Wu's rival is Councilwoman Kris Wang, who wants to raise money for the Hsinchu Sister City Committee's student-exchange program. Wang proposed letting the sister city committee take over the annual event at Memorial Park from Wu's nonprofit organization, the Moon Festival of Silicon Valley.

And the fight is heating up.

Wu and her supporters protested at the city council's April 19 meeting. One person even threatened to recall Wang. But council members and city staff didn't want to get into the dispute.

"Kris sits on the committee as an individual," said Mayor Sandy James. "This is not a city issue. This is Kris' issue."

Wu accused Wang of abusing her power as a councilwoman. Wu's group, which has used a city conference room for meetings for the past five years, was told it couldn't use the room anymore because a city policy requires the presence of city staff or council members to use city facilities. For a week, the calendar announcement for the Moon Festival on the city's website was changed to "The Autumn Moon Festival," a name proposed by Wang. Wu's name was also removed from the event's contact list.

The basis for Wang's proposal is that the Toyokawa Sister City Committee holds the Cherry Blossom Festival and uses the proceeds to sponsor a student-exchange program; she says the Hsinchu Sister City Committee should follow the same model.

Wang got involved because she is the city liaison to both the Toyokawa and Hsinchu sister city committees.

"Many Cupertino residents are concerned that the Moon Festival is not run by Cupertino people. That was why I started to investigate and understand the issue," Wang said. Wu lives in Los Altos Hills.

Wang's proposal, though welcomed by the Hsinchu Sister City Committee, has caused division in the council and an uproar from Lu and her supporters. The city has pledged to stay out of it.

City Manager David Knapp said although the city supports various events and festivals, the city doesn't decide which organization runs the events.

Several influential Chinese-American community members such as Steve Ting have tried to bring the two organizations together, but negotiations broke down. "It is going to be in the best interest of both groups if they work together," Ting said.

Wu, who insists on her organization putting on the festival alone, said compromise is impossible.

"Five years ago, I came to the city council and told them the Moon Festival would be a signature event in Cupertino. Now that it has become the most attended festival, people want to take it over," Wu said. "Sometimes compromise is not the right answer. Bad deeds must be called bad deeds. We need to stand up and speak up for truth and justice."