Hung Wei, J.R. Fruen would help chart new course for Cupertino

For the better part of a decade, Cupertino has developed a well-deserved reputation for having one of the most dysfunctional city councils in the Bay Area.

Failing to meet statemandated housing targets. Supporting Friends of Better Cupertino’s needless, drawn-out, costly lawsuits over the future of the former Vallco Mall site. Ill-prepared council members contributing to meetings dragging on into the wee hours of the night. (The Aug. 20 meeting didn’t conclude until 4:25 a.m. and, as the mayor noted at adjournment, “that was not a record.”)

Five candidates are vying for two seats on the council. Rod Sinks, one of Cupertino’s most knowledgeable and effective council members, is termed out. Steven Scharf, a leader of the head-in-the-sand, anti-growth Friends of Better Cupertino group, is seeking reelection and needs to be replaced. Voters in the Nov. 3 election should elect Hung Wei and J.R. Fruen to help chart a new course for the city.

Families have flocked to Cupertino for years because of its highly regarded school district.

But Cupertino’s median price for a single-family home is $2 million, putting it out of reach for workers and families that help the city and school district thrive.

The situation was exacerbated when the city didn’t require Apple to build any new housing when it built its $1 billion headquarters for 10,000 workers. That, coupled with the City Council’s anti-growth approach to housing, has fueled a 13% drop in K-8 school enrollment over the last eight years.

As a result, the Cupertino Union School District is considering closing Muir, Regnart and Stevens Creek elementary schools.

Wei and Fruen understand the challenge and offer Cupertino a brighter future.

Wei was an effective member of the Fremont Union High School District for 11 years. She has been active in nonprofit organizations in Cupertino. Her warm, can-do personality could help unify the divided council factions.

She advocates housing for seniors, teachers and working families while maintaining the integrity of established neighborhoods. She wants to build better relations with neighboring cities and Apple with the idea of creating a shuttle service that would reduce traffic congestion throughout the area.

Fruen, an attorney, is cofounder of Cupertino for All, the nonprofit dedicated to making Cupertino more sustainable for future generations. He calls the council’s “legal adventurism” to fight state housing mandates a lose-lose situation for Cupertino.

Fruen instead favors building dense housing on Stevens Creek and DeAnza boulevards. He also wants the city to do more to support small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. That, he says, would increase property and sales tax revenues for the city’s general fund and to help meet looming pension obligations.

Scharf, who declined to meet with us, is one of Better Cupertino’s leaders. Better Cupertino helped lead a costly, unsuccessful lawsuit fighting Cupertino’s Vallco Mall revitalization, which is designed to bring 2,400 housing units to the city.

His attitude toward housing became clear last year when he suggested during the beginning of his State of the City address that Cupertino should build a wall around itself, but San Jose should foot the bill. He later said he was joking, but his remarks reflect the narrow thinking that has created the region’s housing crisis.

Catherine “Kitty” Moore and Charlene Shulien Lee are the other two candidates in the race. Moore, who also declined to be interviewed, was appointed to the Cupertino Planning Commission in 2019 by the anti-growth faction on the City Council. She is a Scharf supporter who backed the lawsuit against the Vallco development.

Lee did not respond to requests for an interview and should not be considered a serious candidate in the race.