Cupertino Planning Commission


Support Don.-1274  07/04   8509  
4.5/22 

   I have been very involved with the Cupertino community for the last 10 years.  Four major organizations I have been working with are Cupertino Planning Commission, Cupertino Rotary Club, and Cupertino Historical Society, in promoting Asian community involvement to the civil services, I was the Executive Director for the APAPA Bay Area Chapter.  

       

   Cupertino City Council appointed me from 17 other applicants as planning commissioner in 2011.  It is honor and trust to me from representatives of this city.  Planning Commissioners are assigned as advisers to city council members on many issues related to the future city development as well as individual residents' construction.  We are responsible for reviewing issues related to General Plan, zoning or rezoning, business development, and projects that call for public feedback. We conduct researches and make recommendations for the City council.  However, the planning commission have the final say in many residential cases or small business development cases.  

     

   I am one of five commissioners since 2011 and was the Chairperson in 2013.  I worked on many exciting and challenging projects.  During this time, I worked with the Planning Commission on Apple Inc.'s new phase II Spaceship campus in Cupertino improvements to its original plan to identify possible traffic and emergency problems and resolve these possible problems.  After holding numerous town hall meetings to gather public concerns and feedback from the public with Apple's personnel, I visited Apple before the public hearing and reviewed thousands pages of documents in their APPLICATION.  I made calculations on their traffic model and estimation future traffic congestion on Wolfe and highway 280 entrance. We worked with Apple to come up with contingency plans to deal with possible traffic challenges.

    

    More than 200 cases and meetings planning commissioners had attended and we reviewed business or residential cases through the past 3 1/2 years.  I bring an open mind to both sides of the argument at public hearings, I have well prepared questions. I visited the sites and talk to applicant(s) before public hearing whenever possible.  Many times, I have to work with business groups, environmental groups and residents each with conflicting goals and desires.  My one  and only goal is to balance public interests and find the best way for all to prosper.  If we cannot reach a win-win solution, I would find an alternative to minimize the losses by any party.  Big companies like Apple, PG&E or organizations like The Cupertino Chamber of Commerce  will express their strong support or opposition to the project.  In these situations, I tried to put community's best interestforward.  

     

    I have been working with former chair Marty Miller, Winnie Lee and Paul Brophy. They all have LEADERSHIP capacity, consensus building skills, and knowledge of our City's issues.  Their unconditional support and encouragement have helped me to grow and serve better.  They have been my role models in the Planning Commission. Working together, we share the passion of serving the people.  I enjoy every meeting we had together even though we may reach different conclusions.  Some times our meetings can run well into midnight but still feel energetic with them around me.  

     Moving forward with changes with compassion and strength to build a great community what I want to offer to the people of Cupertino.  We need to have businesses invest in the City's jobs and financial resource for the city's public services to our community.  With a growing population, housing needs and demographical changes, the Planning Commission and City Council have many challenges to face and much work to do.  I am honored to be one of the public servants to this city where there are so many talented and intelligent people who are giving freely their time and wisdom.