CC 06-05-2020 Closed Session_Written CommunicationsCC 06-05-20
Special Meeting
Closed Session #1,
City Attorney
Evaluation
Written Comments
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Jean Bedord <Jean@bedord.com>
Sent:Friday, June 5, 2020 12:23 AM
To:City Council; Cupertino City Manager's Office; City Attorney's Office
Subject:Public Employee Performance Evaluation - City Attorney
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,
As a member of the public who has worked directly with attorneys of varying degrees of competence over the years, I
highly commend the professionalism of our City Attorney, Heather Minner. Her engagement with the council and clear
explanations of legal concepts are greatly appreciated by those of us without legal degrees. I urge you to give her an
evaluation of highly effective and continue her contract with the city.
There is a significant benefit to the city in having continuity with a city attorney who is knowledgeable about the city and
its history of litigation. Changing attorneys can prove an expensive exercise with no benefit to residents.
As a matter of procedure, I object to the scheduling of this performance review with only 24‐hour advance notice to the
public. Many members of this council campaigned on transparency, but this action and its short notice don't speak to
transparency. Instead, they seem calibrated to exclude public involvement.
Please include this in the public record for this evaluation.
Regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino resident over 25 years
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Caryl Gorska <gorska@gorska.com>
Sent:Friday, June 5, 2020 10:03 AM
To:Steven Scharf; Darcy Paul; Rod Sinks; Liang Chao; Jon Robert Willey
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:We don’t want a risk-averse city attorney
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.
City Clerk: Please include this communication in the public record for the Council meeting TODAY, June 5, at 4:30 pm.
Thank you.
Dear Mayor Scharf and City Council,
I understand that our contract city attorney, Heather Minner, is up for review today.
I like Heather Minner, I respect Heather Minner, I think she’s a good person.
But frankly, I’m still angry that City Council chose to contract her law firm (Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger) in the first
place. SMW was fairly vicious towards the City when litigating against us. How could they not be tainted? Especially
when one of the lawyers would worked on the case against the City continued to impose himself in our city affairs after
Heather was our designated city attorney.
Then for whatever reason, Ms. Minner from the start has been the most risk‐averse advocate I’ve ever seen. “With an
abundance of caution,” she has helped muzzle our elected officials and commissioners rather than support the agenda
they were elected and appointed to do.
We need a bold city attorney that will help Cupertino to protect local control.
And we need a bold City Council that chooses an attorney that will help, not hobble Cupertino.
Regards,
Caryl Gorska
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Caryl Gorska <gorska@gorska.com>
Sent:Friday, June 5, 2020 10:32 AM
To:City Clerk; Deborah L. Feng
Cc:Steven Scharf; Rod Sinks; Jon Robert Willey; Liang Chao; Darcy Paul
Subject:City Clerk: We don’t want a risk-averse city attorney
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.
City Clerk: If possible, please READ this communication at the closed Council meeting TODAY, June 5, at 4:30 pm.
Thank you.
Dear Mayor Scharf and City Council,
I understand that our contract city attorney, Heather Minner, is up for review today.
I like Heather Minner, I respect Heather Minner, I think she’s a good person.
But frankly, I’m still angry that City Council chose to contract her law firm (Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger) in the first
place. SMW was fairly vicious towards the City when litigating against us. How could they not be tainted? Especially
when one of the lawyers would worked on the case against the City continued to impose himself in our city affairs after
Heather was our designated city attorney.
Then for whatever reason, Ms. Minner from the start has been the most risk‐averse advocate I’ve ever seen. “With an
abundance of caution,” she has helped muzzle our elected officials and commissioners rather than support the agenda
they were elected and appointed to do.
We need a bold city attorney that will help Cupertino to protect local control.
And we need a bold City Council that chooses an attorney that will help, not hobble Cupertino.
Regards,
Caryl Gorska
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Donna Austin <primadona1@comcast.net>
Sent:Friday, June 5, 2020 2:04 PM
To:City Council; Cupertino City Manager's Office; City Attorney's Office; City Clerk
Cc:primadona1@comcast.net
Subject:Public Employee Performance Evaluation- City Attorney
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.
Subject: City attorney Evalutaion
Mayor Scharf and City Council Members,
I object to the timing or scheduling of a performance review of Heather Miner,
attorney for the City of Cupertino, with only 24 hours notice to the public.
Transparency is so important to all the citizens of Cupertino.
I highly commend the professionalism of our City Attorney, Heather Minner.
History is so important in litigation and she has that experience and
understanding to do her job. Her clear explanations of legal concepts and her
professional performance and her engagement with the council at meetings are
outstanding. I urge you to give her a high performance rating.
Please include my comments in the public record for this evaluation.
Sincerely,
Donna Austin
Cupertino Resident for over 44 years