Spearheaded by Mayor Michael Chang, the city council passed a resolution unanimously at its Nov. 3 meeting to make the applicants' cultural background one of the criteria the city council considers in selecting commissioners and committee members. The city also made it a policy to strive for a workforce that can serve the diverse needs of the community.

"Our commissions and committees have a good cross-section representation of the community," Chang said. "This policy is a good tool to remind us and keep us on track."

Although the city council approved the diversity policies unanimously, some council members were concerned that such a policy could make the city vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits and might even have an adverse impact.

Councilwoman Sandra James suggested the city council make a statement instead of a policy to avoid possible lawsuits.

Councilman Richard Lowenthal said the whole council agreed with the philosophy but he is concerned how the policy is going to be applied.

"Does this mean that we should dissuade our Asian students from applying to the teen commission because we can only have three Asians on the commission to reflect the city's demographic makeup?" Lowenthal asked. "I'm worried that this policy can be used as an excuse to reject people instead of drawing people."

The teen commission scenario isn't just a hypothesis.

In 2001, some Asian parents protested to the city council about the selection process of Cupertino's first-ever, 12-member teen commission. Of 34 student applicants, 24 were Asian Americans and six of them were chosen. Six of the 10 Caucasian student applicants were appointed to the commission. A debacle ensued as Mayor Michael Chang wrote an open letter to the other council members, calling the process "flawed."

But Chang said his proposal had nothing to do with the teen commission fiasco. At a council's goal-setting workshop on Oct. 3, he first threw out the idea of developing a statement that reflected the city's recognition of its diverse community. Since then, he worked with City Manager David Knapp and City Attorney Charles Kilian to draft a policy.

With Councilman Patrick Kwok's support, Chang was able to persuade other council members of the importance of having a policy. "Having a policy shows that we are serious about embracing the city's demographic diversity," Chang said.

Kwok added, "Not until Michael and I served on the city council did we have more Asians on committees. The bottom line is that we are looking for the best qualified candidates," Kwok said. "The policy is a milestone."

To reach a consensus, the whole council and Kilian softened the language of the policies by replacing the word employment with the word workforce and the word race with the word culture.

Kilian said the council can have more subjectivity and discretion in the selection of advisory bodies. He also clarified that the workforce diversity policy is not an anti-discrimination law.

"California law has very specific limits regarding cultural or racial characteristics of any policy or process related to employment," Kilian said. "The workforce diversity policy says that employees should be cognizant enough t o provide programs that meet the different needs of the diverse community. The employees' cultural background is irrelevant in this policy."

The passage of the diversity policies is a swan song for Chang, who will leave the council in December because of term limits.

"Every elected official wants to leave a legacy," Chang said. "I believe this is the right thing to do for our community."