Hung Wei is elected mayor of Cupertino
Cupertino has a new mayor.
New Cupertino mayor Hung Wei was handed the baton on Dec. 9 by Darcy Paul, who served two terms as the city's mayor from 2018-2019 and 20212022.
At the hybrid ceremony and council meeting, Cupertino also welcomed new Councilmembers J.R. Fruen and Sheila Mohan — who was chosen as vice mayor — while recognizing the tenures of Paul and the departing Councilmember John Willey and the reelection of Councilmember Liang Chao.
While Wei and Mohan received four council votes in favor of their new roles, Councilmember Kitty Moore abstained from voting.
Many who attended the ceremony said they sensed a change in the city's political landscape looming over the horizon.
Since 2018, the council has largely been dominated by members who have aligned themselves with Better Cupertino — a group that has previously promised to promote government accountability and protect the character of the city, but has been criticized for “NIMBYISM” and accused of sowing dysfunction in city government.
But attendees said they hope Mohan and Fruen will bring a more diverse set of viewpoints to the council and have a greater ability to get things done.
“There was a political group that had a lot of candidates before — now, there's kind of a change in that,” said Richard Lowenthal, who served as Cupertino's mayor from 2001-2002 and 2005-2006. “The council was majority Better Cupertino — it still is today, but it won't be tomorrow.”
Jean Bedord, a longtime Cupertino resident and the publisher of Cupertino Matters, a local newsletter that keeps an eye on city politics and seeks to boost civic engagement, said she's also hopeful.
“Now, it feels like there's a lot of new energy coming into leadership positions here,” Bedord said. “I have total confidence in terms of new leadership in the city. We need to put a lot of the baggage behind and move ahead with the aspects that will improve the community.”
Seema Lindskog, a Cupertino resident involved in several community organizations, said the new council represents an opportunity for Cupertino to take control of its future.
“I feel like we've spent the last few years really focused on what we want to say no to as a city,” Lindskog said. “It feels like now we have an opportunity to decide what we want to say yes to, and to set a vision for the city moving forward about what kind of city we want to be — a more welcoming city, hopefully.”
The meeting was warm and cordial for a City Council that has historically struggled with languid council meetings that run late into the night, sometimes ending at 2 a.m. or later.
After stepping into her new role, Wei urged her council colleagues to remember that being an elected official is a formidable task.
“`Honorable' is not a description of elected officials,” Wei said. “`Honorable' is a demand from the public for you to think honorably, say honorable words and make honorable decisions … so let's live up to that word.”
After the meeting, Mohan said she felt like the excitement in the room showed that Cupertino was “waiting for a change.”
“It's not going to happen overnight,” Mohan said. “But I think we have the momentum to make some positive changes as we move along, and today we're sort of setting the foundation. It's the start of a long process, but definitely a start.”
Fruen also said that the events of the night make him hopeful about the future of the city.
“I think it shows that it wasn't just a candidacy about a person, it was about a whole set of ideas,” Fruen said. “I was right to feel optimistic about what we can achieve because people will engage again, and that's good — it's a lot better than people feeling like they're going to come to a council meeting and feel ignored.”