assigned to an area by the state. This happens in eight-year housing cycles, and the allocation numbers are determined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
The City of Cupertino forecasts a $23.9M deficit from 2023-24. While Mayor Wei, Councilmember Fruen and Vice Mayor Mohan are fixated on persecuting elected officials they disagree with, our serious budgetary issues have gone unattended, which will result in cutbacks to services and personnel in all areas of the City. Here’s how the City plans to address the deficit, and how it will impact residents:
Source: FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget
While Cupertino will cut some expenses like capital outlays and several vacant positions, a significant part of its plan relies on deficit spending. The $6M “Use of Fund Balance” means Cupertino will need to draw from our General Fund, which is our historic savings, to fund operations.
Source: FY 2023-24 Proposed Budget
In fact, per the chart above, the City plans to deplete the General Fund over the next decade, draining it from its current level, $104M, to just $37M by 2033. It is unclear what the plan is to fully reverse this trajectory of diminishing reserves.
Cupertino’s largest expense category is employee compensation and benefits ($35M, or 41% of forecasted budget). During the May 17th meeting, Council Member Liang Chao questioned eliminating only 14 vacant positions, when there are 43 in total. She also suggested returning to 2015 staffing levels (169 staff vs 225 currently).
Here’s how budget cuts will impact residents so far:
Decreased pavement quality
Decreased maintenance of parks and trees
Decreased janitorial cleaning of City facilities
Reduced funding for community events (Fourth of July, Tree Lighting, etc)
Closure of teen center
Elimination of the Bobateeno event for teens ($10,000 savings)
Fewer parks with Wi-Fi
Law enforcement will not be impacted. Learn more in the city’s proposed budget plan.
Do you know that an employee swindled nearly $800,000 from the City of Cupertino, running an embezzlement scamwhich lasted from 2000-2014, and was finally addressed in 2018.
What is surprising is that a coterie of ex-Mayors of Cupertino, who were in the council prior till 2018, have been sending extremely inflammatory mails about the resident focussed council, which was elected for the first time in November 2018. This is the coterie which presided over this period of embezzlements and weak financial controls! In order to avoid such scams, the residents focussed Cupertino City Council, instituted an external audit (via Moss-Adams) of the financial operations of the City. The audit identified serious gaps in the City’s Processes, and a plan to fix them has been put in place. You can read the report here
SB9 is a California state law that allows single family homeowners to split their residential lot into two separate lots. Further it permits the construction of up to two new housing units on each of the separate lots.
SB9 requires all cities to comply with the law.
How did the City Respond?
In order to respect the letter and the spirit of the law the City of Cupertino has taken steps to define objective standards to govern lot splitting and the building of new units on them.
Interim Urgency Ordinance
The first step was to issue an Interim Urgency Ordinance 21-2235. The city followed the following principles. (Page 4 of Staff Report [2])
The key guiding principles in development of the Interim Urgency ordinance were to:
1. Preserve neighborhood character while accommodating increased density; 2. Maintain privacy protection for existing residents; 3. Minimize pedestrian, motor vehicle, and bicyclist conflicts from changes to sidewalk and roadway infrastructure necessary to accommodate increased density; and 4. Protect environmental resources while maintaining the ministerial level of review required by State law.
This ordinance was temporary and is going to expire by the end of the year, 2022
Public Comments & Feedback
In September 2022, the City conducted multiple sessions to gather community feedback about the interim ordinance and what changes the residents’ preferred before it became final.
One specific area of feedback was on flag lots: many residents expressed that the city permit the creation of flag logs when the existing lot is larger than a typical lot. As a result the City is now proposing a revised draft which clearly defined rules on when the lot split could be used to create flag lots (Pages 6-7 of Staff Report [2])
Transparency & Objective Standards
While the city does not control what laws are passed at the state-level, we do have influence on how the laws are interpreted. The objective standards allow for clear guidelines, which reduce uncertainty both for the property developers and the residents.
The City also demonstrated how the residents have a say on how the objective standards are set by incorporating the suggestions on flag lots.
Thank You, City Council!
Laws which bring objectivity and reduce discretion enable a level playing field, for all developers and property owners. That transparency ensures that special interests are not able to exert influence to get undue favors for themselves, without incorporating the interests of the residents, especially the neighbors of the property under redevelopment.
