CC 04-07-20 #10 Emergency Assistance Funds_Written Communications1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Connie Cunningham <cunninghamconniel@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, April 7, 2020 12:13 PM
To:City Council
Subject:Agenda Item 10, Emergency Assistance Funds, April 7, 2020
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 Mayor, Vice‐Mayor, Councilmembers and City Manager,
I support Agenda Item 10, Emergency Assistance Funds for Tenants at Risk of Eviction due to Impacts of the Novel
Coronavirus (COVID‐19), and urge you to approve this action to contribute $50,000.
COVID‐19 is surreal. You cannot see it, feel it, smell it or hear it. But it is there. It is a “silent hurricane.”* It is a human
tragedy. We all are hoping this will be at most a one, two, or three month pandemic.
People must stay at home as much as possible, so cannot work. Therefore, rental assistance is needed urgently for April
1, May 1, and June 1. Hopefully, it won’t be needed for July 1, August 1 or longer.
New money is urgently needed. I applaud the good work that the City Manager and the City Staff have done to create a
robust working relationship with other West Valley cities and local businesses. It is heartening to see Apple commit to
donate $100,000 to our local non‐profit, West Valley Community Services (WVCS). New federal CDBG funds of $229,017
will be a critical infusion of new money in July; as the report stated, maybe we can use it earlier.
A word of caution about loan programs: Loans are for those who can re‐pay; grants are for those who cannot. A loan
program may meet the needs of many people who have lost well‐paid jobs and expect to recover after their well‐paid
jobs return. There are others who have lost low‐paid jobs and will not have enough funds after their low‐paid jobs
return, to repay loans. For those people, a loan would be a shackle to poverty.
It is in the best interest, both health and economic, of all Cupertino residents to help each other, especially, those in
distress. The costs will be much greater to help people when they become homeless than it is to help them
now. Statistics have shown that keeping people in their homes during a crisis ensures they will be able to stay in their
homes after the crisis is over.
The March 16, 2020, Santa Clara County, and the following California state‐wide, stay‐at‐home orders have led to a
sudden loss of jobs for over a million people in our state. Our homeless population has risen in the past 2 years BEFORE
the pandemic. Loss of work was the primary reason for that growth in homelessness.
By approving this action tonight to contribute $50,000, Cupertino will join forces with other West Valley cities, the
County, non‐profits, businesses, the state, the federal government, and private citizens, that are providing new money
to combat this silent hurricane.
Sincerely,
Connie Cunningham
Housing Commission (self only)
*"silent hurricane" is a description that I have borrowed from a leader in Spain.
CC 4/7/2020
Item #10
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Joseph Fruen <jrfruen@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, April 7, 2020 3:29 PM
To:City Clerk; Kirsten Squarcia; Deborah L. Feng; city.manager@cupertino.org; City Council; Steven
Scharf; Darcy Paul; Rod Sinks; Jon Robert Willey; Liang Chao
Subject:For public comment re: 4/7/2020 City Council Agenda Item 10
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.
Mayor Scharf and Councilmembers:
This letter is to support funding to West Valley Community Services (WVCS) for emergency rental assistance relief as
described in Agenda Item 10. The longer the COVID‐19 crisis endures, the greater the likelihood that those not
accounted for in state and federal relief legislation will be forced to engage in risky economic activity in order to avoid
eventual eviction or obtain other basic necessities such as food and medicine.
This item has come to you before and I thank you for having considered it early on. The situation has since worsened
and other jurisdictions are taking pronounced and decisive action. Half a month ago, the City of Mountain View
reallocated $500,000 for emergency renter relief and has examined a similar sum of money for commercial tenants and
other services. What council considers tonight is only 1/10 what Mountain View managed upon the same day as the
declaration of a local crisis. Even Apple Inc.'s $100,000 donation to WVCS is twice the amount proposed tonight.
Cupertino should not be so soundly outdone by both the private sector and nearby similar cities.
Nobody is asking the city to pay everyone's rent for the foreseeable future. However, at this late hour, you can still do
substantial good for those most at risk‐‐members of our community who have few, if any, options. What you do tonight
reflects our fundamental values and our understanding of what government is for.
I ask that you both approve tonight's funding package and continue, with all due haste, to look for funding sources in
both your ongoing review of the city budget and monies that become available through state and federal programs.
You have a chance to do real and measurable good tonight. Please be safe, be well, and do good.
J.R. Fruen
Cupertino resident