City Council - Special Meeting

ready when council's ready sure good afternoon let's go ahead and call to order the special council meeting board and commission interviews of april 28th 2026 at 5 00 4 pm the city does not tolerate disruptive behavior in our meetings this council meeting is considered a limited public forum which means the council can regulate the time place and manner of speech If a speaker's comments are not related to an agenda item, the presiding officer will rule that speaker out of order. A speaker will not be ruled out of order because of a disagreement with the content of their speech. Location and online meeting details are available on the council agenda. Scan the QR code on the screen or click the language access and translation link on the council agenda to read and listen along in more than 60 different languages. Use the show captions button to view the captions on Zoom. City Clerk, may we please have roll call? Mayor Klein. Present.

Vice Mayor Mellinger. Council Member Cisneros?

Present.

Council Member Srinivasan? Present. Council Member Sell?

Present.

Council Member Chang?

Present.

Council Member Ley?

Present.

Six present, with Vice Mayor Mellinger absent.

Thank you, and Vice Mayor Mellinger's absence is an excused absence. Moving on to our own item tonight, item 25-0009, Board and Commission Interviews. Is there a staff report?

Yes, Mayor and Council Members, David Cunningham, the City Clerk. Between last night and tonight's interviews, Council's interviewing approximately 40 individuals for vacancies on your nine boards and commissions. Applications were due April 16th in order to give us time to check voter registration as appropriate, as needed, and to schedule interviews. And then you have an agenda item on your May 19th meeting to make appointments to these boards and commissions.

Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and open up public comment. Members of public wishing to address council, please submit a speaker card to the city clerk. Use the raised hand feature now or dial star nine on your telephone to indicate that you wish to speak. I will call on members of public participating in person first. And then the city clerk will ask remote participants to unmute once they return to address council. Speakers will have two minutes to speak. Do we have any in-person or remote participants wishing to speak on this side?

No, ma'am.

Okay, I'll go ahead and close public comment. The council will be interviewing, I think, 18 candidates this evening. City Clerk, we're ready for our first candidate.

I have a seat here. Council members, your first candidate. Chetty, Chad.

Chad Trolley.

Thank you. Hi, Chad Trolley.

Hi.

I'm Senegal Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. Each council member will have a chance to ask you a question. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. So keep that in mind as you're answering those questions. Thank you. And first up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello, thank you so much for submitting your application, your interest in serving the city in this way. I really enjoyed reading the perspective that you offered in your application, especially your thoughts around the bond measure that failed. I think you mentioned it kind of toward the end that it might be a good idea for us to um go forward with a more modest ballot measure i was curious to hear you expand on your thoughts of why you thought the bond measure failed this time around and why you think like lowering that um the bond amount might be successful or any other uh considerations council might take into account to have a more successful ballot measure next time around yeah i think that um

The primary reason I felt that being more modest in what we're asking for would be successful if we are more focused on what are the things that we would like to change or update in our library systems around Sunnyvale. trying to also then appeal to, you know, the Sunnyvale residents. We have a lot of diversity in our community and then being focused on maybe these are the top three things and then maybe being a little bit more modest instead of choosing a lot more and then With that, I felt that this could be, this is very, this is something I do on my job all the time where something failed and then, okay, like what is it that we can do where we can still make incremental progress instead of going for everything at the same time.

That makes sense. So you're saying that perhaps not seeking the amount of money necessary to completely renovate or completely like build a new building, but maybe we go to renovation because it's a small amount more cost. I do it incrementally. Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hello. Hi. You have a very impressive academic background. Thank you. I'm very interested in some of the ideas you have proposed. I want to focus on the NART site. You said that NART Sunnyvale community is underserved, which we know that. And then you also said the library must champion digital equity by evolving beyond basic Internet access to provide critical AI literacy one on one technical training tutoring for seniors and robust hardware lending programs. Can you elaborate on that? Yeah.

So I work on search in Google and I see firsthand how the world is changing and I can foresee a lot of things that we are not there yet, but it is coming in terms of AI transformation of the society. And I really feel that both for my parents are aging now, they don't live here. They live in India, but I see that they have been, um, AI as it's coming up, there are bots is easier, phishing is easier. And I think that education, my aging parents have been susceptible to that, that they don't exactly understand what is going on at all. It's like a prince in Nigeria writing to them, oh, here is $1 million, right? And then similarly, I have very young kids, so two and six, and I constantly worry about what do they need to learn as they move forward in their life? Because the way, I think this is a revolution in terms of technology that AI is bringing. And I really, I'm living it every single day. And I'm also living it at home, not just at work. That how do I, having these different experiences generations, and then what is it that they should learn so that they stay abreast of the technological advances and how it's going to affect their lives. And I think that library, we go there every week, the Sunnyvale Public Library, and I really feel that it will be a good system that can actually educate folks about some of these things. And then I'm very interested in figuring out what kind of measures can we take, whether it's young children or even teenagers, and then also senior citizens, where we have them be we disseminate this information more broadly so that they're aware of how to adjust their own lives that they don't get scammed and they don't get uh but they're also from for younger children like what is it that they should learn and what is it that you should focus on so i also do a lot of this in my daughter's school but it would be good to also do this like you know in the library system very good that's very interesting we i am also interested in that

we are trying to organize a cybersecurity workshop for young children and seniors. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sell.

Hi, thank you for interviewing. Great background. So you also mentioned that there might be an interest in the Parks and Rec Commission. And then you listed like some few ideas. And so what do you think is most needed if you had like one great idea for the park, say you were on the parks commission and you wanted to accomplish one major thing in our parks, what do you think it would be?

I'm trying to think the personal experience. So personal experience, I would say this park is another library is one. And then I think the park is another public system that we use a lot with our young children. I... I don't know if I have a solution right away, but one of the things that I have struggled with as a resident, because we used to live in San Mateo and then a few years ago we came here. And my realization was that finding other children who are the same age as my kids, like the park is the best place to go because there will be other kids. And then, you know, finding those social, the communities and, you know, just building that out. And I wonder if there is maybe a more, digital way of doing this, right? communities can come more closely together, right? And then because kids are also in different age groups, they go to different schools, right? Some go to public schools, some go to private schools. But I think that as a community, we all live here. And then how can we connect with one another? So I do that more unofficially where I try to talk to moms locally to get some kids together. But I think that That would really solve problems for a lot of people because a lot of times they're always like, oh, it's the weekend. What do I do when my children, how do they have play dates and so on? But park is a great place. Everybody goes there. If there's a way for us to bring communities more closely together with children of the same ages, I think that is the first thing I would do. That's good.

Yeah, it's park and recreation. I mean, that's kind of more recreation.

That's a great idea. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Chen.

Thank you for applying. I wanted to know, you know, you use the library and the parks pretty frequently. If there are specific programs or parks that stand out to you?

In parks? Parks or the library programs. I think in the library, what we enjoy the most is there are these, on an ongoing basis, they will always have a treasure hunts that are, it's always going on in the library. And we spend a lot of time on that every time we go in. And I really like it that it's very well organized, that there are, there's the paper, there are pencil, you know, kids can go around, you know, crossing things. So I really like that as a program. They have also taken advantage of some performances that have happened in the library in the past. And then on the park side, I think using the, for birthday parties, like using the parks for birthday parties, which is not a program, but it's a facility that we have used in the past, our friends have used. So I highly recommend all my friends as well. I think it's a great way to bring families and communities together in the park. So yeah, those are the things that I really like about both our parks and our library.

Thank you. Thank you.

Council Member Lange?

Hi, thank you so much for applying. It's great to hear a mom perspective, especially because the commissions that you applied for, sorry, Bolton, the PRC, those are very kid things. Those are things that families in Sunnyvale access all the time. So I appreciated your inclusion in your application about thoughts about the Lakewood Branch Library and also the Lakewood Park Library. Those are both in my district. So it's good to know that people are thinking about them, especially because it's not necessarily on the radar of people who aren't always paying attention to council things. So my question for you, Pretend nothing has happened inside the Lakewood Library so far. I'm handing you a bucket of $5 million. How are you going to fill it?

As we just discussed, I think AI education for both kids and seniors would be a topic that I just think is important for society right now, and beyond. So I would spend some amount of money on that, just bringing in experts and having those conversations with folks. I think that, so if I understand correctly, the Lake Howard Library, it's also students and it's co-shared, right, with the school district as well. I think that reusing... or maybe intermingling the students with the public that is coming in and having some forums where folks learn from each other on the kind of problems that they are seeing and coming up with newer ideas, right? I would also source this from the public is what I'm trying to say, but then just my deciding it because I think it's important to hear out what the community has to say. I think that there is... digital safety is another one where on the one hand yeah we do this is coming from personal experience right now I don't allow I have a six-year-old and a two-year-old so I don't allow my six-year-old to check out a lot of things right but maybe for the high schoolers and so on it might be a good idea to both like enable them to access the digital things but also figure out like what are the and some money around teaching them the safety and so on in society or social networks, all of that. So maybe some money towards that. Those are the things that come to mind right now.

Thank you. There wasn't a right answer. I was just curious how you would fill it. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm last. So some questions about parks, and I appreciate Your application, you're talking about kind of an aging population. From a ADA accessibility, you know, you talked about infrastructure needs within our community. You also talked about passive spaces. What do you consider, you know, good passive spaces within the city that are already there that should be duplicated? And then kind of from an aging and placed senior population, what would you like to see the Parks and Rec Commission focus on?

Yeah, so when I'm in passive spaces, I'll give a very concrete example. So I often see in, so I'm in the Ponderosa Park neighborhood and in the evenings, a lot of seniors, they gather there. And it's kind of a community within themselves. So it's not an organized activity or something that the city is kind of prescribing that, hey, this is how you should use this. But that is what I meant. It's a passive space where they kind of figured it out. It just exists. And there are a bunch of benches. And then they'll come and they'll gather. And then I think it's a very nice community experience, especially again, I'm borrowing from my own parents aging. And how they crave social connections with other people. And then I think this is a great space for them. I'll be honest with you. I think I've seen it work well. So I don't know if we need to... Maybe the one thing I would say is maybe like have more of such, like just people can just sit and talk to each other and just have that community experience because I've seen that work very, very well. And so yeah, like the park does work well. I can't give another example where somewhere else I've seen it and then we bring it here. I've actually seen it work very well in the park. I'll give another concrete example where very little, like my kid, when she was one, her nanny used to take her to the park. And then in the morning, there is another senior group that meets in the Ponderosa Park and they play music. And then there is like some kind of dance movement class that they're doing. And my one-year-old used to join that. And then just kind of, and I used to see, because I would be at work and then my nanny would send me pictures. And I thought that was such an amazing thing that it just happened, that it was a space, it was a passive space. They made it an active space by just being there. And then- having this experience, which multiple generations can enjoy. So I think it's great. I really, really like the water parks.

Great. And then as far as Ponderosa, definitely, well, let's say the crown down fences or the brick wall, the stone wall, hopefully that's better for all residents right now.

Yes, yes.

So thank you. So thank you for going through the application process. Thank you for your interest. Council will be making its decision on Tuesday, May 19th. So you don't need to be at that meeting to be selected. And then city clerk will get back to you later in the week with the final results.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, everyone. Have a great evening.

Bye-bye. You too.

Thank you.

Tim sent me the picture.

Let's see. Chair over here. Council members, your next applicant, Paul, is here.

Hi, Paul. Good evening. Hi. I'm Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for going through the application process. Let me give you a quick overview of what's going on tonight. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you a question, so keep that time in mind as you're going through the answers. And first up is Council Member Srini Basin.

Hi, Paul. Good evening. Good evening. Thanks for applying. And then I also note that you are a blood donor for 25 years. Thank you very much. I read your application, and then it's very, very interesting. You said... in your application as to why the bond, since the bond measure failed, what are the solutions you suggest? One of the things you suggest is maybe library is only part of the name that goes on outside the building. What does that mean?

Yeah.

So, I mean, I think about the library. I know Sunnyvale already has a community center, but the library is very much a place of community. And when you look at the activities that go on at the library, whether it be the various services that it offers, the programming that's involved there, as I've come to understand it, part of the need is not only to have more facility for actual books and materials alone, but also space to have some of the various programs that are there as well. if there's a way to craft, you know, coming from my kind of marketing background, right, to position it so that it's not just about the books and think of it as more than just, you know, a library is more than just a bunch of books in the building.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sal.

So, you mentioned, like, two priorities of the library.

Just thoughts. Yes.

Yeah. Of your varied background, why did you choose to apply for the Library Commission? Why are you passionate about that? And why do you think you're so skilled for it?

One second. We have our program. Lost the video.

It makes a noise before it stops. It makes a hooting sound, so if you hear the hoot.

Yeah, I was listening last night. One moment, Paul. Sorry.

I already got it. Well, we're just going to give up on using it. That's a brand new owl.

That's a brand new owl.

The one we used yesterday.

Oh, no. And it's so good.

It must be the connection between the meeting owl and the computer in the back, maybe. But we are going to...

this cable out of here. So is Joel streaming audio or no? Just asking. You just keep talking. I'm going to go make sure everybody can hear you up there.

Hello?

Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Hello?

Hello?

Can you hear us?

For the testing, you're good to resume meeting.

Oh, yes.

Let's go ahead and resume the meeting after some technical difficulties. Council Member Sell, your question.

My refined question is... Say you were serving on the commission. What would you want to accomplish? What's the biggest thing you want to accomplish? And why are you specifically skilled to accomplish that?

So the biggest thing I'd like to accomplish is I'd like to see a plan for the library expansion, if you will. I mean, I'm well aware of the bond measure failing. I think there are a number of alternatives to consider, not just to try to go back and take another bite at the same apple. So that would be the reason for me doing that. You know, in terms of skills, I think always what I've tried to do is be the type of person to build consensus in what I'm doing as a manager and as a leader. And so I think that's really what it's going to take to come up with a solution because I think kind of the, it seems to me that the straightforward answer of just going out and trying to do the same thing you've done again is not going to work. So there need to be some alternatives.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Councilmember Chang.

Thank you for applying. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about what programs you like at the library and what kinds of programs you'd like to see more of.

So. I have mostly just participated in blending materials when my daughter was younger. We participated in a number of the childhood activities, the summer reading program, some of the various playtime, storytime kind of activities when she was younger. Really enjoyed that with her. Also gave me a chance to meet other parents. It's great, you know, with the new Lakewood branch opening up and that I think should be much more focused around kids' activities. I've been also tuning in to some of the various speakers, authors. There's a sustainability series that's kind of going on now with some of the book authors around that. So I've enjoyed kind of expanding my knowledge that way. Great. Thank you. Council Member Lin.

Thank you. And thank you for your thoughtful answer to that question. It's always great to hear people who are enjoying the library programs. I think that's not the default for a lot of people in Sunnyvale, and I like them, so I'm glad other people do too. I like the sentence that you wrote in your application, the library is a resource for and a reflection of the community. And I thought that was a beautiful statement. That's a great thing to say. And that we, I think, would love to be true always, like as a community. I have a question for you regarding the Lakewood Branch Library. Without knowing what's in it already and pretending you're starting from a clean slate, I'm going to give you a bucket of $5 million. How would you fill it?

How would I fill the Lakewood Branch Library? Yes. You're asking that question in the context of what is sort of the overall needs that I see for the library in total, the Or is it because I'm well aware of the kind of Lakewood was done really in partnership with school districts and to my way of thinking, it's been much more focused on kids and as a children's branch, but that's the kind of... more resources for play or, you know, there's the library of things and the lending library there. I think it's a great opportunity. I know there's already some kids' toys and materials that are available. I'd love to see that expanded even more so that kids who don't have the means have access to, you know, let's face it, there's some pretty expensive toys out there. And I think that's a great opportunity for families that don't have the means to be able to have access to some of that and help their kids learn that way.

For your background, the partnership with the schools means that the schools put in some money and they're going to have separate program rooms. It's not necessarily a dedicated children's library like you might see in other places, so it's not necessarily focused on children and focused on schools, but it is definitely, the schools will be a part of it.

Thank you. I'm up next, and You utilize the main library a lot. And we talked about the bond measure. What do you see as a prioritization of changes that you would like to see there? Whether or not it's a renovation or a new library, and we're having that big discussion, and that will be conceivably what the commissioners discuss. But at least as it currently exists, what changes would you like to see?

Well, I think that the library, in a lot of respects, feels very cramped to me, especially in the children's area. I know we were... One of the... statistics I saw was that 70% of the book lending from the library is actually for children's materials and 30% is for the adults, right? And if you look at the floor space, the teen section, and so I would love to see, even with the children's focus of the Lakewood Library, I'd love to see more space for kids to be able to not just books, but actually play. I mean, when my daughter and I used to take her to the library, The first thing she wanted to do was watch videos of people in the big wide world. And there were a few stations to go see that. And then she generally wanted to go over to kind of, there was a play area that had books all around it. And sometimes she'd want to look at books, but sometimes she just wanted to play with other kids. So I think more focus in that area. And then There is limited space for seminars and educational, those kind of material. In the interim, in the absence of that, I think it'd be great. I don't know if City Hall is so close, if there are ways that other programs and things could be driven into the City Hall space to take advantage of that as well.

We filmed the librarians. It was a library screening at our council chambers last week. So utilizing this building, I do agree where we can makes a lot of sense. So thank you. And lastly, it's Council Member Cisneros.

Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. And thank you so much for applying and looking to this opportunity to serve your community in this way. It's really great. Really enjoyed your answers so far. And I have an almost two-year-old. So a lot of your answers really resonated with me there. That is a good idea. I appreciate it. I use it often. I'll pull out a sentence from your application as well that kind of stuck with me. That is, more technology isn't always the answer. And I think that's such a poignant thing to say when we think about libraries as a very analog space, but most of us exist in this larger digital landscape. I wanted to hear you talk a little bit more about how you would determine whether technology is the answer to something or whether maybe a more analog answer is needed.

Yeah. So I think the... So, for instance, just listening to some of the things that have been talked about with potential improvements for the library. One of the things I was hearing in one of the meetings was about Internet access, and that's where probably using more advanced technology to improve the bandwidth to be able to, you know, fill in your big brick building, and you can have coverage issues and things like that. So... But that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go in and upgrade every single computer that's in there. And so sometimes I think there's a tendency, especially because we're in Silicon Valley and we see the latest and greatest things. And certainly we're all sometimes have a desire to, you know, that nice new shiny widget looks really great. but it may not be really necessary. And I think that's where a little prudence where you can use technology to say, you know, improve the bandwidth and the coverage and things like that and improve the experience for people. But it doesn't necessarily mean you need to go through and buy, you know, 50 new computers.

Absolutely. I appreciate that perspective. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

So that's all the questions for tonight. Thank you for going through the process. Council will be making its final decision on Tuesday, May 19th. You don't need to be at that meeting to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back with you later in that week with the final results. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much.

And your patience.

Yes, no problem.

Next up is Clyde.

Also members, you're next up when Clyde is here. You have to see this table over here.

Good afternoon, Clyde.

Good afternoon. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Thank you. So I'm Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for replying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. So we have about 15 minutes to do the interview. Each council member will have a chance to ask you a question. So keep that in mind as you're answering those questions. And first up is Council Member Sell.

Hi. Thank you for interviewing. So if you were on the commission, the library commission, what would be a major thing that you would want to accomplish? And why are you specifically interested? with your special skill that would enable you to accomplish that?

I'm really passionate about the digital literacy and digital, basically making those resources available. With the new library coming online, I know that's been a concern of theirs and that community can use it in a major way. My background, software, QA, tech, which is a dime a dozen in Sunnyvale, to be perfectly honest. But I feel like I have a lot of experience that I can offer there. I mentioned in there somewhere that there's also the... over my words i apologize um the english is a second point which is a is a major concern making the resources available to close that digital gap is huge and something i care very much about okay thank you thank you uh next up is council member chang hi thank you for applying

I wanted to know if you utilize our current library now and what types of programs or what do you like most about the library?

I mostly serve myself at the library. I use this local library here. I also make a pretty significant use of the e-books, being able to do stuff like that from home as well. When there's times when I've had to do research on a subject because, well, one of my clients had asked some questions and I wasn't able to answer them immediately, the library has been very helpful for that as well.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next up is Council Member Lay.

Thank you for interviewing and thank you for applying for this position. I'm curious about your thoughts about digital equity. It was on the school board on the tail end of COVID. So there was a lot of talk about that, about kids who couldn't access education because there wasn't internet access. And I'm curious what you believe that the library, what role the library has to play in that and your thoughts about expanding that digital equity. You talked about it, especially on the north side. So I wanted to allow you to elaborate on that. Yeah.

It intersects with, of course, the budget issues that the library has because of the bond. But I feel that there are places there where we can do better. The new library will help a lot because it's in a community that needs that support. Also, being right by the school probably makes it much more convenient as well. The trick would be funding and figuring out how to expand programs where they're needed. Basic internet access is not that difficult. Most people have their phones, if nothing else. But phones aren't enough for things like, for instance, If you're looking at applying for, you know, if you're job hunting or if you're trying to do some serious research for papers that you're writing for school, you don't have access to that online classes. Those would that would be huge. But if you don't have the ability, if you don't have a home computer, that's not really an option. So there are there are. Sorry. Sorry. there are areas there that I think would benefit the community. As far as we step away from kids, the job hunting, I think, is actually a really big deal. I kind of called it out. I've been reviewing and consulting some with AI, and what I'm finding is there's a lot of people that just, they hear people talking about it, but they don't know very much themselves, and they want to know What do I need to know? How do I trust what it's telling me? Things like that. AI, I generally tell my clients I'm cautiously optimistic because it does get things wrong, and the trick is being able to recognize that it got things wrong. And so that's actually a place where the digital literacy would come into play as well, is letting people recognize a, much like Wikipedia back in 1998, it's not a primary source. You can't trust it as a primary source.

You still have to do the research.

Thank you.

And I had questions along that same line as far as AI and what you would like to see. It's like you said that Sunnyvale is kind of the... groundbreaking place where AI is being focused on. Specifically, what programs would you like to see at the library related to AI? And also how that's relating to, let's say, the age of participants, because that's also, I think, an important part of that. I agree with that.

For the younger and possibly some for the parents as well, is just being able to recognize that it's not 100% accurate. It will get things wrong. It will sometimes make things up. And to avoid some of those problems, There's a certain amount of learning how to ask it the correct questions so that it actually answers the question you're asking, not the question it thinks you're asking. I use Cloud AI pretty heavily, and I have in my project instructions this vast list of like, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, to try to keep it on the rails. And that in and of itself is valuable. You know, I would love to be able to help people make use of that sort of thing.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Thank you so much for applying and looking to serve your city in this way. It is very much appreciated. It's important work. And I want to thank you for your really thoughtful answers to my colleagues' questions. And I wanted to, we talked a little bit about the bond measure, but I wanted to drill down. So you had some really specific thoughts about what we should do next to be more successful. And I'd like you to talk a little bit about that and also answer whether you think we should go for a similar measure. bond amount looking at a new building and the kind of the scope and the scale we were talking about or do you think that it would be more prudent to go with smaller renovation projects in a smaller dollar amount um and there are pluses and minuses to both so there there's no right answer i'm just curious on how you're thinking about because it all comes back to how you're thinking about why it failed and how it would be successful right well i'm going to leave with the

When I did my research and my reading and I was writing that, there was a part of my brain that was saying, it's like, this is all stuff they know. So I felt like I'm telling people to do something that they already know they need to do, I'm not sure.

But... You'd be surprised. Fair.

I think in our current climate, I think a big bond measure, like the one in 24... I'm not sure I would trust going for the big bond measure. I would probably try to do it in smaller portions, very targeted in what's immediately needed, then the longer term concerns, and do that over time. I think in terms of election cycles, A major election like the presidential election in 24, I think, may have also worked against the bond measure to a certain amount. I didn't dig into where the misinformation on the tax impact was coming from. So I can't say what organization was responsible for that. But I did my own research on the bond because I voted for it. That was, some of the things being thrown around were just wrong. I think a smaller, an approach with a smaller, more targeted bond measures or other forms of funding to try to target what's needed now. I mean, obviously a new building is going to be needed, but that might take some time. Is that?

Yes, that absolutely answers my question. Thank you so much. Yeah.

Thank you. And thank you. You actually are my council. Fantastic. I am too.

Oh, I'm happy to hear. Well, welcome to City Hall. And I hope to see you around the neighborhood.

Thank you. And lastly, it's Council Member Sreenivasan.

Thank you. Thank you for applying. Thanks for explaining about the bond measure because that was one of the questions I had about you had mentioned misinformation campaign on tax impact. I understand what you said. And then you also said about the chamber and the leadership group supporting that bond measure, which we should leverage. I also want to drill down on the, you said, for us to explore public-private partnership and then naming rights. I understand.

That's a tricky space. Yeah, exactly. I understand that. That's why my next question was, what do you... You know, who remembers Monster Park before it became whatever else it was? It's a problem, but... you know...

But the Monster Park was a monster cable company, not the... Correct.

Correct. And then, but, you know, there were a number of the other parks where they had the naming rights and then another company would come along and buy the new naming rights and suddenly the park would have a completely different name. So, yeah, that's kind of a messy space. But I think that with all of the corporations that are, companies and corporations that are here in Sunnyvale, I think establishing some sort of partnership and understanding with them and seeing where they might be able to assist us or we might be able to assist them even would be wonderful. It was one of the things that seemed like a natural, but at the same time, I haven't done all of my research on what companies, for instance, would be worth talking to about that sort of thing. But it's not unlike the sponsorships from the citizens as well, where something will be named because they gave a grant or something along those lines.

Thank you.

Thank you. So that's the last of the questions. Thank you for going through the process this evening. Council will be making its final decision on Tuesday, May 19th. You don't need to be present to be selected. And the city clerk will get back to you later in the week with the final results. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Have a great evening.

Again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you all.

I appreciate it. Thank you for your answers. Next up is Neela.

Okay. All right, Council Member, your next applicant, Neela, is here.

Hi, Neela.

Hi.

Welcome. Thank you for reapplying. You know this process, but let me give an overview anyway. You have about 15 minutes for the interview. Each Council Member will get a chance to ask you a question. And first up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for reapplying. As you're coming to the end of your first term, was it what you expected and what did you learn from this experience?

Well, I did not know a lot of things. I knew the theoretical planning and what the urban design should be and what city should be, but I did not know a lot of policies and how the policies are implemented. So I, it was, I really learned about zoning, especially for Sunnyvale and how, how like our role as a planning commissioner to impact, like it took a while to understand. I mean, I understood it, but like it would took a while for me to participate actively to understand the procedures. And I'm still struggling about like how, I mean, I say it now, but like the right words are right way in our ordinances and all. So I think, yeah, so that's what I learned from doing since last four years.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Lay.

Hi, thank you so much for reapplying. I think planning commissioners are some of the unsung heroes of the city. So thank you so much for all that you do. I like to ask commissioners that are reapplying now that they've had some time under their belt, what they've learned, but you've covered that. Or if there's anything that you feel that staff or council or the city generally could do to support you in your job better.

Yes, so I think, yeah, I do feel that, I learned that Sunwell staff, our city staff is really, really good to providing all information, fact checking. Somehow, but I feel that the guidance to developers would be helpful because we want the developers to come and invest money here. And we have land, we are so fortunate to have them. So economically, it is so good to attract them. But I feel that we can reduce time by guiding them properly. Like for example, the last project I felt, the yesterday's project, I felt that he was there four years, he's been submitting. And it's like, first time he submitted, the second time when he submitted, he just made little change. Like, okay, he's now, buying this property and keeping the Mexican restaurant. Okay, the next time he, and had a little small cafe, then he comes back again with just increasing the size. So I wish that city staff can, they know what's going on from the public meetings that if they can little bit guide them that like maybe do the major change, otherwise you will have difficulty or something or the public or giving the public some input different i don't know how but like letting them know that we don't have choice like and we do that it's a planning commission of that we appreciate we understand appreciate but like we still have housing elements and we have certain state law that we have to follow so i think i think we are doing a great job but um We can still improve, correct?

Yeah. So I'm hearing the communication with the developer and then with the public. So I'll take some of that off you.

I did send meetings, live meetings of developers on site. And I felt that all residents were complaining. And it went on for like one and a half hours. And I wish that there was some community leader with city hire source that who can translate it. respond because that is the right time to respond because they have so much emotions and they had to wait all the way to planning commission so I feel that because I got to hear some meetings recording so that's what I feel yeah but it is great I'm so humbled by being at that position to like do something about it you know thank you thank you

Thank you. I'm up next. So thank you for kind of talking about how you'd like to fix some of the things. What are you most proud of as far from a decision standpoint of, you know, a change to a project or approving a project over the last four years?

Yes. Okay, so I first, when you join, it takes a while to like say or vote against it or abstain it because our city is doing great jobs. So most of the time I kind of agree with most of the suggestions they gave, the alternatives. So I think the tenant improvement project was, I would say that's where... not tenant, tenant rent control project. I felt, I felt that I spoke up about including the small business owners who owns 10 or less units and they are, their buildings are not really good. They were small, they are small business owners. And I know as I had in the past, I was a business owner And I know it is very difficult, even though it sounds we are doing great business from outside, there's a lot of turnover, but the cash is always a problem. And then bank doesn't give you any loan for the redevelopment of projects. So that's like, after that, we had the problems with banks. So now they don't give you any, even though you have equity of like 4 million, they don't give you any money for the, for the updates. So they are having trouble to really fulfill all the extra ordinance. We are adding three months paying the rent. If something happens, any disputes may happen. So I spoke up and I said I will not vote for it. And then the city added the third alternative in the And I saw that and I felt very proud about it.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for reapplying and for the service that you've done to our community, being on the front lines. We like to talk about how so much of the land use decision-making goes on planning in the city. So who's on planning means everything. Because not actually a whole lot comes to us, as you know. And, you know, that's great because we're plenty busy and we can trust you all. But something that stood out to me in your application here is that you said that you're continuously updating yourself on successful projects that are like, especially mixed use or village center type projects. And I want to hear... And I think that's very valuable to get that perspective from other cities. What have you learned about other successful projects like that? And how could we think about replicating that in a policy way in Sunnyvale potentially?

So I would tell two or three projects. One is like the SPUR. There is a SPUR organization based in San Francisco. And so I update my, because I go, they want to teach the high school students about the land use and zoning. And they want to encourage them to apply for the city jobs. So I think I started from there. So they train you. in a game form so you are like a legos and you have financial analysis like four different positions and you teach the kids then you go to teach the developers like builders that they can like and it includes the unhoused people church so there's a whole block and then you really work directly on hand with legos that was one and other one is the there are like a game development with village centers and how, because the way I know I'm bringing village center that yesterday we had a comment about our village center is not being successful, like in terms of we haven't been successful in our policies for implementing our village centers. And I think, so I was thinking about it and that's the, there is a game about the, to develop village centers. And I think most of the people have a different definition of village center. And we haven't much, I mean, our definition is really like the whole city level definition instead of just walkable city sustainability. So I think I wish that we can define much more village kind of center. So, or the name, you know, so I think the game, it's like very conceptual. People have this idea about village center. So I think those kinds of things, I would, I'm thinking about it all the time. It's the knowledge is in back of my mind. And also like, for example, Daily City has done different way, mixed use development. They have water element and all those. So I think if I always, I just, it's my interest and I just love it to the innovative ways they bring people together. So I think I haven't been able to bring that directly as a planning commissioner role, but it makes me more like understanding. So maybe sometime understanding comes out as comment.

Yes.

Thank you. Thank you very much for those examples. I really appreciate hearing about them.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hi, Neela. Hi. Thanks for reapplying. And then congratulations, you are Vice Chair of Planning Commission. Congratulations. I really like you said you teach four-day sessions to read construction drawings. and interpret construction technology. That's so important for contractors. And then, because as you said, one of the delays could be the wrong interpretation. So thanks for doing that. And then you also talked about SPUR. Did you know leadership Sunnyvale and SPUR have a program once a year with simulation of urban planning happens. Anyway, the other thing, I think you touched on this. You said, for the next term, I feel like I could become an efficient and better planning commissioner. Can you elaborate on that?

I think, yes, for example, I'm already starting to do it because I thought maybe I don't become, so why wait? So when I decided to become vice chair, I'm like, hey, this is my opportunity to just apply for it and be and learn. So for example, I would like the history of the project. Applicants in their presentation, they talk about it. that when they applied, what happened. But I would like that in our presentation, staff presentation, I think it comes a little bit earlier and it goes to people also earlier. So then they know that how many years, how much time the city staff has spent, because most of the people don't know. They just think the developers are just making their money, city is not doing anything. And that's not the case. And that's what I think I did mention. Fortunately, Trudy was there yesterday in the meeting and I said, it'd be so nice if we get applicants, the history of the process in our presentation. That way we can know what the really, it's more transparency. So I think I would become better like asking for things which I think can be helpful and Second thing would be more like I would, I think, speaking. How to speak the correct way to add friendly amendments. I learned from you guys. It's like the way you guys speak. So I'm like, oh, I wish I can be that well-versed speaking about my friendly amendments. So I think I would be hoping if I come back, I would be doing more and more vocal about it and try to... you know, push it for something.

By the way, I am still learning. I talked to city attorney. She has a, she sent me a document for that. So thank you. Thank you so much.

And we're trying to get that whole doc. So I've been working with city attorney for a while, getting that document for our boards and commissions, especially planning, which I think is important, but that's coming later, later this year. Finally is council member. So.

Hi. Hi. Thanks for reapplying. And yeah, We have a housing shortage. And so you, as planning commissioner, going forward, do you see yourself in any way of helping in that situation? Or what are your ideas to help with more housing?

So from the, I think the city is doing lots of efforts for the larger, developers are doing lots of efforts to fill up with multifamily homes. But for the ADU perspective, for a single family, like the infill, in-fill development. I think that's where I see that there is still a lot of things one can do. ADU, our city has it, but I think like San Jose has already established certain plans and certain things that people just can apply and fill up, you know, add the JDU or ADU. So I think I feel that we can do something like that. And also I like... I like to suggest more about tiny homes issue too, because I think we can have, I don't know, the city-owned land or developer, some good developer can donate a land and we can have like stack up 40 or 50 tiny homes next to each other and supply them temporary housing. They are not permanent housing, but unhoused, can be housed. temporarily. So those, those are the two major things I see where ADU, like more like allowing ADU with material, different material, like so they can bring quickly made in the factory. manufacture buildings and bring it on the site faster and cheaper because right now it's so expensive. I mean, I designed some and it's like 280K or like just, it's like, there is no way that you are going to get your money back even renting for like 10 years. So that's why not many people are doing. And then also, I don't know the loan, if there is some financing, if we can provide financing for the homeowners. City can't get into financing situation, but if there is a way, then it'll be fast. We can do. So I think those are the two things. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. That's all the questions. So thank you for going through the process and reapplying. Thank you for being vice chair. And council will be making its final decision on Tuesday, May 19th. You don't need to be present to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back with you later that week with the final results.

And thank you. And first of all, I just want to say thank you. All of you, each and every one of you are like a role model for us. I mean, every time I see the meeting and hear, it's like empowering. Like I wake up with like this knowledge and just feel so good to be part of the community. So thank you. Thank you.

Councilmember Lay, David will be up next.

David?

Mm-hmm.

OK. I thought you meant Kestick, and I was like, yeah.

Sorry. David Lillard.

I'll be more specific. My fault.

But it's not other than David Kestick.

Yes. So councilmembers are actually taking applicants slightly out of order. So we're going to have Naomi first. OK. I'll let my David. Thank you.

And Naomi, go ahead and have a seat. Thank you. Hi. I'm Larry Klein, Mayor for Sunnyvale. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you questions. So keep that in mind as you're doing those answers. And first up is Council Member Lin.

Hi. Thank you so much for applying. It's great to have people, good people, apply for boards and commissions. I have a question. There is going to be a new branch library at Lakewood in the north side of Sunnyvale in District 6 over off in the corner where the city previously didn't have a library. It's empty inside now. If I give you a bucket of $5 million, how would you fill it?

Well, first of all, I guess with books, but also I would try to add kind of like reading spaces and study spaces, like tables, chairs, books, like lamps, just make it an area that people enjoy to spend time and like feel like they can pick up a book and sit down and read it while still at the library. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm up next. You talk a little bit about you know, adding items to draw youth into the library, you know, what do you see that we do well with the current main library or that you'd like to see added to draw in more youth?

Yeah, I think the library has, I mean, a great selection of books and also, like, good tables and areas to study. I would say, I guess, from my experience, especially in high school and then in college as well, you spend a lot of time studying. So coffee shops is an option for that, but ideally a library is a great place to study. And I think making it more warm and welcoming and comfortable to stay and sit in is pretty big. And in college, I found that the library is a great place to study, and that's where most people would study. And so if we can kind of bring that to the Sunnyvale Library, yeah, just kind of expand that. make it more comfortable, I guess, for people to, yeah, to spend time there. Okay.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello. Thank you so much for applying and working to serve our city in this way. It's really valuable. I will say, we've been talking about youth, and a lot of people think, well, you know, young people are just interested in libraries or on their phone devices, and actually the data tells a much different story that Gen Z is actually the most... have the highest library usage of any group now. So, which is really cool. And you mentioned studying and all those practical reasons why having a place like library where you don't have to spend money and you can do your thing is really important. But what kind of program should we look at it either adding or expanding on so that this is also somewhere where people who are kind of like, you know, maybe late high school to like, a bit after college or other community in the library and have a, have a reason to stay to not just when they have to do their work, you know?

Yeah, totally. I feel like, um, I've heard a lot of people express interest in kind of like a book club. Um, and when I was in high school at Fremont high school, um, I kind of started a book club with a few friends and it was, it was a lot of fun. And I think it keeps people accountable to reading. And then also if it's kind of like more geared towards the youth and, um, it gets people excited about reading the same books. I think I actually, I checked the library website. I don't remember if there already is a book club, but I think just making one that's more targeted towards the youth would be great. I guess the only difficulty with that is like the library would need multiple copies of the same books that people read it, but I definitely think it's worth it.

Fantastic. I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hi, Naomi. In your application, I didn't know this. You said UCLA is the largest university research system in the world. I didn't know that.

It's like the whole UC system.

I know Stanford also has a lot of libraries. And then you also use SPL as abbreviation, which was really interesting. That makes sense. So regarding the bond measure, which failed, you had an interesting idea. I wanted you to elaborate on that. Let me read what you have said here. If more money is needed and is necessary than working with youth organizations, at high school and our companies in the area of fundraise creatively is something I think worth exploring. Can you elaborate on that?

Yeah, so I think first of all, yeah, getting youth involved kind of in the library. I think a lot of students in the area are really eager to contribute in ways they can. And so kind of raising awareness. And I think especially through high schools, middle schools is a great way to do it because you can kind of reach out to teachers and have them bring this stuff up in classrooms. And through that, you can do kind of the normal fundraising, like, I don't know, big sales, like that kind of thing that gets people excited to raise money or like make it a competition or um in elementary school we had like readathons that kind of thing um so it gets people both excited to come to the library but then also like helping raise money for it um and then I guess on the flip side like Sunnyvale has a lot of like really big companies that also kind of can support like local initiatives and that kind of thing so trying to rope that in I mean I'm not as familiar with how that would work but I'm sure um it's possible with like Yeah, outreach.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Next up is Council Member Self.

Hi, thanks for applying. And say you were on the Planning Commission, I mean on the Library Commission Board of Trustees, what would be the biggest thing that you would want to accomplish in your time?

I think trying to yeah, bring more youth into the library would be a big thing. Parts of that would be, I guess, figuring out ways of, like, first of all, what is maybe preventing people who would otherwise come from coming, whether it's, like, reaching out and seeing what kind of books people are missing in the library or, yeah, what kind of spaces, but definitely, yeah, trying to just bring in more people, and I think even like a few more people come to the library that didn't know it was an option. I think that would be cool. I remember this is kind of a tangential story, but when I was in college, I was telling someone like, oh yeah, I got this book at the library. And she looked at me, she was like, you're allowed to take those? Which was just kind of one of those moments where I was like, yeah, you're supposed to take them, you know? And so like, I'm sure that was kind of a unique case, but if people are more aware that like there's so many books and they're available and people can check them out, then. Yeah, that would make me feel like it was a job well done. Thank you.

Thank you. And last off, and that was, no, lastly, is Councilmember Chang.

Thank you for applying. And you mentioned you grew up going to the library and then going to the college library at UCLA. So what you saw there, are there any specific programs or things you saw at the UCLA library or other library that you'd like to bring here?

I actually think that UCLA Library could have done a better job of bringing people in. I think it definitely became kind of a study space. So it would fill up around midterms and finals, and then it was otherwise kind of emptier. It had a lot of books, so that was always a plus. But yeah, I think what was good about those libraries is like they're right on campus. So they kind of make the central community area that people feel like they can come to. And so I guess kind of making the Sunnyvale Library feel the same way of this community gathering place or it's not out of the way. Like it's a place that people feel like they can come. Maybe the biggest thing. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. So that's all the questions. Thank you for going through the process this evening. Council will be making its final decision on Tuesday, May 19th. You don't need to be at that meeting to be selected. And then city clerk will get back with you later in the week with the final results.

Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thanks for applying.

Thank you.

And we'll take one more and then we'll, David, and then we'll take a recess.

David Liu.

David is here. What are you doing?

Hi, David.

Good to see you. Good to see you as well. So we've been through this process before, but let me give a quick overview. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. And then so each council member will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep that in mind as you're going through those answers. I'm up first. And first, I just want to say thank you for reapplying. And you've only been there just over a year now. So we'd love to get your perspective on what what challenges you faced and kind of getting up to speed. Yeah. First off.

Yeah. I'm excited to be here again. And it's been the past year has flown by and I feel like I've learned a lot through our monthly meetings. I think that's probably the biggest challenge and opportunity for me. It's thinking through how to inject my perspective uh but at the same time realize that Garrett and the rest of his staff have so much experience and there's so many things already being actioned and so many processes and initiatives in place um like how do I uh I guess, balancing like, how do I be vocal and at the same time, not be a distraction? I think this role is very unique in that it relies a lot more on influence. So I think my approach has been like planting the seed with some things. And then I think building momentum. And as I've learned so much the first year, being able to layer on what I've

learn the first year into the next year and next year fantastic great thank you uh next up is oh david um it's good to see you here again um so very soon it was launched i'm like really just because but we were we we had just basically so glad to see you here and i want to build off of the mayor's question a little bit because that was really helpful just to let you know yeah And having that first year is really common because you get to see the whole process go through one time right now. It's going to be the next. What was your most memorable meeting or any reason a meeting might be memorable within this past year? And why does that stick out to you as the meeting you'd like to talk about?

Yeah, I think this is a tough one because I think we've had a lot of phenomenal presentations. I would say the one that I learned the most from And it was because I knew the least about was the meeting or the presentation that Jack, the new sustainability librarian, led about all the different initiatives that he was driving, all the programs that we have in place. I think when I was here last year, one of... my pieces of feedback was like, I think we should partner more externally. And I think not only Jack, but everyone in place before him has done such a great job, especially with that sustainability piece. I was like, wow, like those are great collaboration ideas, what we're doing with the farm, with the co-building volunteers. I was like, that was one of the moments where I was like, wow, this is like, Everyone has been operating on such a high level, and it just motivates me to learn a little bit more, to participate a little bit more at the same time, to try to figure out, to bring my perspective on what would we like to see more of, or give the feedback on what the team's doing a great job on.

And I'll just comment really quickly. I think your feedback still applies because you can go back and say, I didn't know, but you're like, actually all this happening. Well, how do we communicate it? So everyone else knows this too, because I didn't know. And you were pretty engaged. You're in the library all the time with your kids. So I think your original feedback is still very salient, but now you have all the information which translate that into action, I think. So I appreciate that example in light of your answer to the mayor's question. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sreenivasan.

Hi. Thanks for reapplying. You mentioned the past year has given you a stronger understanding of library operations and priorities. And then one phrase you used, you want to contribute in a thoughtful, informed, and constructive way on behalf of Sunnyvale residents. That I really, really like. Can you elaborate on that?

Yeah. I think over the last year, I might have been the only member with a young toddler. Because of that, we're involved a lot more with the reading programs, the summer reading program. or like the early learning hub. So we're in the library at least once a week. I think last year it was Tuesday. Now we shifted to Saturdays. But I think like just experiencing it, trying the new things, seeing all the new additions to things like the library of things, getting on the wait list to try to check those out. But then being vocal and providing that feedback from my perspective and my kids' perspective. And I think... Again, the library team does such a great job. And I think one of the things like I try to bring and I want to bring more of is just letting them know like, hey, like these specific things, like we've experienced it. I noticed like when I'm in the library, my mentality has always been like, Don't bother the librarians. They have so much on their mind, right? So I'm not proactive in telling them this program is great or you guys are doing a great job at this or that. But I think the meetings are just a channel for me to help share that and hopefully help flag to whoever is listening in as well that here's some of the great things that are going on at the library.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sell.

Hi. Thank you for reapplying. So in the next four years, what would be the greatest thing you would want to achieve?

Yeah. That's a great question. I think top of mind is Lakewood Library Branch. I think just in any way that I can supporting the library team and that launch. And as they, they're still, they have a solid plan, but it's one of those things where,

you're doing and then they'll iterate on it.

So being able to be a little more active in experiencing the programs there and then bring that feedback directly to the teams. I think that's one of my priorities near term. longer term is is um i think we've all um there's been a lot of discussion about it like how do we improve the library services or facilities at the main library branch or just thinking through some of the options there uh in providing that that feedback on there's been things thrown out like What if we do a small branch in downtown for kids or this and that? So that's one of the things that I don't have a strong view on at this point. But one of the things where I want to learn more about is do some research, to the extent that I can, do research and try out the different forms of library that we have in the Bay Area and then try to bring some of those learnings to the team.

That's really exciting. Thank you. Thank you.

Next is Councilmember Chang.

Thank you for reapplying. I wanted to know more, you know, I looked back in my notes, your toddler's name is Cody. As he's getting older, have you seen kind of the shift in programs of what he likes and what more programs you'd like to see?

Yeah. Yeah, he I think he's shifted away a little bit from story time and more to like the hands on experiential things and like the different events around holidays and I think last year, story time was like one of the number one things that he loved. And this year, it's more of, oh, well, we have enough time on Saturday to go to the early learning hub and play with all the toys. knock on the keyboard although he's not quite there yet we don't give him a lot of screen time but the library is like one of those times where it's like here's here's your screen time um here's your um play time and uh One of the things I'm really excited about is getting him more involved in the summer reading program this year. I think last year we were reading like five or ten books a week, and he would be open to repeats. This time around, like every Saturday, we have a huge bag of like 50 books. And no repeats during the week. So just getting him signed up for the program and participating a little bit more actively.

Thank you.

Great.

And lastly, Council Member Lang.

Thank you. And thank you for replying. And thank you for the toddler stories. I love toddler stories. All right. So this was, I think you answered this in your application last year, but I wanted to revisit it because last year, I think everyone was still suffering the hangover of defeat from the library fund. So now that you've been in the trenches a little bit, you've seen how the sausage is made. Do you have any new thoughts about how we can improve that going forward if we do that or how we can expand library services?

Yeah. I think my response last year was around just promoting the library to a broader audience. I think one of the examples I might have shared was my wife is an immigrant. She didn't grow up with the library system, and she didn't know all the resources that were at a library. um and through the years uh i think the demographic of sunnyville has evolved and um i think a lot of um you know a lot of us that have grown up with the library are able to experience it but there are folks that aren't familiar with the library system or aren't familiar with our library system um and then just diving a little bit deeper and how do we reach those types of the ones that have that need and would, once they've experienced it, would be more supportive of additional funding for libraries going forward. One of the seeds that I've tried to plant this year was To promote a little bit on like we have a lot of data, I think, last year I joined right before like the annual like here's here's the metrics, but I was able to review the deck that was posted and then this year I saw that presentation in person. And one of my pieces of feedback to Garrett was like we have a lot of great data. Like, what do we think, how do we think about maybe teaming up with like one of the colleges in our area to see if there's, we can make this a college school project. I'm like, how do we dig a layer or two deeper into that data so that we know like where, what demographics or what audiences we're very good at and then think more broadly about how do we target how do we promote and target and reach those other audiences those ones the ones that You know, don't visit the library at all. It's, you know, just, I guess, like, from my own perspective, like, if I don't use something, like, I probably wouldn't vote for it. So I just feel like how do we continue to broaden our audience or just place the library on more folks' radars so that they see the benefits, maybe not to themselves, but to the community.

Great. Thank you. David, so thank you for going through the process. Thank you for reapplying, of course, and being such an advocate for what's happening at the library. The next steps, our council will be making a final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be at that meeting to be selected, and then the city clerk will get back with you with the final results later that week. Great. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Have a great evening. And we'll go ahead and take a nine-minute recess and come back at 6.50.

Yes. Let's go ahead and reconvene.

Let's go ahead and reconvene.

All right, your next applicant, Madhavi for the Sustainability Commission.

Hi, everyone.

Good evening. Hi, Madhavi. Hello. I'm Larry Klein. I'm mayor for Sunnyvale. Hi, Madhavi. Thank you for applying for the Sustainability Commission. It's my pleasure. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. So we have about 15 minutes to go through the interview. Each council member will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep the 15 minutes in mind as you're giving those answers. Okay. And you have a clock right next to you. And first up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello, I'm so happy to be the first one to ask a question. Thank you for applying and looking to serve our city in this way. Something that really interested me about your application is that you were on the Arts Commission or the Visual Arts Commission in Mountain View prior, and that's a little bit unusual. We don't often often get folks who have served on advisory bodies in other cities, especially one, I mean, it's right next door. We're very different places, very different cities, but I would love to hear about how that experience, working with Mountain View, informed your decision to get involved here, and what would you bring from that role and what you learned, even though it's a different subject, to something like the Sustainability Commission?

Sure, that's a great question. I think I love arts. I joined that commission because I just love arts. I go and see work of local artists. And when I joined this commission, I realized what they were doing and focused on was to help get more local artisans, provide them a platform. to showcase their arts and and that's exactly what I was kind of you know like wanting to I wasn't really clear about what exactly those goals were but those were the key goals and you know it was about you know we when we would meet it was about like just if like deciding on like what are the various ideas that we could have about you know involving local artisans how could we you know, engage the community? How could we gain more, you know, get more people to know about it? Those kinds of things. And I felt like it, And I remember at that time, we came up with so many different ideas to do that. And one of them was painting those electricity boxes, if you've seen them in Mountain View. So I was the one who led that particular effort. And I think it was an amazing effort. It was amazing what people could do. And I think that is what I look for in any role that I take up, where you are able to provide a platform for people to showcase their talents, number one. They're also able to generate income. And I think that just creates a feeling of community well-being that you feel like your city cares for you. I lived in Mountain View for nine years. I served on the committee for three years. And now I've been living here in Sunnyvale for nine years. And it's time I start doing something here.

I really appreciate that. And we have that. same utility box program here, especially around downtown, but all around the city. If you kind of look, you'll see it scattered around, but it's very popular and residents really do love it. So I appreciate hearing that you were involved in that and that experience. So thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

I wanted to start by asking which city you like most. You have interesting educational things, sustainability, city communication, community specialization from Sweden and others.

I'm yet working, I'm not yet finished.

What I wanted to know is, one second, you have a long application and then... No, no, no, those are all good stuff. Oh, why did my... Oh, yeah. I like what you said about circular and responsible uses of resources and then digital product passports. Can you elaborate on those things? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

I think in my application, I actually even referred to one of the grants that the city had gotten. So my background is in product management and business transformation. That is what I've been doing for the last 15 plus years. Within that space, basically, I understand what customer needs are. And then I work with different groups across the board within organizations that I'm in. And I help develop products. I help launch them. I help increase the adoption, retention, not just the adoption, retention, and so on and so forth, right? Physical products, service products, you name it. When I love fashion, so as I was looking at, you know, I've worked with Gap, for example. I've also worked with some other smaller labels as such. There is, when we've developed these products and I've been working in sustainability, like studying it on my own for the last five, six years. And I realized that, you know, we never ever take into account, like there is so much of, especially here in the Silicon Valley, where there is so much of hardware that's used. And yes, there is a process in place. to be able to recycle it and so on and so forth. But then what happens right after that, right? I mean, you know, there is so much of waste around clothing as well as we know. So I started looking into what is possibly I can do within my role to change some aspect of that and to bring in like an element of sustainability. And that is where I learned that within the product design itself, you can create um options where in that product you can create options wherein that product can be in a better way reused and recycled right um and so that's it started with that but then it was i mean i've just been learning on my own so it's like how am i going to do that what is it that i need to understand so that i'm able to create a product in the first place and i'm able to create these services at the end of it that would allow me to reach to kind of you know um end of life, that product, and then thereafter reuse it, right? So I also needed to understand elements and aspects within the fashion world and all that about, you know, where has the product come from? Like even within the food industry or clothing, you know, where does the product come from? You know, how it has been manufactured? What, you know, processes they've used? So there is an aspect of supplier driven, whether the supplier is using sustainability measures and they are contributing that so as an organization i'm only buying from those suppliers so there is that aspect of it and then there is the aspect of within my product what can i do to include an element of sustainability so my interest in this whole product passport was around it started with you know clothing products and food products to first seek How can we, so it's kind of an indirect way by which companies can contribute to sustainability where they make a promise that they're only going to buy from suppliers who they can trace, you know, the rules, they know how those products are created, right? And at the same time, within their own cycle, once they get those products, what are some of the measures they can do to incorporate sustainability? So I think it's a combination of these things that interested me to that space.

Thank you. There is a nonprofit organization called Goong, G-O-O-N-G. They do exactly that.

Oh, really? In fact, nowadays, if you see, there are a lot of these organizations that get people to, you know, send in old t-shirts, old clothing, and then they make blankies out of it, they personalize it. And I feel that's so amazing, right? You're not throwing it away. You're able to reuse it. Now that is clothing, but that you could do that with other products as well by introducing elements of, and what the grant that Sunnyvale received, which is what I mentioned in my, my application is, I think it was also about how can we improve that process of sorting, et cetera. It was more to do with physical products and waste that can allow us to reuse more of that product. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sell.

Hi. Hi for signing. And so if you were on the Sustainable Lake Commission, what would be the greatest project that you would want to accomplish.

Greatest. Okay. Yeah. I think the... I am sky hunting. I know. There's so much to be done. I think the number one priority is reducing emissions. So... I think that's an area that I would primarily focus on. What are the few things that we can do to reduce emissions, right? There is transportation as well. There is the waste aspect that I was talking about, but I just want to focus on, you know, how can we, how can we reduce emissions? So I think in my place where I live, I live in downtown. Though my building was built in 2019, I'm surprised we yet have gas, we use gas, right? So I think there is an opportunity here, a very clear opportunity, because I look at sustainability very seriously. I don't think it is just about, hey, let's find some green project to work on, which will give us X impacts. I want to work on projects that would have very large impacts right and I think this is an area that will so if we were to identify like not everything but let's say I would say city buildings okay or you know low-income family buildings so those kind of things wherein we know that there wouldn't be any constraints in being able to reach out and make those kind of modifications. And yes, let's first do that. Let's convert those, you know, get gas out and convert, electrify all of those, right? So you directly get benefits like 10, 15 years worth of benefits right out there, out the door. So I think that is what I would kind of focus on, identifying I have a background in transformation and program management. So I would really kind of look at identifying what are some of those initiatives that would give us the biggest bang for the bucks. And then, you know, kind of prioritize it because you also need funding, right? So you want to see which are the ones wherein we could have funds available. And that's why in my resume, what I mentioned, I also included, I think I spoke more about waste because i feel like it's easy to be able to work on those initiatives uh there is less of any kind of it's easy to get grants for this it's easy to get community involvement in this versus these projects which may require some specific special man force right or certain education requirements and so on but um i feel those that should be prioritized and happy okay thank you

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for applying. Having lived in nearby cities and other cities, what do you think Sunnyvale does well on the sustainability front, and what do you think can be improved?

That's a great question. I want to think for a moment. So I think I've seen how downtown has evolved, Sunnyvale downtown. we've seen the way the whole focus of the way Sunnyvale Downtown has been redesigned has been to reduce, get people to use less vehicles, be able to walk more, be able to find the core needs that they have, groceries and basically, you know, food, et cetera, you know, make that very easily accessible, right? So I think if I compare that to probably Mountain View downtown, right? Mountain View was, I mean, this place, you know, the transformation happened much like in the most recent years. So we had more time to think about things that we can do, but there is a reduction as a result in possibly, you know, I hardly ever take my car out as an example. I walk to everywhere. I can walk and get my groceries. So I think being able to live in a community where you are, like within Sunnyvale, I think being able to get access to services without having to use transportation as much And I think I also read about the, there is a service now, what's it called? Is it a ride share kind of a service? Yes, thank you so much. So that one. So I think we are trying to help people to get to, you know, using less, like sharing more, using less of vehicles, like walking more, et cetera, and creating environments where it's easy access for things that they need on a regular basis. So I think, I forgot your original question. What was it?

That was what Sunnyvale does well.

Yeah, so I think that is what I feel Sunnyvale has been able to kind of, help create for the community over here, a place where they have been able to put in all the possible things that people do on a daily basis and require on a daily basis in one place and do it well. So I think that's kind of my answer. I don't know if it's the best one, but I think this is what I think. That's great. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Ley.

Thank you. And thank you for applying to this commission. I was really interested in your discussion in your application about the climate action playbook and your feedback that it could be, I think, I don't want to say more frequently updated exactly, but do a better job showing where we are in the process and how we are accomplishing these steps. And I was hoping you could talk more about that.

Yeah. So I remember that it was a lot for me when I was reading it to consume. Since I work within, like I manage large programs and I help transform products. I believe if people, if there is a way to make it easy to understand, to be able to like, you know, I wouldn't say shorten it, but kind of use more graphics or use more just different ways in which how that information could be presented. I think those are some of the things I feel that Is that what you're asking specifically?

Yeah, so I read it and I was like, oh my gosh, why is it just like a scroll through? It could be interactive or something like that. That's why I got from you and I was like, oh, that's such a great idea.

Yeah, I think it's not just about just the interactive part. See, sometimes some people, I think customizing it for different groups is what I would think. Somebody would want to read a summary and just be able to get the gist of things. Maybe there is a certain age group that may want to read it in a different way. In schools, they may want to use it and leverage it to help children understand it. So I think being able to present that information in a certain way where... you can kind of summarize it, include specific information within specific buckets. I think that is in my mind. I think that would make it a more interesting read, even like including more examples of how certain things have been done with probably even including videos for online stuff. I think those are things that I can think of right now, which it would help, you know, have more engagement with that content.

Making it more approachable.

Yes. Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you. And the last question. So thank you for going through the Climate Action Playbook. You know, definitely understanding, you know, it is a lot of ideas, a lot of concepts out there and making it more approachable is fantastic. What do you think has the biggest bang for the buck in the short term? What are those plays? And there's lots of plays laying out there that you really think that Sunnyvale should focus on.

I think Sunnyvale should focus on, so it's very easy to say, let's look at something which will give us the biggest bang for the buck, right? Because it might require more resources. It might not be so easy. It might require, you know, working with so many different groups. So I would say that in order to be able to get the biggest bang for the buck maybe focus on long-term initiatives like you know i talked about um what was it that i mentioned in the beginning the sorry i'm blanking out um yeah yeah the first one so so for that i think kind of Those are things that are going to take much longer. There is going to be involvement of different groups within that. So we should start efforts in that direction, whatever we can involve, you know, communities, companies. We live in an area where there are huge companies out here who would be willing to fund such initiatives as well. So that's one. And then simultaneously work on kind of the low hanging fruits as well. wherein there isn't so much of, like, I think one example within this was where you could work on, you know, the waste piece of it, you know, waste transformation in those areas. So I think taking projects that would provide long-term impacts but are difficult and require more community involvement along with initiatives which are probably low-hanging fruit kind of combining them and, you know, having, working on them in parallel. I think that's kind of, I feel, would be an approach that I would take.

Thank you. Thank you for that. So thank you for going through the process this evening, Madhavi. Council will be making our final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be at that meeting to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back with you later in the week with that final decision.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your time. Thank you.

And you're up next with Sarah. Yes, I am.

So we're going back to the old list. Sarah is up. Over here.

Sarah's here. Right over here.

Hi, Sarah.

Hi.

I'm Senator Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you a question. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so keep that in mind as you're going through those answers. And first up is Council Member Srinivasan.

I'm part of your district. Yeah, I know, I know. You know, okay. You mentioned Stocker Mayer, then I knew. Thanks for applying. Thank you. Yeah. In your application, you say that, the question, what did you learn by watching and attending a meeting? of the city council or board and commission. You said, what I did not see it was an opportunity for the board and library leadership to work together on brainstorming and are otherwise developing ideas and plans to help manage challenges. Any other?

Well, OK. In the meeting, of course, Garrett and his leadership team would come and they'd present statistics or like circulation or they talk about the Lakewood Library Board or they talk about, you know, children's hub or like children's circulation, whatever. They would talk about these things. And then a lot of times there would just be feedback from the board members. And there would be questions, right? There would be questions like, you know, how are you managing this? How are they making decisions about this? And they would say, you know, one of the board members is a librarian herself. And she would say, well, I've seen this in you know, my previous libraries and so those kinds of things. But what I didn't see was like that there's like a sort of a, we have these problems and we'd like the board to participate in those projects or initiatives or programs. How could you guys potentially put some skin in the game? How could you help us work on resolving bigger issues? And the exception would probably be, and I actually missed that meeting in January when they were asking for feedback on the... you know, the bond measure failing and what they should do about trying to restart a project around funding a new library or maybe branches or, you know, other kind of like leasing land, putting libraries there, doing all sorts of different kind of other things. And there was a motion for the city council that they did in that January meeting. But I don't know. So, I mean, maybe, am I allowed to ask a question? Do they... Yeah, quickly, do they like call beyond those monthly meetings, are there opportunities for the board to like sit down and kind of brainstorm solutions to?

So I was actually going to bring that up from an application standpoint. So one of the issues of commissions as well as council is the Brown Act. The Brown Act. So it's a California law that basically says that unless something's agendized, we're very limited on what we can discuss. Okay. In order to inform the public and have them take an active part. So it's basically, so you can talk much like the board talked on, ask questions of staff on a specific narrow presentation.

And they can participate in that.

But the concept of a wider brainstorm is difficult because you have to narrowly define what the topics and the agenda items on the meeting are. So that is a general issue in California. And we have the same issue from a council standpoint. Because a majority of council cannot speak on anything unless it's an open meeting and appropriately noticed. So that is part of the issue that you raised from a brainstorm.

Yeah, like if the board could roll up their sleeves and start working on initiatives with them. So you can, but it has to be within the format of the meeting, which is what I saw. I saw people commenting. Every person went in a row. I attended all the meetings except the January one. So I saw them doing that. But I wondered if there was an opportunity for them to like take a bigger role.

And that's what I wrote in my own. It is very constricting that are in a good way. Yeah, it is. Every decision should be made in an open public forum rather than in a closed session. if four of us talk to one another, the decision already carries over.

Yeah, so apologies. I will look that up. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for that. Yeah, I was really curious about that. Thanks for explaining. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sell.

Hi, thank you for applying. So if you were on the Board of Trustees library, what would be the greatest thing that you would want to accomplish, like a high in the sky project that you would want to champion and see for yourself.

Well, so I do think the biggest challenge, it looks like, everything they talked about month after month was the sort of lack of modernization around the library, issues with the infrastructure being like old, needing repairs, like that we have in Sunnyvale. We have such a huge number of people that actually access the library. And we have a really small square foot library per capita library to meet all those demands. I do think the biggest thing, and that was one of the questions, was around trying to figure out a way to expand services for our community. So however we can do that, I would love to participate within the library meetings.

Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for calling. I was curious, you know, what caught you inspired to start watching the board meetings? Okay.

Right. So I'm a bit like of a planner kind of person. So I knew that I wanted to retire this year. So I thought what, you know, I have like the third phase of my life, right? This is going to be my, I guess, legacy period of time. So, I mean, I want to do fun things and you know, work in the garden and travel and these things as well. But I wanted to have some kind of like social volunteer kind of engagement. And one of the things that I just love so dearly, which I think is like the heart of the community is the public library and reading. I read for fun. I read in a book club. I read when I'm stressed, like the library is just such a big deal. And then I've always like taken my kids to like, all of the activities, encourage their love of reading. So I just thought, how could I help the community with something that I have a passion for? And that would be around the library. So that's why I started going to the meetings. I thought, well, how do I know if the library is kind of a mess or if the library is doing great? Like, where do they need help? Like, how can I find out those things? So I just started coming to the meetings, 7 p.m. once a month, right? It's easy. So I thought, you know, And I have to say, I see the library, like, I think the leadership is doing great. My personal impression is that they're just doing all the right things with access and equity and like making sure that they have like the library of things and that books, circulation, everything's available for all the people in this really diverse community of ours. And they just have to kind of keep up to speed and keep up to date on like technology challenges and where they can continue to offer like programming and events and make sure that their circulation, the books that they buy are the right books and make sure that they're continuing to stay up to speed in sync with what's happening.

Maybe get ahead of the game if they can.

So I just thought that however I could help with the library, I'd like to have an opportunity to do that if you agree.

Thank you.

Next up is Council Member Le.

Hi, thank you so much for applying. And thank you for going to the meetings. It's one of those things where these are open meetings so that people can see them and a lot of times people don't. So it's good to have feedback from people who have been engaged in process and watching the meetings and to have this feedback about it. My question is about the Lakewood Branch Library, which you know will be opening soon. Pretend you don't have the background information of what you've obtained from your knowledge. If I gave you a bucket or actually a very large suitcase full of $5 million, how would you fill the liquid branch library?

Okay, so it's... You're saying I can't tell.

I mean, I know it's tied to a school.

Actually, you know what?

That's not fair.

Right, and I know it's tied to a school, so it's going to have a lot of, like, children, you know, who will be accessing it, so it probably needs a really big children's section. Also... My understanding is that the main library is like the children's section is much smaller than the demand for materials from the children's section. So maybe the Lakewood library like picks up the heat on that a little bit because there should be able to be you know, interlibrary loans. I also understood that the Lakewood Library originally, they were only going to be open three days a week, but now they're going to be open six. So I think that that's really wonderful for that maybe underserved part of the city. It's harder to get from that side of the city to this library. So if there's a library there, they can call in materials and they can be delivered there. And so it makes it easier for people to kind of walk within that, I don't know, one to two mile range. you know, radius of that library. So $5 million, it looked, I mean, I actually saw some pictures, right? So the library looks really like it's going to be like super fancy and have all the things. So I guess we just want to, again, sort of beef up the children's section, maybe make sure that there's good technology available, like Chromebooks and internet access so that people can, like the kids could come from school and they could do their homework there and the programs could appropriately teach them about like AI and, you know, how to avoid like phishing and AI hallucinations and like make sure that they're looking for unbiased, truthful information. And I mean, I would say put the programs around the community that's there, which may be primarily children, but of course there'll be you know, adults as well.

Yeah, and it will definitely be both. The library is a partnership with school districts, so it's not necessarily going to be like mainly a children's library, but I enjoyed what you said about, I think, research skills, which was what you were navigating around. So thank you.

Thank you. I'm up next. And so thank you for being engaged and informed, probably more so than most applicants coming in that may have watched a meeting or two. And, you know, I think kudos to you for taking the time. As far as the main library is concerned, I know we're discussing what next steps are there. What do you see as the most important, let's say, improvement that needs to be made in the short term as far as the main library is concerned?

Okay, so again, I know there's problems with the bathroom and HVAC and keeping up with all technology. So I know there's those kind of things. And then longer term, they have to make, again, um, the people using the library, there's, I have the numbers here, but there's more, you know, children going in than the percentage of the books that are there. Um, they're also trying to make sure that they have like access to like, um, languages, you know, make sure that there's, um, I guess, for example, I know that the, there's been a lot of more Japanese books being taken out and they have a Japanese story time and people are coming, um, You know, you just don't know what kind of communities might come in the future, what kind of communities are looking for access to materials in their own languages. And then there's all the cultural events. And so we just kind of need to always kind of have our finger on the pulse of what our Sunnyvale community is doing. is made up of, like, what kind of people, what kind of cultures, languages, you know, everything. We just need to make sure that we continue to address our community's overall needs. Okay. Thank you.

Next up is, and finally, is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello. Hi. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you. Thank you for going to those public meetings. really important and for also offering your skills and talents this opportunity to serve Townsville. I'm just thinking of my question. You mentioned briefly, just kind of like a pleasant comment, but it stuck out to me that the relatively low square footage of library that we have per capita, which is, you know, well, what does that mean, right? It's that space to use services, space for services for people. And we were thinking about all that diversity. That's especially important. So as we're thinking how to go forward, since we are unable to manifest more square footage of library on the main branch, we know that now, what do we do next to create more square footage, meaning more space for programs? bridge that gap between available library resource and that. Digital small branches, bookmobiles. Right.

Those are the things that they're talking about.

What do you think would be the best place for us to focus our energies in?

OK. I am so not an expert on this, but I have my opinions about it. So we have Lakewood. which is covering one part of the city of Sunnyvale. And we have like this downtown branch. Maybe we need something, Murali, in our neighborhood as well. Or maybe we work with the other schools, right? We work with the other schools and see if we can do some kind of branch there. Maybe we do something in the community center, right? I think somebody said... Somebody mentioned that in one of the meetings, maybe we could lease some land in the community center. We could have something like, you know, in a shopping area and people could eat there and then they could go to the library. And like, I mean, I think we could get really creative with finding space. I think there's available square footage in the city Maybe there's some public private partnerships that we could do to get access to space in the city. And then we just make sure that we kind of, as much as possible, spread library services around the city. I know they're doing like bookmobiles and they do things in the park. And they talked about also how in previous, previously they actually did extend this current library, but every time they extend, they're taking away open space. And I know now you have the garden there. There's like other things, you know, there and what they wanted to do with the bond measure. But maybe we can find some way to work with some other some companies or some other like the community center or like some of the other schools might have space. And aren't some of the schools also the enrollments dropping in some of the school? I don't know if there's. Not too bad. Not so much. Not too much. Yeah. I remember my son went to Stockholm. We had to like line up at 5am and there were like so many like portables and it was like crazy. And if you didn't go and get in that day, then they were going to send you to another school. And now he's a senior in college, but it was pretty bad like back in the day.

It was a lot. That's helpful. The geographic distribution matters. That's how we go ahead and improve our footprint, our footage, so to speak. Thank you very much for that.

Or maybe we could build on to the current library, build a second floor on the library. I don't know if you could do anything sort of creative around that either. That's just not going to cost $290 million, right?

You talked a little bit about that in your application, how to think about that bottom manager in the future. Yes.

i think the answer that is yes all under consideration okay so thank you good thank you sarah thank you for going through the process tonight uh council will make its final decision on may 19th okay you don't need to be at that meeting in order to be chosen and then the city clerk will uh come back and give you the final results later in the week okay thank you thank you i really um you know in closing i would really appreciate you considering me to this position i'd love to

participate and help however I can with the library in the meetings and elsewhere. So I'll probably still plan on attending all the meetings, even if I'm not selected, but it would be an honor if I could help and be on the board. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our next applicant is Nanya. and council member Sell will be up first.

Your next applicant, Ananya, is here. Hi, Ananya.

Hello, good evening. Welcome.

I'm Senegal Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. each council member will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep that in mind as you're answering those questions. And first up is council member Sell.

Hi. Yeah, thank you for being flexible and considering all these different commissions that you'd be open to. And so you prior, how you have three of them, how did you pick them and how you like each commission? you know, what's your preference for them and would you be happy in any one of them? Any thoughts at all?

Thank you. So when I was applying, I listed Arts Commission as my top choice, I listed Pedestrian as my second, and Human Services as my third. And the reason I decided to do this is for starters with the Arts Commission, I grew up as someone who was really immersed in that side of my world. I grew up as a writer, a singer, and someone who really realized the importance of arts in our community. And so I noticed specifically in Sunnyvale, we have lots of wonderful programs such as Hands on the Art and various others that give students opportunities to experience that in their own worlds. I believe that art is so much more than just something to look at. It's really a form of self-expression. And especially now when mental health is at a record low, art is a really beautiful way to be able to bring light to your world. So I think that's a wonderful thing that Sunnyvale is doing. I would love to be a part of that. And the next for pedestrian and biking, I grew up here in Sunnyvale and I've been walking to school since I was in sixth grade. And so through that, I was really able to see a side of Sunnyvale that not many people get the opportunity to experience. But this year, when I started taking the school bus because of a lack of bike lanes in our community, I realized that there are several issues that can be addressed within this commission too. And so that's another issue that matters deeply to me since walking and biking is a great use of transportation. And then finally, in terms of housing and human services, I'm grateful and lucky to have a stable home. But I know in my school of Wilcox High School, there are many students who experience that kind of housing insecurity. And so I've seen that having a stable home gives me opportunities to do all my tournaments, to have these great resources. But unfortunately, one of my close friends, for example, is having to move to Florida this year due to higher housing conditions. costs in our area. And so examples like these have helped me realize that in Sunnyvale, we, although we're a great community, have issues to be addressed within these two. So that's why I ranked those three ways, because I care deeply about all three of these that affect my life in different areas. Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for applying. I was really impressed by your detailed responses and to have I was really also interested in how you talked about the pavement quality and mentioning when your grandmother visited. I was interested if you could talk more about your experience with getting to school and maybe with some of your classmates, how you might improve safety to getting to school.

Yeah, of course. This is a great question. So starting off with my grandmother, as you mentioned, she visited from India this summer and we lived in New Henderson Avenue, but she wanted to walk all the way to the Michaelis complex, which is about a 30 minute walk away for those of you that don't know. And on the way there, she encountered many potholes around her way that made it a little difficult in comparison to her home. And so that's kind of when I started to see this. But as you mentioned, going through my school environment, many students at Wilcox High School, they bike, they walk there. And that makes it a little difficult when there's a lack of bike lanes. For example, in the intersection at El Camino Real, we have several crossing roads, which is great, but other intersections closer to Wilcox High School, we don't have the same types of opportunities there too, which is making it difficult for students.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Lay.

Hi, thank you so much for all your really thorough questions. questions and for doing the homework. Some people come in and I really appreciate when applicants to BPAC have read the Vision Zero plan. I think that says a lot about the seriousness of the candidate. I really appreciate that. And I really appreciate you taking the time to write out all these answers. I'm going to focus on your arts answer, the one about the visual and perform, sorry, not visual, literary and performing arts. And you've been circling this in your in your in this interview where you talk about being a poet, being a reader, and how do you see those things? This is what the question was about, and you said more interactive, but how do you see that happening pragmatically? Like, how can we make that happen? How can we bring those arts more into the community interactively?

That's a great question. So I think it does start at the school level when you're focusing on a younger audience. So one great way to reach a wider variety of students would be reaching out to those high schools and having them advertise it there too. Since I know many students at my school are aware of the wonderful opportunities that Sunnyvale has due to a lack of awareness. So I think that would be a major way to help increase the awareness of our activities. In terms of specific things that we could hold, we currently have several things such as that, but art comes in a variety of different forms. So it comes in writing, I'm in theatre, it comes through, even speaking is a form of art, in my opinion. And so really having all of those different kinds of art forms would be a way that we could expand. So did that answer your question?

I think that was great. I'm thinking you would say something like public poetry readings or something like that.

So students might not have an opportunity to kind of share their artworks too right now. So I think that would be a great suggestion right there. The public poetry readings is an opportunity for students to be able to do that. Another example is currently we have Reflections, which is a competition that's held by the California PTSA and I've competed in for a few years. So I think even increasing use of competitions like those is another opportunity to have teenagers showcase what they want to.

Thank you. I'm up next. So you applied to several commissions. How would you take... what those commissions are covering. So let's take the art commission specifically back to the youth and try to get more involvement from others in your class and others that you know in the community.

So in terms of getting more involvement back to the youth and those in our community, like I said, I think awareness is a really big thing. But beyond just awareness and making more people aware of the events that are happening, I think it also could be adapting what we do in order to fit what the youth wants. So we could do this through polling, through forums and various other mediums so that what the Art Commission does represents what the youth want to see. So for example, if in a specific year there are a majority of teenagers who are interested in writing or interested in doing public poetry readings, we could adapt the type of programs that we have in order to fit that need. And so I think by doing this, we would really expand the amount of contribution that is done by younger people since it is more representative of what they would like to see in their community.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Thank you. It's great to meet you. Thank you for submitting your application and for sharing your interest in serving the city in this way. It was objectively an impressive application, I'll have to say. And your comments about involving the youth. So I teach on the college level, intro to gov, so usually freshmen or sophomores. I've always been shocked by how interested youth are actually in local government specifically and like seeing and what i've noticed is that it's in it's powerful and impactful to them because they can see the change in their community and they can relate to it much easier than you can learning about what congress does for example not that anyone knows so i know but um so my question is actually about bpac and That is, in order for that commission to make good decisions, it's understanding how everyone in the community is going to interact with that environment. How could your experience, can you talk about how your experiences in experiencing the world and then being able to communicate that would assist the BPAC in, say, making recommendations about, you know, addition to our, you know, safe routes to schools or Vision Zero or any number of public infrastructure things we're looking at?

So in terms of my own personal experience to start off with that, I've done competitive speech and debate ever since middle school now. And this year I started a club at my own high school in order to bring that to other people. And I actually attended also the youth, the Sunnyvale Youth Leadership Academy. I think you were there too. And so experiences like that have really given me the opportunity to be able to communicate with my peers. peers and classmates effectively and see what they want so going back to your question and how I would be able to communicate the BPAC to those around me I think through these skills I've been able to learn not only to hear what they want to say but also to respond to that effectively right now I don't see that as a skill that we have in our current commissions because it's the majority of youth has no idea what these commissions are doing and so I kind of want to be able to change that and bridge that gap between what the commissions are doing and what the youth, the general population is seeing.

Awesome. Awesome. And I hear that really applying, helping people learn how to give public comment or making people more comfortable. Exactly. Thank you very much for the answer.

Thank you. And lastly, it's Council Member Sreenivasan.

Hi. So I liked reading your application and then you have done a lot of interesting work. You led You founded and led speech and debate in middle school and then now you are involved in speech and debate. And then it's very impressive. I had a question on Arts Commission. I think you touched on that. One of the things you said was, how do you bring the visual art, much of it stays invisible outside school. I think you briefly touched on that. But let me go to the next question regarding the announced community, which is related to housing. So you say, I think Sunnyvale support is strong when it combines with compassion, with structure. I like that phrase. Can you elaborate on that? Yes.

So when I was looking at studying those plans, I like them a lot because they are plans that not only recognize how it's difficult for those groups of people, but they also combine the traditional programs such as the food banks, but they combine that with a kind of respect and empathy of people in those situations. Like when you look at Congress or current legislation, they sometimes miss that human element of what is involved with those communities. because they're also going through a very difficult time. So when I was writing that statement, I was kind of in appreciation of how Sunnyvale's plans are able to blend those two worlds of creating a government policy thing that helps everyone while also recognizing the individual needs and supports that every community needs in our society. Thank you.

Thank you. So that's all the questions. Thank you for going through the process this evening. Council will make its final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be at that council meeting in order to be chosen. And then later that week, the city clerk will get back with you on what the final decisions were.

Thank you all very much. Thank you. Have a great evening.

Thank you. So our next applicants are not here. All right. So let's go ahead and take a seven-minute recess.

And if it goes longer, it goes longer. One second. Okay. Hi, Sarah. Go ahead and have a seat.

So council members, this is your next applicant, Sarah Salonaro.

Hi, Sarah.

Hi.

I'm Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep that in mind as you're answering those questions. No problem. And first up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for applying. You have an impressive cultural history background. And I wanted to know, of the art you've seen in Sunnyvale, what has impressed you or that you'd like to see more of?

I like a lot the set of statues nearby here that represent a family unit with a dog and a cat. I see myself in there because I'm married and we're planning on having kids soon. And I also do happen to have a dog and a cat. So I feel like representing the sense that I feel like Sunnyvale is very... there's a lot of families here, which I like. One of the reasons why we decided to move here, because we want to grow and raise children here. So this is what I like to be surrounded with, you know. Family unit and what I like about San Diego is that it's one of the safest places possibly to raise children. And I feel like it's very representative of the city itself. Thank you.

Thank you. And next up is Council Member Lay.

Hi, thank you so much for applying. I have a I have a small context question. What is FAI? You use it several times in your application.

So basically, I'm from Italy. And that's the largest nonprofit organization that there is in Italy. It aims at protecting Italian landscapes or the cultural environments, buildings, are worth basically anything that's represented, but it's part of our cultural heritage. That's what Pai tries to relate, especially the ones that have been forgotten and don't receive a lot of funds from the government, which would be anything from a park or a regional park to a 2,000-year-old windmill hill, for example.

Yeah, that sounds a lot like our heritage preservation. I think you might be interested in that. I think there's a lot of volunteer work to do in that if you're interested in such a thing, and I hope that you'll consider that in the future. I also wanted to know that I really appreciated your answers in the Arts Commission write-up about the visual, literary, interactive, and performing arts. Could you tell me about poetry walls? That sounds really interesting.

Yeah, so there is a tradition that it's been going around for probably 50 years now in my cities or like I'll say it's more like a village compared to cities here in the U.S. So there's like in the towns nearby mine and mine as well what we like to do is that we'll gather up the kids from like kindergarten up until high school and then after school they just it's voluntary so it's whoever decided to join basically the kids vote to to decide which one is their favorite verse from an Italian poet, could be anywhere from Dante to like, you know, from all the history of literature Italian. And so whatever verse gets the most vote or simply like is the one that the head of the commission likes the most, then we get a permit from the city to paint that verse on a wall that's been pre-approved or could be anywhere from like, on the city hall itself or like somebody's house who just said, hey, I'd like to have that on my house or something. So yeah.

Great, thank you.

Yeah, of course.

Thank you. So I'm up next. First, thank you for your art background and kind of what you conceivably bring to the Art Commission. And we have a good amount of art here in the city. There's always a need for more. From a medium standpoint, what would you like to see or what, you know, it's like, cause you have standard sculpture, mural, you know, lots of things that, you know, band chart, there's lots of things that could be done within the city. What would you like to see specifically added?

That's a great question. I like a lot of performative art just because I grew up in a city that cared a lot about having art or like surrounding itself by artists. So what we like to do at least once a month in my city, we will gather in the square in front of the city hall and then either the city or just like dance schools will just set up a project like a little show and they will do It could be anything from a ballet. It could be anything from an art performance. Somebody just picking up the whole square and just trying to set up a whole performance or something. But just... something visual that brings the city, everybody together. It could be themed, for example, usually on February for us, because it symbolizes, at least in my culture, the beginning of the spring, it's always kids that dress up as little flowers and just dance and stuff, but like something that it's themed based on the season. So something that's visual. Yeah, that brings people together. So either they bring their own benches or something, or we could provide chairs or some accommodation as best as we can. So they just gather, spend time together, and yeah.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello. It's great to meet you, and thank you so much for applying and looking to serve your city in this way. It's really... Admirable, and your experience is fantastic for this kind of role here. Oh, thank you. And I got my idea from the question. You're talking about that organization in Italy that protects heritage resources in the country. And we have a heritage inventory, and we've been working to make it more inclusive of the diverse community that we have, because there's a lot of history, especially, but you may not have a structure or a thing, an object or building to point to, to mark that history. What are ways we could use art to mark and commemorate the history of certain parts of our city that may be long gone, but we want to remember?

I feel like the event specifically on the city, if you could give me like a more specific situation that I'll be able to answer that question better.

Sure.

I'm trying to think of a specific situation. So let's just say that there used to be a, like the first business owned by this ethnic group that was like here and it was like long established, but it's no longer there. But we want to remember it.

Well, then I'd set up a sort of like... I'd reopen it, quote-unquote, but, like, not create, but, like, even with, like, what is it called? It's called Carta Pista in Italian. It's, you know, have you ever seen those statues that are made of, like, paper, but it's, like, kind of solid? Paper mache. Yeah, I think that's false. Well, I'd set up shop, or, like, I'm kind of a creation of that shop. It could be anything from, like, hiring somebody to be, like, hey, can you just act as the owner and we could have a mock customer just come in and just represent the interaction and so i would even recreate maybe the shelves make it look like uh you know it's it is actually functioning or and i could have somebody just narrate maybe the story of the owner because if it was the first business in stanwell somewhere it probably does have a lot of history but i'll just have a sort of a theater representation of it with i just you know, I'd probably involve the schools, be like, hey kids, do you want to make a sculpture of the first business owner in Sunnyvale? And just so that gets at least the kids talking to their parents. And so as a word of mouth, at least they can say, hey, my kid is creating this sculpture to represent, you know, this and this and that.

Awesome. So using theater to re-experience and having kind of an installation for people to look at. Awesome. Thank you so much for your answer.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hi. Your voluntary and civic organizing community activities are very impressive. And then one thing I really liked was you said we can work together so we can make our beautiful city of Sunnyvale shine. I think we can use that statement. So it is very, very cool. Let me . Yeah, this is regarding the public art collections. You said by encouraging the participation of residents of different culture, to come together and celebrate their own culture by creating arts, performances, and projects that share, celebrate, and inform their tradition, experiences, and perspective.

Yes.

Can you elaborate on that?

Yeah, of course. I think you're referring about my experience in Venice. I think that's what it was.

Generally, it's about some of the public art. Yeah.

worked with and for artists of different ethnicity, cultural background. And so what we'd like to do is like, one of the things that for us was important is to keep the public, how to say, the public might not generally like, because they come from different cultural backgrounds, they might not immediately like get what we're exactly trying to represent or like what we're trying to say. So I, we thought that the best way to do it was visually. So for example, when I was working with the Azerbaijani artist, one of the things that Azerbaijani is famous for is the culture of fire and carpets. They have great carpets there. They're incredible. I have one in my house. It's so great. But anyways, so one thing that we decided to do is that, OK, how can we express or show the public or trying to make them understand that fire is a super important component of their culture. Okay, simple. Let's just show them visually. So we came up with a little kind of like, I think it's called poi, I think, but we had a friend who's also a ballerina and she's trained in cultural Azerbaijani art. So we had her kind of, with her consent, she knew if like anything was going wrong with the poet, she, you know, but everything went great. She didn't injure the fire. It was like fine. So what I'm trying to say, what I'm trying to say is the book probably cannot be aware immediately what is in culture for my culture, your culture, whatever. But like one thing that we can try to do is like simplify it visually. At least that's, that's the easiest part to have it convey. And then, and then afterwards you can, you can have a conversation with the artist and say, hey, what were you trying to say? But if you keep the public intrigued visually, then at least that picks their curiosity. So, for example, if it was me, I was trying to do an exhibition on Italy and trying to make them aware of my culture, what I would do? Well, I have a pasta kit that I brought from Italy. It's simple. I just... you know, set up a table in the middle of the street with like big pyramids and stuff and show them how to do pasta or like, and then tell them, hey, this particular type of shape, it was invented by this emperor and stuff. And then it was adopted by then this particular zone and then city. And then now it's famous for. So just, you know, bringing them together first visually and then kind of unload the lore afterwards. Did I answer your question?

That was perfect. Thank you. Okay.

Yeah.

Of course. Thank you.

And finally, it's Council Member Sell.

Hi. Thank you for interviewing. In your question, it says, the question was, what do you think public art plays in the city? And then you wrote, it creates community, sense of identity for the citizens, a feeling of belonging, and it's what differentiates a city uniquely in its own way. So if you were on the commission, What would be in line with that? What could be a great project that you would want to champion that would create community, a sense of identity for Sunnyvale?

Any eye in the sky idea related to that?

That's a great question. Off the top of your head. Maybe based on something you've done before. I don't know.

of the top of my head i see so here there's a lot of has been worse at working it he's a tech pro so i see that there's a lot of tech companies here and uh in san diego so what i will do is like could be um we were recently like funny enough at an ai hackathon and somebody brought a few uh fully sentient robots uh they were um i would it by ai so i'd have a man who would just kind of bring in all the tech bros and be like, hey, let's do a tech fair or something. And then, I don't know, maybe have the robot waiter, waiter up and serve everybody drinks and stuff like that. Because it is true, we are in the middle of the heart of Silicon Valley. And so we are lucky enough to have so many smart people around us that are literally changing the world day by day. So why not, you know, celebrate them as well? Because... Some people are against it. I personally like art that it's made with an eye. I feel like it is a tool. So it could be also a way to sort of make people less against AR art as well. So we could have even somebody Even I myself, I can bring my own Gemini Pro subscription and, you know, just a project of like, hey, this is what I made the other day with AI. Or sort of be like, I don't know if you've ever seen it before, but there's this platform that connects two artists and at the same time they create paintings together. And basically the board is split into two and one person works on the other one. So it could be even... We could even set up games like, hey, try to draw this and see if you're as good or better than AI. So, like, we give them, like, an image, like a butterfly. They try to get a butterfly and see, like, I can draw better than AI. So, you know, something just to make it like, this is not something that it's working against us. It's not stripping the world from art and video. No, it's just simple at all. My opinion. Thank you. Thank you.

Yes. So thank you for going through this process tonight, Sarah. And council will make its final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be at that council meeting in order to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back to you later in the week with the final results.

Of course, I'm excited. Thank you so much for your time. I heard that you have people coming in until 10 p.m., so good luck with that.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Have a wonderful evening.

Of course, you too. Bye-bye.

So we'll have our Chana on Zoom.

Counselors, give me a moment to promote our Chanam to the panelists. Your next two interviewees are going to be on Zoom. We're going to do a quick camera relay too so that they'll be able to see all of you.

So, Archana first, and then Isabella. Thank you. We're kind of working our way backwards.

Hi, everybody.

We're still getting situated.

Give us a moment, Archana.

You have the zoom out and zoom in feature on the camera?

This one's up there. And then so the council members sell when they're speaking. So we can just scoot over. We'll be good. There we go.

As opposed to moving the camera, let's move the council.

No, that's right. They're here.

Ready? Hi, Archana.

Hi, everybody. How are you?

Good. I'm Sunny Belmar, Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Thank you for working this into your travel. So let me give a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. So all council members will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep that time limit in mind as you're kind of going through those answers. And first up is Council Member Lay.

Hi, thank you so much for applying. I want to ask you more about your answer to the question about the inclusion of visual, literary, interactive, and performing arts. You said you would support a balance, and I'm curious how that looks going forward, about how we can pragmatically more clearly showcase some of these non-visual arts.

So being myself, I'm an artist, and whenever I was finding the question and answer, I was going, I cannot hear you really good, but I think I'm trying to get the answer for that. Being an artist... One moment. We're going to try to fix the...

Her volume and ours?

Yeah. Oh, I have this thing, right? But is each one of them different?

No. So, Archana, were you able to hear me okay? No?

Yes, I can hear now.

Okay. Okay. Good. Okay. Council Merle.

Okay. I'm going to repeat my question. Can you hear us? Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. So my question is about your about your answer to the question for the Arts Commission application about non visual arts, you say I would support a balance of visual literary, interactive and performing arts by engaging our diverse community and encouraging artists to share their cultural stories. I'm curious about what it looks like to you pragmatically for us to

more readily showcase the non-visual arts to showcase the literary and the interactive and the performing arts in a more um in an accessible way okay so being a choreographer myself and dancers so for me music and art and all this is like i feel like no language there so when i work with the diversity and also i just see our artists there It's just only artists there. So that when we work with the people, when I do the people working, I work with the fog and other communities also. So mostly it's for me bringing all diversity, everybody, all the culture together, just seeing only the artists with them. I can see only artists to be all together. That is the things I want to try for the art commissioner that for the city as working with so many organizations. So that mostly my things, seeing only the art and artists inside the human being.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm up next. And so first, thanks for being a Scoutmaster. That's always critical. But in your application, you talked about art can inspire, educate, engage residents. How do you think the best way from engaging residents art can make a difference? So how does art engage your residents in your community?

So working as a teacher myself and working with, you know, different kind of parents and thinking they are sometimes they are going through for different, different things. And, you know, mostly I get from the parents and the kids they are going through with Anxiety and all those things. So when I work with them also, art is the things where we can have a workshop, we can make them. Even art is not that we have to have brush or paint. Art can be the music also. Art can be with the clay. It depends on the person to person. So when working for the community and neighborhood, going through for so many situations, as you can see right now, the situation and the job market, everything is going through up and down and working myself as a teacher, running my own small child care. So I can see the different kind of anxiety going through with the whole household day, working with the kids. So I feel for the aunt, workshop, art, any music, dancing I include everything there to be make sure that's stressing out so I feel like that you know giving more exposure for that. If I'm thinking, I wish I can have more workshop or maybe, uh, some, um, meditation, yoga, even art, art, yoga is those days. Don't you have to put that, you know, just sit down and yoga meditation. So we can go with that. Showing a painting, talking about the painting, going through with the painting, making him calm down to those mostly I've worked to make them all things together. That's mostly, I think for that.

Okay. Thank you very much. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Yes, thank you so much for applying. It's a pleasure to meet you and it's wonderful that you are looking to serve your city in this way. I have a question regarding parks. You mentioned in your application the importance of maintaining safe and inclusive spaces. Can you define what that means to you?

So basically, yeah, there's an option to be applied for the, if not be the art commissioner. So I was thinking for park. As working for the scout master, doing a different kind of activity, running my paint workshop and all, when I go on the park and all. So most, you know, we have to decide which area is supposed to be where. We have to be, sometimes even I go park and do my workshop or something. I kind of think for structure and all. if this table will be that side will be nice or we can add something over here as working myself as a public that brought me into people this position maybe we can add something or we can give them idea for the you know all those people the parents they all want to do the workshop and all they always have ideas archana we went there and then they have this gaji board this is this how we can do so you know we always guide them okay if this thing something is going on set up something like that or i can bring this one for the city this is the you know people they want to do some parties something and also how we can create that thing same time we are helping for the public, same time we are helping for the city, bringing all those ideas. So that I thought to be just fill this position to be just apply for that. Okay, fantastic. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hi, Archana. Hi. Hi. In your application, you have all the words, keywords, which I am familiar with, stock of my air, seva, fog. Diwali all these things. Thanks for organizing flash mob and all those things. Thank you very much. In your application, you say that you want to make art accessible to everyone. Can you elaborate on that, please?

Yes, so I think last year I city hall they have the Diwali celebration also people reach out to me and then I have the flash more with that to be bringing all together. How I want to bring the art and all those things more up there because when I'm seeing this all even at the Sunnyvale all cities. They are trying for dancing and shops and all those things, but I can see only we have hand-drawn that we have a big festival fair every year, once a year we have. There are so many workshop is there for art and all. This is only one time we have. Everybody put their booth and they put their art things. So, but I was thinking that art has to be not once a year. It has to be, you know, every quarter or something to bring them and Sunnyvale city area is very good area. So I was thinking why we don't have more workshop, more things to bring them more in. They can learn more stuff because I can see the people just come and do. So I want to just work more to be like more art things. Same thing is not paint and brush. We can be pot making, we can be glass painting, something to bring more everybody all together. Because still we are that small. We have only once a year. Because past 25 years, I'm seeing only once a year we just go for that hands-on job, that art fair. That's all. So I'm thinking more to bring public there, more to be art. Art is really very big things to be. We can bring all together. So that's why I'm going to bring more project and more.

Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sal.

Hi, thank you for interviewing. And you also mentioned an interest in Parks and Recreation Commission and mentioned that I want to make our parks better by keeping them clean, adding more fun and safe spaces, offering activities that everyone in the community can enjoy. So say you were on the Parks and Rec Commission. In line with that, you know, statement, what would be your, like, high in the sky kind of project you want to champion that would be in line with making it more fun, safe spaces, offering activities for everyone in the community? What is, like, just off the top of your head idea?

Yeah, so... See, when we have the project come, sometimes, you know, things are, we just think, and definitely whatever that I said, not as my alone work. I definitely do get the more people involved with me. Suppose if I'm going to a park, there's nothing, anything is there. And I can see the dog is dog park or something. One side is I can see the kids are playing. But you know, we need that hygienic, we need that clean area. Definitely we have to put some sign there and we have to be make sure we are there. Definitely alone I can't and I have team also to be all work together. uh going through the ortega park and few park when i goes there uh definitely we have to put more sign there we have to be more because i can see the parents also sometimes they just start chit chatting and all that something has happened there so like more awareness more things so which is we can do with the art and and some drama creating or something sounding the email i can make a reel or something how the things goes we can just put on the website and all when the people go and they sign up for the park what they need for party purpose actually there are some real because i create the reels for a lot for the corporate level work the small like a act and all so you know those things also help same for the safety and cleaning up also we cannot reach for everybody we cannot be all the time there okay clean this and that but we're creating a small uh act We can put the website or something to make sure they can see, okay, this is, you know, when you're going to reserve the park or something, there's something we have to be more careful for safety reasons. So that's the thing I'm thinking we can create more awareness for them to make sure it's safe, it's fun, and those act in a fun way. The way we teach for small kids, if they are fighting together, how we work with a fun way to teaching. Okay, this is for safety reason. This is supposed to be have to do. The same thing we can teach for the public. When they are signing up, they are taking kids over there. It's very hard there, how we have to work together. Those things, you know, going in person or making an act, making a small, you know, small shot videos. Those I think helps, that I think. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. And our last council member is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for applying and for your involvement in the community. I wanted to know your experience with some of the parks and if you have any thoughts about the sun flares, which were the sun sculptures that were placed at the different parks.

So I have working with the Ortega Park because when I was being a Scoutmaster, So we have mostly activities there. Same, I was doing a PTA member from the Stocker Meijer. So mostly I was there doing for their, you know, end of the school and all. And another one is Panama Park. The Sunnyvale area, there's nothing else there. It's only grass. And then summertime, I can see the... they have the small kids are playing there their dog is there those things there too i just think sometime for this park panama park they have some area also be saving for the kids and all because all mix and match they have some time also where they can bring their dogs and all because I can see they are the one time the kids are playing one side and they are bringing dog also the kids are getting scared and all so sometimes this kind of area we have to make and assign those things that you know that kids and that parents they can enjoy same time and the same time if does somebody want to bring their pets or something because I know everywhere is not pets allowed so I sometimes feel okay I wish will be this area only for the pets and this area for public they are playing so you know kids they are enjoying because summer time mostly school is closed so there are few places you can feel that this panama park I can feel something have board or something that's I feel so that's what I was thinking to apply for those things to be make sure some park has this park I have experience Thank you.

Thank you. So thank you. Thank you, Archana, for going through the process tonight. Council will make its final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be at that meeting to be chosen. And the city clerk will get back with you later in the week with the final results.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Have a great evening. Thank you so much.

I'm sorry about that. I could not able to make it. Just working with the community today, then I could not make it.

No problem. Works out well. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, council members, your next applicant, Isabella, is joining as a panelist.

Hello, good evening.

Hi, Isabella. Welcome. Thanks for joining us via Zoom. I'm Senegal Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. So we have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you a question. So keep that in mind as you're going through those answers. And I'm up first this time. So let me ask. So Thank you for applying for the Art Commission. And, you know, I'm interested a little bit about what you were saying with your all-girl jazz band. So tell me a little bit about that first, and then I'll have a follow-up.

Okay, so first to preface, I'd like to dive into my history of being a musician. So I started music at four years old as a little girl on the piano before my feet could even reach the pedals. And that's really stuck with me throughout elementary school. Through middle school and in elementary school in the fourth grade, I picked up the saxophone, the alto saxophone. And I continued with that into middle school and in high school where I am now. And my freshman year in high school, my high school offers a jazz band. So they offer two bands, concert band and jazz band. And I decided to do jazz band. It offers a lot of opportunities for creativity, gigs. And I joined that class and I was very excited. But the first thing I must say I noticed when I stepped into the class is that my class was is essentially entirely made of boys. I'm, out of 20 students, I'm one out of three girls. And that really stuck out to me because in jazz, a lot of it's about using your creativity, expressing yourself as an individual and someone who is, as someone who is Completely new to jazz. It was honestly a little difficult to establish myself as my own person in the class just because the male-dominated environment around me was so strong and tight-knit. And the reason why I created my all girls jazz band was to help other girls like myself and the other girls in my class. We had shared our experiences and we had all talked about how it's a little scary to put yourself out there in a classroom where it feels like everyone else is watching you, judging you a little bit. And I created my All Girls Jazz Band for a place for girls to feel a little bit more comfortable expressing themselves and trying new things in that typically male-dominated environment. And my All Girls Jazz Band has been doing really well recently. I have assembled a group of 10 girls. And even though it is a little difficult, because as I had said, the My jazz community at Wilcox, my high school, is very male-dominated. I have been able to find some girls who are very willing to participate and play in the jazz band with me. We practice after school. And it has been really nice. I've received a lot of positive feedback about how all the girls feel like they've really been able to try new things and grow as musicians in my jazz band.

That's fantastic. And so just as a quick follow-up, you talked about doing performance showcases. What do you envision that as in order to engage more people, engage more youth?

So what I'm thinking, especially on the music and performance standpoint, is having... So for jazz band, bringing in more knowledge for my jazz band here. So what we like to do is we have these things called jam sessions where basically a bunch of musicians, some from Wilcox, some from our local high school, Santa Clara as well. We all get together in someone's garage or backyard and we all bring our instruments and we all come and we play together. And it's a lot of fun. And I feel like bringing that almost to a... city level would be really cool to getting, inviting a bunch of youth to come to a park or a specific location to all play together, to experiment together. I feel like that would be really exciting for young musicians like myself and be a great opportunity for everyone to grow as musicians and also those in public to listen.

Fantastic. Thank you very much. Next up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hello. It's great to meet you over Zoom. And thank you for submitting your application in a bid to serve your city in this way. It's a really powerful way to do that. So I thank you. And I had questions for you, but now your answer to the mayor's question brought something up for me. And I was thinking about, you mentioned you were four years old when you started learning piano. And you're doing all this music now and that's been a big part of your life. And I was thinking about all of the small kids that don't necessarily get exposure to musical instruments, education, or even know that that's something that they're interested in. I was just thinking about how much that enriched your life. I'm like, oh man, I wish that could be the case for all kids in Sunnyvale, you know, to have exposure to music in that way. Do you have any idea of how we could reach all the different communities in our city that and make sure that real young kids, you know, for to like say, hey, get exposure to music as an art form and a means of expression.

Thank you. Thank you. It's really nice to meet you too. And I actually have a lot of ideas for that, especially I was very fortunate as a child to be able to participate in a lot of musical things as I was growing up and I did feel like it really shaped me as an individual. So I know currently as a part of my All Girls Jazz Band, what we are planning to do on a smaller scale, of course, is going to local elementary schools and bringing um our own instruments and showing teaching the younger kids specifically about each of these instruments letting them hear it i feel like that would be a great opportunity just to show them what's out there but also i think it would be really exciting to have workshops um in at parks or little community rooms where younger students can experiment with I feel like percussion is really fun especially for little kids the drums the xylophones I feel like that would be really exciting and of course they'd like to play around with that so I feel like that would be really fun if we could yeah create workshops for them to try out percussion that would be really fun

That sounds like it would be fantastic. And parks are everywhere, so that would be a really good way to do it. So thank you so much for that suggestion and for your work. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. Next up is Council Member Shane Vossen.

Hi. Hi. Thanks for applying. And then apart from... the interesting thing about your application apart from music and jazz is you are interested in physics. Oh yes. Which is my favorite subject by the way. Yeah. It's so cool to see physics and then you're part of physics club and other things. So, uh, the question I had was, uh, I like what you answered, Mayor and Council Member Cisneros. I wanted you to, in your application, you say that you want to expand opportunities for youth involvement and community-centered arts. So is that what you said about bringing youth to different parks and other places for youth? getting involved in music and other things.

Yeah, thank you so much. I was actually studying for a physics test right before this interview. But yes, I definitely thought what I had just mentioned earlier would definitely be one of my goals to connecting music with the youth. I feel like getting, especially for younger age children, getting them just to try out the instruments and exposure to what they are and who is able to play them would be really fun. I feel like In that sense, also having more public performances, especially I know middle schoolers and high schoolers, all the high schools near in Sunnyvale that I know of and nearby have really, really nice and really talented bands and orchestras that I believe would love to play for the public. And I feel like that would be another way to showcase all of the amazing music and musicians that Sunnyvale has. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember. Next up is Councilmember Sell.

Hi, thank you for interviewing for this. And you've talked a lot about performing arts, But how about you also talked in your application about murals and kind of more sculptures and how they can make public spaces more accessible. So in that framework, if you were on the commission, what is some ideas that you would think would be great ideas to do as you said to be to make places and spaces more accessible through art what do you envision that like say you have this like area and you as our commissioner could define like what went into that area to make it more diverse and inclusive, what would be your vision of that?

Okay, thank you so much. I feel like personally what stands out to me whenever I see visual art in a public place, I really enjoy seeing the little like murals on walls around the city or something I personally enjoy a lot are the little, I believe they're like electrical little banks or around the city where they have the, I always see them and I see all the pretty artwork on them and I'm like, wow, the people who done those, did those paintings and the artwork, I think it's a really nice little touch. And I feel like, at least to me, the little things like that make Sunnyvale so much more inclusive and honestly exciting from a visual standpoint. Because I feel like there's a lot of potential for other... I know that there can be a lot of themes expressed in artwork and I haven't done too much research on what exactly themes have been showcased around our city, but personally around our city, I really like when visual arts is tied into something cultural related. Me, myself, like a fun fact about me is that I'm, Indian, Peruvian, and Filipino. So just that and that being a part of my identity, it's really nice to see when I see a little bit of Indian art, a little bit of Filipino art, a little bit of Peruvian art, it's nice to see all like a diverse array of cultures because it makes me feel like I don't have to conform to one ethnicity or one identity of myself, how I can explore multiple identities and ethnicities.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Thank you, Council Member. Next up is Council Member Chang.

Thank you for applying. And that was really similar to kind of the question I was going to ask. And you have a really impressive music background. I was just wanting to get to know you a little bit more about, you know, what type of, you kind of touched on it a little bit, but what types of more art would you like to see around the city?

Personally, I would like to see, as I had discussed before, definitely more performing arts and music, but also I think literary art as well. I believe I had mentioned in my application poetry a little bit. I really enjoy poetry and literary works. I feel like it's a really unique way of showcasing who someone is. And I find it very fun to... read it as well. And I feel like having or creating some sort of event where more literary works can be showcased throughout Sunnyvale, I feel like that would be a really unique and exciting opportunity.

Thank you.

Thank you. And lastly, is Council Member Lay.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much for applying, and thank you for your obvious passion in this topic. I really appreciate listening to you. Just be excited about this. This is something that you're clearly very interested in, and I'm glad that you're able to share this passion with us. I want just a quick observation from your application. You say the council meeting that you attended that we explained topics very well. And thank you. I appreciate that. Sometimes we don't. So I want to ask you two things. First of all, what is your favorite poem?

That's a hard one.

Or poem. I will open it for you.

I've I don't think I could come up with the title on the spot but recently I've actually gotten this book uh Sylvia Plath her collection of poems and I've been really enjoying the the imagery and the attention to detail in her poems I feel like it's honestly in school we do a lot of literary we do a lot of literary analysis and i feel like it's it's nice to especially like poetry and in the community it's nice to be able to almost relax and just enjoy the just hearing someone else's story portrayed in such a beautiful way Great.

Thank you. And this, I, this isn't really a question, but I really want to encourage you as you pursue physics, you brought a lot of passion to what you were saying about being in a very male dominated space as a jazz member, as a jazz artist, as a jazz musician, you are going to see that in physics. And I want you to push through anyway. When I was in college, there was like one girl in the physics department and it gets very lonely and But I feel like you have what it takes to just push through that and thrive. So thank you so much for applying.

Thank you.

Thank you. So thank you, Isabella, for going through the process tonight. Council will make its final decision on May 19th. You don't need to be part of that meeting in order to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back with you later in the week with the final results.

Okay, thank you so much.

Good luck.

Thank you. It was really nice to meet all of you.

Thank you. Thank you. Take care.

Good night.

Have a good night.

Thank you.

And with that, we will take a 10-minute recess and come back at 8.55 p.m.

Okay. Okay, Mayor and Council, your next applicant, Mike Cerrone, is here.

Thank you. I think we can un-squish now. Let's go ahead and reconvene. Back to where we were before. Thank you, Mike, for reapplying. to be on the Planning Commission. You've been through this process before, but let me give you an overview. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Each council member gets a chance to ask you a question. So keep that time in mind as you're going forward. And first up is Council Member Cisneros.

Hi, Mike. It's great to see you, and thank you very much for your service on the Planning Commission and for reapplying despite that. Thank you for the opportunity. Yeah, and that's tongue-in-cheek because it's clear that you're very passionate and care very much about this work, as do we all around this table, and that's why I want to talk about state legislation, because as you mentioned in your application, it's changing all the time. Over 500 bills have been introduced in the last several years alone. And with this changing landscape, how are we as a city, what would be the best strategy for us to create plans to withstand potential massive changes potentially and not have the intention

stripped away along with it how do we build resiliency into planning basically when we're facing massive change yeah it's a challenge uh for sure uh i mean the ideal thing would be changes uh from the state legislature but i'm not looking for that to happen anytime soon uh there's some things we've done already the uh um for the village centers the uh You know, the retail, I forget the title of it, the Retail Incentive Program is the sort of thing we can do to kind of work around that situation. But it is very problematic. 500 bills, and we have very little housing statewide to show for all of that disruption. So even in Sunnyvale, we see... most of the projects are really kind of single-family homes just stuck together, kind of the minimum density. So it's a problem. We can try and work with developers and incentivize them, but I think we'll look back on this period as kind of substandard construction because of the what they've left us with, you know, unlimited waivers.

All right. Well, thank you very much for the answer and for your service on the commission.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sreenivasan.

Hi, Mike. Thanks for serving on Planning Commission. And then also, there are so many things you are involved in. And then I didn't realize you were part of First Districting Commission in 2019.

You're right, the first one, yes.

Yeah, so thanks for doing all those things. And then one of the things you mentioned, a reason you wish to be reappointed, an engineer accustomed to reviewing and understanding technical documentation. I was like, wow, where's an engineer? That's really cool. So in your response, you also wrote, California legislator has passed 500 housing related bills, right? How do you keep up with that? I know staff reads most all of them, but as a planning commissioner.

Well, they don't necessarily all apply to every project, but it is a challenge. And it certainly doesn't have housing, right? As a developer, if you've got to account for 500 bills, this is very disruptive. Um, and that, you know, I went to the planning, uh, Institute, uh, and, uh, you know, Charles was there as well. And, uh, the, uh, like there's some talk of, of trying to pause the housing bills while the housing element, the next housing element cycle is in process. So at least it's not changing as you're doing the housing element. Uh, but, uh, Yeah, it's a challenge to keep up with it. AI helps.

That's what I wanted to suggest. One of the student projects we are working on is AI summarizing all these documents. Absolutely. And then mostly to capture the contradictions also.

Yes.

Right? Not all laws arise in isolation. Yes, yes. Thanks for serving. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sell.

Hi, Mike. So what makes you passionate about the Planning Commission? Like, you are doing multiple stuff, but what makes you passionate to be on the Planning Commission?

Well, it's intellectually challenging. You're working with the community, and, you know, when you have a good project, it's very exciting. And in particular, things like, well, like the Motha Park project, specific plan was just, you know, amazing and taking a part of the city and really creating a whole new environment, adding housing. We've got sea level rise, the east and west channel, of course, commercial bike lanes through the multi-use lanes through the whole area. It was a fascinating exercise.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you.

Next up is Council Member Chen.

Thanks for reapplying. You know, as the planning commissioner's role has kind of shifted in the past few years with all the state laws, how have you balanced or managed community input when your role might be more limited now?

Yeah, the community is often disappointed, as you know. I mean, really, the purpose of the law, the objective of the law is nominally to create housing, but It does it by kind of disempowering both the residents and the elected officials and commissioners. And in my opinion, everything the elected officials and residents want is not necessarily bad. So they, you know, it helps if they feel like they're being heard. That's really key. And I think, you know, if we were looking for something we wanted to change, I think our noticing could get better. Like we don't notice for a study issue. I mean, we notice it in the, you know, if you're checking the city site, but we don't put up a sign there. or the study issue session. So it shows up before the final session, by which time it's kind of late for people to show up and have input to it. And there's even a step before that, and Martin has brought this up too, the zoning change. There's a zoning change and people don't realize. So a lot of times by the time you get to the study issue, It's sort of a done deal because of a zoning change that happened three months earlier, four months earlier. It's very hard for a resident to, even if there's a sign-up, to say, oh, zoning change, what's that mean to me? Hard to sort that out. So we hear a lot from residents who feel like they've been ambushed. Where did this come from?

Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Lay? Okay.

Thank you for reapplying. Thank you for all the work that you do on all the various things that you do. I feel like planning commissioners are the unsung heroes of the city. You did all of the reading and none of the photo ops. I want to ask you, in your role so far, what has been your most memorable meeting and what did you take away from it? What made it memorable or did you learn anything from that that could have been improved upon?

Yeah, I think I mentioned already the Moffitt Park specific plan. That was... sort of the end of a long process of many, many meetings, you know, official meetings and then meeting with the developers in Moffitt Park. And and there were so many elements and of different groups coming in. You know, some didn't want to develop anything because of the environment or or potential flooding. And so it was That was very challenging. I mean, there are other examples, the housing element, the village center master plan. So there have been a number of, but those things that have those kind of overarching plans are the most interesting and engaging and have the longest impact.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm last. So just, I want to say thank you for being on the planning commission, taking a lot of the slings and arrows that don't come to council anymore. You know, and I'll just kind of reiterate what I said previously to you. It's like, thank you for those hard decisions. And sometimes, yes, your hands are tied. In those cases where you think that conceivably further review by council might sometimes change, or at least, you know, much like the Elastigine project. We didn't go, you know, we didn't overrule the project, but another step of review, sometimes by council, gives the developer like, oh, be more conciliatory on a specific set of waivers, which I think is, you know, the hardest thing. But it's like, and it's hard to weigh, you know, what makes sense from a housing standpoint and what makes, you know, what they're basically saying what developers are utilizing to maximize their profit at the end of the day and not worrying about what the community benefits that our code was in guidelines were initially put in place. So I do encourage you that, you know, if there are those issues reaching out to council members, just say, take a look, um, is important. Thank you for, for spending the time, you know, the, the planning academy, uh, Cal city's planning academy educate you as well as, you know, you know, brings in helps you. One of the things that like when, when council goes to conferences, it's commiserating with, with, similar council members and mayors from around the country or around the state who are in the same, you know, basically same predicament to a certain degree because, you know, and I think that that has a lot of value. We have a few minutes left. Do you have any questions for us?

Um, well, I don't think so. Um, I just, uh, you know, I, I appreciate the opportunity, uh, to have served for one term and, uh, uh hope to keep doing it i think we have a great uh commission staff is great uh um you know the all the planners are great uh you know sharma for the administrative things sandra on the uh um office of the attorney which plays a big role, much more than it used to be. I mean, we're asking every meeting, you know, okay, what can we do? What's legal here? And, uh, so, uh, that's a very important and, uh, staff is, you know, they work together and they, uh, you know, like last night we had this, uh, uh, village center thing was a controversial and, and, uh, Sean and Margaret Netto, the planner were both sick. So, uh, Trudy and, uh, And Noreen filled in and did a great job, which, you know, how do you do that? You know, show over the last minute. So, you know, that's the kind of depth I think we have in staff.

And thank you for your commitment and just caring about the city. And the Planning Commission has a big effect on the future of the city at the end of the day. Yeah. Thank you very much. That's it for tonight. Council will be making a final decision on May 19th. You know, you don't need to be at that meeting in order to be chosen. And then the city clerk will get back with you after that with the final result. Sure. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mike.

Next is Lena.

You're up next.

council members. Your next applicant, Lena, is here. You have a seat.

Sure.

Hi, Lena.

Hello.

I'm Senator Mayor Larry Klein. Thank you for applying. Let me give you a quick overview of the process. We have about 15 minutes for the interview. Every council member will get a chance to ask you a question, so keep that in mind as you're going through those answers. First up is Council Member Srinivasan.

Hey, Lena. Thanks for applying. In your application, there are certain things you have said. You plan to continue to reside here for a long foreseeable future. Thank you very much. And then you also have worked with some CCAs. That's a very, very good experience. You mentioned a couple of keywords which were really intriguing. You said sustainability, For the question, sustainability is a new emerging concern for many communities. For that you said carbon neutrality. Can you elaborate on that?

Yes. That is a word that's on top of mind for me very often due to the nature of my work too. That's something my work strives to do. And as you know, in all of California by 2035 and 2040, there are certain metrics we want to meet through carbon neutrality. My focus has predominantly been more on the energy side. So different ways that we can get there through clean energy, whether it's going to be hopefully mostly renewable energy or other sources like hydropower or nuclear. but that is what I mean by carbon neutrality, but I do think City of Sunnyvale, you know, is more than just the energy aspect. You guys have your smart station, your food waste, and all of your different initiatives, which I was honestly looking more at and finding out, which has been very intriguing, but from my perspective, typically, I know I need to broaden my horizon, but I come from a clean, like, energy perspective. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Council Member Sal.

So with Sunnyvale, we have Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and then we have our Climate Action Plan. Given that, what do you think, if you were on the commission, you would want to achieve in the next, you know, a great thing you want to champion, if you were on the commission, that you would think, okay, I want to invest my time my thought, my research into X. Have you thought about that?

Yes. So there are actually two things that I would want to focus on in the lens of energy. One thing, the two items would actually be affordability and equity. And I'm going to touch on affordability first. Everyone, as everybody is aware, energy prices are going up and affordably will become a big challenge. That's something that while we want to still strive towards clean energy, we still have to keep in mind that this is going to be affordable for everybody, for everyone in your community, and everybody in California. And in terms of equity, as we transition into more sustainable initiatives, more clean energy initiatives, let me phrase this correctly. It's very... easy to leave some communities behind, especially if they'd say like a homeowner or a renter. Homeowners have the ability to install solar panels, renters, there's not a lot of benefit for that. It's not something they own, it's not something that could move with them. So I know there are programs that will target renters, which is good, but when it comes to overall sustainability efforts, it needs to be targeted towards communities that have not seen as much equity in the past. So those are the two items that I would believe would be my priority. And I would take a deeper lens in not only due to my profession, but because when I grew up, I grew up from immigrants that don't know English. And as you know, there are cultural and language barriers that I have grown up and seen and realized what has worked for at least my community in the past in San Francisco and what challenges that a lot of people face trying to break through to those communities. Thank you.

Thank you. And next up is Council Member Chang.