City Council decides to keep Statton seat open

Will hold the election for fifth seat this November

By KEVIN FAYLE

The city council had some internal affairs to settle at its Feb. 5 meeting. When John Statton resigned, he took his tie-breaking fifth vote with him. This leaves the now four-person council with the possibility of 2-2 split.

The remaining council members harbored no worries about having an impasse in council decisions, however, and ultimately voted to postpone their decision not to appoint a replacement and instead voted to schedule a special election for November.

The council listened to its options for filling Statton's empty seat in a briefing delivered by city attorney Chuck Killian. He told council members they could appoint a replacement until the end of the seat's term, which occurs this November. Killian added they could opt to hold a special election in June to fill the seat, although the winner of the special election would also have to run again in November.

However, if the council were to wait to decide the issue until Feb. 13, they must set the special election to coincide with the regular election in November, because of time requirements for campaign periods. Holding the special election in conjunction with the regular election would also save the city approximately $65,000 in special election costs, according to Director of Administrative Services Carol Atwood.

Feb. 13 was also the final regular council meeting when deliberations about the open seat may occur, because of a 30-day statutory limit placed on the decision-making process by city and state law.

The council debated the issue, and agreed to make a final decision during its Feb. 13 meeting. Vice Mayor Richard Lowenthal emphasized his desire to avoid spending extra money on a special election.

Councilman Don Burnett expressed his concerns that an appointment would give the appointee an advantage in the upcoming election, as well as his desire to let voters, not the council, select their representative. Mayor Sandra James stated the council usually voted unanimously, and therefore she held no concern over 2-2 splits if the council did not appoint a replacement before the election in November.

By not deciding the matter at this meeting, the council by default will hold elections in November, with an agreement among members not to appoint a replacement for the time remaining in the term.

The council also approved a proposed construction noise ordinance, after debating what time to allow construction to begin in the mornings. Director of Public Works Ralph Qualls asked to keep the 7 a.m. start time, to remain consistent with industry standards.

Councilman Burnett reminded the council that the city's code enforcement department does not come on duty until 7 a.m., which would make enforcing a 7 a.m. start time difficult for the agency. He suggested that the council set the time for the earliest construction at 7:30 a.m., which would not only allow contractors to avoid traffic during the commute hour, but also give the code enforcement officers a greater chance of catching early construction.

Mayor James argued the government should not become involved in an issue where the market appears to be operating efficiently, and gave her support for keeping the 7 a.m. start time. She suggested the city allow the code enforcement department to increase fines for contractors that begin loud construction before 7 a.m., to give the officers more leverage when putting a stop to early construction noise.

The council also voted to amend the city's General Plan and allow rezoning to accommodate the proposed civic park development on the piece of property now known as Town Center. In addition, the council decided to raise fees for the use of group picnic areas and Blackberry Farms after Director of Parks and Recreation Therese Smith,reported the fees the city currently charges nonresidents are less than what neighboring cities charge their residents.

The council approved a resolution that sets the rates for group picnic facilities at $55 for Cupertino residents, $75 for Cupertino businesses, $80 for nonresidents, and $100 for nonresident businesses. These fees still put Cupertino at the bottom of the range of fees of neighboring cities.

The resolution also establishes new fees for Blackberry Farm: for the golf course, $11 on the weekdays and $13 on the weekends; and for the picnic grounds, $6 for adults and $5 for youths on the weekdays, and $8 for adults and $6 for youths on the weekends and holidays.

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