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CC 06-06-2023 Item No. 4 Consider Agreement between City of Cupertino and Chamber of Commerce_Written CommunicationsCC 06-06-2023 Item #4 Consider executing an Agreement between City of Cupertino and Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Written Communications From:Richard Lowenthal To:City Council; Kirsten Squarcia Cc:Chamber; Anjali Kausar; louise saadati Subject:Item 4 on June 6 agenda Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 9:21:41 PM Attachments:Chamber.docx Untitled attachment 00020.htm Hi there - Since it is not possible for me to be there in person, please read this letter at the June 6 Cupertino Council Meeting. Thank you, Richard Lowenthal =================================== Monday, June 5, 2023 Dear Honorable Mayor Wei and the Cupertino City Council, I’m writing today to urge you to enter into a contract with the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce as outlined in item 4 of your agenda for June 6, 2023. The Chamber provides valuable services to our residents and therefore are a valuable partner to our City. Time and time again residents have expressed how important it is to have strong local businesses and they’re right. The Chamber is the voice of Cupertino’s businesses and strong long-term businesses are good for our residents and good for our City revenue. These days we talk a lot about the challenges of our City budget, especially given proposed changes in sales tax revenue allocation. Our Chamber is the way that we generate more sales tax and more TOT. Besides the City itself, the Chamber is the only organization devoted to the success of our businesses and hotels and thereby is key to maintaining and increasing our revenues. The Chamber also provides community building through its support of community events and festivals including music festivals, business networking, the Wine Stroll, the Diwali Festival, the Education Fair, and others. The City of Cupertino and the Chamber of Commerce have been partners for 68 years and it has been a valuable partnership for our resident. Let’s continue this valuable collaboration. Yours truly, Richard Lowenthal Former Cupertino mayor and former high tech CEO From:Helene Davis To:City Council Subject:June 6. Item #4. Proposed agreement between the Chamber and the City. Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 12:55:53 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council Members, I am emailing in support of an official agreement between the Chamber and the City. The Chamber plays a vital role in our community. It is not just a special interest group. The Chamber and the City were born the same year (1955) and have always been partners in promoting and supporting our business and nonprofit communities. Thank you for your consideration. Helene Davis Community Member From:Donna Austin To:Kirsten Squarcia; Pamela Wu; Hung Wei; Sheila Mohan; Kitty Moore; Liang Chao; jrfruen@gmail.com Subject:Item 4. Subject: Consider executing an Agreement between the City of Cupertino (City) and the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 5:21:54 PM Attachments:Letter to city council June 6.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. To: Mayor Hung Wei, Vice-Mayor Sheila, Liang Chao, Kitty Moore, Jr Fruen and City Manager Pamela Wu Item 4. Subject: Consider executing an Agreement between the City of Cupertino (City) and the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) The Chamber of Commerce represents a collaboration of local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community volunteers that are all directly participating in the health of our community. Historically the Chamber from its early beginning (1954) worked with the business community to incorporate the City of Cupertino and then to encourage business success to grow the City's sources of tax revenue As a resident of almost 50 years and as a member of the board for the Cupertino Chamber, I urge you to approve Item #4 on the agenda: To authorize the City Manager to execute an Agreement between theCity of Cupertino and the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce for up tofive years, at an annual amount not-to-exceed $52,000. This agreement is to clearly lay out performance commitments from both organizations (city/chamber) to ensure there are clear understandings in place. This agreement will make transparent a successful Chamber of Commerce partnership to create a healthy economy generating taxes that pay for city services. I urge the city council to approve this agreement which will be a win/win for The City of Cupertino and the Cupertino Chamber. The Chamber's mission aligns with the City’s goal to create an environment in which businesses can prosper. Thank you, Donna Austin 22283 N. De Anza Circle Cupertino CA 95014 primadona1@comcast.net 408-499-9031 Sent from Mail for Windows From:Jean Bedord To:City Council; Cupertino City Manager"s Office; City Clerk Subject:Agenda Item #4 Agreement with Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 5:07:59 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Honorable Mayor Wei, Voice Mayor Mohan, and Councilmemberbers Fruen, Chao and Moore I heartily support approval of this agenda item to move the business climate in Cupertino forward. Cupertino is known for NOT being "business-friendly" . It has been described in the media as a "lost cause". I've heard a steady stream of complaints about ponderous processing of permits which have delayed business openings and created additional costs to launching new businesses. Recently in an article entitled The Best and Worst Small Cities to Launch a Business, Cupertino was ranked very last of 1,334 small cities. The city has the responsibility of regulating businesses within its jurisdiction, but why should Sunnyvale take only 6 weeks to process permits to open Bishops Hair Cuts, but Cupertino took 6 MONTHS to process the application for the same business at Main Street? City delays are a significant cost to launching a new business since the lease has to be paid along with other expenses, but there is no revenue coming in. There has been confusion on the dais regarding business licenses (separate from permits), which while theoretically required to do business in Cupertino, are in fact randomly paid. A business license is a TAX, most commonly used to track sales tax. The city database for business licenses has 2,524 entries. Upon examination, a number of anomalies are evident: * 81 entries for Apple Inc for different locations, but there is only one Apple Inc. corporate entity which is represented on the Chamber board. * 1,174 contractors - 47% of the entries, but only 3 contractors have Cupertino as their business office. * 230 are home occupations, which are generally solo businesses with no employees or employees located elsewhere or outsourced to services * 1,024 general business - 41% of entries, but 57 are food service and restaurants, and coffee and boba shops.can't be easily identified * 11 private schools and Golden State College based in Visalia are included, but the proliferation of academies, tutoring services, and other educational/training entities can't be determined. The second largest employer in Cupertino is the education sector - CUSD, FUHSD and FHDA. They don't have business licenses but are members of the Chamber of Commerce. * Financial services are randomly included. A search on "bank" shows 5 entries, but not Bank of America (2 locations). There are also mortgage companies, credit unions, insurance offices, and title companies which may or may not have business licenses. * Businesses which list Cupertino as their business office, but don't have business licenses in the active database include (1) Constellation Research, headed by R. Wang, formerly Planning Commission and (2) Bill Fry Construction. In short, the city needs to focus on streamlining their regulatory processes and improving its reputation, relying on the Chamber of Commerce, a well established positive brand, to work with the real business community which has employees and revenue. The city and the Chamber of Commerce have worked together for decades without a formal agreement. Going forward, this agreement clearly identifies the roles and scope of work, for a reasonable annual amount of $52,000 -- less than one third the cost of a full-time city employee who can't provide the same visibility. I urge the council to unanimously approve this Agreement, and let the city and the Chamber do their jobs to further the economic development of our community. Regards, Jean Bedord Cupertino resident From:Catherine Chen To:City Council Cc:catherine chen Subject:RE: Recommendation of City Council Staff Report, Item #4 Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 4:52:24 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Respectful Councilmen, Because the conflict of meetings, I chose to send in this email to support item 4 on June 6th the City Council Staff report. This is Catherine Chen, small business owner (Catherine Chen Insurance Agency which represents State Farm Insurance) in Cupertino. My office has been in Cupertino since 2001, that’s 22 years ago. I’ve been with Cupertino Chamber of Commerce since day 1. I’m also a member of AABC – Asian American Business Council which hosted the annual Lunar New Year Luncheon and Mandarin seminar several times, such as How to Set up your own Business in Cupertino. Over the past 22 years, I’ve been benefit from the close relationship with Chamber. Either it’s a Grand Opening, New Year luncheons or Business Social events. I’ve been contacted by Cupertino Chamber of Commerce several times over the years to help the newcomers who wanted to move into a Cupertino location. But need to speak with someone who can speak Mandarin language. And the chamber knew that I can speak the language, that’s why they contacted me to assist them to help the prospect members to move into the city of Cupertino. So I strongly support the Proposed Agreement between the City and the Chamber of Commerce. This agreement will be a win/win situation for both parties for years to come. Best regards. Catherine Chen, agent License Number: 0E83624 Catherine Chen’s Office, ChFC State Farm Providing Insurance and Financial Services Like a Good Neighbor. State Farm is there. If this communication is securities related, see the additional disclosures. 20132 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014 Tel: 408-863-0000 | Fax: 408-863-1230 Catherine.chen.jxfy@statefarm.com From:Keith Warner To:City Council Subject:June 6th Council Meeting - Item #4 Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 12:49:50 PM Attachments:image001.png image002.png image003.png image004.png CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Cupertino City Council Members, I understand you will be discussing and voting June 6th on a matter pertaining to the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. I am writing as a local business owner to urge you to vote “yes” to approve the contract between the Chamber and the City. I understand City finances are about to get tight, but the Chamber contract represents an opportunity to SAVE money by transferring services and processes to the Chamber that have recently been done by the City (and much of which are already being done by the Chamber). As the owner of Pacific Workplaces, a flexible workspace facility for hundreds of small businesses, I’ve seen first-hand the importance of a strong Chamber. It is vital to the business community and results in a stronger more vibrant business community, and strengthening businesses in an investment in the future to diversify and grow the city’s source of tax revenue. Most cities work closely with their Chambers of Commerce to encourage, develop, and maintain the health of the local economy. It is essential that Cupertino does the same! The Chamber staff works hard to help all types of organizations including nonprofits, charities, educators, and students. Please support them, help the city save money, and ensure the local business community thrives for many years to come by voting “yes” on the Chamber contact on Tuesday night, June 6, 2023. Thank you! Regards, Keith Keith Warner Managing Partner 408-973-7800 PacificWorkplaces.com Keith@PacificWorkplaces.com | From:Vieira, Myshelle To:City Council Subject:June 6. Item #4. Proposed agreement between the city and the chamber Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 1:26:15 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council Members, Being a member of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce has brought great visibility and credibility to our businesses. Many have mentioned that they have not only chosen our properties due to our affiliation with the chamber, but have also selected where to shop, eat, and play in Cupertino from the Chamber of Commerce’s website. When visiting a new area, I have always relied on the local Chamber of Commerce to select trusted businesses- and it was no different when I became a member of the Cupertino business community. The chamber serves as a welcome wagon to those coming from all over the world to our beautiful city. It is an invaluable resource for both businesses and community members – building lasting relationships between the two. When the opportunity to join as a board member arose, I did not hesitate to seek nomination to join such a great organization. It has not disappointed and has lived up to all expectations. The board is comprised of many folks from all walks of life and industry - with a common goal of strengthening the local businesses through support and local resources. It is my belief that with the bench strength of existing members and active partnerships that the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce boasts, the partnership with The City of Cupertino will prove to be the best vehicle to drive economic growth, strength, and sustainability for years to come. Thank you for your consideration. Myshelle Vieira | Senior Neighborhood Director | PROMETHEUS REAL ESTATE GROUP, INC. | Est. 1965 | Certified B Corporation™ CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This message, including attachments, is confidential and/or privileged and is intended only for the recipient(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, copy, disclose, or distribute the message or the information contained in it. If you have received the message in error, please notify the sender and immediately delete the message. From:alysa sakkas To:City Council Subject:Support for the Chamber of Commerce Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 10:35:10 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear City of Cupertino Councilmembers, This email is on my personal behalf only. I am writing regarding tonight's agenda (Item 4) for the City to establish an agreement with the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. I am very much in support of such an agreement and partnership. In my community volunteering, I have found the Chamber of Commerce very helpful as an active community participant, partner, and community asset. My understanding is that most cities contract with their local Chambers of Commerce because cities are the organizations that most directly benefit from the efforts of Chambers of Commerce. I hope the City of Cupertino will do the same. Two organizations I belong to are members of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce - Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc. and Cupertino Rotary. An agreement with the city will help to endorse the Chamber of Commerce as a worthwhile organization for all Cupertino businesses to join and the entire community will benefit. A successful Chamber of Commerce creates a healthy economy that generates taxes, which pays for city services. I urge you to approve this agreement between the City of Cupertino and the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. Alysa Sakkas 7400 Tiptoe Lane, Cupertino From:Rhoda Fry To:City Clerk; City Council Subject:Cupertino City Council June 6, 2023 Agenda Item #4 Chamber of Commerce Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 2:19:07 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Cupertino City Council June 6, 2023 Agenda Item #4 Chamber of Commerce SUMMARY FOR MINUTES – Rhoda Fry was not in favor of giving the Chamber of Commerce money because of conflicts of interest between the City and the Chamber Dear City Council, I am surprised to see that the City is considering this item, given that it is not on the work program. And we just decided which organizations should be receiving funds and festival waivers. So this is coming out of the blue. I have written several times before regarding the City’s relationship with the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber does good things for its members and the local business community. While there is overlap and potential synergy between the City and the Chamber, there are significant differences between their objectives. For example, the Chamber serves its members not the residents of Cupertino. The garbage and water companies are Chamber members. The Chamber will advocate for a contract that best supports its members, not the City’s residents. Additionally, Lehigh had been a Chamber member and the Chamber had regularly championed one of California’s biggest polluters to our elected officials. The Chamber also contributed to the election campaigns of two councilmembers who now sit on our City Council – this also creates a conflict of interest. Finally, there are already a number of ways that the Chamber derives income opportunities from the City – especially from at least two festivals that it runs – so it is challenging to track exactly how much money the City is directing toward the Chamber. For those of you who are new to the Council, below please find my comments on 6/21/22, many of which hold today regarding the City’s having wasted $65K on a shell of a website, full of errors, that directed people looking for Cupertino businesses to businesses outside of Cupertino. Even the Chamber of Commerce’s own website is unremarkable. Its most recent news if from over a year ago. Its list of members is not representative of our community. For example, there are only a couple of coffee members and just nine restaurants. Even when considering Cupertino’s largest businesses, as measured by sales-tax revenue in Cupertino’s AFCR (our annual financial report), only a tiny fraction are members. I would really like to see our Chamber become more vibrant and self-sustaining. Maybe we help the Chamber along and then slowly remove the supports. You are proposing to spend $50K of our tax dollars, which is the equivalent to Chamber membership fees of 126 businesses with up to 10 employees or 10 businesses with over 300 employees. Here’s another way of looking at it – in order for the City to make $50K in sales tax revenue, we need to bring in $5M more in taxable sales. Will we get our return on investment? It is a lot of money. Is the Chamber capable of completing the scope of work? That said, it is likely that you will vote for this. And if you do, I hope you put some measures in place to increase the chances of its stated mission. 1. The contract should be for 1 year only 2. Stipulate that the contract can be terminated at any time without cause 3. Every 6 months, submit a performance report to City Council Thank You, Rhoda Fry - - - - From: Rhoda Fry RE: Cupertino City Council 6/21/2022 Agenda: #19 City of Cupertino Payments to Chamber of Commerce Dear City Council: Although the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce does many good things, I do not believe that our tax dollars should be subsidizing it in a big way. The Cupertino Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that promotes approximately 170 members, most of which are businesses. Chamber members receive a number of promotional benefits such as exclusive referrals; advocacy and access to local; county, state, and federal officials; use of meeting facilities; inclusion in the Cupertino Community Guide; listing on the Chamber’s website; networking and resource access; and member discounts. So if someone calls the Chamber looking for a jeweler, they won’t be referred to Cupertino’s Shane Company nor Golden Gems, because neither is a Chamber member. They might be referred to Chamber members outside of Cupertino such as Divine N Dazzling in Milpitas or P J Jewelry in San Jose or Sarini's Creations in Saratoga. Likewise, the only airline referral would be United Airlines, again, outside of Cupertino. The Chamber of Commerce is a special type of organization that does not pay taxes, it is called a 501c6. 501c6 organizations are formed to serve their members. By comparison, 501c3 organizations must serve the public. Both are non-profit organizations and neither pays taxes. The Chamber of Commerce has endorsed candidates for City Council and has had a Chamber Political Action Committee (PAC). As compared with a 501c3, under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501c3 organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The Chamber runs several events such as Cupertino Education Fair, Cupertino Food & Wine Stroll, Holi Cupertino festival of colors, Night Market Cupertino, and Bay Area Diwali Festival of Lights. These events benefit the community, raise funds for the Chamber and are subsidized by the City of Cupertino. The City of Cupertino’s objectives are not always aligned with those of the Chamber. To what extent should our tax dollars subsidize the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce for Meeting Space, “I Love Cupertino” website, and Festivals? From January 2015 to March 2022, the City has paid the Chamber over $218K. Meeting Space: The Chamber has not paid for meeting space. Other organizations are required to pay for meeting space. The Chamber should pay for meeting space. The remaining question is whether the Chamber should pay the non-profit rate or the Cupertino business rate. The City Council should determine whether it should treat 501c3 organizations (conventional non-profits) differently from 501c6 organizations (membership and potentially lobbying organization “non-profits,” such as the Chamber of Commerce). “I Love Cupertino” website: Our Cupertino tax dollars have paid $65K for the https://ilovecupertino.com/ website over a two year period. This website is a shell of a website that promotes Chamber member businesses. If I were to hire a high-school intern to build a website promoting Cupertino, I would not give them a positive referral. Incidentally, the I Love Cupertino trademark was obtained by Cupertino City Council candidate J. R. Fruen. The creation and funding of this website was never approved by our City Council. More importantly, the promised content of, “an exceptional visitor experience . . . service content creation and updates . . . program promotions . . . content creation and scheduling – proximity to innovation, destination for dreamers and innovators, open space, family, award-winning public-school systems” etc… was not fulfilled. Cupertino taxpayers need to get their money back. Website deficiencies include:The Community Calendar is predominantly a copy of the Chamber website calendar,neither of which lists the Cherry Blossom Festival. This well-attended festival is not aChamber event. Same for the Rotary Club’s Fall Festival. (It appears that a few concertshave been added recently.) https://ilovecupertino.com/community-calendar/#cid=233&wid=3001 The website cautions, “This web site, including the Calendar, is updated by many organizations and volunteers as a community service. While we hope this Calendar and associated Widgets are useful, comprehensive, up to date, and accurate, we do not accept any liabilities that may occur through errors in postings, omissions and inclusions. Meetings listed here are provided as a courtesy and information was deemed accurate and appropriate at the time of posting. Meeting times and dates are subject to change, so it is advised that interested individuals also contact any contributing organization directly to confirm postings of interest.” Given the fees paid for thiswebsite by Cupertino taxpayers, it is troubling that the calendar was not professionallyvetted. Although the contract for this website began in FY 2017-18, no events are listedprior to November 2021.The business directory https://ilovecupertino.com/businesses/#/cid/233/id/3201 appearsimport the Chamber directory. The restaurant directory appears to be broader, but highlightsChamber members.While interacting with the website, an annoying popup encourages the purchase of a#shopCupertino gift card, that is redeemable at only 11 businesses https://app.yiftee.com/gift-card/cupertino Want to Shop Cupertino? All you get is an offer to purchase the very limitedgift card: https://ilovecupertino.com/shop-cupertino/The website lists only 4 parks within our City https://ilovecupertino.com/parks/, Memorial,Monta Vista, Blackberry Farm, and Calli Mill Plaza. When navigating to the Cupertino CityPark Finder Link, http://gis.cupertino.org/parkfinder/, we find an Internal Server Error page.When taking a look at Dining opportunities, https://ilovecupertino.com/places-to-eat/#/cid/233/id/3501, we are taken to a page with the misspelt, DINNING. Looking forcoffee? Sorry, you won’t find Philz, they’re not a member of the Chamber of Commerce.Looking for Points of Interest? You can go to the Euphray Museum of Art (rather thanEuphrat). https://ilovecupertino.com/points-of-interest/ Local wineries? This link will takeyou to Bay Area wineries that belong to a Santa Cruz Mountains winery organization, a fewof which are in Cupertino. Our landmark library is absent. Festivals: As mentioned earlier, the Chamber of Commerce uses the festivals as a fundraiser. While it might make sense for the City to waive some fees as these festivals benefit the community, I do not believe that they should be subsidized. City Council should examine subsidies of all organizations. Final Comments 1. We the taxpayers need to get our $65K back for the ilovecupertino website. This website clearly did not meet the mutually-agreed-upon contract. 2. The City needs to charge the Chamber for meeting room space either at the Cupertino business rate or at the non-profit rate and act equitably across all organizations. Furthermore, the content of the Legislative Action Committee (LAC) meetings held for free in our City facilities are not necessarily in alignment with Cupertino’s voting majority. 3. The City should look at its subsidies across multiple organizations. 4. The City is subsidizing the political campaigns of prospective Cupertino councilmembers. This is not okay. Note that not all Chamber of Commerces endorse political candidates or have PACS. 5. The City is also subsidizing businesses that do not serve the best interests of Cupertino residents: for example Chamber staff frequently testified at City and County meetings in support of the Lehigh cement plant and quarry, which has been one of California’s biggest polluters and, as confirmed by a County study, an egregious violator of multiple regulatory agencies. And through the Chamber’s ilovecupertino website, the City is subsidizing advertising for a select few Chamber of Commerce businesses rather than all businesses within our City. This is not okay. 6. More and more Cities across our nation have terminated subsidizing local Chambers of Commerce because the Chambers only benefit a handful of member businesses and it is inappropriate for the City Council to fund prospective councilmember political campaigns. 7. The City’s gargantuan subsidy of the Chamber of Commerce is cringe-worthy and must be evaluated. From:Liang Chao To:City Clerk Cc:Kitty Moore Subject:Fwd: Please pull Agenda Item 4 Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:35:37 PM Please enter this info the written communication for the 6/6 council meeting. Thanks! Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:31 PM To: City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Cc: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Subject: Please pull Agenda Item 4 Please pull agenda item 4. Thanks! This item did not follow the May 9, 2023 recommendations approved by the Council: Per the Council approved recommendation from May 9, 2023: "4. The City Council should continue to use the City Work Program as a way to implement Council's goals, and the City should rely on the Work Program to focus resources and determine staffing needs." This item of an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce is not in the current FY-2022-23 Work Program and it is not in the proposed FY 2023-24 Work Program. And as far as I know, there has been no direction from the Council to spend precious staff hours to pursue this item. Although the City Manager has mentioned that the city is pursuing an agreement with Chamber in our 1:1 meetings, there has been nothing shared regarding the content of the agreement. Thus, there has been no opportunities for me or any member of the public to provide inputs on this brand new never-before-done use of city fund. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 10:22 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Q17: The staff report states " In addition, the Chamber will host technical assistance seminars, coordinate ribbon cuttings and grand openings, and support City programs and initiatives such as the Cupertino Business Outreach Program visits and surveys " Such webinars and ribbon cutting and grand openings seem to be what Chamber provides as member services. The full-time Economic Development Manager has been providing such services to all Cupertino businesses. The outreach on programs and surveys are the duties of the Economic Development manager. I think the now "full-time" Economic Development Manager would be able to perform such responsibilities, as stated, since the City has more outreach to businesses through business license registration. Please help me understand why the City needs to pay Chamber, by the hour, for the responsibilities already performed by the Economic Development Manager? Q18: Potential conflict of interest in advocacy. The Chamber is supported by its paid members and donations. The Chamber advocate for the interests of its members and especially for its Board. The interest of Chamber may or may not align with all of the Cupertino businesses. If the Chamber is paid by the City to promote city programs and surveys. there is potential conflict of interest since the survey results might be perceived as biased. How could we navigate this potential conflict of interest or perception of conflict of interest? Q19: Potential conflict of interest in membership development. When a service is provided by the city it is generally understood that such service is available to all businesses, regardless of their membership in the Chamber. When a service is provided by the Chamber, most businesses, especially small business owners, will naturally assume such services would be only for Chamber members. If Chamber is not a membership-based organization, it might be different. But it is. If the Chamber is paid by the City to perform services the City already provides anyway, it might give businesses the perception that they are not eligible for such services since they are not Chamber member. Thus, this might negatively impact the services Cupertino is providing to alll businesses. Please help me understand how this confusion of roles would not negatively affect the services the City is already providing. Thank you for your patience as I am trying to wrap my head around this new concept to make sense out of it. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 10:01 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Since this item is new and has never been discussed before... I naturally would have more questions. As I have suggested quite a few times, a better process for such an agreement is to first have a study session to receive Council and public input before proceeding with agreement without any Council direction. Since the normal process is not followed, it natually creates confusion and frustration in the Council and the public. Q13: The staff report stated "Events & Meetings – The Chamber will provide opportunities for City representatives to attend networking events and meetings, host professional women’s luncheons, and organize broker breakfasts." But this is already a benefit the City gets as a paying member of the Chamber. Are we getting anything different with this agreement? Q14: The staff report states "The Chamber will develop and maintain a Cupertino Dashboard, market and promote City-organized business events, ..." The Cupertino Store web page, created by the Chamber, costing the City $47,000 (sorry, I don't remember the exact figure), has received negative reviews from the citizens in the quality of work performed. If any Dashboard is to be created, Cupertino's IT department has more expertise to create such a dashboard. Please provide the rationale that the City should outsource this to Chamber, who does not have expertise in this area? Q15: The staff report states "Marketing and Promotion – The Chamber will develop and maintain a Cupertino Dashboard, market and promote City-organized business events, support Small Business Saturday and other marketing campaigns, and conduct outreach and education regarding policy changes to all businesses." The City already increased the part-time Economic Development manager to a full-time position to perform the exact function as mentioned above. The City issues business licenses and permits. Thus, the City has more information on Cupertino businesses to perform outreach, while the Chamber only has information on a subset of businesses. Please help me understand why the City has to pay Chamber to perform the task our own Economic Development Department is already doing and is better equipped at doing? Q16: The staff report states "Technical Assistance – The Chamber will provide information to existing and prospective businesses on how to open, operate, and grow their business." Such information is already provided by the Federally funded Small Business Development Center. Please provide information on the "expertise" of the Chamber in this area and track record of providing such services. Please provide the rationale for the Cupertino to pay the Chamber to perform such service, available to businesses from other agencies for free. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 9:29 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Q11: Please include the page from FY2022-3 Budget, which has a breakdown of the cost for each program. (Thomas showed a similar page for Teen program and Senior program from the PDF of the budget book. But the PDF of the amended budget is not in the agenda packet?) Q12: What's the funding for Economic Development Department in the past 10 years? Or at least for the past 5 years so we put things in perspective as we make decisions. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 9:16 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Please pull this item from Consent. Q1: How come such item, which is a part of the FY2022-23 Budget,was not mentioned at all in any of the previous city council meeting on FY2022-23 buget? Q2: What's the justification to put this on last minute, the day when the final budget is to be approved, and especially when the city is cutting other services to a bone? Q3: What other cities are paying Chamber of Commerce, by the hour, to perform the services listed in the agreement? From the information provided by the staff, in the past (please include that comparison table in the response), no other city seems to be paying for outreaching to businesses, which is a core mission every Chamber of Commerce does by itself, funded by its paying members. Q4: What outreach has been done for this brand new budget item? Which Councilmembers have provided input or have been consulted on? Which community members or business members have been consulted on? Q5: Most consultant contracts come with the resumes of personnels who will be providing the services and the rate to demonstrate they have the expertise to perform the task. Please provide the personnel and their resumes. Q6: Please provide the rationale why such services as outlined in the agreement should not be funded by the Chamber by its paying membership and its fundraising activities, already heavily subsidized by the city through fee waivers. Q7: An earlier staff report has listed all of the subsidizes the city has been providing the Chamber and is continuing to provide the Chamber of Commerce, including festival fee waivers, room rentals and other servics. Please include such information so the Council has full scope of the subsidizes when making decisions. Q8: The Federal government already provided funding for the Small Business Center, which utilizes volunteers to help small businesses. It seems the city will be funding a service normally provided by volunteers. Please clarify the difference. Q9: The Economic Development Manager, paid by the taxpayers, is already utilizing her time to help the Chamber of Commerce to collaborate with the Chamber in helping its members, in ribbon cutting, business permits and other services. Please provide the hours utilized by the Economic Development Manager to communicate with Chamber, including preparing and attending the Legislative Action Committee meeting. Please include the approximate hours other city staff spent attending the Legislative Action Committee meetings in the past. Q10: If the Chamber will charge the city, by the hour, for the services they are providing their current or prospective members, the City should charge the Chamber for every hour the City currently provide services to the Chamber members and prospective members, just to be fair. Please provide an estimate for an equal partnership where both parties are charging the other party for every hour of services. Thank you for providing information to help me understand the background and rationale of such an agreement. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From:Liang Chao To:City Clerk Cc:Kitty Moore Subject:Fwd: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:35:05 PM Please enter this info the written communication for the 6/6 council meeting. Thanks! Get Outlook for iOS Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 10:22 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Q17: The staff report states " In addition, the Chamber will host technical assistance seminars, coordinate ribbon cuttings and grand openings, and support City programs and initiatives such as the Cupertino Business Outreach Program visits and surveys " Such webinars and ribbon cutting and grand openings seem to be what Chamber provides as member services. The full-time Economic Development Manager has been providing such services to all Cupertino businesses. The outreach on programs and surveys are the duties of the Economic Development manager. I think the now "full-time" Economic Development Manager would be able to perform such responsibilities, as stated, since the City has more outreach to businesses through business license registration. Please help me understand why the City needs to pay Chamber, by the hour, for the responsibilities already performed by the Economic Development Manager? Q18: Potential conflict of interest in advocacy. The Chamber is supported by its paid members and donations. The Chamber advocate for the interests of its members and especially for its Board. The interest of Chamber may or may not align with all of the Cupertino businesses. If the Chamber is paid by the City to promote city programs and surveys. there is potential conflict of interest since the survey results might be perceived as biased. How could we navigate this potential conflict of interest or perception of conflict of interest? Q19: Potential conflict of interest in membership development. When a service is provided by the city it is generally understood that such service is available to all businesses, regardless of their membership in the Chamber. When a service is provided by the Chamber, most businesses, especially small business owners, will naturally assume such services would be only for Chamber members. If Chamber is not a membership-based organization, it might be different. But it is. If the Chamber is paid by the City to perform services the City already provides anyway, it might give businesses the perception that they are not eligible for such services since they are not Chamber member. Thus, this might negatively impact the services Cupertino is providing to alll businesses. Please help me understand how this confusion of roles would not negatively affect the services the City is already providing. Thank you for your patience as I am trying to wrap my head around this new concept to make sense out of it. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 10:01 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Since this item is new and has never been discussed before... I naturally would have more questions. As I have suggested quite a few times, a better process for such an agreement is to first have a study session to receive Council and public input before proceeding with agreement without any Council direction. Since the normal process is not followed, it natually creates confusion and frustration in the Council and the public. Q13: The staff report stated "Events & Meetings – The Chamber will provide opportunities for City representatives to attend networking events and meetings, host professional women’s luncheons, and organize broker breakfasts." But this is already a benefit the City gets as a paying member of the Chamber. Are we getting anything different with this agreement? Q14: The staff report states "The Chamber will develop and maintain a Cupertino Dashboard, market and promote City-organized business events, ..." The Cupertino Store web page, created by the Chamber, costing the City $47,000 (sorry, I don't remember the exact figure), has received negative reviews from the citizens in the quality of work performed. If any Dashboard is to be created, Cupertino's IT department has more expertise to create such a dashboard. Please provide the rationale that the City should outsource this to Chamber, who does not have expertise in this area? Q15: The staff report states "Marketing and Promotion – The Chamber will develop and maintain a Cupertino Dashboard, market and promote City-organized business events, support Small Business Saturday and other marketing campaigns, and conduct outreach and education regarding policy changes to all businesses." The City already increased the part-time Economic Development manager to a full-time position to perform the exact function as mentioned above. The City issues business licenses and permits. Thus, the City has more information on Cupertino businesses to perform outreach, while the Chamber only has information on a subset of businesses. Please help me understand why the City has to pay Chamber to perform the task our own Economic Development Department is already doing and is better equipped at doing? Q16: The staff report states "Technical Assistance – The Chamber will provide information to existing and prospective businesses on how to open, operate, and grow their business." Such information is already provided by the Federally funded Small Business Development Center. Please provide information on the "expertise" of the Chamber in this area and track record of providing such services. Please provide the rationale for the Cupertino to pay the Chamber to perform such service, available to businesses from other agencies for free. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao <LiangChao@cupertino.org> Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 9:29 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Re: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Q11: Please include the page from FY2022-3 Budget, which has a breakdown of the cost for each program. (Thomas showed a similar page for Teen program and Senior program from the PDF of the budget book. But the PDF of the amended budget is not in the agenda packet?) Q12: What's the funding for Economic Development Department in the past 10 years? Or at least for the past 5 years so we put things in perspective as we make decisions. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From: Liang Chao Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 9:16 AM To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.org> Cc: Tina Kapoor <TinaK@cupertino.org>; Matt Morley <MattM@cupertino.org>; City Clerk <CityClerk@cupertino.org> Subject: Questions for Agenda Item 4 Please pull this item from Consent. Q1: How come such item, which is a part of the FY2022-23 Budget,was not mentioned at all in any of the previous city council meeting on FY2022-23 buget? Q2: What's the justification to put this on last minute, the day when the final budget is to be approved, and especially when the city is cutting other services to a bone? Q3: What other cities are paying Chamber of Commerce, by the hour, to perform the services listed in the agreement? From the information provided by the staff, in the past (please include that comparison table in the response), no other city seems to be paying for outreaching to businesses, which is a core mission every Chamber of Commerce does by itself, funded by its paying members. Q4: What outreach has been done for this brand new budget item? Which Councilmembers have provided input or have been consulted on? Which community members or business members have been consulted on? Q5: Most consultant contracts come with the resumes of personnels who will be providing the services and the rate to demonstrate they have the expertise to perform the task. Please provide the personnel and their resumes. Q6: Please provide the rationale why such services as outlined in the agreement should not be funded by the Chamber by its paying membership and its fundraising activities, already heavily subsidized by the city through fee waivers. Q7: An earlier staff report has listed all of the subsidizes the city has been providing the Chamber and is continuing to provide the Chamber of Commerce, including festival fee waivers, room rentals and other servics. Please include such information so the Council has full scope of the subsidizes when making decisions. Q8: The Federal government already provided funding for the Small Business Center, which utilizes volunteers to help small businesses. It seems the city will be funding a service normally provided by volunteers. Please clarify the difference. Q9: The Economic Development Manager, paid by the taxpayers, is already utilizing her time to help the Chamber of Commerce to collaborate with the Chamber in helping its members, in ribbon cutting, business permits and other services. Please provide the hours utilized by the Economic Development Manager to communicate with Chamber, including preparing and attending the Legislative Action Committee meeting. Please include the approximate hours other city staff spent attending the Legislative Action Committee meetings in the past. Q10: If the Chamber will charge the city, by the hour, for the services they are providing their current or prospective members, the City should charge the Chamber for every hour the City currently provide services to the Chamber members and prospective members, just to be fair. Please provide an estimate for an equal partnership where both parties are charging the other party for every hour of services. Thank you for providing information to help me understand the background and rationale of such an agreement. Liang Chao Council Member City Council LiangChao@cupertino.org 408-777-3192 From:Thalia Swangchaeng To:City Council Subject:Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Date:Tuesday, June 6, 2023 3:37:10 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Honorable Mayor and Council-members, Pineapple Thai was opened in Cupertino end of February of 2020. Little could anyone have imagined the enormous difficulties that lay ahead for our new restaurant. Working with the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce to provide meals for food insecure members of our community during the initial phases of Covid helped us keep the restaurant open and our staff employed. A year later when looking for a partner to help put on Cupertino's first Songkran festival, we worked closely with the Cupertino Chamber to make this event an enormous success even though we were still under Covid restrictions. Another Songkran festival was held the following year also with the invaluable assistance of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. We have had to stop the festival because it became too big. The Cupertino Chamber of Commerce has proven to be one of the most productive partnerships for Pineapple Thai. An organization with more extensive local connections and significant local expertise Have made them a very productive and creative partner. I strongly recommend that the Cupertino city council also partner with our chamber in order to effectively and efficiently provide direct support and opportunities for growth moving forward. The agreement is a great value for the Cupertino tax payer and for the greater Cupertino community. Best regards, Thalia Swangchaeng