Will the majority of the Cupertino City Council change?

Two opposing candidate duos are trying to capture the two open seats on the Cupertino City Council to gain power over one of the city’s most divisive issues: development.

Councilwoman Kitty Moore and former Planning Commissioner R “Ray” Wang want to change the current pro-development council majority, while Councilwoman Hung Wei and former Mayor Rod Sinks want to maintain the pro-development stronghold. Both groups want to shape their vision of how one of Cupertino’s largest and most controversial housing projects, The rise in it former Vallco shopping center sitewill be developed. The project has sparked ongoing controversy for about a decade.

Wei and Moore are up for re-election, creating the opportunity for either side to win a majority. Wei, Mayor Sheila Mohan and Vice Mayor JR Fruen maintain the existing majority, which has often led to a 3-2 split on development and housing issues, with Moore and Councilman Liang Chao in the minority.

Candidate duos are a unique factor this election and could affect the results. Other candidates include Parks and Recreation Commissioner. Claudio Bono and former mayors Gilberto Wong and Barry Chang, who are also somewhat pro-development.

Wei and sinks

Wei and Sinks are running their campaigns to achieve The Rise, something Sinks said has resonated with voters tired of seeing empty land for years. He doesn’t think the majority of the council will change.

“I think Cupertino voters are buying the message that it’s time for Vallco to move forward, and Kitty and Ray have done everything they can to oppose any real opportunity for Vallco to be redeveloped,” Sinks told San José Spotlight. .

Rise’s developer, Sand Hill Property Company, plans to add nearly 2,700 homes, including 890 affordable homes, along with 1.95 million square feet of office space. Both candidates have intervened in the project during their time on the bench and have supported most of its aspects.

Wei and Sinks’ candidacy is complicated by Wei’s diagnosis of stage four lung cancer. The councilor briefly suspended his campaign last month to focus on your health before re-entering the race about a week later. He is seeking medical treatment in Taiwan, where he has family, with the elections just weeks away. He said he has been able to manage his health and board responsibilities, adding that his passion for Cupertino is stronger than ever.

“It is important that the majority stay because we have been able to make progress on key issues like housing, climate initiatives and community services,” Wei told San José Spotlight. “The current majority understands the need for balanced development that benefits everyone in Cupertino, not just a select few.”

The last time the council majority changed was in 2022, when voters elected Fruen and Mohan. They have made the council more development-friendly.

Sandhana Siva, a board member of the pro-housing group Cupertino for All, worries that the council could change again because she has seen Moore and Wang’s message resonate with the older and first-generation Asian population. About 70.2% of Cupertino’s population identifies as Asian, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

Siva said he still believes Wei and Sinks, backed by Cupertino for All, can win. He said Wei’s diagnosis could affect votes, but Wei’s decision to re-enter the race shows his resilience.

“(People who are against development) have stalled the amount of development and the amount of progress that city hall could have,” Siva told San José Spotlight. “It’s been harmful before and we need to change what the previous majority has done.”

Moore and Wang

moore and Wang They are running their campaigns with the idea of ​​putting residents first by scrutinizing developments like The Rise for the environmental problems they could cause. They say they are not against development, but rather want more transparency and input from residents on larger projects.

Moore and Wang They said they want to hold developers accountable for affordable housing, rather than allowing them to pay a fee rather than avoid building it, something they said other candidates have mentioned.

“It’s interesting that we’re considered anti-housing (because) it’s like we’re not (not),” Moore told San José Spotlight.

Moore said it’s important to change the council’s existing majority because, while he has been part of the voting minority, he hasn’t felt like he has had the space to fully discuss the issues.

Wang said Moore and Chao ask important questions, but they are not listened to. They are supported by the historically anti-development group Better Cupertino, which did not respond to requests for comment. Wang said he and Moore are not extremes in the negative way their opponents have described them.

“(We are) extremely resident-focused. We will accept that label,” Wang told San José Spotlight. “I think that’s the important part, we’re here for the residents. And if that is considered extreme, then I would say I wouldn’t apologize for it.”

Moore and Wang said they wish Wei the best, but believe his health could affect the votes he gets.
Cupertino resident Sashi Begur, who has lived in the city since 1996, said she used to vote for candidates like Sinks and Chang. He now supports Wang and Moore after doing more research into city politics. He said city politics are very divided because of the important issues at hand.

“We are not divisive for the sake of being divisive,” Begur told San José Spotlight. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, we have rights. We are the taxpayers. We need to understand what is happening. Give us transparency.’”

Contact Annalize Freimarck at (email protected) or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.