Quality of life in a city is the sense of wellbeing and happiness that a resident has–the mental, physical, and environmental comfort and enjoyment that residents feel, including safety, while going about their daily life.
Closer to home, city surveys show that Cupertino residents value a walkable and bikeable city. This is not surprising, as cities with the highest ratings for quality of life are also the most walking and cycling friendly.
While we’ve made good progress over the past ten years, many improvements are still needed: better student safety around schools, safer intersections, more crosswalks and sidewalks, lower speeds in residential neighborhoods, more creek and nature trails, and parks within easy walking distance. These all add to our quality of life.
Click on the chart for a larger view.
We encourage our readers to consider the responses when voting, as the survey shows a candidate’s priorities and their ability to deliver a better quality of life for all Cupertino residents.
Rod Sinks: Top Score
Coming in with a total of 78 points is former Councilmember Rod Sinks. Rod has a strong history of supporting biking and walking in Cupertino, and his answers show that he plans to continue this support. In the past, he championed the McClellan Class IV protected bike lanes which keep hundreds of students safe while traveling to school and the Cupertino library. Rod has been a consistent advocate for trails and protected bike lanes over his years in public office. As Councilmember and Mayor, he appointed several excellent bike/ped commissioners.
He wishes to “further improve connectivity in a second wave of major bike-ped improvements in our city, and get protected connections into adjacent cities.” Rod encourages the use of our public tax dollars to increase the length and quality of our trails, opposes giving our tax dollars to residents for improvements on their private land, and agrees that the city should consider safer alternatives to sharrows wherever possible. It’s clear that Rod, if elected, will continue to be a strong advocate for walking and biking in Cupertino.
Rod biking with FUHSD students.
Hung Wei and Claudio Bono: Runners Up
Second and third place go to Hung Wei and Claudio Bono, both at 71 and 64 points respectively. Both Hung and Claudio seem to understand the needs of residents for safe walking and biking and are willing to support improvements in city infrastructure and policy.
Hung says, “While we have made great strides in the last few years, there’s still more to be done to make Cupertino the safest walk/bike community we can. Vision Zero can only be a reality when we connect loose ends around the city and make bike and pedestrian pathways throughout our corridors.” As councilmember, she has voted for Vision Zero as a Work Program item, and supported the Regnart Creek Trail through its many votes. She supports “more protected bike lanes” and “better pedestrian crossing lighting”.
Claudio is a recent, but strong advocate for improving our city’s roads for all modes of transit, including advocating for the city projects brought to council in the last two months. He has great ideas on how to improve our roads to make them safer for pedestrians, including traffic calming and speed reduction measures such as speed tables and flashing beacons. Claudio says, “Improving safety for students walking and biking to school is crucial to ensure their wellbeing and encourage active transportation.”
Kitty Moore and Gilbert Wong: Emerging Supporters
Councilmember Kitty Moore comes in at 37 points, and former Councilmember Gilbert Wong comes in at 27 points. Both Kitty and Gilbert received some green ratings. Notably, Kitty’s idea for a night safety campaign with funding for bike lights and safety lights for pets met with broad support from WBC board members. Kitty’s answers are also improved from two years ago. We are grateful for her increased understanding of and focus on these issues and hope to see her develop into a stronger advocate for pedestrian and cyclist wellbeing.
What was concerning in Kitty’s answers was the focus on placing responsibility for safety almost solely on the cyclist, pedestrian, or motorist, instead of recognizing that road architecture and city policy can dramatically influence behavior and improve safety.
Gilbert’s answers were generally supportive, but gave us little or no specific ideas. We do appreciate Gilbert’s stated support for protected bike lanes on De Anza Blvd and for extending the Stevens Creek/Linda Vista Trail toward Stevens Canyon.
Ray Wang and Barry Chang: Silent on Bike Ped Safety
Two of the candidates, as previously mentioned, chose not to respond to the survey. Those candidates are Barry Chang and R “Ray” Wang.
As we stated in our letter to each candidate requesting they return the survey, “Please keep in mind that as an elected official, you will represent all of us…and residents look to their elected officials to be available and responsive to all their constituents.” We expect our councilmembers to be available to residents. Not replying to a survey that will be read by almost 3,000 residents is a poor sign of their approachability and receptiveness as future councilmembers.
Your vote matters.
We hope that you will consider this information carefully when you vote for two City Councilmembers this November.
Your vote makes a difference in the quality of life, wellbeing, and happiness that adults, seniors, young families, and students who walk or bike in Cupertino can expect to experience in the coming years.
Survey Methodology
⬩Our survey is sent out to every City Council candidate at least twice to their publicly listed email address found on their websites and/or campaign materials.
⬩We do not share the questions in advance with any candidate. Each candidate has two weeks to respond to the survey.
⬩The questions for the candidates cover their views on walking and biking including infrastructure and for encouragement of both of them. See here for the full question list.
⬩The WBC Board scores the responses and rank the candidates based on these scores and their previous public statements and actions.
⬩This year, there were a total of nine questions. A maximum of 100 points were possible if all answers were scored as green. (Green answer = approximately 11.1 points, as 100/9 = 11.1). Yellow answers were awarded five points, and red or non-answered questions zero points.
⬩The full answers for each candidate are available by clicking on the links below each candidate’s summary.
⬩Walk Bike Cupertino does not endorse any candidate. We provide this survey as a way for Cupertino residents to see the views and depth of knowledge for our city council candidates on walking and biking issues.
Thank you for publishing the results of your survey.
Yes, safety matters to all whether we are pedestrians, bikers, or drivers on the road.
Cupertino has made great progress in transit for all. Whether it’s the Hopper Service
or safe bike lanes it is a great benefit to the community. I see more students going to school on their bikes and scooters as well as available transportation for all.