Cupertino City Council Meeting - December 2, 2025 (Part 1)

Video

Transcript

Segment 1

[00:00:06] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: That's... call the December 2nd special meeting to order. Since it's a special meeting we don't have public comment but we do have... oh we don't have pledge of allegiance either. So we just go directly. Let's go roll call please.

[00:00:29] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen?

[00:00:30] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Here.

[00:00:31] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Mohan?

[00:00:32] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Here.

[00:00:33] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Wang?

[00:00:34] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Here.

[00:00:36] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Vice Mayor Moore?

[00:00:37] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Here.

[00:00:38] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Mayor Chao?

[00:00:39] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Uh, here.

[00:00:41] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: And Mayor, just a reminder that Councilmember Wang is participating remotely this evening, and so I will request roll call votes for any Council actions. And additionally, Councilmember Wang, I will rely on you to indicate whether or not there are any members of the public requesting to speak remotely from that teleconference location.

[00:01:03] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Sounds good.

[00:01:06] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay, thank you. Um, so, do we have a staff report or I... I will just introduce the item? Okay. So, um, actually I prepared a presentation but then my computer is still waking up. So, Plan Bay Area 2050, it's a plan um that the Bay Area, the MTC and Bay Area government that they are designing almost every 10 years. The previous version is Plan Bay Area 2040, that was adopted I think around 2013, 14. And then we are working on... they are working on Plan Bay Area 2050. The growth projection in this kind of plan eventually would be used for... to go into the growth projection for our RHNA numbers, which would become a target that the city must meet for our Housing Element.

[00:03:40] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Mayor, um, I apologize, there is a Council Staff report on this item in the packet.

[00:03:46] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah, I know there is a staff report, but I know that staff is probably not prepared to present it, that's fine. And therefore it's important I think for the city to express our comment on the item because it will... the plan will impact the city in various ways. And I have a presentation prepared, I will bring that up and present when I'm ready, but now I think any Councilmember, if you have question we can go to them or we can go to public comment first. Yeah, Councilmember Fruen.

[00:05:04] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: I just have a quick comment because it sounded like you said that you were saying that the previous plan was Plan Bay Area 2040 and that this is now going to be Plan Bay Area 2050. Okay, I don't think that that's correct. Plan Bay Area 2050 was adopted in 2021. What we're working on right now is Plan Bay Area 2050+, which builds on what already exists under Plan Bay Area 2050.

[00:05:31] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Oh yeah, that's right. Okay, yeah, thank you for that background. So there is an already adopted Plan Bay Area 2050. Okay. And um, any other comments?

[00:05:54] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Yeah, I would say that I'm extremely concerned with these plans. Because what they try to...

[00:05:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Oh, we cannot hear you well.

[00:06:42] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Yeah let me see what I can do here.

[00:06:44] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: It's, your voice is very low.

[00:06:52] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: How's that? Is that better?

[00:06:55] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay, yeah that's better.

[00:06:59] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Okay, let's see if that makes change. So, yeah so the... I am very concerned with these plans. Uh, they try to take a Marxist approach to planning. And basically what they're trying to do is force Soviet-style kind of centralized planning into our areas without elected votes and elected officials. And every time we do these, from MTA to ABAG to all these, um localities and local control gets crushed. So I really do hope we actually do write something in on this. Especially when you look at the transit plan for 2050+ that they're trying to add to. I mean, it's ridiculous. We've wasted billions of dollars on light rail, billions of dollars on transit projects that don't work. I mean, I just did the drive from LA to San Fran, San Fran to LA and you know, it would have helped to have another lane on I-5 instead of wait for a boondoggle of a, you know, high-speed rail. I mean, that's exactly where these plans are going. They continue to waste our taxpayer dollars, they continue to waste our efforts. Um, I'm really angry when I see these plans. I feel like Jennifer Griffin when I think about these plans because they take away our local control and they do everything they can to force a certain way of life on people and it's not necessarily what the mass majority wants. They just don't know about it and they don't provide input. So I really hope we spend a lot of time gathering input from our residents so that they actually don't become a minority voice, um, in terms of what happens to them. So I'm in complete agreement with you and I can't wait to see your presentation.

[00:09:02] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay, so I'm ready now. Maybe I should just go to my presentation and then we can go to public comment. Wait. So I need to do slide show. Ah, I'm used to have two screen now with one screen I'm not very sure how do I do slide share. So I'll just have to... Okay, so sorry that... Probably not the most ideal... Get this... I want to maximize the area. Okay. Hope that's better. So what is Plan Bay Area 2050+? Um, it's build on top of... like Councilmember Fruen mentioned... the prior long-range plan contributed to the very high RHNA number we see today. As a result, Cupertino have to upzone many housing element sites to meet almost 5,000 units planning to be built in the next 8 years, but the city doesn't build. And then there... the there is also the Environmental Impact Report that we can comment on. So I want to point out what's the impact of this kind of demand on paper. When we inflate growth forecast, the developers will not build the units since there is no real market demand. And the population actually have stayed flat since 2020. And since we upzoned so many sites, but as a result as we have seen, developers are willing to build only townhomes. It doesn't matter if we upzone to four stories, six stories, they only want to build townhomes. So, but the State will still hold the city accountable for not building or approving those units that they put on paper. So there is a huge impact on the city. We might face... our housing element will be out of compliance. Builder's Remedy... we will have more Builder's Remedy projects, and most of the project would be streamlined for by-right approval without CEQA review. And we lose leverage for a lot of grants. Bottom line there is a huge legal risk for the city when such growth projection is unrealistic. And why is this one unrealistic? The projected population for Cooper... for the Bay Area is 9.6 million. It's almost four times more than the projected population growth by Department of Finance. That's the DOF. And it... and then also that the projection is based on a 2021 pre-pandemic baseline that was built in 2021. And ignoring the fact that the population has dropped in Bay Area since 2020. And but it's just assuming everything just will keep growing, growing at a very fast pace. And it used a non-standard "jobs-first" economic model rather than to reverse engineer the numbers, rather than using the normal demographic projection model based on current number, birth rate, death rate and so on. So this paper demand drive up the RHNA number and it does not take into account of the potential of AI to consolidate jobs. We might see less number of jobs and remote work, which actually have already enabled many people to move out of Bay Area or even out of the state. And then um it... it evaluated a lot of impacts in the Environmental Impact Report. For majority of them, the consequence is significant and unavoidable. However, it goes down to ignore that since there's nothing we can do. And most important for wildfire and evacuation route, some of the growth area would be near or areas that's already condensed corridors. And how will people be able to evacuate? There is no... the impact report assumes something will magically happen and funding would magically appear so that we can mitigate these impacts. We can mitigate the sea level rise flood risk for those impacted area. And other risks that's being evaluated that's significant and unavoidable are utilities and solid waste capacity. As we keep growing, where are we going to... we would produce more storm... more waste water, more solid waste. And the impact on fire, police, hospitals are significant unavoidable. Environmental and health hazards are SU also. And many of these remain... the mitigation rely on uncertain future funding. And many of the place is relying on developer impact fee, which the State actually have passed law and will continue to pass law to limit the city's ability to collect those fees to mitigate any of this impact. In addition to that, Plan Bay Area itself actually recognize in their Notice of Preparation for the EIR that the plan would require new revenue source of 862 billion dollars. And divided by population that's about a hundred thousand dollars per person in the Bay Area. And where are we going to come up with this money per person? And whether it comes from the State or federal dollars, it all comes from taxes for all of us. They are not very clear on that. These two slides are borrowed from another presentation so this is about the new revenue source is unreliable. So what the Cupertino... I think it's important we write this letter to ABAG and MTC to make sure that they should align the growth assumption with realistic Department of Finance forecasts. So that we have a credible, realistic reduced-growth scenario. And make sure that wildfire, evacuation, flood and other infrastructure mitigation is enforceable and performance-based, not just advisory. And assume it magically will happen. And then we should have realistic analysis of the capacity for public utilities like hospitals and ambulance. And be clear on who will pay the cost to expand them. And then clearly disclose the funding gaps. I... so I drafted a letter that's in the in the agenda. I don't think I included all of the points. I was trying to be short, but most of it is mentioned in the letter. But anyone from the public can comment. You can go to the Plan Bay Area site to submit your comment by December 18th 5 PM. And there are two hybrid public hearings that you can still attend, comment on at those meetings also. The Zoom meeting will be on the Draft EIR site. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Um, stop share. Okay. Should we go to public comment? Yeah. Okay. Let's public comment.

[00:14:49] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yes Mayor, I currently have one request to speak from within Community Hall. I see no requests to speak virtually. Anyone wishing to provide comments please submit your comments now. Our first speaker is Jennifer Griffin. Welcome Jennifer.

[00:15:15] Jennifer Griffin: Um, can you all hear me now? Yes. Hi, I'm Jennifer Griffin. Thank you for having this meeting. I know it was a little uh last minute but I have attended three one-hour Zoom meetings on Plan Bay Area with Catalyst for Local Control, which is a group that I belong to. Um, and I will tell you that they were all extremely concerned, upset, emotionally distraught about what these documents have in them. There was a gentleman who is a very well-known retired state official. He called this plan lunacy. And the other gentleman that first spoke about it, there were two of them three weeks ago on the Zoom, and they were both shaking in anger and frustration. And many of these people in this group have gone to at least one of the only... there were only three public meetings in very inconvenient areas. This is for all of the Bay Area. They were in Fremont, I believe one is in Milpitas, and the other one I think is near Marin... not Marin but up closer to San Francisco. I have been... Plan Bay Area has been on my radar for quite a while. I've been concerned about whatever their agenda was. Um, if you weren't aware, MTC took over ABAG about maybe seven years ago. And I... one of the main problems with this... these documents is that they did not use the required data that the State requires for population statistic analysis in the future. And this was shown several times. They are required by law, as a California entity, to use current census and data that is required by law. They created their own documents and therefore they are saying that the population growth by 2050 will be 26%. It is calculated to be only 6.5%. Now, I wasn't the greatest science student, but I have been taught the scientific method over and over again. You do not invent data. This group has committed one of the biggest frauds against the state because they are using data that is not true. They're trying to fool the public. This is illegal. It's against the law. And I don't know why our state did not recognize this before these documents were thrown to us, the public, to try to say "No, it's wrong. Don't do it." Thank you.

[00:18:24] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you Jennifer. And we have one member of the public requesting to speak virtually, Louise Saddadi. Welcome Louise.

[00:18:39] Louise Saddadi: Hi, can you hear me?

[00:18:41] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yes we can.

[00:18:42] Louise Saddadi: Okay, thank you very much. Uh, so I just have a few uh short comments. Uh, I think that um uh that we can um discuss uh that document uh over and over, but uh I think it's very important to keep in mind that we need to stay compliant with the Housing Element and the requirements by HCD. Because if we uh fall short of keeping our units of what is required uh in the next six months, we could be subject to the Builder's Remedy. So that is the big issue here, you know, not to uh get too distracted by fixing this or that or all that, and that something is unfair and all that. Uh, the reality is we don't want a Builder's Remedy. So we need to uh be focused as a city to make sure that the housing units that we have coming up will meet uh what is required for us not to have a Builder's Remedy. Number two, uh um so um, I am younger than uh Councilman Ray Wang, and he's uh was saying very impassioned that we should just get rid of uh any uh transportation and just put an extra lane. And uh that will... that that is what his wish is. And I beg to differ because in my uh my uh history on this planet, when we put 85 that was supposed to decrease traffic, and it did not, you know, the traffic lanes just filled up. And even if you throw an extra lane in like Councilman Wang said, it doesn't really solve the problem because you end up with like... you can end up with six lanes of traffic like you do in Los Angeles area and they're all bumper to bumper and uh parking lots. So extra lane mentality is not the solution. I have been in cities where they do have transit. Yes, it's difficult to make happen, but it's wonderful when you have a successful transit. So just because something is difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. And it's been very successful in many cities. Uh so um so there you have it. Um, my uh two short comments on this. Thank you.

[00:21:28] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you Louise. And Mayor, no additional requests to speak on this item.

[00:21:32] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. And uh I'd like to add one more point I forgot to mention. The as I mentioned, the job count for 2050 is artificially determined inflated number, but the projected population in 2050 will be three times of the number of jobs. Which is make make the population number even more unrealistic. And as we have seen yesterday, we are being warned by Councilmember Fruen that if we don't identify more housing element sites because many five or five sites at least so far on Stevens Creek, we upzoned but they are only building townhomes. Then we will be required to to meet compliance with the State, we might be required to upzone more sites because we have to hit that artificial number given to us. And this plan will make that number even higher, which means we will have more Builder's Remedy project or more project that would be by-right approval. And which is makes it even more important we submit a comment letter so that we don't do it after the fact. Thank you. Um, Councilmember Fruen.

[00:22:57] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: So I just wanted to clarify a few points and make sure that I'm understanding some of your your statements correctly. Um, on which Plan Bay Area are you asserting that the RHNA figures are based?

[00:23:11] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I think the current RHNA figure is based on the Plan Bay Area 2040.

[00:23:17] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: No. It's based on Plan Bay Area 2050. Which is already in effect.

[00:23:22] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: The current is based on 2050.

[00:23:24] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: It's based on 2050.

[00:23:25] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: No wonder. So it's...

[00:23:27] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: And the the what what MTC ABAG would do right now actually revises the figures downward in Plan Bay Area 2050+. So I think that that's an important thing to keep in mind. The the second that I want to understand is is I'm not really following your line of reasoning on the question of the excuse me, the Builder's Remedy or other penalties that you're asserting. Because all that we have to do under housing element law is maintain a certified housing element. That just means that we have to plan for the housing. It doesn't mean that it has to be built.

[00:24:07] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: But if we plan and they are not built we are punished.

[00:24:10] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: No we're not. By by what? By what are we punished?

[00:24:13] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Um because they are they are... by law, the housing element law HCD every year would evaluate how much we are developing according to the target number. If we don't meet the performance, um SB 35 would require um any project with 50% BM... housing can be streamlined. And if we don't perform even worse, any project with 10% below market rate will be streamlined.

[00:24:45] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: And that that streamlining is no different from applying under the Housing Accountability Act. The only difference is who who has a hearing.

[00:24:53] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. So we are...

[00:24:54] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: So that's that's not a penalty.

[00:24:55] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: If there is no penalty we don't have to rezone sites next year.

[00:24:59] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: No, if we... No. No. There is a there is a penalty. There is a penalty if you wind up having insufficient zoned capacity. Because then you don't have a housing element that is compliant. If you don't have a housing element that is compliant, then the Builder's Remedy applies.

[00:25:17] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah, but we have to upzone because the the projected growth is much more than our capacity so we were forced to upzone to meet so-called paper capacity.

[00:25:33] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yes.

[00:25:33] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yes. So that's why we need to object to that.

[00:25:34] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: But what relevance is that? I I don't see the the logic in that. The number is coming down.

[00:25:39] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: But the environmental impact is real that...

[00:25:42] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Sure. No, I agree I agree that there is that there is value in making a a comment. I just don't agree that there's value in fighting about the the question of the growth projection. That ship has sailed.

[00:25:53] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: No, I think if we argue about the growth projection, the State should then adjust it down significantly so that we can adjust our Housing Element numbers down significantly to meet the realistic capacity.

[00:26:51] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Why would we adjust them downward?

[00:26:52] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Because there is never going to be the population that will need the housing.

[00:26:56] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yeah, I don't I don't think that's true at all.

[00:26:58] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: They're asking us to plan for units that developer are not going to build because there's no market demand.

[00:27:04] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yeah, right now because the market is different from what it used to be.

[00:27:09] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: It is different because our job is different.

[00:27:12] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: I mean I would I would be fine I would be fine with a letter, I'd be perfectly fine with a letter that requests, even demands that MTC ABAG justify the figures that they are describing. I don't think that we be we should be so prescriptive as to ask for them to change them to DOF numbers on a on an issue that has already been lost.

[00:27:33] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Um, I think a issue is never lost if all the cities step up to request. We use realistic numbers. Um so, Vice... Councilmember Wang and then Vice Mayor.

[00:27:49] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: I I actually think it's important to fight these numbers and these assumptions even if they were lost. I mean, they're the huge financial impact to every city, the wasted amount of taxpayer dollars on studies after studies, um filing housing element requirements, all this stuff, all this stuff because we have wrong numbers and we didn't readjust those numbers and we built for a problem that actually is not here and that's part of planning but if you're that far off in terms of projections, that's a huge issue. And so if we're taking projections, and yes they're going to be revised a little bit down for 2050, if we don't revise them to an accuracy or an accurate level, then everybody's wasting time. The number of consultants that have grifted on this is ridiculous. Uh this has been the issue with all these kind of massive centralized plans. They basically go out, consultants make a ton of money, cities lose their money, and everybody drives down their quality of life. Um this has been consistent for the last 20 years of these planning cycles. And so it is imperative for us to actually write something. I agree that maybe the numbers are coming down, but they better be using accurate numbers and they can't they can't continue to impart this type of I'd say authoritarian lack of democratic approach to actual planning where we really don't have a say. They force it using quasi-governmental entities that have no democratic process on top of us. Uh and and so let's at least demand that they use accurate numbers. If they don't use accurate numbers, they revise those numbers and revise our projections down as those numbers come down. Because they've been working with false numbers since the beginning and we've suffered as a result of that.

[00:29:47] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Um, thank you Mayor for digging into the draft Plan Bay Area 2050+ and the draft EIR. And I do appreciate uh your letter. Um, I don't know if it has been all entirely fact checked by um city staff, but uh I would appreciate if that would happen. Um, as to the zoning changes, my concern there is that when we uh increase the zoning and the density it is uh it helps uh with the the value of the land, it increases the value of the land, so that such that we have individuals who are making a living off of getting projects entitled with this increased um density and then and then selling off the project. Um, so I did also uh send a letter um today, and I'll share my screen. And I focused in on um and this was on uh representing myself only. And I focused in on um the EIR specifically and whether or not it is an adequate EIR. So um, it's in the written communications. I'll kind of scroll through here. There's uh several different issues. Um, one I think in particular is the growth inducing impact analysis and alternatives to project. Um, so I'll stop sharing screen. So it is in the written communications if someone's interested in that. Um so I sent it on um like I said representing myself only and uh once again I do really appreciate you going to the trouble of um looking through the entire uh Plan Bay Area and the draft EIR for us. Thank you.

[00:30:43] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. Did you submit your letter to the public comment, written comment?

[00:30:48] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Yes.

[00:30:49] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Great. Thank you. Um, Councilmember Mohan. And then I think Councilmember Fruen you still want to comment?

[00:31:03] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Thank you Mayor. Uh I had uh two questions. And one for Councilmember Fruen. When you said that this boat has sailed... uh the ship has sailed... what were you uh referring to?

[00:31:16] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Basically this this is the projection that was already used for Plan Bay Area 2050. So I don't know why we would be trying to revisit that. That's already etched in stone.

[00:31:29] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: So are you saying this uh Plan Bay Area 2050+ will have no impact on our RHNA numbers for now?

[00:31:40] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: No. Not until the next cycle.

[00:31:42] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Which is 2031?

[00:31:44] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yes. And that will go through a whole different set of methodology, that will go through ABAG's process. There's a whole lot of other stuff that that happens between now and then. In addition, like I said, this this fight essentially already occurred over which exact set of figures should be used when Plan Bay Area 2050 was on the table. And this is the direction that MTC ABAG went.

[00:32:14] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Uh and and that was my other question, Mayor. Uh is this the only document that is used as the basis for RHNA numbers? I I'm assuming no.

[00:32:27] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: There is a methodology that is used to allocate. So it's not just a a topline figure. There is a methodology that is used to allocate between different cities as to how much they are required to plan for. Again, it's a planning mandate. It's not a building mandate.

[00:32:43] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Okay.

[00:32:45] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: It... Housing Element was originally intended as a planning mandate, but unfortunately recent state laws has added a lot of enforcement measures that have made it a building mandate because the cities get punished left and right.

[00:33:05] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: In what way are they punished? We we just established the only punishment you could articulate was a provision of SB 35 which is substantially the same as bringing an application right now under the Housing Accountability Act. The only difference is who has a hearing.

[00:33:20] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Punished in taking away our right to approve project and forcing us to upzone land so the pre... so the land prices are more expensive, housing actually gets more expensive.

[00:33:33] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yeah, I think that's a misunderstanding of economics.

[00:33:35] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: And I don't think that any ship is sailed. Ever since I got involved with the city, everyone says, oh, Valco is sailed. But then I think as in a democracy we should never assume anything is set in stone. We continue to advocate and we hope that State and MTC will eventually come to realize the reality that these numbers actually drive up housing prices rather than down.

[00:34:01] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yeah, I I don't accept that view and if that's what's motivating this then I won't be signing on. I will certainly send a letter of my own because I think that you have articulated some things in here that I think are very useful in terms of environmental impacts and they're they're worth examining.

[00:34:18] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay, so it's uh 6:39. Um, what... So... Councilmember Wang?

[00:34:38] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Mayor, are you making a motion?

[00:34:40] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Uh, okay I'll make the motion to submit the letter that's authorized the Mayor to submit the letter that's in in the agenda packet.

[00:34:52] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Happy to second.

[00:34:55] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Um, Councilmember Mohan you have a comment?

[00:34:58] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Uh yeah, I wanted to make a quick comment uh about the the ending of your for your letter. Can we make it more open-ended and say we'd like to uh we're asking MTC to um explain the numbers to us as opposed to just sort of shutting the door and saying we don't agree with you. Uh what what is the...

[00:35:19] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: What is the basis for these numbers for both MTC and uh ABAG to see?

[00:35:25] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So um the process with draft EIR is we submit comments. They will in the final EIR there will be a section where they answer each of the question people raised. That's how they communicate with the city or or anyone. So there is not shutting the door or not. This is just a comment letter.

[00:35:49] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Okay, I'm not sure I agree with the ending but uh I I'm hearing what you're saying.

[00:35:54] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: What do you mean by ending?

[00:35:56] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: I would like uh you to request uh...

[00:36:00] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: How would you like to rephrase it? Could you suggest a language?

[00:36:04] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Uh to protect yeah, to protect public safety, ensure infrastructure and maintain fiscal reserves, we would like the City Council of uh Cupertino would like um uh an explanation from MTC and ABAG uh on uh the discrepancy in the numbers that we are uh seeing.

[00:36:22] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I think that's even... it's not possible they will respond to us directly though. So I'm happy to just um... I mean it's it's probably unrealistic to expect them to respond to us.

[00:36:47] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: No, but the point is the point is that we've made our point.

[00:36:49] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. Should we say just 'consider to revise' so it's not very... hm? Uh Council mem... uh Vice Mayor.

[00:37:06] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: I I'd be open to that friendly amendment, but go ahead.

[00:37:10] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. So it's softer. Consider to revise. Vice Mayor.

[00:37:14] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: I think you're... the closing paragraph is adequate. Um, but like as I said earlier I would want to make sure that this has been fact checked before it goes out um by staff. And that would be my only uh change. Um and I I hope that some of the comments that I uh sent in, um like I said representing myself only, and uh once again I do really appreciate you going to the trouble of um looking through the entire uh Plan Bay Area and the draft EIR for us. Thank you.

[00:37:58] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So you would like the staff to fact check check it. But I would accept that we just soften the language to 'consider to revise' because really this is just a comment. They can do whatever they want. So... Would that be acceptable? Yeah.

[00:38:17] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Um, if you are taking issue with certain things with regards to the EIR, um it's not 'to consider to revise'. They need to go and check if they're correct or not and then it's not it isn't optional. If there if there is a problem then they're leaving the door open for um a challenge. So I mean you can soften the language I guess, but be careful.

[00:38:42] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Revise accordingly means revise if they're they they agree with the issue. And if they don't agree, they don't have to revise.

[00:38:53] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Um, well that's that's up to them, right? If they don't agree they won't they won't revise.

[00:38:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: But if they agree then that means legally they have to revise.

[00:39:03] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Well I I'm not sure what they will agree to, but I think from our side we need an explanation as to why these numbers came out the way it did. So I'm not sure we want them to agree as much as to explain.

[00:39:18] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So um Vice Mayor... um well in the section where you are discussing those numbers you can put in a sentence that that says that. But I think your closing is is fine. It's it's not... So you would like an explanation. Okay. I think that makes sense. I'm actually thinking that we um instead of just submitting to the comments, we should sub send this directly to the MTC ABAG committee members. I think that's more reasonable. When we send to the members who are uh representing us, we can ask them for an explanation. So maybe we add that and ask for explanation for the numbers. Would that be acceptable?

[00:40:04] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yeah, if is if that's the process.

[00:40:05] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. So we submit the comment letter but then we to the public comment portal but we also submit the letter with the request for an explanation to the MTC ABAG leadership. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Um, Councilmember Wang, do we need a friendly minute friendly amendment from Councilmember Mohan?

[00:40:37] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Uh, so would you accept the friendly friendly amendment? So the motion now includes a letter to MTC ABAG leadership to request an explanation of the growth numbers. Do you accept it? Is that to me? I will. Um but we are we adding uh Councilmember Mohan's as well?

[00:40:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: We are accepting Councilmember Mohan and uh and the friendly amendment from Vice Mayor to have the staff um vet the correctness. I accept.

[00:41:14] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Any specific thing from your letter you would like to include? No? Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. It's 6:46. Um, Councilmember Fruen any comment?

[00:41:28] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Yeah, I just want to understand exactly what it is that is being changed in the letter.

[00:41:32] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So we are not changing anything in the letter, but then we are sending the letter to the MTC ABAG leadership and in that cover letter with this attachment we will ask for an explanation of the growth strategy. Because I think that's more appropriate for communication. Okay.

[00:41:56] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: So you're talking about uh another letter that goes on to MTC ABAG leadership? Okay. Wouldn't it be just simpler just to change the the draft that that you have?

[00:42:07] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I think it's hard harder to change the draft right now because the draft letter is meant to be sent for the written comment for EIR. That they don't respond to people individually for that. They'll just integrate answers in a final draft. So it's moot point to even ask for an explanation here. Yeah. Okay. In the interest of time, I I will... Yeah. I think it's better from local government to MTC ABAG we ask for explanation. Yeah.

[00:42:44] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yeah. I think that's good point. Okay.

[00:42:46] City Manager Tina Kapoor: And Mayor, in your reiteration of the motion I think you um didn't include the fact that staff would fact check before it was delivered.

[00:42:53] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah, I did mention that. Council... yeah. Thank you for confirming that. So, are we ready to vote? Okay. Let's vote.

[00:43:08] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen?

[00:43:09] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Abstain.

[00:43:10] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Mohan?

[00:43:11] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yes.

[00:43:12] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Wang?

[00:43:14] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Yes.

[00:43:15] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Vice Mayor Moore?

[00:43:16] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Yes.

[00:43:17] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Mayor Chao?

[00:43:18] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yes.

[00:43:19] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: The motion carries with Fruen abstaining.

[00:43:22] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Thank you. Uh now we would go directly to the regular meeting. So I'd like to call the regular meeting of December 2nd to order. And let's do the pledge of allegiance.

[00:43:42] Council: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:43:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Roll call please.

[00:44:01] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen?

[00:44:02] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Here.

[00:44:03] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Mohan?

[00:44:04] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yes.

[00:44:05] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Wang?

[00:44:07] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Here.

[00:44:08] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Vice Mayor Moore?

[00:44:09] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Present.

[00:44:10] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Mayor Chao?

[00:44:11] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Here.

[00:44:12] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: And Mayor, another reminder that Councilmember Wang is participating remotely this evening. And I will request roll call votes for all Council actions. Additionally, Councilmember Wang, I will rely on you to notify uh us of any members of the public wishing to provide comments from your location. Thank you.

[00:44:31] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Yeah. Thank you.

[00:44:33] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So, any close session report?

[00:44:40] City Attorney Floy Andrews: There was no close session this evening, so there's no report. Thank you.

[00:44:44] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. Thank you. And uh for the ceremonial items... First we have a proclamation recognizing the work of City Manager's Office.

[00:44:57] City Manager Tina Kapoor: Thank you Mayor. I'm happy...

Segment 2

[00:45:00] City Manager Tina Kapoor: City departments at Council meetings starting a few months ago and tonight I'm pleased to recognize the City Manager's Office or CMO as we call it. A team that works every day to support this organization and serve our community.

[00:45:14] City Manager Tina Kapoor: CMO includes several key functions: Communications, which is driving engagement and keeping our community informed. Economic development, supporting businesses, strengthening our local economy. Emergency management, ensuring we're prepared for the unexpected and ready to respond.

[00:45:33] City Manager Tina Kapoor: City Clerk, of course, hybrid meetings, publishing agendas, managing official records, PRAs, enough said. Administrative support, so tracking legislation, updating City Work Program dashboard as you saw yesterday and supporting the policy work.

[00:45:50] City Manager Tina Kapoor: And also the receptionist for City Hall, welcoming—this is the welcoming face of City Hall, handling questions, directions, and the occasional surprising request with professionalism and grace.

[00:46:41] City Manager Tina Kapoor: CMO is at the center of the action, coordinating citywide operations, providing leadership to all departments and working closely with Council to implement your priorities. And it's a role that requires constant communication, collaboration, and on some days, very good sense of humor.

[00:46:58] City Manager Tina Kapoor: So to our staff here today, thank you for your steadfast support and for managing complex workloads, fast-moving issues, and tight timelines. This is a spirit that you bring that makes even the busiest days most rewarding.

[00:47:13] City Manager Tina Kapoor: At this time, I'd like to invite the team forward for a photo and Councilmembers, please join me in recognizing the City Manager's Office.

[00:47:21] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. Thank you. I think the City Manager's Office is the little engine that could do everything that drives the city. Thank you so much and thank the City Manager for the initiative of recognizing every city department in one of the meetings. Thank you.

[00:49:00] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So next we have the proclamation recognizing Dr. Darrel Lum for his exemplary contributions to grassroots democracy and civic engagement. So we have a video that's kind of directed and produced by me who have no experience but with some volunteer students from the Film and TV Production department at De Anza and a member of the Cupertino TV Productions team. So thank you for all their help.

[00:49:48] Narrator: In the heart of Cupertino, long before Silicon Valley reshaped the landscape we know today, there was a man whose quiet dedication helped define the spirit of the city. Dr. Darrel Lum was more than a respected dentist; he was a neighbor, listener, and a steward of the community.

[00:50:08] Dennis Whittaker: Darrel and Cheryl and our kids went to Monta Vista High School, so we met them. He was tall, lanky, very intelligent. And we got to be friends fairly quickly.

[00:50:22] Narrator: His dental office became a gathering place for conversation, collaboration, and grassroots democracy. To many, Darrel was simply their dentist: warm, welcoming, and precise. But his office wasn't strictly used for dentistry. It was a gathering place, a center where neighbors shaped the future of their city.

[00:50:44] Ned Britt: We were starting up a citizens organization called the Concerned Citizens of Cupertino, CCC. His office became our typical meeting place. After hours, he would open up his office and a number of the group would come in there. And also he was very active in knowing about what the city issues were, what the plans were.

[00:51:48] Narrator: Friends and fellow neighbors reminisced about Darrel's patience and hospitality.

[00:51:53] Ned Britt: Our discourse was much more civil in those days than today, and Darrel exemplified that. He would always be calm and present things. He always knew what he was talking about.

[00:52:07] Steve Scharf: He's amazingly well-informed when he speaks. He doesn't get angry, he stays calm. If there's a zoning issue or a height issue, he knows the rules. And when the City Council would violate them, he would be the first to let them know about it.

[00:52:23] Narrator: He helped form Concerned Citizens of Cupertino, creating a platform where everyday residents could have a voice.

[00:52:30] Darrel Lum: My name is Darrel Lum, I'm speaking for CCC.

[00:52:34] Peggy Griffin: One of these meetings, in fact all the meetings, we would all be talking, giving our opinions and it would get a little bit rowdy and people were talking above each other. And Darrel, who was standing back kind of just as a facilitator, would smile, shake his head, he'd disappear, he'd come back with his toothbrush about this big. And he'd say, 'Okay, you can't speak unless you've got the toothbrush.'

[00:53:39] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: You can submit a reconsideration. You can propose an initiative so that the citizens can propose a law. We also learned about the referendum process. If the Council has already passed a project and if we would like to overturn the decision, you can collect 10% of the signatures so that it will be put on the ballot measure, then the whole city gets to vote.

[00:54:04] Narrator: As one close colleague said, Darrel represented people who often go unrepresented. He knew cities must evolve, but never at the cost of the communities that make them home.

[00:54:16] John Wiley: Darrel, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me about Cupertino and for helping us Cupertino residents to guide the growth of Cupertino, the place we call home.

[00:55:13] Narrator: This is his legacy. This is the story of a man who spoke not just for himself, but for all of us.

[00:55:45] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay, thank you. So let's take a photo with the proclamation.

[00:56:50] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So, Cheryl. Yeah. Unfortunately, Dr. Darrel Lum... I... this would be my last meeting as Mayor. So I thought it's really important for me to recognize Darrel, who really taught me everything I... I know about City Council. He taught me what's General Plan, how do you revise it, what's the process.

[00:57:16] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: But he passed away early January last year. So I think it's important that I recognize the impact that he has made, made in Cupertino. And I hope to take the time to read the proclamation. This is his wife and he brought the toothbrush. With me in the room, we have to have a toothbrush, you know. I can't stop talking.

[00:58:35] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: So, Dr. Darrel Lum, a longtime Cupertino resident and beloved local dentist, moved to Cupertino in the mid-1970s and opened his dental practice on Pacific Drive near the City Hall, where he served generations of Cupertino families with kindness, professionalism, and integrity.

[00:59:03] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Beyond his professional excellence, Dr. Lum devoted his life to civic engagement and grassroots democracy. As Cupertino experienced rapid growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dr. Lum became a leading voice for citizen participation in local government, working tirelessly to expand public notification, transparency, and community awareness of proposed developments and planned decisions.

[01:00:17] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: His dental office became an informal civic classroom where city plans and project maps adorned the walls and where countless residents, including future community leaders, first learned about the General Plan, the Planning Commission process, and how to engage meaningfully in city decision-making.

[01:00:41] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Dr. Lum was instrumental in fostering grassroots organizations, encouraging residents to study issues, attend public meetings, and advocate respectfully for policies that reflected the community's voice.

[01:00:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Together with his wife Cheryl, Dr. Lum worked persistently to place referendums and initiatives on the ballot, empowering Cupertino voters to directly shape the city's future. For more than 25 years, Dr. Lum's research, public testimony, and advocacy were categorized by depth, precision, and respect for different views.

[01:02:09] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Though Dr. Lum passed away in early 2024, his legacy lives on in the vibrant civic spirit of Cupertino, in the generations of residents that he mentored, and in enduring principle that government functions best when citizens are informed and engaged.

[01:02:37] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I, Mayor Liang Chao, and the Cupertino City Council do hereby recognize Dr. Darrel Lum for his exemplary contributions to Cupertino and declare him the Champion of Grassroots Democracy and Civic Engagement, and encourage all residents to honor his remarkable life, his commitment to democracy at the grassroots level, and his lasting contributions to the civic fabric of Cupertino.

[01:03:53] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I'd like to invite everyone who has known Darrel, has spoken to him, to come up to the stage to honor him together. Whether you agree with his view or not.

[01:06:00] Cheryl Lum: I want to thank all of you for thinking highly of him. On behalf of Darrel, I accept this proclamation. Thank you all so very much.

[01:08:48] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Before we move on, I have a short statement about this process. There was some concern raised about the proclamation because it used the words—it mentioned the words initiative and referendum in the process of honoring Dr. Darrel Lum.

[01:09:08] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Both, in case you don't know what they are, both are tools of direct democracy. They allow voters to place questions on the ballot and help ensure that the City Council remains accountable to the people we serve. A referendum allows the voters to challenge or overturn a specific Council decision on a project, while an initiative allows the voters to propose a new law or policy that may affect many projects in the future.

[01:10:20] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: If we intentionally omit either initiative or referendum from this proclamation, I feel strongly that it can create the impression that the Council wishes to keep the voters from learning about the rights they have under the California Constitution, or that we attach a stigma to the members of the public who challenge Council decisions.

[01:10:48] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I don't believe that is the message we want to send. As a Councilmember, I believe we should affirm, not discourage these rights. That is part of how we honor Dr. Lum's legacy of civic engagement and respect for the voice of the community. Thank you.

[01:11:14] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. So let's move on to the next item, which is a presentation from the Solving Fun on the Cupertino Puzzle Hunt month-long event.

[01:12:30] Marci Tivol: Is this better? Yeah. Okay. Hi, I'm Marci Tivol and I'm here first representing Solving Fun. We were asked to create a puzzle hunt with City of Cupertino. We've been doing them with cities all around the country and we're very excited to be here.

[01:12:47] Marci Tivol: Thank you so much. We were blown away by the kindness and compassion and enthusiasm from the Cupertino residents. For those of you that don't know what a puzzle hunt is, we make puzzles and then people in the community solve them that's open to everybody, all ages, and they're meant to lead you to different locations around Cupertino. So for the community to work together, outdoors, off screens, solving puzzles and getting out there and seeing new places that they haven't seen.

[01:13:16] Marci Tivol: We were blown away by the feedback and the response that we got from the community. There were over 500 entries that completed the entire hunt. There were eight puzzles and a final puzzle and it was in honor of the 70th anniversary for Cupertino. The puzzles were all different types of puzzles: logic and wordplay, and each one led to a different place in one of the amazing places in Cupertino.

[01:13:42] Marci Tivol: So we just want to thank you. It was amazing to work with the city. We'd love to do it again next year and we hope that everyone enjoyed it.

[01:13:52] Marci Tivol: This is just a little bit of background. You can go through pretty quickly, I guess since I talked. Some of the feedback that we got, I'll just read some of our favorites. But, 'It was very fun solving puzzles together as a family and discovering new places to enjoy in Cupertino. We look forward to the next challenge. Thank you.'

[01:14:07] Marci Tivol: 'It was an excellent puzzle. Would love to do it again. Proud to be a Cupertino resident.' 'The hunt was an amazing way to spend quality time with my family and connect with our community. It reminded us how much there is to discover right here in Cupertino.' So these are just a few of the many, many feedbacks that we got from solvers.

[01:14:27] Marci Tivol: Again, this is just what a puzzle hunt is. Solving puzzles, each one takes you to a different location. Go ahead. We want to thank our supporters, the Mayor's Initiative, the Library Foundation, super supportive, the Cupertino Unified Schools, Fremont Union, De Anza College and Code Ninjas Cupertino.

[01:14:48] Marci Tivol: Bringing communities together, visiting new landmarks, outdoors, again, off screens and really we're proud that it's open to everyone of all ages. Go ahead. This is just a little brief overview, you can skip this one. And some sample puzzles. Again, logic, wordplay, visual, all different types to get people involved and different strengths.

[01:15:15] Marci Tivol: Some of the advertising locations. Go ahead. And some of the fun data. So over 5,000 visits to the Cupertino page, 2,200 visits to the Cupertino Puzzles page, and almost a thousand people registered for information about the hunt. Visitors came from all over the Bay Area and there were over 500 final answers.

[01:15:40] Marci Tivol: And then just some photos from the event. We had an event at the library which was amazing. Solvers could come and solve puzzles together. Sudokus our mascot and was there to greet people. Thank you so much.

[01:15:56] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you for doing this. I think I heard about Palo Alto Puzzle Hunt like two, three years ago and I've been thinking about how we might do it in Cupertino because I used to love puzzle when I was young and loved doing puzzle with my kids. So yeah, thank you for bringing it to the Cupertino community.

[01:16:18] Marci Tivol: Yes, thank you. Yeah, we're on our fifth year with Palo Alto and hope to create many more for Cupertino as well. So thank you for bringing it here.

[01:16:31] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. So next we have postponements and orders of the day. And we are postponing the film production item. What number is that?

[01:16:46] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Item 5, Mayor.

[01:16:47] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Item 5. Okay. For we are postponing the second reading and enactment of attachments for the film production permit. The original intent was that this would only affect the use of public property or public street. However, the language needs to be clarified so we are postponing this to take another look at the language.

[01:17:19] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Next we have oral communications. Oh right. Need to... move to second?

[01:17:27] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yeah, thank you. Moore second.

[01:17:34] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen? Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye. Councilmember Wang? Aye. Vice Mayor Moore? Aye. Mayor Chao? Aye. The motion carries unanimously.

[01:17:48] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. Could you introduce the oral communications?

[01:17:53] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yes, Mayor. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Council on any matter within the jurisdiction of the Council and not on the agenda for discussion. The total time for oral communications will ordinarily be limited to one hour. Individual speakers are limited to three minutes. As necessary, the Chair may further limit the time allowed to individual speakers or reschedule remaining comments to the end of the meeting on a first come, first served basis with priority given to students.

[01:18:19] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: In most cases, state law will prohibit the Council from discussing or making any decisions with respect to a matter not listed on the agenda. A Councilmember may, however, briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by speakers. A Councilmember may also ask a question for clarification, provide a reference for factual information, request staff to report back concerning a matter, or request that an item be added to a future City Council agenda in response to a public comment.

[01:18:45] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Anyone wishing to provide comments under this section, please submit your requests in the next nine minutes. Mayor, I have approximately... let's see... approximately six, seven requests to speak, which would take us to about 21 minutes.

[01:19:04] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: There was a... we did receive a request to speak under the proclamation for Darrel Lum. Council does not generally allow comments under ceremonial matters, so if you would like to speak on this item, I will call on you.

[01:19:24] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Okay. So first we have Michael Chang followed by Susan Bloomfield followed by no name but regarding traffic on Morro Bay Drive and pickleball court. Welcome Michael.

[01:19:41] Michael Chang: Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilmembers. I'm here today because I'm a homeowner. I currently reside and live at Arroyo Village near the Westport Senior Complex at the corner of Stevens Creek and Mary Avenue.

[01:20:01] Michael Chang: Adjacent to my home is a community laneway named Morro Bay Terrace, which runs between Mary Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard. And this laneway is under the control of the developer, Westport... under the control of the developer for Westport, Related California.

[01:20:25] Michael Chang: The current problem with this laneway is that it's being used as a shortcut for many, many vehicles coming down Mary Avenue and by numerous residents at Glenbrook Apartments directly across from our community. And so they basically are using this laneway to cut across from Mary Avenue directly onto Stevens Creek Boulevard.

[01:20:49] Michael Chang: Earlier this year, due to persistent speeding by those utilizing this laneway, Related California installed two staggered sets of speed bumps spanning the entire width of this laneway. In particular, one set of these speed bumps is approximately 20 feet away from my home. And for both myself and my neighbors, this has caused a tremendous noise impact throughout the day and especially at night from vehicles that continue to speed and cut through this laneway.

[01:21:25] Michael Chang: In mid-September, the City of Cupertino additionally erected street signage at the entrance to Morro Bay from Mary Avenue prohibiting direct throughway of traffic, but this has really accomplished nothing. Specifically, the noise, traffic and all the speeding remain unabated and this laneway continues to have no posted speed limits, no stop signs, and no lane divider markings, to name a few.

[01:21:53] Michael Chang: To date, Related California has failed to even acknowledge our noise issue and formally refused to do anything unless further directed to do so by the City of Cupertino. And so here I am today before you. I would like to ask the City Council for your assistance to help to mitigate this current noise, traffic, and safety issue within our neighborhood. Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you very much for your consideration.

[01:22:26] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you, Michael. Next we have Susan Bloomfield, followed by a resident that did not leave their name but regarding Morro Bay Drive and vaping on pickleball court. Welcome Susan.

[01:22:44] Susan Bloomfield: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers, and staff. My name is Susan Bloomfield and I have been a Cupertino resident and homeowner for over 35 years. My husband and I have been playing pickleball for several years now and love our diverse pickleball community at Memorial Park.

[01:23:03] Susan Bloomfield: As you know, several of us have sent emails to you lately regarding sound barriers for the courts. I won't reiterate all that was in the emails, but I want to re-emphasize the main point, which is that we are very much in favor of sound barriers for the courts. We all support this idea wholeheartedly and want to encourage this.

[01:23:23] Susan Bloomfield: We do want to maintain good relationships with neighbors and we know there have been issues that we very much want to mitigate. I just played today at McKenzie Park in Los Altos where they do have sound barriers and I can say that it does help that situation. And that is the most important point we want to make.

[01:23:44] Susan Bloomfield: Secondly, many of our players are Cupertino residents and even those who aren't, spend money in our city. I have run into them while shopping at Target, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and while eating at our restaurants. So all of us are contributing to the city and its economy whether we live in the city or not. We all enjoy it very much and we would like to continue to do so. Thank you very much.

[01:24:13] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you, Susan. And we do have a request from a speaker regarding traffic on Morro Bay Drive and vaping on pickleball court. Yes, hello.

[01:24:24] Arif: That's me. Good evening everybody. My name is Arif, I'm here to talk about two issues. Number one is around the traffic that my neighbor Michael talked about. His issue, our issue is specifically around the noise that comes out of the traffic that speeds through the speed bumps.

[01:24:44] Arif: So that's one, but more importantly, there is ongoing traffic, especially during the early mornings and the late evenings. We have kids that use that lane to go to the park and I am concerned about their safety. So they... I have put in a request in the 311 app and I have been told that there will be some patrolling done, but I have not seen it yet.

[01:25:11] Arif: So I request your assistance in this regard. My second issue is around the vaping on pickleball courts. It's not just around the seating area, there are people actually playing pickleball and vaping. So this is a serious concern. I have family members with asthma and we use pickleball a lot, we go there a lot.

[01:25:38] Arif: And I have put in a request again in the 311 app. We have called the enforcement agency... the enforcement agency... I don't remember the name but there is a department that enforces and they have said... they have redirected us to another department saying that, you know, we need to put a sign on the pickleball court. So we have been kind of, you know... we have been sent back and forth between these two departments. So again, I would like your assistance in this regard. Thank you for your time.

[01:26:13] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you, Arif. Next we have Brooke Ezzet, followed by Ned Britt, followed by Peggy Griffin. Welcome Brooke. And Ned you had requested to speak on Darrel Lum's proclamation, if you're still here. Welcome Brooke.

[01:26:33] Brooke Ezzet: Thank you. Good evening. I have just three points to make. First of all, I wanted to compliment the Mayor on the job she's done as Mayor. I can remember the first time you spoke in front of City Council and I just think you've done a fantastic job.

[01:26:50] Brooke Ezzet: Secondly, I wanted to thank the City for acknowledging Darrel Lum. He was a wonderful human being. He was kind and generous and low-key and I don't think people realize the influence he had because he was always quiet and in the background and always stood in the back of the City Council meetings.

[01:27:07] Brooke Ezzet: And finally, there's one issue that I want to address and I want to address it to Councilman Fruen. I was really, really taken aback by your interactions with the Mayor and I was taken aback by your comment to another Councilmember about pearl clutching. I think you're a very bright man and I think I expect better from you. Thank you.

[01:27:29] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you Brooke. And next we have Ned Britt followed by Peggy Griffin followed by Rhoda Fry. And I believe Ned Britt has left the meeting so Peggy Griffin, welcome.

[01:27:49] Peggy Griffin: Good evening Mayor Chao, Councilmembers, staff. I want to reiterate what Brooke said and I also want to thank Mayor Chao for her wonderful service this year as Mayor. I've seen... I've attended several... quite a few of the Mayor Chats and it gets... it's more attended each time. The participation is better. You're including people and the way you've added the presentations and encouraged involvement from all walks of Cupertino. I want to thank you. A job well done and we all benefited from it. Thank you.

[01:28:33] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you Peggy. Next we have Rhoda Fry and then we will move to those members of the public requesting to speak virtually. Welcome Rhoda.

[01:28:43] Rhoda Fry: Hi. Good evening, Mayor Chao. It has been just a wonderful having you as Mayor and it wasn't really until this year that I learned how really very warm and fuzzy you are. And you know, all these years that you've been on the dais and I just... I didn't... we got to see you in all your glory and it's been a wonderful year. So I want to thank you for that.

[01:29:08] Rhoda Fry: And also for recognizing Darrel Lum. I did not know the toothbrush story, but I did head talk with Darrel many times and he was always quiet, standing in the back, arms crossed. And he listened to everything and I asked him some questions. He was always so knowledgeable and you could tell he was just... was... had this great quality of leadership, was able to lead from behind.

[01:29:33] Rhoda Fry: It also seems like tonight was... I'm going to continue on Ms. Ezzet's commentary regarding Mr. Fruen. There was a meeting quite a bit ago... oh yeah, it was October, not this past October but probably the October before, where there was talk about pearl clutching, which was mentioned this evening. And I happened to be visiting my mom in New York, my mom and my sister, and I were watching, yes, Cupertino Council... I actually called in and commented and I was just stunned.

Segment 3

[01:30:00] City Manager Tina Kapoor: Yes. Mayor, my understanding is that there was a meeting that was scheduled, uh, city staff facilitated a meeting in August of 2025 with the developers and operators, um, and it seemed like, uh, it was a productive meeting and the entities appeared to have agreed on a plan to install alternative, uh, traffic calming devices like a, uh, private driveway or speed bump, uh, so I need to follow up on where that conversation is.

Segment 2

[01:30:10] Rhoda Fry: It's just so just so inappropriate. And I know that for some folks for whom English is not their first language, it's not a known comment, but please look it up.

[01:30:22] Rhoda Fry: The other thing is that you'll find in my public comment this evening is my concern with a potential for conflict of interest because Mr. Fruen has been serving in his job capacity for the City of San Jose as a Chief of Staff for a Councilmember. And so he's involved in projects that impact both Cupertino and San Jose, but in his day job he has San Jose as his primary interest.

Segment 3

[01:30:29] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. Yeah, it seems the speed bump doesn't work so they should, uh, meet again.

[01:30:35] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: And then the second issue is the pickleball, um, sound barrier. Any update on that?

[01:30:45] City Manager Tina Kapoor: Mayor, the only update I have is, uh, you know, I think I may not have officially set this on record, but our city engineers looked at the option of putting sound attenuation material on the fence and it was not structurally sound enough to do so. There is a cost, um, involved if we want to put up a, a wall so to speak. Um, so this is something that if, you know, Council has an interest in exploring, I'll have to bring that forward to Council to either approve, um, or explore other options. So this was something we could put on TBD and and have a conversation if there's interest.

Segment 2

[01:30:51] Rhoda Fry: And so I would ask that this body consider that he not vote on issues that involve inter-agencies because we need to keep... our primary interest needs to be Cupertino. And what a great year, Mayor Chao. So I want to thank you. You've kept it all above board. Thank you very much.

[01:31:08] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you Rhoda. We have two members of the public requesting to speak virtually, San Rao and Call-in User 1. Welcome San.

Segment 3

[01:31:20] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Yeah, I think we need that.

Segment 2

[01:31:23] San Rao: Good evening Mayor Chao, Vice Mayor Moore, Councilmembers. I was hoping that I might take this opportunity to be the first to speak to recognize what a year it's been. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the room and I guess Peggy and Brooke and Rhoda beat me to it.

Segment 3

[01:31:24] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: And then vaping at the pickleball court. I, that, this is the first time I've heard about it. And, yeah, I'm, if you don't have any information, you can get back to us later.

[01:31:39] City Manager Tina Kapoor: I have a little bit of information. We were able to look at the 311 tickets. Um, so we were able to refer some of that information to the Sheriff's office. Um, our code enforcement, um, requires that, that, you know, there is an activity that we can see in action happening. So, um, but but staff is aware and we've also involved the Sheriff's office in in that conversation. So we can follow up.

Segment 2

[01:31:40] San Rao: But nonetheless, you know, having raised my hand, I do want to express when the year started, we thought it was a year like any other. We've seen several mayors come and go and, you know, we hoped that we'd get a few things back. We hoped that we'd get our hybrid meetings back. We hoped that we'd get the Mayor's monthly meets going and we hoped that we might see a more civil decorum on dais.

[01:32:09] San Rao: Little did we know at the end of the year that we'd be touring east and west all of the restaurants and coffee shops across Cupertino. That we'd be seeing a plethora of events that most of us don't tend to enjoy, appreciate, or even venture into. That we'd see a number of events that Cupertino has never seen before, all put together by the Mayor's initiative and the Mayor pulling together a diverse group of people in many different hobbies and passions that probably never got their chance to express themselves as they did this time.

Segment 3

[01:32:09] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. I think the public member also mentioned the potentially a sign. I don't know if that will be help help or not. Yeah. Thank you. Um, anyone else has any short comments? Vice Mayor?

[01:32:20] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Uh, yeah, quick question. Are our no smoking signs also no vaping?

[01:32:29] City Manager Tina Kapoor: I would think so, but I'll have to confirm if there's a separate vaping signage needed. I know for our parks there's definitely no smoking signs.

[01:32:38] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Okay. Um, yeah, that would be great, uh, 'cause it can contain nicotine as well.

[01:32:42] City Manager Tina Kapoor: Yeah.

[01:32:43] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah, I think legally no smoking sign applies to vaping, but whether it's clear on the sign for the people who don't know, yeah, it's unclear. Okay.

Segment 2

[01:32:47] San Rao: We learned about organizations that frankly many of us have never heard of, organizations like the Odd Fellows that as a newer resident of Cupertino I had never heard of. And we saw a more humane side of Mayor Chao that is really hard to replicate amongst Councilmembers because most Councilmembers are really driven, they're focused, they're passionate about the community but they're not necessarily seeing the same sort of social side of bringing people together in the way that Mayor Chao did.

Segment 3

[01:32:59] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Um, next we go to consent items. Four to nine. Do we have any items pulled? So no? May, can, may we have a motion?

Segment 2

[01:33:20] San Rao: In fact, in many of her events, we'd actually shy away from being in the forefront because she'd be out there breaking a dance at her line dance or other events, including Indian events that I had the pleasure of taking Mayor Chao to. And so it's been a fantastic year. I fully expect we will see a diverse and different year and that's how it should be. When the guard changes, we see a new Mayor, we see a new flavor, and that's how, you know, it should be. And that's a reminder that Council is not permanent, Mayors are not permanent, and let's celebrate the year that was. Thank you.

Segment 3

[01:33:22] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Uh, just to note that number five was postponed.

[01:33:26] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Number five? Oh right. Number five was postponed. Thank you for the reminder. So, uh, Mayor? Oh, right. Public comment. So, item five, uh, four, six to nine.

[01:33:35] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Uh, Mayor, I wanted to make a quick, uh, comment on number nine. I didn't want it to be pulled off consent, but I was hoping that we could get some clarification on, uh, the process for including new Friendship Cities. Uh, just looking at this and, you know, nothing needs to be done now, but I am hoping, because we already have, uh, four Friendship Cities right now and two from the People's Republic of China, and those two expire in 2000, 2027. So, uh, uh, and and you're adding two more, uh, so just wanted to, uh, get a clarification on what, uh, the process is. And you can do it later if you want. It doesn't have to be now. But but maybe when we talk about Sister Cities...

Segment 2

[01:33:54] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you San. And next we have Call-in User 1. Welcome.

[01:34:09] Public Speaker: Yeah. Hello Councilmembers and residents and guests. Can you hear me?

[01:34:18] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yes, we can.

[01:34:19] Public Speaker: Okay. So the first... I was in person mentioning about mission of the city is transparency, I was talking about the direct communication between the residents and the city executive team and the Councilmember. Unless in person, this haven't happened, so I still want you guys consider.

Segment 3

[01:34:25] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: You want information after the meeting on the process?

[01:34:34] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Sure, or when we discuss the sister city, there is, it is on the TBD, uh, list. So if we could include this as well.

[01:34:44] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. I think there was a question from the public about Friendship City is not a government to government relationship. It's just something that we do to support community organization who would like to pursue some cultural business relationship. And so for us, the the principle is we it doesn't take any city resource, monetary or staff to support this organization, but then we, it's a gesture that we support their activity.

Segment 2

[01:34:46] Public Speaker: And the second thing I mention is about the... I want to feed a little background to it, some people might know. And we have a... we are in the family, long-term residents in the city. It's kind of the economic and social... the bottom edge of it and we try the best to hold on it. And the part of the roof actually need every few months to patch it.

Segment 3

[01:35:13] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yeah. I think there's probably, uh, there probably is some, uh, uh, staff impact. In fact, I think the the staff report says that. That, you know, you have to give gifts and you have to take them on tours and so on. So there is a small, uh, amount.

Segment 2

[01:35:14] Public Speaker: Years ago we were misled by the real estate agent which led to major loss of the... and hardship. Despite this, we take full responsibility and follow the proper path through the city departments and also use the licensed people to carry out, approve the plan for the second time. Unfortunately, a complaint from the first buildup and made by somebody... actually already left the petition led to the retaliation to the second one.

Segment 3

[01:35:29] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Whether they have Friendship City or not, um, we would incur that cost. If some, we have international delegation from a city we don't have any relationship of, we do do that anyway. So it's, we don't do anything extra for Friendship Cities.

[01:35:50] City Manager Tina Kapoor: There's, uh, that is correct. We do have, we do support international delegations as well. There's a section in the City Fri, Sister and Friendship City Policy. Uh, but, you know, Friendship Cities do not get any direct financial benefits from the city or any, uh, facility room waivers, but there is a little bit of a staff, uh, support involvement involved in that. And we can go over that when we bring the policy back.

Segment 2

[01:35:55] Public Speaker: And because a lack of communication and those years... unfortunately still some kept by the city right now and then I mentioned before, direct communication... and causing even more confusion. And we try to stand up but over time everything lost. And it feels like it was... it feels like a persecution and the city actually doesn't stop there, the pain doesn't stop there.

Segment 3

[01:36:15] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. Okay. So, um, let's go to public comment on four to nine except five.

[01:36:25] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Mayor, I currently see no requests to speak on any items on the consent calendar.

Segment 2

[01:36:32] Public Speaker: And we were forced labored and all rights stripped away and... and a lot of... it's not even related to the original matter. And this has been follow us every corner of life and for several years now. And it has reached a point so tragic that it's like a criminal and thief get empowered.

Segment 3

[01:36:34] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. And then, uh, may we have a motion?

[01:36:39] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Mayor, I move consent items, I have this listed, um, four and six through nine.

[01:36:47] Councilmember J.R. Fruen: Second.

[01:36:48] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: I'll just second.

[01:36:50] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah. Okay. So let's vote.

[01:36:58] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen? Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye. Councilmember Wang? Aye. Vice Mayor Moore? Aye. Mayor Chao? Aye. The motion carries unanimously.

Segment 2

[01:37:04] Public Speaker: And because the court accept the years ago the city narrative. The damage is from this... those untrue labors and led to the mental emotional decline and we have family member and also immobile. And lack of communication over the years which actually long past the stage of those... uh, forced labor. We were... we were not able to schedule any meetings and we've been forced to pay unnecessary legal fee and also the matters completely...

Segment 3

[01:37:15] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Thank you. So we go to item 10. Amendments to fiscal year 2025 and 26 fee schedule to establish a new fee for film permit application and film production. So, yeah, City Manager or City Attorney?

[01:37:35] City Manager Tina Kapoor: Yeah, I'll I'll quickly introduce it and then I'll turn it over to Floy. Um, so there, this, we have developed a fee schedule for the film permit. Um, and I just want to clarify that these fees for film permits will apply once the film ordinance goes into effect. So we're just, you know, we're doing a public hearing for the fees and as you postponed the ordinance item when we bring it back and after the 30 day time frame when that goes into effect, that's when these fees will be applicable. Um, and with that I will turn it over to Floy to walk us through. Thanks.

Segment 2

[01:37:53] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Thank you, that is your time. Mayor, no additional requests to speak on this item.

[01:37:58] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. Just want to remind everyone we usually discourage people from clapping because we don't want the speaker to be affected because of approval or disapproval. But usually signs are allowed as long as you don't block other people's view, so the signs are fine right now. But a reminder, if you want the video camera to see, you should be sitting down on this side of the chairs. Yeah. Just hold the sign in front of you.

Segment 3

[01:38:08] City Attorney Floy Andrews: Thank you City Manager. Um, City Clerk, could you put the one slide up for us? Which is, um, the suggested fees, the fee schedule that we've come up with to, um, work along with the, um, um, film ordinance. Um, in preparing these fees, because we, it's a new ordinance and we haven't imposed fees like this before, we haven't, we don't have any, um, experience of our own with what it will cost us to implement the film ordinance. And so what we've done as in preparing this initial fee schedule is looked at what other cities in our region and other cities with similar demographics to Cupertino and what they charge for, um, their film permit fees. And that's where this fee schedule came from. Um, other, uh, cities in our region, for instance Santa Clara, um, they just charge their staff's hourly time, um, which is, um, you know, it's a bit of an effort to keep track of the time, et cetera. It's much easier to have a fee schedule. Um, the City of Saratoga has just a single application fee for the permit of $388. Um, other, uh, cities have enacted, um, um, um, greater fees and, um, additional fees to the permit fee because they've experienced that it costs the city much more than, um, just, uh, processing an application. Um, and, um, ultimately, um, the staff has determined that, um, part of the fee schedule from the City of San Francisco is appropriate for the City of Cupertino, and part of the fee schedule for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes is appropriate for, um, Cupertino's fee schedule. And so we have created a combination of parts of those two fee schedules to come up with the fee schedule that we are proposing tonight. Um, it basically entails a permit application fee to cover the cost, staff's cost of processing, uh, the application. And then, um, it imposes, um, a daily impact fee for, um, any kind of filming that will take place over a period of days. There'll be a daily fee as well as the application fee. Um, the, um, the process of, um, instigating a film ordinance and associated fees, um, also is somewhat beneficial to those commercial entities looking to film in the city because it allows them an efficient process for interfacing with the city so that, um, they can move forward and understand exactly what the rules are and make sure that the city is there to support them and the mechanism for engaging, um, um, peace officer services if need be, et cetera. And so all in all, we think it's a, um, a good ordinance, although we will be making some revisions and we think the fee schedule is supportable.

Segment 2

[01:38:34] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: And so I think we can ask some questions. Do we have any update about the speeding issue on the Morro Bay Terrace? I don't remember the name of that...

Segment 3

[01:41:09] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Thank you. Um, so the reason that we are not postponing the fee schedule is because we are legally required to, um, notice the public hearing for this item.

[01:41:34] City Attorney Floy Andrews: Correct. And if we postpone, we have to re-notice, right?

[01:41:39] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Exactly. And if we adopt today, it won't be in effect until we actually adopt the ordinance.

[01:41:46] City Attorney Floy Andrews: Until final adoption of the ordinance. Exactly.

[01:41:49] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay.

[01:41:50] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Apologies. I am just sharing my screen now.

[01:41:52] City Attorney Floy Andrews: Oh. Thank you.

[01:41:57] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. So any question from Councilmembers?

[01:42:00] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Yeah, I had one question.

[01:42:02] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah.

[01:42:03] Councilmember Sheila Mohan: Uh, a question to you, uh, Madam City Attorney. Uh, in in these, uh, permit fees, is there a fee for, uh, using the name Cupertino?

[01:42:15] City Attorney Floy Andrews: We looked into that and unfortunately, um, the name Cupertino has been in the public domain for so many years that it's actually not owned by the city. And so we can't charge a fee for the use of the name.

[01:42:29] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Yeah, I wonder that about that too. Did we trademark it?

[01:42:34] City Attorney Floy Andrews: Thank you.

[01:42:36] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Any other questions? Okay. Then, uh, public comment?

[01:42:50] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Yes, Mayor, I currently have no requests to speak for this item.

[01:42:55] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Then, uh, Councilmember Wang?

[01:43:00] Councilmember R "Ray" Wang: Um, just motion to approve.

[01:43:02] Vice Mayor Kitty Moore: Moore second.

[01:43:04] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: No more comments? Let's vote.

[01:43:08] City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia: Councilmember Fruen? Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye. Councilmember Wang? Aye. Vice Mayor Moore? Aye. Mayor Chao? Aye. The motion carries unanimously.

[01:43:25] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: Okay. Thank you. Uh, next item, item 11. OpenGov budget format review presentation and final recommendations. So this was pulled from consent from last meeting, right? And so I'm not sure, do we have a presentation?

[01:43:54] City Manager Tina Kapoor: I will introduce, uh, Admin Services staff, uh, Director Kristina Alfaro and Acting Budget Manager Tony Osa-Anderson to lead us into this conversation.

[01:44:10] Director Kristina Alfaro: Good evening. Um, Tony Osa-Anderson, our acting budget manager will have a brief comment and then we'll show a short video showcasing, uh, some of the budget format changes we're recommending for your consideration this evening.

[01:44:23] Acting Budget Manager Toni Osa-Anderson: Thank you Director Alfaro. Good evening Mayor and City Council. This item is part of the budget document and performance measures report and implementation action plan that was approved by Audit Committee and City Council in April and May of this year. As a reminder, the goal of this report and implementation action plan was to enhance clarity and accessibility and to strategically align the city's annual budget document and to improve the effectiveness of performance measures in tracking progress toward, uh, citywide goals. Uh, with Council approve approval of this item tonight, staff will implement the budget format items as listed in the budget document, uh, report, IAP, and staff anticipate publishing the fiscal, sorry, staff anticipate publishing the fiscal year 25-26 adopted budget in OpenGov Stories in the first half of 2026. Uh, Council's approval of tonight's recommendation marks the first step in addressing the outlines provided in Attachment B and additional updates, um, to come as the work progresses. Now we will show you a two minute video that gives a preview of the recommended budget format changes utilizing OpenGov. Um, so if please, uh, video team, if we can play the video now. Thank you.

[01:45:43] Narrator: Hi everyone. So today we're going to be showing you some ways to navigate through both the budget PDF and the OpenGov publication of the budget. So first of all when you open the adopted budget PDF, it brings you to this table of contents which tells you all the pages and what pages, page numbers they are on of this PDF. But also if you click on the side here, it can expand to this menu that if you click on it, it'll bring you to different pages of the PDF. So for our example today we're going to go to Council and Commissions and let's just say I want to see the department overview. So this is how you get here on the PDF. But on the publication, our table of contents page looks like this and again, it also is linked to every single page that we have here on the publication.

[01:46:40] Acting Budget Manager Toni Osa-Anderson: If I might interrupt, the video is not playing, um, properly. If you give us one moment, we'll try to address this, um, the video. It's it's it seems to be frozen on one screen and it should be, it should be moving and showing the updates. Thank you for your patience.

[01:47:05] Mayor Liang-Fang "Liang" Chao: I think we can take a five minutes break because we, the meeting started at 6. So maybe we come back at 8? Yeah. Okay. Good idea.

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