On October 17th, 2023, a heavily-debated topic was presented at the Cupertino City Council meeting: whether or not the City should tear down and rebuild its City Hall. In order to fund the construction of a new City Hall, Council considered building high-density housing on City-owned properties, such as the current City Hall, Community Hall, and […]
Cupertino Anticipates Financial Deficit – Impacts Remain Unknown
Cupertino financial woes got a reality check when last-ditch efforts at the governor’s office failed to save its lucrative tax revenue sharing agreement with Apple. On October 17, 2023, staff proposed to set aside a $56.5M sales tax reserve, further worsening Cupertino’s impending budget deficit. Background Since 1998, Apple has assigned Cupertino as its point-of-sale […]
Budget Cuts to Hit Cupertino’s Park Maintenance, Pavement Quality, Community Events, and Capital Improvements
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 […]
Cupertino City Hall: Renovate for $28M or Build New for $72M?
Structural Analysis Reports for our city hall confirm that the nearly 60-year-old structure does not meet current building standards; it needs to be retrofitted for seismic safety. City hall’s current configuration–with its main floor dominated by a room that hosted city council meetings before community hall was completed in the early 2000s–and outdated HVAC and […]
Non Profits: Not All are Charities
As we get to the end of the year, we wish all of you a happy and relaxing holiday season. It is also the season of giving, where we contribute to our favorite causes, often represented by charities we donate to. We often use the words non-profit organizations and charities interchangeably. However they are […]
CUSD: Dispelling Disinfo with Data
This email will debunk disinformation about CUSD with data. We also include video clips from Jerry Liu, a CUSD trustee who opposed school closure, who shares his experience and goes into more details. Disnfo #1: CUSD Budget Shortfall? No we have surplus! The big reason cited for the shutdown of schools was a […]
Restoring Financial Accountability in Cupertino
Do you know that an employee swindled nearly $800,000 from the City of Cupertino, running an embezzlement scam which 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 […]
Restoring Financial Accountability in Cupertino
Do you know that an employee swindled nearly $800,000 from the City of Cupertino, running an embezzlement scam which 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 […]