No vision from the city council candidates

All the candidates for the November 8, 2011 Cupertino City Council have no vision.

The incumbent mayor and council member Gilbert Wong claims to be a leader with a vision, but what is his vision? He does not show anything new that we don't know. He says he wants to keep a strong Cupertino? What does a strong Cupertino mean? It's just a word that means nothing. So having Apple Campus 2 means that Cupertino is strong? Does that mean that without Wong there's no new Apple headquarters? Let's be honest. Can Cupertino afford to refuse Apple to build its new headquarters? Anyway Wong acted like a child during the presentation of Steve Jobs on June 7, 2011 to the city council. Instead of being professional, he tried to show off that he owned an iPad and that his daughter loved it so much. He wanted an Apple store in Cupertino and that he would bring people to the store. Why not watch Jobs' response and judge by yourself.

Wong wants to continue to lead Cupertino, but why doesn't he take care of the rundown properties that he and his father own in San Jose? Read the article in the Mercury News about the problems with the tenants at http://mytown.mercurynews.com/archives/cambrianresident/20081002/news4.shtml.

In 2007 I supported Wong in spite of the attacks against him. Today I recommend not to re-elect him.

Marty Miller will try for the third time, and maybe it's a charm. The last time he lost to Barry Chang who got the Chinese votes. So this time he hopes to be elected on the bandwagon of Wong with the Chinese votes. His sign is next to Wong's everywhere in the city. He runs as a pro business, but he does not explain how he's going to revitalize the business districts. As a candidate, one can say anything, but once elected everything becomes quiet. Look at all the council members today. What have they done for the business districts? Actions talk louder than words. If Wong is re-elected against my recommendation, Miller can have a good chance of being elected too, but he has a strong contender in Tong, who can get the Chinese votes like Chang did last time.

Homer Tong, a member of the Fremont Union High School District board of trustees, wants to make Cupertino a school town where all the residents participate in the schools' events, sports and activities. He seems to be stuck in the school environment instead of providing a vision of a city that our children want to have fun. Go and ask our children where they go to have fun? Not in Cupertino because there's nothing. As parents, don't we want our children stay closer to home rather than going and have fun far away?

Rod Sinks, Donna Austin and Chris Zhang are the other candidates. Sinks is the High-Tech person who is into green. So he should bring cleantech companies to Cupertino. Austin wants to keep Cupertino the way it is. Zhang, the youngest of the pack, believes that he's running for the school board about wanting to improve the science classes. What's wrong with the science classes at Monta Vista and Lynnbrook? Does he know that Physics Honor at Monta Vista is more difficult than Physics 2A at De Anza college? Anyway what can a city council member do with classes? He has a good idea about offering free WiFi in Cupertino. Steve Jobs said that with the tax revenues from Apple, the city can provide free WiFi. So why wait?

They all talk about Vallco and Mainstreet, but so far we don't see anything happening at all. Vallco has been in a limbo state for the past decades. It doesn't want to die, but doesn't want to succeed either. It changed names back and forth to confuse the people. The fences in front of Sears (corner of Wolfe and Stevens Creek) have become a sore eye and the sorrow state of a mall that our children do not want to frequent. The candidates do not provide any concrete solutions to this problem. About the Mainstreet or downtown, there's no sign that it will become a reality soon. It's not the time to continue to ask the residents whether they want a downtown or not, and what kind of downtown they want. The candidates should ask themselves the following question: Why do people go to Santana Row on Friday nights and weekends?

It's very unfortunate that we have a son in Cupertino that we don't want to promote to attract tourists. He's adored all over the world, but the city doesn't care about him. Yes I'm talking about Steve Jobs. The city should have a theme to honor him with a statue, a street name, a place or a museum. The tourists will come and spend, bringing more revenues to the city coffer. The businesses will benefit tremendously.

Two candidates will be selected. The top three mentioned above will have a chance, but they have to show that they are doers and not talkers. Sinks is the dark horse. So vote on November 8, 2011. Talk to the kids.

Vote NO on Measure C. We don't want more taxes.