League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Cupertino

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Experience, Concerns, Balancing interests Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council? Answer from Andy Huang: Andy is uniquely qualified with engineering, entrepreneur, business, government, and community service experiences. Andy spent 25 years as an engineer, started his own company, managed it as a CEO, and sold it by merger. In memory of his mother who died of cancer, Dr. Andy donated most of his merger proceeds to charity for cancer research, and went back to medical school to become an oriental doctor. He has volunteered over 4,000 hours for Cupertino community, and signed up over 6,000 residents for the emergency alert systems. Andy served for the City's Block Leader and Citizen Corps; County's Medical Volunteer Disaster Response Team (MVDR); and Silicon Valley's American Red Cross. Andy is currently the Chair of the Public Safety Commission, working with the Sheriff, Fire, and Paramedics. Andy is dedicated, experienced, and a leader. He has received both the CREST Award and The President's Volunteer Service Award! Having managed two successful start ups, Andy knows how to build consensus and solve problems by listening and leading. Andy is uniquely qualified with his civic, entrepreneurial, and community experiences to help Cupertino overcome its growth challenges. When elected to City Council, Andy can hit the ground running and continue his dedication to maintain our quality of life. Answer from Darcy Paul: I am currently the Chair of the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission, where I have served for seven years. In that time, we have helped to open four parks, and I am dedicated to ensuring that city services improve for all residents, especially in areas that are currently park deficient. I am also this year's Board President of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. I joined the Board of the Chamber in 2010 when I started my business in Cupertino. At the time, both the economy and the organization were in need of revitalization. By focusing efforts on supporting the infrastructure of our economy, which is small businesses, I have been able to help lead a strong recovery in Cupertino. We are doing well, Chamber membership is up significantly for the first time in many years, and we are delivering meaningful activities and services to the community. Still, there is much work to be done to ensure that we continue not just to prosper, but to thrive in a sustainable fashion. I want to bring these experiences to City Council so that we can all keep succeeding. Answer from Don Sun: 2011 - Present: Cupertino Planning Commissioner, Chairman in 2013. Projects: Appe II, Main Street, Hyatt Residents, etc. 2009 - Present: Vice President of Cupertino His-rical Society. International Night, Gala, Museum 2007 - Present: Cupertino Rotary. Director of Club Service, Speaker Program, International Education 2009 - 2013: Executive Director, APAPA Voter Registration and Voter education. 1990 - 1992: Hoover Institute, Stanford, Researcher: Taiwan Land Reform and Urbanization 1982 - 1984: City Planner, China Institute of Urban Planning Education: 1978 - 1982: Bachelor degree in Urban Planning, RenMin University 1988 - 1990: Master Degree on Regional Economics from University of Pennsylvania 2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them? Answer from Darcy Paul: I am most concerned about the quality of our dialog. We need to be honest with and civil with each other. If for no other reason, then these aspects of our community conversation are important because, first, when we are honest, then at least we understand where the issues are and we can go about solving the right problems, and second, when we are civil, we foster a sense of community rather than trigger a tendency to be defensive and angry with each other. And so, I would bring a style of public dialog designed to get things done. Having canvassed thousands of voters across Cupertino during my campaign, I have heard a number of concerns. Many residents are concerned about our schools and improving the quality of their children's education. Development continues to be a strong concern with many residents. I believe that we need to listen to and act upon residential concerns while balancing out the need to provide adequate housing options for our growing elderly population, and for the growing number of people who work here yet have to commute farther and farther from our area due to lack of affordable options. It is neither socially responsible nor environmentally sound to ignore these needs. We should identify areas and designs that are suitable to meet our needs and the preferences of residents, and work to promote those projects. We need to be fair and efficient in our government. Being unfair alienates capable people and destroys opportunities. Being inefficient spirals us into debt. There are always ways to improve on both counts, and while we do a reasonably good job here in Cupertino, we can always work to make each other better. From a structural standpoint, I would like to emphasize our support for small businesses, as well as fair and equal access to city services while I'm on Council. I support measures to improve our schools and libraries, and believe that we should not be shortchanged with respect to financial allocations just because our students study more and perform better on tests; this is the kind of skewed logic that results in more widespread future inequities that cut off opportunities, ultimately, for everyone. Answer from Andy Huang: Andy and his family came to Cupertino 13 years ago, attracted by outstanding schools, safe neighborhoods, and small city charm. Andy found Cupertino blessed with diverse cultures and vibrant economic growth. Today, the city faces growing pains with housing, traffic, parking, and aging roads. Andy is running for City Council because he wants our city to grow responsibly, develop housing carefully, and most important of all, preserve our quality of life. With over 4,000 hours of volunteering in our community, including signing-up over 6,000 residents in our emergency alert system, Andy has heard concerns from all walks of life. Traffic around the city impacts our productivity, and congestion around school areas threatens the safety of our children. As your elected City Councilman, Andy will advocate for the safety of our children and relief from traffic problems. Andy will expand the current Walk, Bike, and Carpool (WBC) program to include "Walking Bus", provide painted green bike lanes throughout the city, and prioritize the repair of our aging roads. High-density housing impacts traffic, parking, wear-and-tear on our roads, and our schools. As your City Councilman, Andy will advocate for a common sense management approach by limiting impact to our traffic and outstanding schools, adequate commercial parking, and set-asides for green space. As a resident of Cupertino, Andy values our quality of life. This includes protecting and improving the quality of our air, land, and water, caring for seniors, and promoting vibrant retail shops. As your Councilman, Andy will insist on the regulatory agencies protecting our environment. Andy wants to open the senior center every day + same as our library, and he will focus on the revitalization of downtown - integrating Vallco with Main Street into a premier Shopping and Entertainment destination. If you want our city to grow responsibly, develop housing carefully, and preserve our quality of life, please vote for Andy. Answer from Don Sun: 1: To provide short term traffic relieve for school areas: working with developers and local corporations to provide transportation solutions such as buses or police power to help children go to school in a safe and timely manner. 2: Work with urban planning professionals to help rezone and develop general plan for the city that will be viable for the next 20 years. The strategy and plan will be environmental sensitive and friendly. 3: One of the best ways to relieve traffic and protect the environment is to ride bikes. We need safe bike routes and biker awareness in the city to promote biking. Establish green bike lanes is one of the solutions. Have bike to school day and bike to work day to promote biking as a favored transportation tool. 4: Working with major organizations and small business owners to establish a free job listing of temporary, part-time, permanent, full-time page for Cupertino residents who need jobs. 3. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole with groups' interests? Answer from Andy Huang: As an engineer, entrepreneur, and business executive, Andy is is accustomed to managing global enterprises with competing and conflicting needs. Andy understands the need of the city and business to grow, and believes in a common sense management approach to grow responsibly, develop housing carefully, and most important of all, preserve our quality of life by balancing the needs of our city's growth with community groups' interest to preserve our quality of life. After spending over 4,000 hours of community service, Andy understand the needs of the community. After spending 4 years as the Public Safety Commission, Andy also has god working relations with City staff at every level. Andy is armed with the business know how, government experience, and community service dedication to help Cupertino resident to address the critical issues facing our city. Answer from Don Sun: My four years' voting record as Cupertino Planning Commissioner shows that I have always balanced the demand from commercial development and community concerns of residents by reaching for consensus and moderate development demands, my focus has always been to resolve issues with all parties at our meetings. I have never compromised to special interest groups before, during or after the public hearing. I study the project in detail and visit the sites before all public hearings. I make myself available to anyone who needs my input. I give equal time to residents and developers so I have the most complete information and feelings from both sides. I am an available, accessible, and accountable planning commissioner and I will be the same as a City Council member. Answer from Darcy Paul: I would balance them by listening to and acting upon public input. The needs of Cupertino as a whole are not defined by outside interests. At the same time, the needs of Cupertino as a whole are also not defined by the loudest residents. I think that we need to elect public officials who have a track record of listening to public input in a fair and open manner, and acting upon it in a way that is faithful to the spirit of public sentiment while considering the overall needs. This is an especially difficult task because oftentimes the concerns are exclusively grounded in a sense of entitlement, on both sides of a given issue. This is why I believe it's necessary to foster an honest and civil dialog, and to work for a community that has sound underlying structures so that we are put into a position of making choices as reflective as possible of community sentiment while being able to live peacefully with the idea that not everyone gets everything that they want all of the time. But I believe that, as a public official elected by residents, the job of a city council member is to convey residential sentiment through action, dialog, and votes. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.