Councilwoman Dolly Sandoval proposed developing a new policy after council members disagreed about naming the community building after Asian American donor Fred Chan. Allegations of racism were directed at Vice Mayor Sandra James when she protested naming the community center after Chan, a major donor. James maintained that she had simply misunderstood a policy set earlier by the council that allowed for building naming rights. She said she wouldn't have agreed to the policy if she'd known it meant naming a public building for a donor, though she approved of naming individual rooms within the center after contributors. Some in the community accused James of changing her mind after the fact when she learned the building's largest donor was Asian American.

A six-person team, including Mayor Michael Chang, James, City Manager David Knapp, City Attorney Charles Kilian, and community leaders Don Allen and Rich Abdalah, met on May 5 and June 23 to outline and complete the new policy on recognizing donors.

"It has certainly been a challenging process," James said. "As members of the city council, making policy is our job. This is a big thing. Hopefully it will address the problems we've recently experienced. We can all be proud of the outcome."

The adopted document, which defines the policies, procedures and responsibilities associated with the naming of city facilities, will provide a process for recognizing people who make private donations and in-kind contributions to the city.

The first guideline states that city facilities may be named in two ways—by their geographic location or after retired elected officials or community volunteers who have made extraordinary non-monetary contributions to the city or to the general public.

No city buildings or facilities may be named after an individual, group, organization or business as a result of a financial donation or in-kind contribution to Cupertino, the new policy states.

The city may recognize people who make private donations and in-kind contributions to the city with a plaque containing specific language affixed to the appropriate city building.

In the future, any donor or contributor will receive a copy of these guidelines prior to their submission of donations to the city council.

Chan had previously agreed to donate $250,000 to the community center but withdrew his contribution after the council disagreed on building naming rights.

"There's too much confusion and misunderstanding," Chan said at the time. "I want to help the community, not create confusion. The council should know what they want to do before soliciting donations. I would donate with name or no name recognition, but they need to figure out what they want before talking with donors. I am a low-key person; I don't want to get involved with politics."

According to James, who has met with Chan on several occasions recently, he is still very interested in contributing to the community center project once the council has adopted a definitive policy. Chan also plans to donate a large aquarium to the Cupertino Library.

According to Chang, although the aquarium has not been in public discussion until recently, the idea came up when Chan first expressed interest in donating to the city's new library and community hall in February.

But the matter never made it to discussion because of the controversy involving James' objection to naming the center after Chan.

Taking a conciliatory step after the controversy on building naming rights, James arranged a meeting with Chan on June 12 to discuss the aquarium idea at his office in Fremont. Chang also attended the meeting.

"Mr. Chan loves fish," Chang said. "He wants to donate a large aquarium to be placed in the new library. This would be very special to the community. It's a wonderful gesture by Mr. Chan. He's very passionate about the project."

At this time, the idea is still being explored as city staff work out the details of installing such a structure inside the library. Once the details are worked out, they will be presented to Chan as well as the city council.

Chan, 54, is the chairman of ESS Technology, a semiconductor producer in Fremont. An immigrant from Hong Kong, Chan makes regular contributions to various educational institutions, such as Stanford University and the University of Hawaii. Chan's children attend Cupertino schools.