District Attorney Investigation Letter 05.23.23County of Santa Clara
Office of the District Attorney
John Chase, Deputy District Attorney
70 West Hedding Street, West Wing, 5th Floor
San Jose, California 95110
(408) 299-7400
Jeffrey F. Rosen
District Attorney
May 23, 2023
Christopher D. Jensen
Cupertino City Attorney’s Office
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014-3255
Dear Mr. Jensen:
We received your letter dated May 11, 2023 conveying the Cupertino City Council’s “limited scope
referral to the District Attorney’s Office with respect to . . . evidence of any current or former
councilmember’s interference in the hiring and firing decisions that are the province of the City
Manager.” We also received your letter asserting that the Cupertino City Attorney’s Office has a conflict
of interest that would prevent it from prosecuting any municipal crime related to this referral.
As you are aware, no state penal provision governs the interaction between city council members and city
managers. However, Cupertino Municipal Code section 2.17.032 states: “Individual Council members
shall not attempt to influence staff decisions, recommendations, workloads, and schedules, and
department priorities without prior knowledge and approval of the City Council.” Construing this
ordinance narrowly to preserve its constitutionality, a council member’s unilateral action, taken outside of
a lawful meeting, with intent to influence the City Manager in hiring or firing is a misdemeanor pursuant
to Cupertino Municipal Code section 1.12.010. Although the City Attorney is generally responsible for
prosecuting municipal misdemeanors (See Cupertino Muni. Code § 2.18.020), referral to our office is
appropriate due to your conflict of interest.
Because the Cupertino Municipal Code does not specify a statute of limitations for the prosecution of
municipal misdemeanors, the default one-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors in California Penal
Code section 802 applies. Consequently, any investigation of the matter referred to our office is limited to
conduct occurring within the last year. During that time Cupertino has had three City Managers.
We have completed our investigation. There is no evidence, documentary or otherwise, that any former
or current council member attempted to influence any of the City Managers in their hiring or firing
decisions during the last year.
Please feel free to contact me at 408-792-2595 or jchase@dao.sccgov.org if you have any questions or
concerns.
Very truly yours,
John Chase
Deputy District Attorney