Arts and Culture Commission - Regular Meeting

Hello, good evening. Today is Thursday, June 4th, 2026. This is a regular meeting of the Copacabana Parks and Recreation Commission. This is a hybrid meeting, and this meeting will be recorded. So for members to the public who are listening through the Zoom calls, This particular application will notify you when the meeting is recorded, so please make sure that you press continue to stay on the meeting. Use the raise hand feature in the Zoom in case you would like to speak on an item, and also lower your hand once you are done with the comments. Please unmute when called to speak and mute yourself when you are done speaking. And if you're calling in by phone, please identify yourself by name before speaking on an item. And press star nine on the phone to raise and lower your hand. Press star six if you are participating by phone to unmute. And again, speakers are limited to three minutes and the staff will track that. With that, so welcome to the June 4th, 2026 Cupertino Park and Decreation Commission meeting. I now call the meeting to order at 7.01. Roll call, staff. Mr. Bono?

Here. Janet? Here. Commissioner Twomey?

Here.

Vice Chair Spriggan? Here. Chair Kamara-Kwong?

Here. Thank you, Sam. And moving on to the first item of the business, and this is a ceremonial matters and presentation, but before we move on, there are some requests for, since there are that many guests, as well as there are other folks that are presenting here, I would like to I will do a formal motion, but I would like to move the subject number two, which is the Bark and Brick Department Marketing and Communications to later in the agenda in the new business area, so that it gives us space for the first presentation, and then we will be getting on to oral communication, given that a lot of community members are here. So that's what I'm thinking of it. We had a discussion with the staff, so I plan to make a motion. I can make a motion, right, staff? So I make a motion to move the item number two, which is the Park and Brick Department Marketing and Communication item to later in the agenda, especially after the new business, which is item number four.

I second it.

And the staff, you are voting on that, right?

Yes. Commissioner Bonham? Commissioner Stanek? Yes. Commissioner Swamy? Yes. Vice Chair Shuriken? Yes. Chair Marcon?

Yes.

Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. Excellent. So with that, so let's move on to the first item in the ceremonial management presentations, grassroots knowledge. And I would like, please present, please. Thank you.

Step to the table and get situated. We will go ahead and plug in and get things situated. While we're plugging in, if you guys would like to introduce yourself, we have Alex and Stephanie with Fruit Ecology. And they have a presentation.

Yes, thank you for having us. I'm Alex von Felt. I'm one of the co-executive directors of Grassroots Ecology, and I've been leading the organization since we were founded, and even before that, we were part of a different organization. So I've been around since we started working with Cupertino in 2012.

And I'm Stephanie. I'm the project manager for our restoration at Cupertino Ranch Nature Preserve. Has everyone been there, or has anyone been there before?

Oh, great. Okay. Have any of you been there?

Good.

Oh, perfect. Why do I need to give this speech?

I will.

I will. Yeah. Okay. Well, like I said, I'm the project manager for this restoration site at McClellan Ranch, and we're from Grassroots Ecology. So if you're not familiar with Grassroots, we're an environmental restoration nonprofit. with different sites around the South Bay. And our mission is to engage and educate the public to restore local ecosystems. The main way we do that is by planting California native plants and increasing biodiversity and all the ecosystem benefits that come with it. And we make a point to cultivate good relationships with the community around each site. And that's how we built a strong volunteer base that's really at the heart of all the work that we do. And we also grow all of the plants that we use for our restoration in our own native plant nursery. And we source the seed for the plants at each project from their respective watersheds to preserve local plant population adaptations. You can go to the next one. So here's where McClellan Ranch is. It's kind of off of Foothill Boulevard below Linda Vista Park. And it's down the street from Monta Vista High School. So most of you know it. And here's an aerial shot of the main meadow. So the preserve over all is 18 acres. And we're mainly stewarding the seven acre meadow that you see here. And Stevens Creek runs around the edge of the preserve. So we're hoping that one day this whole meadow will be covered with California native plant habitat. And this is a ground level view of the front of the meadow from the parking lot. And then if you go to the next slide here on the nature trail, you'll walk along Stevens Creek and enjoy this nice riparian habitat that we have. Next one. Before the city took over the property in the 1970s, it had been used for different agricultural purposes, and most recently as a forest ranch. So it was a pretty degraded site. The soil was very compacted. Not a lot of plants could grow there other than weeds. There were some mature trees like coast live oaks and western sycamores that are still there, probably well over 100 years old. But in the main meadow, it was just a sleeve leaf and not a lot of native perennials could go through those dense weeds. So today I want to show you how we went from this meadow filled with thistles and weeds to a healthier and more biodiverse habitat. So at the start, the meadow was completely composed of non-native grasses, Italian thistle, and some short pod mustard. And that's still what you'd see if you were looking outside of our restoration plots. And then in the next picture, do you see those tiny white flags kind of in the back of the meadow? Those are marking thousands of bunch grasses and native perennials that we started putting in the next year. And then a few years later, you can see how the plants are starting to fill in and getting a little bit taller. And then if you go to the next photo, so here's the zoomed in photo of the pre-planting site, and then to now, this is that same perspective, and you can see there's a variety of colors and flowers and textures, and there's just a lot of visual diversity that's so different than it was before. Our work at McClellan is active restoration, which means we're consistently monitoring and caring for the preserve as a whole. So at the start of every month, we do a walkthrough of the whole meadow and of the nature trail to see what activities, restoration tasks we need to prioritize every week. And that shows it's just, it's a lot more than just planting, setting and forgetting. We're there consistently to see what's going on and what things need. And it's different from maybe like a mitigation site or a large agency that might have to cover a lot of different restoration sites and maybe doesn't have the staff or the time to monitor everyone very closely. Whereas what we're doing is closely following this one site to maximize the habitat health and the quality of what's there. We're able to do that because we're continuously involved. A big component of our work is invasive species management. So the weeds that we're dealing with McClellan are weeds that are also widespread in the area around here. And seeds can remain in the soil and stay viable for years after they've been dropped. So this is a picture of like a giant patch of milk thistle. And for scale, my coworker there, Jeremy, he's six feet tall. So I think this is a dramatic picture of what this place could look like and did look like without some active stewardship. Invasive plants are defined as plants that are not native to a region, and they've been studied enough to show that they're having a net negative impact on the ecosystem. So they have a lot of characteristics in common, usually. They tend to sprout really quickly. They form really dense monocultures, dense stands, and they produce many seeds. So it compounds the problem very quickly. So this is a close-up of milk thistle, that purple flower there. And you can see it turns into a ball of fluff. And all of those little seeds, it's kind of like dandelion, where it just gets carried by the wind. And a patch like what you saw behind Jeremy there, that could form within a year. We actively manage for dozens of invasive species, and these are kind of like the highest priority ones. And our strategies for each vary depending on the life history and the ecology of each one. So we factor in like where it grows, how it grows, and we prioritize what we're doing with them based on how much impact we can have and the time of year. The realistic goal for invasive species is not to completely eliminate it, but to create enough space where native plant populations can come back and establish sustainable patches of their own. We don't use herbicide, so it's all manual removal. And it's pretty straightforward for plants that form one taproot, kind of like a carrot. So things like thistle, mustard, poison hemlock, we have to pull it out somehow, and that can be really challenging depending how big it is, but it is pretty simple. For a lot of the creek weeds, like what you see on the left there, so that's my coworker pulling out like one long strand of probably vinca. A lot of things like, vinca, cape, ivy, they're forming rooting stems like all around and so you have to pull up as much as you can but because it's a dense network you're never going to get it all. So the goal is really to clear as much as we can within a given time frame because we don't want to disturb nesting birds and then We'll usually have to revisit a particular patch within two to three years to start pulling it again as it's trying to fill back in. But hopefully in that time, we've created enough space for native plants to come back and establish healthy populations. For grasses, we do have an electric weed whip, so that's our one assist. Otherwise, we're all manual. Again, we're trying to time it carefully. We're mowing grasses before the seeds have matured. We're trying to spot reduce the number of invasive seeds that are closest to our plants. A lot of managing vegetation is also very helpful for fire mitigation. So when you have tall stands of dead, dry annual grasses or dead, moody material, that can be kind of flammable. um and sometimes we'll invite staff to help us do bigger projects and this is actually where we needed to get the San Jose Conservation Corps involved because they have power tools so they helped us clear this really dense stand of cotoneaster which is a tall woody species that gets right to the perfect height to start a crown fire if that were ever to happen it's the worst kind of fire to have so now that it's all cleared they chipped it we've told them which ones to get um it's replanted with native plants And even we're also managing for some of our native plants that might pose fire risk. So coyote brush is a species that we love for its habitat benefits, but it can get so large and sprawly that it can take over a site and it can accumulate a lot of dead woody material. So again, we had the conservation court come in and we marked specific plants that we wanted them to thin and chip. And then we created more space for more biodiversity. The next big component of what we do is revegetation with native plants. So this is where we get to think as ecologists about where we want to expand our plantings in the meadow and what species we want to put there. We can go to the next one. So this is a brand new plot that we mulched this last spring and we're preparing it for planting this winter. So every year we either, you can go to the next one, we either start a new plot or we add plants to an existing plot. And the goal is that over time, all of these plots will merge together and create continuous wildlife habitat. We concentrate our planting in the rainy season, so that way there's a lot of natural rainfall to help roots get established and we're basically following nature's cues. So by the time you get to the warm season, they're happy and healthy and we're not doing a lot of additional watering past that first summer. And one of the most exciting things has been watching wildlife respond to all of the native habitat we created. So one of our rangers, Austin, took this amazing picture of a black-shinned hummingbird. It's sipping nectar from a sticky monkey flower. And this is a bird that Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, our neighbors at McClellan, they told me they've never seen it attempt to nest along the Stevens Creek Trail until a couple of years ago. So I think the quality habitat that we're building is having real results for these animals. And that's kind of the beauty of native plants. They've co-evolved with the wildlife here. So they provide higher quality resources than any other plants could. So they're not really interchangeable with just anything you can pick up from someone's nursery. And What we're doing, especially for insects, which are the base of the food chain, a lot of them aren't very specific about what plants they're foraging on. So the wider diversity of plants you have, the more insects you can support, and then you're supporting everything else that depends on them for food. Oh, actually, I wanted to say one more thing about the milkweed in that picture. So some of the insects that we're seeing return, also they depend on one particular plant. Otherwise, if you don't, so example for milkweed, if you don't have milkweed, you don't get monarch butterflies. So some of those relationships, those co-evolved plant-animal relationships are obligate. They're essential to each other. And we're seeing monarchs in the meadow now. A lot of them, yeah. We're also deliberate about selecting plants that flower in different seasons to maximize the amount of time that we're providing resources. So everything here flowers and if you come at any time of the year, you'll see something blooming and something foraging on it. And what we do in the meadow is also impacting the health of our aquatic ecosystem. So a lot of insects start their lives in the water in the Stevens Creek and then forage as adults in the meadow. So like this eight-spotted skimmer dragonfly here, the fact that we're seeing a higher predatory insect like this indicates that we've got pretty good water quality and then they're finding good foraging grounds in the meadow. Our plants also provide some natural filtering and protection for Stevens Creek. So this is a plot at the edge of the meadow between the community garden and Stevens Creek. And before we planted this a few years ago, it was full of poison hemlock and some questionable soil that was dumped there when they remodeled the community garden. And we weren't sure what it could have been contaminated with. And the 4-H kids were worried about poison hemlock getting into their ranch. So we cleared it, we sheet mulched over it, and then now we can go to the next slide. This is what it looks like. And all of these plants have different root systems. They're growing to different levels in the ground. So they're able to take up any potential pollutants and kind of neutralize things in the ground that might get to the creek otherwise. So that's called phytoremediation.

Just real quick, when we say pollutants, we're talking about some of the runoff from the forage. So it's like natural animal manure, but you're cleaning before it gets to the creek.

I'm sorry, how much time do I have left? I wasn't checking this. Another couple of minutes. OK. All right. There's too much to cover. We do so much. But this is our team. It's a team of four, me, my coworker Maya, and then two college interns. And as amazing as our team is, we could not do this alone. So like I mentioned, volunteers are at the heart of our organization. And you can go to the next slide. They help with every part of the restoration process, from planting to pruning. You can keep going. And so since 2012, we've done 950 volunteer events. We've planted thousands of native plants. I think this equated to about one volunteer event per week. for the last 14 years. And you can go to the next one. And it takes many hands to plant as many plants as we have. And we keep going. We go a little faster. Sorry. I'm talking too long. So the sheet mulching process alone, we need a lot of people collecting cardboard, pulling out the plastic stickers, And then to the next one, you can see like you have to lay it out like a puzzle, cover it with mulch. That's not something that four people can do in any reasonable timescale. So we really do depend on the community. And we've also, in addition to doing public volunteer events once a month, we've created our own in-house programs to help support the work we do. So we have our high school youth stewards program twice a year. It's where kids from this district come for eight weeks at a time in the spring and then in the summer, and they help us with our restoration tasks. And we do naturalist education and keep going. Um, we have our own college internship program where they get a California naturalist certification. Um, we have seniors volunteer days that have been seen, um, seasonally. We're not going to do it. And then we built a lot of ongoing relationships with local service organizations and schools like Helios, Monta Vista, um, Menlo school. Um, they're a little bit further out, but they love them and, and De Anza college too. It's not just the volunteers that have really noticed and appreciated all of the hard work that they've done. Because it's such a public preserve and a popular walking spot, I've been hearing, I've been getting a lot of good feedback lately, lately in particular because of this garden from the public. I think we're creating something really special here. And it's been so rewarding to become a part of the community. And you can go to the last one. And this is the best time to see it because it's peak spring bloom. So if any of you ever want to come visit and I can give you more in-depth tour, I'd be happy to.

Yeah, sure. So I don't feel like I properly introduced the group. So I'm sorry, a little technology issue there. But thank you so much. Your passion is just comes through. It's been a pleasure communicating with you guys over the last couple months preparing for this. I just wanted to set the stage a little bit for why grassroots ecology is here tonight. So, as you know, your work plan included many items, and one of them was to have our partner agencies come and present an annual report. So, luck of the draw, Grassroots Ecology is the first one to come to present this calendar year to the group on just the partnership that they have with the city and what the positive value they're bringing to the community, in particular at McClellan and along the watershed. There really is no commissioned action, although we'll take questions and that sort of thing, but it is truly just a report out and an opportunity for you to become more aware of the different partners that we have and the great work that they're doing. So hopefully that's a little bit better setting of the stage.

Sorry, now that we're getting- No, it's okay. That's fine.

You guys. Thank you.

Really appreciate it. And then I feel that we'll have some clarification questions and comments, so if you would wait on it.

Yeah, yeah.

I already see four or five. No, that's only one. No. Oh, two. Okay, so that's what it is. Three. Yeah. Thank you. So, Commissioner, there's a climbing questions section, and then probably come on, and then we'll come for the comments. So, any questions? Yeah.

Commissioner Bob. Thank you for your presentation, person foremost. Well, I will only speak for myself and nobody else, but I know how to plant tomatoes, but that's all I can do. I always forget to word them. So... It sounds to me in my clarifying question, it sounds to me, and again, maybe educate me because a lot of people are listening, wants to know. At the end of the day, if you took a quiz and a poll for every resident, do you know the difference between native and non-native? It's hard to identify because I'm not known. And my question would be, is a question goes after, is clarifying question? No, clarifying questions, no. Okay.

Only comments later.

Okay. So that is, when you mentioned also when, There was some soil that were dumped. Does that happen often? Is that an issue to consider? Because obviously it takes a lot of energy, time, effort, maybe money in order to make sure that the soil at the end is not contaminated. So it creates more questions than anything I want to hear. these kind of comments. So I'd like to find out if we can clarify that so that we can leave them on that. There is nothing that we can take action, especially after maybe we cancel. I don't know. And while you respond to that, I'm going to look at my other clarifying.

Sure. Yeah. So when they remodeled or rebuilt the community garden that was originally there from the 1970s, I think there were some materials and some of the old soil in the existing beds that got dumped to the side of where the new garden is now. So it's kind of the very edge of the meadow. And I don't know what was in it. I don't wanna say that for sure that's contaminated soil, but it had been fertilized and farmed for a really long time. So whatever is in there is different from kind of the existing native soil that we would be working with. And so when I'm talking about phytoremediation, just kind of whatever you might not know is in that soil is gonna be taken up at the root system of plants. And that's kind of the amazing thing about plants is they can do so much to kind of rehabilitate soil just by growing. So that's what I'm thinking. But I don't think there's like a concern about toxicity. Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. We have had so many discussions on native and non-native plants. I am so glad that you guys are actually working. so actively on this. It seems like a rather large pizza plant for four of you. Do you have enough volunteers? Do you need more volunteers? Where is the gap? And resources per se, because this is amazing work. Thank you.

We have lots of volunteers. Do we need more? No, I would say that for the most part, all of our volunteer events get sold out, meaning that they get filled up at capacity. And we even have wait lists. So most of the feedback we get from people are, why can't you do more events? And of course, the answer is because it takes staff to make sure that volunteers are organized safely and that they're doing the right things, pulling right plants and not. So that's what limits us a bit. But I mean, it is amazing how much community engagement is at the site. I mean, in addition to like what the city gives for us to do this work. How much do you get from the city? A little over $100,000 a year. And then we also, Grassroots Ecology, get some additional grant funding to augment what we're doing so that we can plant more plants. How much do you get? uh well a number of different sources over the year valley water has been a good funder of different restoration throughout there part of it like we said to manage the runoff from the 4-h before it gets to the creek the pollinator garden that stephanie showed at the end and then there's also foundations and then grassroots ecology raises individual um sorry money from individual donors to augment all educational because that's what a lot of our donors and family foundations are really interested in, program that Stephanie mentioned.

So you have well-resourced financially and... Oh, we always use more.

We're a non-profit. Yeah. And also, we can always do more because we have... What's wonderful is we have a nice partnership with AmeriCorps, and we have so many of them coming through. And then after the end of their term, they'd like to stay on. So I know. There's actually... There's a lot... There's more we could do. I'll just say that.

No, I'd just like the question. Can I? Yeah, one more. Okay. I just typed a question on invasive insects. And then I saw your presentation that, oh, we have invasive insects. So we have enough of the local ones. Good, good training. But seriously, are you not worried about invasive insects coming in?

um we don't spend a lot of time it's like just those the muscle like the muscles in the creek or what are those ones called or that we they want us to look at for a valley water but yeah oh yeah the insects so much they're not they're not such an issue for you no no we're really focusing on the plants and i mean

Yeah, I think... What I'd like to ask is do you get diseased plants? Like, do your plants get diseases also?

Oh, from other insects?

Not that I've really seen... Yeah, the ground squirrels love to eat them. Yeah.

There are things like invasive shot hole borer that we're keeping an eye out for. Valley Water has given us a little bit of information about that, but really we're focused at the plant level and what we're supporting. I haven't seen anything that's concerned me. coming in with them.

Thank you.

Yes, I think I just want to follow on because you got to where my question was. What's your business model? And is grassroots ecology just here at McClellan Ranch? Or you're much bigger and you're doing other things?

We're not that much bigger, but we do have about 20 restoration sites throughout southern San Mateo and northern Santa Clara counties. But it's all public land and usually parks and open spaces. And so the model is the same where we're leveraging the energy of the community to help us achieve a lot of these habitat goals. And also, you know, people get come out, like a lot of people come because they need to get volunteer hours, you know, let's say for something. And then they come back because they feel a connection with the land, the connection with community. They, you know, do it themselves and things like that. So even like not only does the city get the benefit of some of this other funding that I was talking about, but all of that volunteer labor. I think the last time I did a presentation came out to like, you know, the city gets about two acts of what the investment is because of all these other things. Okay, great. Thank you.

Yeah, I had a feeling that, you know, this was just a little piece that you're showing us here.

It's not a little piece. It's a pretty major one. Yeah, especially, you know, it's the meta-restoration has been really successful. So, yeah, I walk there every day and I see you guys. Oh, great.

Yeah, Commissioner Chacon.

I have a quick question for you. I heard it well. Did you say Grassroots Ecology is a non-profit or for-profit? Oh, non-profit. Non-profit, yes. Okay. Yes, a 501c3 for non-profit. Awesome. Great job. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so we can...

First was clarifying questions. When do we start clarifying questions? I have two questions. Because I want to learn myself. I'm listening to all the native, non-native, and I see the ongoing battle. For me, I'm asking you, and I know it sounds dumb, but again, I don't take care of plants in my life. Someone else does for me. Are we going against nature? Because like I said, it seems that there's an ongoing effort all the time. And I understand that we want to keep the native because we want to protect the ecosystem, blah, blah, blah. But are we going against nature in a way?

Oh, like kind of fighting the inevitable? Yes. I don't think so, because I think the point of active restoration is to kind of reverse some of the historic damage that has been done and kind of, you know, people bringing plants... from other continents and over such huge distances, that's a pretty recent thing. And it has changed the course of our environmental outlook, right? But now that's what we have to work with. So I think going forward, this is how we can keep shifting things a little bit rather than losing our ecosystem benefits forever because it definitely is worth keeping. And again, it's... We're at a point in time where we're really never going to be rid of a plant if it is at the status of being invasive. But you can clear enough of it a way to make space for our native plant populations to come back and compete well. So that's really, it's like getting them to the point where they're sort of coexisting and competing and we're not losing something that is really critical to thousands of years of essential relationships that have been built.

And your response, you almost responded to my second question, wondering if the non-native plants were planted by resident or brought in by resident, which questions also we obviously are renting to resident area where they can put vegetables and this and that. Does that come and that stems from there as well?

From all different ways. Some things were brought in from the nursery trade and people didn't realize that it could escape their garden. And then like Vinca, as an example, Periwinkle was a really popular landscaping plant in the 70s and the 80s. And you still see it planted on medians a lot, but it's now basically infested every single waterway in the county. And even I think maybe the whole state. because I remember reading reports from Northern California. So a lot of things, yes, were ornamental plants that people didn't realize, you know, could go out with their compost or maybe birds pick up seeds and then drop them somewhere. Some things came in from like Spanish settlement times or a lot of our invasive grasses, like the Golden Hills of California. They weren't originally like that because all of these annual grasses came over from Europe because they were there to feed livestock. most of our California grasses are bunch grasses and they're perennials. So they would stay pretty green throughout the year. So that's like more of a historic byproduct. So they're all different ways. And sometimes people confuse plants. Like there is even a disastrous case with a salt marsh restoration where they were bringing in a plant that they thought was a native plant, but when it was that small, it looked like an invasive relative of that plant. And then like the invasive species got introduced that way. So there are a lot of different ways that invasive species can. can come, yeah.

And last but not least, that's not a question.

Thank you for keeping the butterfly shape. Maybe one more question. We have already 40 minutes on this item, so let's... 34.

I don't have a question just to respond to the question.

No, no response. We'll come back to the comment section.

I do have a question, and it's a very important one. I don't know if this should be directed to the city staff for here. Just say if you can tell me where it should be.

Is it a question? It is a question.

It's not a comment. It's a question. So we have a lot of parks within Cupertino, and we also have the walkway on Steady, the Lawrence Mitty walkway that we have. So there are plants over there. Some of them, since you guys have so much resources that are overflowing with volunteers and you're turning away volunteers, Such a bad idea to just take a quick look around and say, and give your assessment since you're passionate about this. I feel very strongly about this because, for example, to ask the question again, eucalyptus was introduced. It's completely destroyed all the other plants. So IV is certainly one of them. And I do see quite a bit of it on the Lawrence-Mitty trail. So that's something to consider the city staff. I don't know where that fits, but this is wonderful. What you've got is just perfect.

Yeah.

Okay.

So thank you. And that's it. Yeah. So, sorry.

And one last thing is, can you also do a program in your own McLellan? So you educate people. about their own gardens, what's native and what's non-native and what they should potentially be improving.

We do have signs for some of our native plants, like along the... And you've been doing those presentations at the library. Yeah, that's true.

Thank you.

Thank you. Really appreciate it. If there's no more clarifying questions, I think we'll need to open this up for public comments as well, in case if anybody raised their hands on the Zoom or for this particular item.

We have no speakers here.

Thank you. That means I'll close the public comment now. It's for the comments, public comments over. Now it's for the commissioners. If you have any comments on this particular one. Earlier you asked for a client question. Now it's time for making any comments.

Just a follow-up. I walk there every day with my dog, and we stay on the dog path. But I see you in there with the volunteers on a particular day or morning with groups, either Rotary or schools or AmeriCorps, and I hope that you can continue to get AmeriCorps because I know that program is A lot. And so I just want to thank you for everything you and how you engage the community and are helping us.

I feel very strongly about this. Thank you.

Yeah, I'll make a comment to say, first of all, thank you for your presentation. I think that the word itself always scares people because they, oh, I'm not, I don't care about that. parks and recreational plants. I don't know anything, but I think education will always remain. Maybe a social media post, what is native, what is non-native. Maybe interact with people to educate them non-stop, like Commissioner mentioned. I think an ongoing education is needed, and hopefully you may want to consider that, because people would like to be part of the understanding on why we do things this way. But thank you for your presentation. Thank you.

Commissioner, check out.

Yeah, I just would like to add a comment because it was part of the Macmillan Ranch community assignments. There was a question wondering if whether people are planting wrong things. I'm a owner of one of those plots. There are very strict rules about what we can plant and what we cannot plant. And also the city staff, Kayla, is always watching and catching it. You know, even with the weed, you cannot let it grow. Make sure that people take care of their home plants and around.

That's all. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Good. If no other comments. Thank you so much, Stephanie and Alex. It's awesome. Fantastic.

Thank you. It's a pleasure.

So we'll move to the next item in the business, but since we made the subject I don't have a team. And now the next item on that and ice up a lot of minutes. I don't have a 3 subject may 7th 2026 spot consideration commission. And action is to approval.

I make a motion to approve the many 7 parts and the commission should.

And staff.

Hi.

Commissioner Sandek?

Yes.

Commissioner Swamy?

Yes.

Vice Chair Shrugin?

I was absent. Okay, so do you have statements? I read all the minutes, I'm fine. No questions?

You will be abstaining because you were not there. Yes.

And Chair Markle?

Yes.

The motion carries. Vice Chair Shrugin abstaining.

I read this one. Is this open for public comments too? Because after the new one, the new procedure, It says public comment for this item.

We can do public comment for this item. It's not traditional, but we can do it.

Yeah, because it was asked for the new thing. It was discovered. Is there any public comments on it? Is there any public comments and any hands raised?

Okay. We have no speakers here.

Awesome. If that's the case, let's close the public comment on this too. This should have been done before the motion, but I made a mistake, so it's all done. Good. Thank you. Is there any postponements?

We have no postponements, Shane.

Excellent. Okay. Now, let's go to the oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the commission on any other any matter within the jurisdiction of the commission are not on the agenda item, and speakers are limited to three minutes. In most cases, state law will prohibit the commission from making any decisions with respect to a matter not on the agenda. The commission staff may briefly respond to the statements, make or questions post, and the commission may request staff to report back at a subsequent meeting. As a reminder, comments can also be emailed to parkandrecreationcommission.co. If any member of the public would like to make comments, please fill out. I think you already filled it out here. I see it on staff. Let's go through it. I don't ask whether we have it. I see a lot of blue cards on the table and the people in the room. So let's listen in.

We have two speakers in person and one speaker remotely. Our first speaker is Dina Horath, followed by Marshall, followed by Nina Hsu.

Welcome, Dina. Good evening.

My name is Dina Horath, and I'm a Cupertino resident. I know you're making decisions that will affect the fall of Memorial Park, so I'd like to share my story and explain why this community is so important to me. I'm a self-proclaimed cult. I was never athletic, riding a bike was a major accomplishment, and going to the gym felt like as enjoyable as having a tooth pulled. Then I discovered pickleball. At first I played at other courts, but I always had to find a foursome before I could play. As a result, I didn't get on the court very often. Everything changed when I was introduced to Memorial Park. The system there was simple. You put your paddle down, and when a court opened up, the next four paddles played. I hardly knew anyone when I started, but it didn't take long before I felt like I was part of the group. Today, those players are some of my closest friends. Sometimes I feel like Norm from Cheers. I walk up and I hear, Dina, Dina, Dina. We don't just play tickle ball together. We go to dinner, meet for happy hours, host pop, do crafts, and support one another. For many of us, pickleball was just how we met. What keeps us coming back are our friendships we've built and the people we've come to care about. What started as a game has grown into a community that feels more like family. I don't want to imagine what would happen if too many restrictions were placed on play. It wouldn't just reduce court time. It would disrupt our relationships and our support network. That means far more than just a place to play. And I also want to emphasize that we care deeply about the neighbors. We understand that the noise can be frustrating and irritating, and we want a solution that works for everyone. The most effective way to address this issue is to install the noise barriers as soon as possible. Our neighbors have been waiting far too long and they deserve relief. We support taking action now so that both the surrounding residents and the pickleball players can continue to enjoy Memorial Park and the sense of connection it brings to all of us. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Deanna. Our next speaker is Marshal, followed by Nina Zhu. Welcome, Marshal.

Thank you. Thank you for hearing us out on this topic. My name is Marshall Maple. I'm a Cupertino resident. I've moved to Cupertino in 94. I moved to California in 81. I moved to Cupertino for the schools. And my kids went K through 12, graduated from Monta Vista, and they said the UCs were easier than high school. So congratulations to you guys for drawing that. You know, I have a very active lifestyle from the very beginning. I moved here from Ohio because I wanted to ski the mountains in Ohio. Right. But, you know, there's. Pickleball, hockey, volleyball, you name your sport, I need to have some activity. The big thing is I started playing pickleball. I took lessons at the Sports Center in Cupertino probably a little over three years ago. Then I started playing. I watched the transformation of the courts. Here at Memorial Park, it was one court, you had your nets, you had to drag them out. It was good for practicing, not so much for playing. And now it's eight courts that are really actively pursued with people. And, you know, I think the whole thing is really neat. Dina outlined that, the whole social aspect. I've gone to Mitchell Park in Palo Alto, McKenzie Park in Los Altos, Rangstorf. I frequented all of them for quite a while, but I've settled in on coming to Palo Alto. Memorial Park because of the bench area that lets the people collect in between the games. There's eight courts. There's probably eight courts of people sitting there. And you get to meet all sorts of people. And I have formed lots of friendships on it. I think the socialization aspect of it can't be lost in this whole thing. And it builds a sense of community here. I guess the big thing is there's noise. There's no doubt. There's a pop on the paddle. The pickleball committee here, CPC as we call them, actively works with the neighbors. They've talked to them and they understand the morning hours were the most offensive to them. They implemented, got everyone to use quiet paddles in the morning hours. I mean, that was proactively on their own just to try and address that. So we're working with them in a good neighbor aspect of it. But what we've learned recently is there's a proposal to change... The playtime, get rid of Monday, force quiet paddles all the time, which will break down the whole ecosystem that you've established with this. And I think the point that we want to get is we have a proactive group here that will work the issues, that will meet you, will... work through the process, but we don't want to be left out. What we understand, the neighbors hadn't heard about these rules, we hadn't heard about these rules, and these changes will have a severe impact on the ability to play there. So with that, I ask you to keep us involved, and thank you for your hearings.

Thank you, Marshall. And our next speaker is Minna Zhu. Welcome, Minna.

Hello. Hi, my name is Mina. I'm a Cupertino resident, and I was also a park and rec commissioner from 2018 to 2022. And last year, I came to this meeting, asked for the Lawrence Meaty Park schedule because I remember before I left the park commission in December 2022, we started the conceptual design for Lawrence Meaty Park. But after that, seems the website was not updated. So last year I asked for the schedule and thanks for all the staff, all the commissioners, Now I see a very detailed schedule on Cupertino website about the Lawrence Meaty Park. And now I just have some questions. I'm wondering if everything is on schedule now because there are several milestones this year in 2026. that in April, the Lawrence Meaty Park should already got the environmental permit. In August, it should get the city permit. I'm just wondering if it's still on schedule because I remember at the beginning, we target the Lawrence Meaty Park will be completed in 2027. And so, yeah, a lot of residents around that area, they are really concerned if this park, yeah, everything is still on schedule. And thank you for your effort. Yeah. And we are really happy to see the detailed schedule. And so we can see if anything, everything is still on track. Yeah, that's all. Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you. We have no remaining speakers in person or remotely.

Awesome. Thank you. Thanks for your comments. I think Dina, Michelle, and Nina, so appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thank you for listening. Did you see that we can just make one quick clarifying comment or something? There's nothing.

Unless it's really important. We cannot maintain it because this is not an agenda item.

No, it's not because it's something I think it is important to because the issue came up about the timing restrictions. I don't believe it came in any of the commission meetings is all I'm saying that even we are in the dark.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So does that mean it won't go into effect? No, we will not discuss that.

We cannot discuss it? Yeah, sorry.

So I think it's under the city council, as you know, on June 16th, there will be a discussion on the budget. And this particular item is on June 16th. That's for your information. Just wanted to let you know.

Thank you.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for raising your concerns and sharing with us. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Do you have another person just raise their hand on Zoom for oral communication?

Yeah, I haven't closed it yet, so please.

Our next person is here. The speaker's name is Arif. Welcome, Eric.

Hey there. Thank you. I hope you guys can hear me. Yes, please. Awesome. Good evening, everyone. My name is Arif Shaikh, and I'm a resident of Cupertino. I wanted to log on tonight just to share my perspective on pickleball courts over at Memorial Park. When my family and I first started playing, we thought we were just picking up a fun hobby. but it has really become a vital anchor for us. Like every family today, our lives are busy with works, school, and daily schedules. While we value our time together at home, the Pickleball Court has given us a completely unique extra connection point. In fact, some weeks I think we share more deep laughs and high fives on the court than we even manage around the dinner table or otherwise. It's a dedicated space where we can step away from daily rush, away from screens, and enjoy being a family. It doesn't replace the time we spend together at home. It actually amplifies it, adding a level of shared fun and energy that has truly enriched our lives. But that's just half the story. The true magic of these codes is the unique community that we have, and it's growing. It's one of the rare places in our township where age, background, and ethnicity doesn't matter. On any given day, you'll see teenagers partnering with retirees and neighbors who have lived here for decades, welcoming people who just moved to the area. We were the newbies a couple of years back, and I was welcomed. It's become this amazing micro-neighborhood where everyone looks forward to seeing each other, catching up between games, or having good time together. It's transformed a simple public facility into a vibrant, welcoming hub that gives everyone who plays there a profound sense of local belonging. Public spaces are meant to bring people together and I want to commend the township because these codes are exactly doing that and much more. So I really hope you will keep supporting the pickleball codes specifically by not reducing the playing time because that will really be counterproductive to what we have going there. I also hope the city council votes in favor of the sound barrier, a win-win solution for all. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Eric. We have no permitting speakers, Chair.

Okay. Thank you, Ariel, again. So if there's no more people on it, so let me close the oral communications. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Moving on to the next item, old business. Do we have any new old business? Okay. Then on to the new business, item number four. The subject is Santa Clara County Library District Story Walk. We're supposed to move back. No, we said after the new business. So initial motion was to move that.

I have a question on the motion that we added. Because my question is, is this the city staff or all the clock? Are they paid out? Are we paying them to stay longer? Because as an employer, I would not want that. It would be rude, and it would be under cost for the city.

I think you should just ask them. We can take this offline.

But I think it was the motion when we passed.

I say we've already taken action.

But I think that's a valid point, Commissioner.

And we do have staff presenting in both of the next two presentations. So we're pretty much in the same situation with both. So

And that might help you feel better about it. Okay, but I think it's a pretty valid point, Commissioner Bono. We will take that into consideration next time before we move on, any of those juggling agenda items. Thank you.

Why don't you just join us at the table really quick and get comfortable while we get the technology set up. Thank you so much for patiently waiting to be part of our... Before we move on, I just want to read out the recommended action

because I want to make sure commissioners are aware. So it's a receiver presentation from the county library district, Santa Clara County Library District, and they rank the three potential park locations for installation of the 30-walk initiative for recommendation to the city council. Before we move on, maybe you can outline on what is the ranking, who ranks what, and what role we are going to play. Absolutely.

We have a lot of people at the table.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. If I have to rank every, oh, it's too difficult.

Yes, we have a lot of people at the table. So first of all, we have Diane and Karen here that are from the library district. They're technically the ones making the proposal and presenting both tonight. But due to the unique relationship with this program that's being proposed to city council, we also have members of the library commission here. The library commission heard this item last night. and has a recommendation to counsel on the program overall. However, the program overall has a component that involves parks, right? And that's why this commission is involved in that element only not on bringing the program to Cupertino as much as it is to if the council should take action to move forward on which location is you know, ranked and whether they concur with the recommendation of the Parks and Rec Commission. So it's a really unique project that's being involved really four different partners, the city, the library district, the library commission, and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Okay, so I'm going to, do you have anything there? Oh, I'm sorry. I was just going to introduce everybody.

Go for it. Please do. Hi, nice to see you all. My name is Molly James. I'm one of the recreation managers here, and I'm also the liaison to the Library Commission. So that is the role that I am in tonight. And our wonderful Library Commissioners are very excited about this program. They have been championing

Champion.

Yep. And so excited for it. And so they have formed a subcommittee to help with the presentation. And they will help with the presentation here. And then also, should it move forward to council, they will also be there to answer questions and things like that should that move forward. And then we also have Diane Roche, who is the Director of County Library Communication and Marketing, and Karen Dixon, who works at our very own Cotino Library, and she is the adult supervising librarian, or the other way around, supervising adult.

Supervising librarian for adult and teen services.

So close.

And so they will be doing your presentation tonight. And our ask is that you rank, should you choose to move forward, you rank the three locations that the city has selected as possible choices.

Okay. Thank you. So before we move on to the presentation, so maybe we'll listen to it first. And then we wanted to see what the rationale began the initial proposal and then I assume that we will rank it after the clarifying questions during the comment section. Is it what I think, right?

I think you're right.

Because there's no ranking sheet or anything, no prior, so I'm not sure. So we will listen in first, and then we will go on to clarifying questions, and then we will come back to the comment section at the time where we will figure it out how we are going to help rank. right, or help support the initial ranking, whatever it is. Is that, if you can do that? Okay, so if that is the case, let's listen in, as far as yours, please.

Okay, I think I'll start, and thank you very much for your time. I want to be sure that I am starting at the right place, so just a show of hands, how many of you are familiar with what the StoryWalk is? Oh, an idea. OK, let me let me give you a high level. A story walk is an opportunity for us to bring a storybook into a public space. So in this case, it consists of 17 frames, semi-permanent frames that we would install into a location. And we put in pages of a children's picture book. So it encourages families to be able to explore, exercise their bodies as well as their minds to introduce children to stories. And so if we go to Y Storybox, the Santa Clara County Library District, we have five Storybox currently installed in five of our different cities. And it's a great opportunity for cities and for the library district to partner. What we have seen is that it builds a deeper community connection with theirs. In this case, the city park is what we would be proposing. It just, it promotes just this healthy lifestyle, again, exercising your brain and your body. We love to encourage families with little ones. Their children's brains are, 90% developed by the time they're five years old. So the earlier we introduce them to reading, the more opportunity they have to become successful readers. And we really want to encourage that family engagement, getting families to walk around and read with their children. That's the best way to develop readers. And it's just, it's a great opportunity to introduce children to new words, to concepts, to get them moving and thinking. You know, because this is how they develop all of the skills that they're going to need to be successful in school as well. And if you want to, I'm going to kind of speed through. You can slow me down if you have questions, but just for sake of timing and respecting your time, I'm going to move kind of quickly. So this map is showing Jack Fisher Park, which is in Campbell, and the ideal criteria for selecting a story walk, a park that is naturally bringing in young adults. These are picture books, so we want to have parks that bring in the little ones. You know, we're talking the preschoolers where they are just really getting introduced to words, books, and stories. Starting place, we say, you know, parking lot or main entrance, but really it's flexible because we can design it to start at a playground. The ideal is to start somewhere where those young families are going to be naturally congregated. We want to design it around a well-used path so that families, especially if you have strollers with the little ones, they can easily make their way around, and we want to make it in a loop so that it's an easy start and end from wherever they are? Playgrounds are the key. The families are coming to the parks to visit the playgrounds. Designing these around parts where the playgrounds are well attended is really key to our success. Again, there's 17 frames. Why 17? Because most picture books have about 16 spreads. So that is the natural number to accommodate the most number of picture books. And ideal is about a third of a mile to a half a mile loop. And that's because What we want to do is to design this so that families can see where the next board is. They can see where the next frame is. So it's an easy maneuver around, and it encourages kids to be able to participate directly, to see, to go to the next frame, and to get involved. So that is my quick high-level introduction to Story Walks and why we are proposing. And now I would love to turn it over to the Library Commission.

Okay, thank you. Thanks for starting up. So my name is Chandra. I'm the Vice Chair for the Library Commission, and thanks for our commission, the subcommittee, and we get a chance to give our views. And this is prepared based on, we don't have any strong recommendations. We put the points, but not the ranking. That's when we were getting modules, assigning that. to the commission, whether it's interested or not, then that time we will have had a discussion, should likely the commission put the ranking. And I think the recommendation was we basically put the facts, not the recommendations. So now it's your job to give a recommendation, maybe. So there is three parks. We have initial proportion, like Joliment Park, Wilson Park, and Varian Park. These three parts were considered. Basically, all those ideal location criterias, which these three parts basically satisfying those criterias. and you look at like the Young Family, or Richard Loop, or Richard in 132, one and a half mile, like those kind of requirements is well covered in these choices. And then, so our subcommittee, like me, Queen and myself are basically part of the subcommittee. We split it into these park visits. So we went, took pictures, we observed the parking and other facilities, how it looked like, and whether it covers all these criteria for this report. Okay, so it has both prone like in terms of strengths and considerations, but could be like consideration that you may need to go through and quick facts. So I will give it to Quinn for the Joliment part and Wilson part because C went to there and then put the facts.

Okay, yeah, thank you. My name is Ching Pen and I'm the library commissioner. Yeah, so thank you for having me here. I just want to stress one fact is, yes, the Sunakara Cupertino Library is the best among the Sunakara County Library System. And currently, five other city already installed, only two more city yet to install. So I don't want Cupertino to be the last. So I'm really passionate to moving this project forward in Cupertino. So my job here is just to present you with the quick facts. And so for the Joliment Park, you know, the quick fact is the park and for the baseball court field, basketball, soccer, all inclusive playground. picnic area and have a nice long circles, like a quarter mile to half mile, maybe more even closer to half mile walking loop and the dock of these parks. It's in the area near mostly single family homes and the De Anza College. And the park is located near a VTA bus route and along with the bike paths and many parking of the Stirling Road, Tuskegee Place, and many other places. So the stress for the Jollyman Park is inclusive, very beautiful playground. And the loop, yeah, it's a long, in a very, I think, is among the longer one, among the three parks. The Jollyman Park is the longest, supported the 17 frame. and they have a many parking space and the ADA parts and a strong, you know, existing weekends, very busy. And some considerations and, you know, surrounding area mostly are single family homes, enjoyment park. And it's not as that like a walkable from other areas to the park for the young children and all that. Shared youth sports over the weekend and the dog parks and then the sign placements must avoid field events like what can be seen. And a weekend tournament could be competed with the care of your attention or party, etc. So that is beautiful. All parks in Cupertino are beautiful. You guys have a good job, best job. So yeah, next is Wilson Park. So the quick fact about the Wilson Park, there is a community garden. It's a small one, but there is one there. And they have a baseball field. basketball court, newly build, soccer field, playground, picnic area. And there's a loop, probably the shortest among the three park is like more close to the one third mile loop and have a restroom. And it's a very strong walkability from nearby homes and the trails and surrounded by apartments and condos. Also the future in a high density housing nearby, I believe there are many, you know, several nearby high densities, which could have more children. And enough parking, you know, off the streets around the area. And the stress is the dense multifamily, you know, walkable. That's definitely a stress for the Wilson Park. And one of the boulders I took there is actually close to the Regna Trail. So Regna Trail, you know, families walking around Regna, they have a nice detour to the park, get the walk, the story walk, and let's continue their walk to the Regna Trail. This definitely, and yeah, so like as a community garden audience and good visibility for frequent walking route. Consideration is a shorter loop. Like I mentioned, this one has the shortest, maybe a little bit tight. And a weekend baseball game, you know, maybe causing parking pressure to the area and less shade. So that is the Wilson Park.

Okay, so the variant park, which I went there, and I just started putting facts here, right? Like, especially the park amenities includes the tennis courts and the playgrounds also, and the group picnic areas also available at the entrance of the park. And it's kind of a large open grass field. It's almost like one-third mile of the paved area, so the loop is like kind of a paved. Then the HeritageAfrica.gov is also there. And then you see the foundation, water foundations. Then there are multiple park entrances there. There is three different ways to enter into the park. And then the ambient parking, like in some of the area spaces as well. And it also has the bus connection from the Stirling Road to, only thing it's in the west side of Monta Vista side. So the strengths out there is like a continuous paved loop around the grass. So obviously it looks very nice in that perspective. And the shades, like there is a lot of big kind of a tree out there. So it's basically, it has a mature shade. The heritage art guide adds also telling the good storytelling backdrop there. Then obviously it's more closer to the much residential area, not like the other high density area. It's very single family areas. The consideration facts that we may need to consider this park, like there are a couple of points. One is the reachability is like mostly when we visited, it's kind of like neighborhood park, not like a Jolly Manor park. So that is one fact that we managed to consider, that visitation patterns, obviously it's very close to that community, so more often the people will be like known to that path. So the story walk might be like one time interest rate for them. That's a fact might be, and then the other parts is like some paths may meet the sand and docket, right? That's another fact. uh the and also the as i mentioned tennis court that also gets peaks activity at some point of time so these are the some of the points on this part it's kind of very quite uh obviously the uh very uh very much like a greenish area of the food field out there uh so next So the next steps, what, so before getting to the next steps, I just want to give a good little background. So why these three, we do, I just, maybe I just get Mori's permission as well. So we do have like a BlackBerry form part two, but it was because of the criteria didn't fill, then we basically dropped that one and we took the variant part as one of the item, right? So next steps here.

Repeat that. You had Blackberry Farm.

Blackberry Farm, but it's not that loop. So we didn't find the loop.

Blackberry Farm was originally thrown out as a possible site from the city. And then when we saw the criteria that it was a continuous loop. Okay. I just didn't understand.

So just give you a background. So next steps, the Park and Recreation Committee, like now we put very clean report here, but positive facts and that consideration aspects, right? So you guys can maybe rank these proposed parks, what is the best one for benefit for the community, especially for the young family communities. The second item is like, obviously, this item will go to the city for consideration based on these facts and the ranks. The ranks should be behind these facts, right? And the third one is like, if approved, obviously, the park and recreation will coordinate with the public works and then Santa Clara County Library and determine the final place for the parking story signage within the selected park. And then the last step will be the Santa Clara County will work with the foundation for funding on the hardware to install. So these are the ideal next steps that we see. Thanks for this opportunity, and I especially like to thank Molly and the city staff. They were really helpful. When they were basically giving an option, we were so excited, like, okay, let's get this. Put our facts, right? And then they were only suggesting, okay, let's form a subcommittee and then take it forward. So I really appreciated all the help you guys did, and obviously Quinn was helping a lot, guiding us forward.

Thank you. Yes, thank you.

It's really a push. I know one more thing. The Santa Clara County and the Brian is not here and families here. So they're all basically it's multi team effort. We should like I should give a credit to everyone.

Thanks for this is a truly a team efforts presentation, although you are only a page, but the you know, like two staff from library past Brian, three of us, and the two of us, five, and the three city staff, right? Molly and the, what else, Karen? Oh, yes. And our director. Yeah, all revealed before we bring the final version here, present to you, yes.

Thank you. So I really appreciate it. I think it's really a good collaborating effort. Awesome. So now we'll go on clarifying questions from the commissioners, and then we'll go for a public comment and then do comments from the commissioners. So from the Commissioner Shekhar, that's the first question, please.

Just two short questions. Thank you, Commissioner Chinpan, and thank you, Library Vice Chair, Library Committee Vice Chair Shaktivel. This is really, and thank you, Molly. It was a great effort. I have two questions. Question number one, You proposed three parts of which only one will be picked, right? Okay. And my second question is, would there be a change of story frequently, or is it the same story forever? We change the story three times a year. I think that's awesome. Awesome. Thank you for all your research and proposal. Amazing.

Any other questions I have? Yeah, Commissioner Swamy.

Where's the funding coming from for this? I mean, first of all, it's fantastic. I love the idea. And because you're involved, that's why I was curious with funding.

The library district, we all say the biggest output for this project is just for the hardware. So frames, the installation, and the library district. And then three times a year, we change off the stories. So there's purchasing, the licensing for the stories, the materials. The city of Cupertino has no expenditure. No, no. There is no cost to the city.

This is just lovely. Thank you so much for what you're doing.

Okay. So next question is based on yours. Why do we have to After the ranking, why just one? If it's three, can we not do them all?

I'm just asking. I will say that there is a pretty big expenditure for the library district for location just for the frames alone is about 15,000. And then, you know, each story, the prices are eking up on us and we're,

I have a follow-up question. Why does it really need to be 17 visible frame if it's cause concern? For example, I'm a resident of Cupertino and I always walk my dog at Franco Park. It's smaller, but it's also for smaller kids. And so even though the loop may be super small, the end result of pushing young kids to read early might work as well. would there be maybe a future consideration for micro parts to be included that would be also less expensive, but still good?

The 17 frames is tied to the average number of pages in a story, in a picture book. And the average number is about 16. That's why the number of frames is 17. So even if you had a smaller part where, you know, you had fewer frames, it really wouldn't work with a picture book. for a story walk, and that's why the 17 frames is what we are providing to all of our sittings, because that accommodates the greatest number of picture books that we can purchase, that we can select.

Okay. I have one question. So how did we come up with these three? compared to all the parks? What analysis has been done? By whom? And how did you arrive at three? So I think Molly has the answer for that. Sorry, all things are pointing to you.

It's a team effort.

I believe that these three were identified by the Director of Parks and Recreation and the Director of Public Works together at the criteria, which is harder than it looks.

I mean, you have Creekside Park that is so, there's so many kids and it's pretty huge.

It is. And I'm not sure why things weren't selected necessarily. These were the three that were put forward to us. And I'm sure that there's a variety, I'm sure that there's a reason why, especially I would assume like the soccer that happens on Creekside would be.

I think that's what it was. Yeah. That may be the mitigating factor. Yes.

Okay. So that's the only question I had it. Any other questions there? Right. So we should still open this also for public comments. I think it was from previous, I believe. But yeah, staff, please go ahead. If anybody, public.

I have one speaker remotely. One moment while I bring up this one.

Oh, hello. Hello. My name is Mina. And I'm currently the chair of Library Commission. But today my speech only represents myself. Yeah, I believe the story work is a very good project. a lot of people worked hard to try to make it happen and other than the project itself it's also aligned with this year's mayor's initiative like move more So even if you want to read a book, you can go outside and move more and read the storybook. That's a fantastic thing. We really hope this project can be launched as soon as possible. And in the other five cities, the community feedback is very positive. for this such project. And I heard some good question by Park Commissioner asking about, is it possible we can have more chance? Yeah. So So at first, actually, the Santa Clara County Library District picked Ragnar Creek, but the Ragnar Creek turned out doesn't belong to Cupertino City. We have to deal with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. So then we have to give up that proposal and switch to the three options of Cupertino Parks. And if this project turned welcomed by the community, maybe possibly in the future our city can find some other location to have a similar project like Someone just mentioned the Creekside Park or maybe by the trail of the Lawrence-Meaty Park because the trail, the long trail along Lawrence-Meaty Park that belong to our city. And for the current three location, so my opinion is looks the Varian Park has the least food traffic. And for the Jollyman Park, I remember a lot of new project keep going to Jollyman Park in past years. The good thing is it attract food traffic, but looks like they keep having new projects. But Wilson Park actually is close to some high density. housing and close to stevens creek the city center uh yeah with a large population so yeah i Looks like, yeah, in my opinion, Wilson Park looks pretty good. But anyway, it's up to the Parks and Rec Commission and the City Council to make the final decision. Yeah, I respect your opinion. And thank you so much for also show strong interest in this project. Thanks.

Thank you, Minna. We have no remaining speakers, Chairman.

Thank you. Thank you for the comment. And since there's no one, so I'll close the public comment and we'll open up for the comments to make any comments first before we understand how the process of voting.

Can we describe across to how we're going to go? Yeah, that's what I first.

Yeah. Can I ask a quick question? Yeah, we could. Please back to the presentation for Johnman Park fact sheet if possible. I'm so sorry. I missed a key element. That's important for our ranking.

11 acres. Huh? 11 acres.

Okay. But I want to know as far as the loop, the mile loop. It says one-third and half a mile.

And that was the goal.

So what does that mean? It's smaller than a third? No, no, no. It's longer than a third. So it's the longer.

Yeah, it's the longest. It's longer than one-third to a half mile, all these three parts.

No, only that one shows one-third to a half.

It's true for all three parts.

Yeah. Got it. Okay, okay.

Okay. So you got it? Yes, thank you. Awesome. Okay. So... If there are any other comments on anything, then I think I would like to understand the process, right, how we are going to. And before that, maybe I'll make comments. So maybe staff, you said that there was some analysis done by the public works and the Park and Rec staff to come up with these three compared to all of them, right? I do not know. So maybe later it'll be great for the commission to see that. So just by our own education, how those three got selected too, right? Because I do not know. So that's not now, but it'll be good for us to be in a fact, because I'm sure. When we go into the public, when this goes, rolls out, the public will ask some questions and we have no idea how to answer. And I cannot say, I don't know. It's the park and drag department, others. So it'll be good for us to be an educational site. I would like to request to the caroling, the staff. Later, we would like to get that report on how this got selected for our own education purpose. So that's number one. So now, we need to go through the process, and I have no idea where to start. Yeah, glad. I would like to. Definitely, we need some ideas. But before we go there, based on the experience from the Santa Clara, because you installed at the other five cities, right? And you've gone through this process. Many times, this is maybe the sixth time you're coming to our city. So it'll be good even if you just take a few minutes, two or three minutes, check one. What does the process follow? You might have gone through the similar exercise with others, just for our own educational purpose. If you could just outline two to three minutes, what was the process? What criteria within these three, they selected it? Is it like the loop, what like Commissioner Bohn asked, or the food traffic? or the neighborhood number of houses, we don't know. But it'll be good for us to know before we get on to debate here to really choose things. Can you please?

I wish I could tell you that there was the same process by each city. That didn't happen. What I can tell you is from our experience of what was working well and what is not you know um i i do believe one one of our parks the the story walk is very long And when you have families with very little kids, it's challenging. And it's challenging to maintain, honestly. So I'll say on the flip side, Milpitas, they chose a very well-trafficked park, but they chose to put their story walk, to your point about a micro park, they chose to put their story walk just around the circle of the playground. So it is challenging. you know, one minute and the kids are done and, you know, they have completed their story walk. So the better solutions, the ones that are more successful, I would say if you want to go over to some of your neighboring cities in Saratoga and in Campbell, Jack Fisher Park in Campbell and then Kevin Moran Park in Saratoga. It's a good distance. It is matching really what your recommended parks are here. It's a good distance for families with little ones. I'll tell you the feedback from our families. Parents, we have new families coming to the parks because of this, because they are introduced to the park because of the Story Talk. We hold them back to kind of kick things off. Families who come to the park really appreciate it because the kids beeline it for the playground. That's where they want to be. They are running around. They're having a wonderful time. But it gives the parents an opportunity to slow the kids down, to take them out of the playground, to walk. walk from page to page of the storybook and engage with their kids in a different way and engage their children, you know, in a different way where they are thinking, they are acting more calm and more focused. And then it gives the parents a chance to just kind of break that cycle. They take them back to the playground. The kids can play some more. But it also is a great opportunity for the families to explore the park, right? They come, they park, they go to the playground and they leave. This is an opportunity to get them to really engage with the full expanse of the park, wherever we put the storylines.

So I think that's good. Thank you. Really appreciate it. So now I think Kamsha Bono would like to hear from you.

I am a very pragmatic person and I don't like to waste time and I can analyze things very quickly. I'll just tell you for me, Varian Park is out of the way. Why? Because of the tennis court. It's hard for kids or anyone. For me, noise and this and that bothers me on my concentration. So how can you be attracted by a story amidst noises? That's my take. That is me. So I would select that one.

Sorry, Commissioner Bono. I think I would like to understand. Is there any process? I know we will go for... Common sense process. Is there any process you...

So just let's go with elimination and a major question, because to be honest with you, in order to sell like this, my question that I have is and maybe you can help out. Does the fact that Wilson Park has near the regular trail, does that does that are there many family with young kids going to that trail?

No, but they said that a lot of families close to the park.

I still want to know whether a lot of families go to the trail. I know it's long, but.

No, I, you know, live nearby the area, so I do see families, you know, with kids on the trail walk. And so if that is still, and I'm not sure if it's allowed, you know, I have a small video actually when I visit one of them, I talk for the activities, so I know if it's not allowed, it's okay. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no.

Some of them I, you know,

So maybe you don't know what.

Yeah, thank you, Changping. I think maybe we'll go with the elimination. One of the quick comments, one second.

is just a very quick, if you want to do the rankings like you did last time for the amount of money, that took a long time. But if you just put these three parts, five of us, we'll just one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, not much discussions. It'll be efficient and it'll be a winner's company. Am I right?

So, I think that's a process you're proposing that is 1 of the process process. Okay. So, and I think I'm sure 1 of you said, we'll go by elimination process with the national began while you're eliminating, like, you said.

I'm okay with any process we decide, as long as I'm able to say which one is 1, 2, 3.

I don't think I want to eliminate anything. I just want to rank 1, 2, 3.

So I think his elimination is not eliminating completely, but he's going on the opposite way.

I think what we can do is rank 1, 2, 3.

Yeah, I think that would help. Thank you. I think that way we can go what you rank as one, two, three, based on whatever rational it is. And we don't have to go in a deep debate on that one because some of the work has been already done. We will see how far this ranking goes and is there any clear rules that are coming out. Again, Thai, let's see. Yes. Would that be? Sorry, I don't appreciate that.

So I feel that as they are presenting, we all have made some assumptions and decided what we want to propose individually. So I feel that we don't even need to give the reasoning. Everyone give their ranking and then let's see where we stand in common.

Reasoning will matter for the council.

Let me just say, I mean, this is a process proposal. I'm saying let's see where we stand with respect to how they have ranked all these parts of the ranks. If there is a disagreement, then we can come up with discussions.

Sure. Any description of why your ranking is also okay. Sorry. If Commissioner, she got the permission to stand and say something and have a different view. It's not like they're going into hours of debate. They just say that here's why I'm ranking.

But I think maybe it can be a two step process. Yeah, it's not going to be such a difficult one. I'm sorry.

Yeah, so just like when you asked the question, right, that what's the criteria that basically what is a successful storytelling thing, right? I think this slide comes from the Santa Clara Library. All these, like, six factors, whatever is here, we may need to, like, these are the criteria that they put. Like, one is the young family park, and second is start at the entrance.

I'm sorry.

So if you don't mind, can you just flash that slide again, Lindsay?

One slide.

Let's flash it. Yeah. You could just make it up a little.

Start at the entrance, okay.

Can you zoom it a little bit for me? I forgot to bring my glasses.

Very huge path.

Awesome. Thank you. We tried to come up with our own score as well, but we don't want to make you guys biased. That's okay. I think thank you.

Yes. And the number one is Young Family Park, which really resonates with me. Okay. Well used.

I guess so.

Yes, absolutely. Know your audience. It's for the audience.

I'm sorry, give me a second, please.

That's why it makes it clear what it should be.

Okay, so we can go back to Carolyn.

I just want to make one comment on the criteria, the young family part, and I think what I So I'm struggling with that because I think it's for everybody. I mean, I think it attracts young families, but especially with Jollyman, where we have our neurodivergent population, and we're trying to make sure that we have opportunities for those people. That is a Jollyman. And so I think with that, I would just expand that is to those who can really benefit from it. Yes. And it's not just young families. It would be maybe it's an adult with a limited understanding and someone who can only appreciate something at a second or third grade level, something like that.

Sometimes we can over program a park and other times we can direct new traffic to a new park. So I'd ask for you to take those two things into consideration when you're looking at your ranking as well.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

Well, sometimes we have a tendency to over program a park where there's just too much going on. So many different things. But the other thing. thing i would say is sometimes a park that has a new element to it then extracts a new audience so um i completely can't right so i would go okay that's all the data i didn't make an excel spreadsheet and i uh i don't want you to watch my typing so If you would mind, we can go one by one, and you can rank just, I have them listed in alphabetical order. I have Jollyman first. I have Varian second, Wilson third. So if you can just let me know, one, two, and three, three, two, and one, two, three, one, whatever the case may be.

And then we might have self-sorting.

Varian and Wilson. That's the rank.

I'll give you a number one.

Yes. On the list. Right.

So if I can just call on you, so that way I keep it in the order and I, I think it's not being shown on the screen at all. I know that's on purpose. Let me do my typing and then we'll go from there. Okay. Okay. Got it. Okay. So commissioner Bono, I have you first. It's Jollyman Varian Wilson. So if you can give me your ranking for Jollyman.

One.

Okay. Varian.

Three.

Wilson. Two. Okay. It's deduction. Okay. Commissioner Swammy.

Jollyman 3, Wilson 2, sorry, Variant 2, Wilson 1. Thank you very much. Commissioner Stanek?

Jollyman 1, Variant 3, Wilson 2.

Fantastic.

Sheriff? Wilson 1, Jollyman 2, Variant 3.

Okay. And Vice Chair? Jollyman 1, Wilson 2, Variant 3. Okay, I think you guys are going to enjoy this process.

So the way it went was we have a tie. Oh, this is excellent. We don't have a tie for number one.

So hold it down. No, but just a second. So when we do this, again, no.

Maybe let me bring it up again. So when we do this, it should be binary. I'm not sure whether the averaging out will work because if there are three ones by default, that gets it.

It should be three. Actually, accounts should be three. I think when there are three, it's called a weighted average. The ones get weighted more because what you're doing in terms of surveys also, This is not what you're calling as a, this is a relative ranking. It is not interval ranking. So what you should be doing at this point is what Carolyn has done is exactly right. Now, what I have suggested is clearly gotten eliminated. Now, I think what we can do is talk about and discuss Joliman versus Wilson. We can just rank those two. But at least talk about one. I see.

Okay, no, it's okay. If that's what everybody agrees with it, I don't have anything specific, but I thought it would go by a binary one.

It won't be binary because it's not binary three, and so it's not equally distinct.

Yeah, so this is not the right way. This way, we are assuming that one is a point for Johnnyman, two is two points for Varian, three is three points for Wilson. We have not given those points to those parts. It's the sequencing. It's like numbering. So with that in mind, the way we should see is how many ones Jollyman got, how many ones Varian got, how many ones Wilson got. Based on that, we should come up with the final.

Yeah, I think.

No, I don't think necessarily that is true because in surveys, in like third scale, you're talking about rating one significantly more than rating two. That's not true. Because even in elections, when you look at it, sometimes the distant second or the distant third gets it because of the split voting. So here it is not, that argument is not valid because in surveys, when you rank one, two, and three, what Carolyn has done is exactly right.

So just, okay, let's do, again, my understanding, I understand you were waiting. When I say a rank, I thought it was a stack ranking. That's all I thought. Yeah. Right through the chair.

I think you guys are making it way complicated. That's right. Because we mentioned three times Charlemagne. That was three out of five. That tells you the sequencing. If we're going to go through the mathematics, I can give you also one. Let's do one thing.

Let's do what Commissioner Bonner said. Let's do one process of elimination. So, Varian clearly got eliminated. Correct. So we now have Jollyman and Wilson arguing about the methodology. Let's talk about what is the criteria. That's okay. No, we should be able to discuss that. What should be the criteria? And the number one criteria that I see is it should be a young family park. So Jollyman already has so many things going for it. And the other thing I really concur with what Staff Carolyn was saying is, Jollyman has inclusivity, it has basketball, it has a really good play structure. Wilson doesn't have all of those benefits, so it might be good to push some traffic there as well. But more importantly, think about it. What is the criteria for them? They want traffic of young kids. And Jollyman is surrounded by single-family homes, whereas Wilson has this high density, which tends to be young families going to schools. So if that is the criteria for Santa Clara to be funding this, then we should at least be respectful because they are giving the money to us. And what's the criteria ultimately?

Yeah, I think the commissioners for me, I agree with you all. Even when I voted, when I voted Wilson as the number one, John Lewis as two.

Do you disagree with that?

No, sorry, let's do it this way. The reason I put in asphalt is to see, okay, can I bring in a new item to a park which is deprived of many others? Exactly. So that's the reason I voted. When I say that I voted Wilson number one, Jolly number two, very. But I still, when I go through, that's my individual voting, right? When I voted collectively, when it comes, I thought we were doing a stack ranking of one, two, three.

We should actually discuss at least.

That's okay. So we can discuss. I don't want to disagree, but I'm trying to find out is it a stack ranking or average? So maybe remove the variant now. So assuming that

Through the chair. The reason why I was saying earlier the way we, about the trail for Wilson, because at the end of the day, the traffic is the most important component here on the decision maker. Where do we have the most babies or younger? This is what I heard. Wilson. Originally, her dad asked.

No, it's because currently already have an apartment complex right there between, you know, and the future high density housing. It's built also within walking distance to the Wilson Park. Many like currently the furniture store and not to mention the high rise. It's all within walking distance.

Maybe to answer to that one, just to respond to when I wrote it, the reason another one is that now there is a bridge connecting between the track, the walk, trail what is the recognition and to the parks that i see that kids i mean people come around because it's true along what they come and spend time with the kids and go so this could be an attractive and there is not much that's one of the reasons a rational Again, me picking up Wilson over Jollyman. Again, I'm not saying that you should not the other way.

The point is, where are we getting the most usage, right? And there are kids over there. That's why I just felt that with all these criteria and the fact that Wilson has pretty much nothing compared to Jollyman Park. Got it.

Okay. So I want to hear from Commissioner Stannard. Please, everyone gets an opportunity. Thank you. Thank you.

Look at what you have for Wilson under the considerations. You said it's tight to fit 17 frames. So that's a concern. Baseball causes a parking issue. That's a concern. I don't think that's an issue as much at Jollyman. That's fine too. Yeah, yeah. Please go ahead. On the plus side, you had the community gardens, which is very limited. I mean, how many spots do we have at community gardens there? Eight, 15. Okay. And those are mostly adults. I just think, you know, Jollyman, because we've made a commitment to be inclusive, and i understand you know i don't think you know the way you had it young families is good and young families are coming to jollyman but again to provide something to the inclusive population i think is just so important and as we look at other programming later we can We can look at Wilson for that. But I really think this is an opportunity for us to enhance what we've done with the inclusive. And this is just so important for those people who don't have that opportunity. And that's why I put Jollyman number one, even though it has a lot of things going on there. But I think

You know, it's big enough to be able to support that. I'll go away. I'll come to you. Commissioner Shikant, please. She was amazing.

I've been a frequent visitor to Jollyman. And Commissioner, I'm sorry, Chair Marapan and myself, we were there at the inaugural function as well when they upgraded it. And you were there too. We see that so many kids and families and adults, they come from outside of that area. So all of all Cupertino residents go to Jollyman because it's easily accessible and also it has the inclusive park and it is newly upgraded. And there are lots of community gatherings happen in that park. So that park attracts a lot of Cupertino residents. Even people from Wilson Parkside or the other parks, they come to Joliman Park these days. So from that angle, Jalohan Park would serve more Cupertino residents than any other park.

But that's also the reason why you're over-indexing on one park having all the facilities and you're ignoring the other parts. So that's all the more reason to make it more egalitarian. So more people will go to other parks rather than everybody comes. Jalohan is a small park, relatively speaking.

I think it's better you have to fund all three. We don't have to fight on this one. At least two. Not three. We are so lenient. We are not so greedy.

Or my other proposal.

No, just a minute. So let's go to the next one.

that Lindsay's trying to state notes. So no, no, no, that's fine. If we can just keep to one speaker at a time, that would be helpful. We're already at 10 to nine.

Yeah, we need to close it in five minutes. Let's go ahead.

I'll just throw you all a curve ball because at the end of the day, yes, Jolman was upgraded, updated, and all of that. That's actually maybe a reason why Wilson should get it so that If one is super successful on its own, why do we have to bring Disneyland there? We need to bring it to the second one to keep each park a little bit more. I understand everything you're saying about inclusivity, but I don't want to go into exclusivity. It has to be a little bit everywhere. So that offers different parts, opportunities for everyone to survive or to be known for. Therefore, I respectfully change my vote for Wilson number one, Jollyman number two, and Varian number 20. Thank you. No, no, I mean, it has to be balanced.

Because I have the same reason.

Okay, so I know it's, no, I'm not changing it. So I just went with the same, my original comment on, by Victor Wilson is that, okay, we have given, I was part of the Jollyman Inclusive. It's all great, it's fantastic. They have enough things to explore for next one year or two because too many person is dry. and I wanted to see how it goes to her. That's the rationale behind my voting to bring something to Wilson to do it and just to make a lot of people from Wilson will not go to Charlemagne except for that one because it's far away for the little one kids to go from there. That's the rationale behind my voting. But I still go with the process. I don't want to influence anything. I just want to state my rationale. But now with this irrespective of your new process, looks like Wilson... That's one point. Oh, the lawyer is the better.

Yeah. Wilson, Jollyman, then Varian, which I believe we've kind of ruled Varian out at this point.

Okay. So I think, um, um, Unless there was any comments. Oh, sorry.

So could we give our recommendation to the council that Wilson is our first and Jollyman is our second? Yes, absolutely.

Because you never know. You get it for us or we get it for you. It's hard to persuade.

And that we're not recommending variants.

Correct. We are not recommending variant, and we are going with the recommendation. I'm just summarizing it. We're going with the recommendation of Wilson being the first one we picked out of the three, and if we have more funding, either the city provides or Santa Clara County provides, we'll go with second.

The council could decide something different, right?

Yeah.

I didn't know a recommendation. We know that there was support from the commission for Jollyman as well.

Correct. Absolutely. I wanted to make sure. That's a ranking.

consensus, but we do need a motion.

I'll make a motion to approve Wilson Park as number one, Joliman Park as the number two, and Varian as number three.

And I will second.

Commissioner Barnes.

Thank you, Commissioner. I'd like to...

Oh, there is an amendment? Okay, I think we need to do a second, and then you will do another.

So she seconded it.

So now it looks like there is a substitute motion. So please, Commissioner Stamets.

I would like to make a motion that the Commission had the most support for Wilson, had also support for Jollyman, but not as much, and did not support him. as the location for this. Okay.

So the only, maybe let me rephrase it.

So the only correction. I'm not agreeing. I'm just saying that I would like the storyboards and all of them to have money.

No, I think maybe let me rephrase and please come to stand and help me out on the amended motion is to the same first and second, but the third, you don't want it even if the money comes or that's not in the rank.

I think the recommendation to the council is that Varian is not a desirable location. We didn't really just talk about it that much, but it is in the corner of the city. It's away from, it's not as accessible. It has a lot more downsides. So I think, you know, since we don't have money, I'm not going to argue.

No, I'm not talking about multiple.

No, I don't have a respect if I can make one comment. Again, we're here to pick one. There's not a motion, there's not a second or a third on the table, so therefore that comment does kind of make sense because it's only one that is considered at this time.

No, we're giving our input to the council.

Right, and it was, yeah, the request was to rank the three. My recommendation is not to say that we don't approve, Vivian, but to say that...

I would say that we... that we provide the council with the vote that there were three votes for Wilson, two votes for Jollyman, and none for Varian.

No, I think maybe if I correct it. Can you retract your substitute motion and I'll do a substitute motion?

Yes, please do.

Okay, I'll make a substitute motion to provide the pros and the cons, but with the comments assigned to it so that it can give council clear understanding as to why we did the ranking.

Yes, and I would like to propose that you add one more thing, because we don't want Valiant neighborhood to think that we are ganging up against them. We just are ranking it based on the limited report.

Your comments, because the fact of the tennis court with noise, which will impede

concentration on the storyboards yeah is the factor as you're saying it but they're not saying that you don't have money don't put it like you have money none of that was mentioned so my sister you're still in the okay we have to make a motion I think it's easier looks like one more comment and then we will go on the motion looks like clearly Molly said that we are going to just give rank of these three then I'm going to say eliminate very innocent so Is it enough to just kill the council, the rat, from Parks and Rec, which is one, two, three. And then Library Commission will take it from there.

Which is almost the same as... So just a second, which is similar or exactly the same.

I think that's what they asked us to do, and let's do that.

Let me clarify.

That's the same motion we're generally... I'm just giving the reasons why we selected with the comments behind it. That is really my motion.

Yeah, if needed. So let's say that if needed. So it is the same motion. So can you repeat that motion again? We will go on the second.

I'll keep it simple. I'd like to make a substitute motion.

Can you make just one motion?

To provide... Wilson Park as number one, Joliman number two, Varian number three, with the pros and cons, the feedbacks that we provided as to why we came up to that decision. Excellent. I second it.

Second.

So staff, let's say yes.

Since this is it, this is it. Okay, maybe let me want to apply it. So there is only one motion and you substituted your own motion. So we don't, we just voted on that, right? On the second substitution. On the second substitution motion.

The first substitute motion did not get a second. So this really is the substitute motion.

On the original one we had. So we are voting only on the substitute motion now. So staff, please.

Mr. Bonham?

Aye.

Mr. Sanic yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,

Just now that we're at 9.05, and so I'd like to try and keep our conversation focused on topic at hand so that way we can get through the balance of the agenda. So thank you, Chair.

Excellent. Thank you. And before even I say that, I have a very hot stop at 9.30. If it is not, Vice Chair will take over.

Correct.

Thank you. So now we are going back on to the one which we pushed out, thank you for staying by staying back uh i know it's not i know it didn't mean anything to You're there to listen to everything. Appreciate it. Truly. Thank you. This is the item number two, Parks and Recreation Department Marketing and Communications. And the recommended action from us is to receive it, listen to it, the presentation on this one. But there's no action item at all. Just listen.

Correct. So as you know, when you approved your work plan for this year, one of the things that you found of interest and that we would like to deliver to the Commission is to have each one of our program areas come in and make a presentation. It helps with your learning. It helps with giving us feedback on how we're doing. And so tonight, we are very lucky to have Brent and Kurt with us here. He is our marketing team, pretty much. So we do have one and a half folks in that unit. Branton is the only full-time employee and does a pretty amazing job. And I think you'll be very impressed with what he has to share this evening.

Thank you.

You're always impressed with me.

Thank you. So good evening, Chair, Vice Chair, and Commissioner. So I'm going to walk you through how Brookings Parks and Recreation uses a coordinating marketing effort. I'm sorry. Coordinating a marketing effort to reach residents for programs and events and events and awareness participation. So I'll go ahead and start with the recreation schedule, which serves as a cornerstone of our marketing efforts. Published quarterly, the schedule highlights a wide range of classes, programs, and events, and is mailed directly to more than 2,300 residential addresses. In addition to the printed version, the schedule is also available as an interactive digital brochure and a feature in every Parks and Recreation marketing. Each digital edition averages more than 37,000 views, which is up 10% from the same period of the previous year. Sorry. Yes, and that average was 33,000 at the previous period. Embedded links primarily directing readers to registration pages for programs and events. It's more than 4,400 clicks per edition. This helps residents quickly find and register for activities and events and programs. And that's an increase of 18% from the previous year. Each edition is also downloaded more than 400 times, showing that residents continue to use the schedule as a planning tool beyond the initial mailing or email promotion of it. Now we'll move on to the website. So many of you know we updated our website in December of 2024. So we've had it a little over a year and a half now. We've seen excellent growth across the Parks and Recreation webpages since then. The redesigned layout has helped increase the visibility with the Parks and Recreation webpages making up 15 of the top 20. 15 of the top 18 if you get rid of those last two there. The low balance rate also suggests that the improved organization and layout is helping residents find activities, events, and services they're looking for on the webpage. And over the 12 month period, so this would be May 2025 to April 2026, the Cupertino Parks and Recreation homepage saw nearly 27,000 visitors, which is about 74 visitors a day. Display marketing. So to amplify the visibility of key programs and events, we use a variety of display marketing methods for residents in city facilities, parks, and other community spaces. We leverage the city's internal TV screens in areas like City Hall, Quinlan, and Community Hall. These cities will display feature-rotating messages that are updated regularly to highlight current offerings and upcoming events. We also use banners, A-frames, posters, in strategic locations throughout the city. Many of these materials include QR codes, which allow community members to easily access registration pages, event information from their phones. For larger campaigns and events, we place banners in highly visible locations to reach residents as they move through the community. Next is social media. So social media continues to expand our reach, build community interest, and support promotion for parks and recreation programs and events. We have an active presence across multiple platforms, including two Facebook pages, one dedicated to parks and recreation as a whole, and then one dedicated to McClellan Ranch Preserve. Through Facebook, we also run paid campaigns to increase the visibility of key programs and services. From May 2025 to April 2026, the Parks and Recreation Facebook page generated nearly 17,000 clicks, which was up 24% from the previous year. And the page also received more than 10,000 visits, which was up five. and more than 2,300 interactions, which is up 23% from the previous period. The one metric I did see a little bit of a decline was the number of new CAGE followers we saw. During that period, we saw 435 new followers over a 360-day period, which is down roughly 4% from the previous period. So it's 15, 20 people. So pretty close. And then new books you this year is a dedicated instagram page so much like Facebook instagram gives us another way to tell the. preparation story, especially through photos videos event highlights and cleaning moments in its first month we've generated nearly 2200 view or 22,000 views. and reached 10,000 accounts. We've received 397 interactions and this was all the status from middle of last month. So just in the last like three weeks, those numbers have all increased a lot. And then email marketing. So email marketing still continues to be one of our most effective tools. It's adaptability, direct reach, and cost effectiveness keeps it highly relevant, and it consistently delivers some of our strongest engagement across all of our platforms. We use emails to share a monthly newsletter, promote events, highlight key programs. We also maintain segmented lists for specific audiences, and also target message more effectively and efficiently. Currently, we've sent two monthly e-newsletters, one focused on general Parks and Recreation update and one specific for the Cupertino Senior Center. From May 2025 to April 2026, the Parks and Recreation e-newsletter achieved the 82% engagement rate, which was with nearly 15,000 subscribers, an increase of more than 3,000 subscribers from the previous year. Senior Center's e-newsletter has a 72% engagement rate and has almost 1,500 subscribers, which saw its largest jump in this last year, or largest jump in years this last year. Together, these two e-mail lists have some of the highest engagement rates in the entire city for our e-mail list, with the only exception being the block leader, and that's only got 100 people. and they're very engaged. So in addition to the monthly newsletters, we send targeted emails to specific groups. So if we've got a team event, we're sending an email to teams that we have. If we have, say, food funds, we're emailing past food fund participants to let them know that a future date is coming up.

Next slide. On the teams, you've got 1,840 subscribers. It says it's up 3,043, which is a number. Oh, that is...

That is definitely a typo. I don't have that number.

This looks like it got pulled over maybe.

Yeah, so the team list, the big numbers, correct? The smaller number off the top of my head? Typically that list grows by a couple hundred each year. That sounds about right. A couple hundred each year with kids going to college and stuff like that.

How many Catholic didn't we ask?

uh through engagement so let's if it's okay can we just to can we you can finish it then then we'll come to where oh okay okay so um next is specific to adult 50 plus outreach so for adult 50 plus to use a mix of print digital email and bi-monthly communication tools a shared senior center offerings. The 50 plus seniors included in the quarterly recreation schedule. So part of that printed and digital version, which is that's mailed to the 2300 residents. And this having it in the recreation schedule helps keep the senior center programs visible to a broad community, not just the 50 plus population. It also, it's also available online as a digital magazine. In August 2025, we mailed targeted membership direct postcards to 2,600 Cupertino residents that have adult 50-plus living in them just before the Cupertino Senior Center Annual House. So the goal of this was to introduce or reintroduce the center to the 50-plus community and hope that they would stop by and see what's new at the Senior Center. That outreach is supported by monthly newsletters, registration, event reminder emails, bi-monthly calendar, bi-monthly activity schedule, social media posts, programs, and member experience. So next we'll go to that Each each marketing channel has its own role. But the goal is all the same. So it's helping residents simply from becoming aware of an opportunity to actually participate in opportunity. I'm really coming back and participating in more future activities that we offer. Go back one. To go back, there you go. Okay, so next we're going to go through two awareness. So the awareness, we make sure residents know what's available to them. So this is tools like the recreation schedule, signage, social media, the website. This helps us highlight and reach people where they already are. So whether they're seeing it online or walking in the facility, they're seeing a post in their feed. And we want the residents to see the program and event and think that that looks interesting to them, or they didn't know that the city offered that. So next, so after awareness, we look at building interests. This is where strong visuals, program pages, and email features become important. We're also not just telling people that something exists. We're giving them a reason to care and show why it's worth their time. And then next is registration. So once someone is interested, we want to make sure it's as easy for them to join us. This means direct links, QR codes, call to actions, reminder emails. So making it as easy for them to sign up and participate with us as possible. And the next thing is a strong experience. So this is by far the strongest marketing tool that any agency on can have. So this is after you have a great experience, it's following with post-event communication, photo, storytelling, helping keep the residents connected beyond that initial program. Overall, each of these channels don't act as separate efforts. They work together to guide residents through the same journey with the goal of creating a positive experience with Cupertino Parks and Recreation, whether it's a camp, an activity, and then hopefully they take something else with us. And then by continuing to invest in consistent sport and marketing, more residents will discover and participate in the Parks and Recreation program. And that concludes my presentation.

Awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And really, really a lot of members are popping up in a big way. So thank you. Any clarification questions from the commissioners?

I just want to know how, what, how are you calculating the engagement rate?

So it's a bunch of different metrics, whether it's open, um, if it's a unique open, if it's open multiple times, um, how many things are being clicked on. So there's a lot of different like, yeah, yeah. So we, I can pull all that data and then basically take a look at it and I'll get kind of what the engagement rates.

Thank you.

Thank you. If there's no clarification questions, is there any public comments?

We have no speakers.

Thank you. Now, of course, the public comments and any other comments from the commissioners.

I'll just make one very brief. It's nice to see the pickup. And I'm part of that engagement because I live on Instagram. So I'm part of that solution. But no, it looks like it's the interest is there. Yes, exactly.

Awesome. Thank you. Again, overall, it's fantastic. I don't know, it's a one-man army, they say, or one person, one and a half person, and still it is amazing. So thank you. Appreciate it. You bring more awareness and connectivity to the community. Thank you. And now the staff and commission reports. I know last time we did differently, but this time I need to go through it. First, it goes with the staff report, and then only it goes on the commission report. So...

Staff and you really get nice that you may want to let them.

Yeah, I don't want to follow up across the street. That's good. Mind so stuff. Okay.

We do.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Sure. Yes. Okay. Fantastic. Thank you for the opportunity to give you a few updates since we last met.

I know that are

Pretty going pretty late here. So first things first, since our last meeting, the council did take action on April 7th related with the commissioner's handbook. So although you went through a training a few months back, there were some updates to the handbook, and that's been sent out to all of you in an email on Friday, May 22nd. I'm hopeful that you've already had the chance to take a peek at it and look at the revisions that have made. Specifically, there's been revisions in the sections related with commissions, membership, future agenda setting recommendations and reports to city council and use of city email. There's also been new sections added on commission administrator, alternate members, board representation, hybrid meetings and remote participation, as well as the work plan. So if you haven't already read through that, please do so. And if you have questions, it would be best to take those offline and you can ask them directly to me. And then I'll make sure that you have what you need to move forward and to work in within the structure that the council has approved for all of our commissions. So thank you for that. Then I wanted to jump into some things that are happening now that it's officially summer, maybe not on the calendar, but from a perspective of weather and kids being almost out of school. But Blackberry Farm is open for the season, and you can visit Cupertino.gov backslash BBF calendar to see the full range of lap swim, recreation swim, swim lessons, picnic hours, and all of the things that are being offered there this summer. Next, I'm pleased to announce that the Summer Concert Series is back. We'll be kicking off the series on Thursday, June 11th. The series does go until August 20th, and all of the concerts are held at the Memorial Park Amphitheater. Those take place from 6.30 to 8, and we have a wide range of bands that will be attending, whether you're into classic rock, blues, Whatever tickles your fancy, it will be pretty much offered this summer. And you can check out that schedule online. Again, that's Cupertino.gov backslash summer concert. Then this weekend we have Splash Bash. This is something being hosted by the Youth Activity Board. It's a fun field day planned for youth and teens. It's meant to kind of kick off the summer. School ends tomorrow for many of the schools in and around the area. And it's a kickoff to some summer fun. It will take place on Sunday, June 7th from noon to 3 here in Memorial Park. And it's going to include, you know, some water balloon activities, some inflatables, some games. And for teens, Kona Ice is available for free for the first 50. So not for adults, but for teens. Okay. We also have an intergenerational activity planned for Saturday, June 13th at Blackberry Farm Golf Course. It's called Golfing for Generations. Get it? Four. So it's designed for folks ages five and up for all skill levels, and it's meant to be a unique tournament with a with an alternate format than what you're used to to make it so that way it's even for youth and older adults. Registration is still being accepted at reg4rec.org. Next, we have Disco at Desk. This year, this multi-generational event has a Hollywood theme. The event's taking place on Friday, June 26th from 6.30 to 8 at Community Hall. Each guest is going to receive a pair of wireless headphones with three channels that are playing different movie style themes. They'll be 70s and 80s. 90s to 2000, and then 2010 to present day. So you could switch the channels throughout the evening to find your groove. There'll be glowing lights and all sorts of fun stuff for folks of all ages. Again, this is an intergenerational activity, Friday, June 26th from 630 to 8. Registration is at reg4rec.org. And definitely our flagship event of the year is right around the corner, the 4th of July celebration. And as everyone is aware, this is our birthday, 250th year. Very exciting to be celebrating that here in Cupertino. The day will start with a pancake breakfast here in the building at Quinlan from 8 to 11, and that's hosted by the Optimist Club of Cupertino. Following breakfast, folks will head out into Memorial Park for a flag raising ceremony, a children's parade, and children's activities that will begin around 10 near the Veterans Memorial. This year, we're also bringing back swimming at Blackberry Farm Pool from 10 to 5. And then there'll be a concert at 10.30. The band is Fire Peach, and they'll be performing at the Amphitheater at about 10.30. There'll also be some children's games and that sort of thing going on. Of course, what everybody will be waiting for is the fireworks celebration that evening. It will start at approximately 9.30 and we'll have the same three viewing sites as we've had in recent years. That'll be Creekside, Sedgwick Elementary School, and then Miller Avenue near Bollinger Road. So to learn more about this event, Cupertino.gov backslash July 4th. Next, I want to share with you that we will be hosting another Cupertino Campout. This is a July event. Since we are not meeting in July, I have a couple of July things just to throw out there. So Cupertino Campout is Saturday, July 18th, beginning at 4 p.m., and it goes until Sunday, July 19th at 10 a.m. This event takes place at Creekside Park, and it's an opportunity for folks that maybe want to be introduced to camping or don't have the ability to go too far. Kind of an introduction to camping and a night under the stars filled with recreation activities throughout. It's a great way for family and neighbors to gather and to meet new friends, and our staff will be programming things to make sure that it's a memorable evening for folks. For this event, pre-registration is required, and registration will take place at Cupertino.gov backslash campbell. Also a July slash early August activity is Shakespeare in the Park. It too will take place in the Memorial Park Amphitheater for the production of Antony and Cleopatra. And there's multiple dates, July 25th and 26th and August 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th. All of those will take place at 6 p.m. in the amphitheater. And then because the movies in park will start right as we are gathering next in August, I wanted to share with you that you have four movies planned, July, or excuse me, August 7th through August 28th. They're all on Friday evenings. Batchy will take place at Creekside Park starting at 8 p.m. The movie lineup includes Goat, A Bug's Life, Freakier Friday, and Superman. And then hopefully all of you got the email sent regarding the Cupertino Community Service Awards. I'm highlighting it here because I wanted to make sure that you marked your calendar for Wednesday, October 28th. We don't have additional details quite yet. The period for seeking nominations or applying For folks that might be interested, it does close July 7th, and you can find all that information online should you choose to nominate somebody. But for the actual awards banquet, we'll have more information next time we meet. And then last but not least, we are in full get ready for summer mode. Most camps start on Monday, June 8th. We have a full list of camps available at cupertino.gov backslash camps. And then we will be closed as a city on Friday, June 19th, in observance of Juneteenth. We'll have our normal operating hours on that day, however, at Blackberry Farm Golf Course and at the Cupertino Sports Center. And last but not least, it's important to note that we will not be meeting on July 2nd. We will be up to our eyeballs in July 4th prep. And I know many of you travel during that timeframe as well. So our next meeting will be Thursday, August 6th at 7 p.m. So that concludes the staff report for this week.

Thank you. I need to take off and I'd like to request advice.

Okay, can you share the script with her so we can?

Yes, I'm just keeping it there.

Fantastic.

Keeping it there and so right there. Okay, thank you so much. There's 60 people waiting on the zone. So from here. Okay, thank you.

All right, thank you staff. Now it's time for our commissioner reports. Your turn to highlight any parks and recs department facilities you may have visited, share any parks and rec activities you have attended, bring light to any city activities you have volunteered at, or any involvement you may have had pertaining to the commissioner since our last meeting. Commissioner Bodum? Nothing to do. So it's nothing to report. Commissioner Stanin. I was out of the country. Commissioner Swami.

Just went to a bunch of parks. It was really nice. I think there are particularly jolly ones. Really upgraded as a street site. All these parks have had a lot of love and they're doing thriving and the community is very benefiting.

Awesome.

Any comments? No. Future agenda setting. Actually, I do have one comment. In the future agenda setting. Sorry, go ahead. Okay. Yeah. It doesn't have to be this next one, but I think Minam brought up the point that, you know, can we know the status of Lauren Smithy because she's been pinging me regularly. That might not be a bad idea to get that report.

So I will note on that that we do have, I'm looking at our schedules so that I get it correct. So obviously at our last meeting we had information about the CIP and we had information about the different projects pending, which we got an update regarding Lawrence-Mitty at that point. We will have later in the year our Public Works Department coming to talk about facilities, grounds, and trees. If there's an update at that time, I can have them include that. But I would say for now that your most recent update is pretty much where we're still at.

Thank you.

I have a question for staff. When are community grants going to council?

They're going the same night as the fiscal year 26-27 budget, which is June 16th. Right. And I've worked it out with the chair that he will be present. That doesn't preclude any of you from, you know, attending as well. But he will be available should there be any questions or comments on behalf of the council for the commission. Correct. I was just going to say, I'd have to double check at the time. And

My other question would have been, I would have suggested that we put on the agenda the pickleball policy, but it sounds like it's going straight to council without us having an opportunity to have anything put on the agenda.

So it's not an agendized item, so it's a little difficult to have that conversation here tonight, but I will remind you that that's an operational item and that the sound attenuation portion of that is something that was brought to this group and that council will be making a decision on at the June 16th meeting. So following that decision and or any input that the council has, then we'll determine what the appropriate next steps are.

Okay. Anybody has any other comments, questions? All right, adjournment. Our meeting is now coming to an end. I want to thank everyone for coming to tonight's meeting, and I'm thanking on behalf of Chair Mallikant as well. As a reminder, there is not a July meeting. Our next Parks and Recreation Committee meeting will be on Thursday, August 6th at 7 p.m. here in Finland. And I now adjourn the meeting at 9.34 p.m.