Caryl - We Missed You at the October 29 Forum on Regional Planning

Dear Mayor Vaidhyanathan, Vice Mayor Paul, and Council Members Sinks, Chang and Scharf;

Please enter this letter into the public record.

We missed seeing you at the Forum on Regional Planning on Sunday, October 29, 2017, at the Cupertino Community Hall.

The panelists included Kansen Chu, CA Assemblyman (AD25); Chappie Jones, San Jose City Council; Richard Bernhardt, CEO of Bernhardt Communications member of Cupertino Chamber of Commerce; and Tom DuBois, Palo Alto City Council member.

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The panelists did not all agree with each other, making it a real discussion. The two-hour event was divided in half with one hour of panel discussion, and one entire hour devoted to questions and comments from the audience. Audience members spoke for themselves, rather than hand in cards, making it a real forum, not a controlled and orchestrated affair. 

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The audience included city council members from Palo Alto, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Saratoga and Santa Clara, along with Legislative representatives for Congressman Ro Khanna’s and Jim Beall’s offices, as well as representatives of many neighborhood and community groups (from as far away as Marin County).

Four members of the Palo Alto City Council attended; yet only one official from Cupertino, Council Member Steven Scharf, was there.

Where were you? 

You missed an excellent opportunity to listen, learn and participate in a real conversation with your constituents and other local officials facing the same issues as Cupertino.

We hope you will be able to attend the next forum. We’ll send you an invitation.

Regards,

Caryl G