In an unusual move, Cupertino has swapped its top leadership roles in it’s annual city restructuring, appointing Kitty Moore as the new mayor and Liang Chao as vice mayor.
The move followed an impasse over Councilmember Ray Wang’s consideration for vice mayor. He was viewed warily for the role after he abruptly left a city council meeting and forced it to end to avoid a potential violation of public meeting law.
“I look forward to serving everyone with concern and care,” said the newly-appointed Mayor Moore in a brief statement. “I’m looking forward to a productive and successful year.”
Cupertino City Council votes each year to appoint a new mayor and vice mayor during a special meeting in December, and councilmembers are not allowed to serve consecutive terms in the same position.
Over the last year, Chao served as mayor and Moore served as vice mayor. Moore has served on the council since 2020, and was reelected last year after promising to focus on fiscal accountability and a “detail-oriented” approach to city matters. Chao first joined the council in 2018, and served as vice mayor in 2019 and 2021.
At this week’s meeting, much of the public voiced support for Moore take the helm of the city. However, they were split on who might best serve as the vice mayor, with discussion focusing heavily on Wang – who was elected in a tight race in 2024 – and his conduct at a City Council meeting earlier this month.
During a discussion of a housing project at a December 2 meeting, Wang, who was participating remotely, left the meeting after a dispute over whether voting on the issue was in violation of the Brown Act, a California open meeting law. The law specifies that a publicly elected body cannot make decisions on issues that aren’t properly noticed to the public. Wang argued that the agenda did not clearly notify the public that the housing project would come to a vote. At the time, the city attorney said a vote would not violate the Brown Act, but Wang argued that it did and announced that he would leave the meeting.
The Brown Act dictates that the public should have the option to participate from the remote location where an elected official is logged into a meeting. When Wang left and closed his video link, it forced the meeting to end because it prevented the public from participating from his location.
“At this point then I will have to leave the meeting and … and the meeting will conclude,” said Wang, before his video connection terminated. “(The issue) is noticed in the wrong section and improperly noticed… Well, have a wonderful evening everybody and thank you.”
Wang later apologized in writing and at the meeting, saying that his laptop battery had died and he was unable to find a working outlet, rendering him unable to log back in to the meeting.
“I want to sincerely apologize for leaving the Zoom meeting on December 2 in protest … on reflection, I should not have threatened to leave the meeting to force its termination,” said Wang, who said the item was clearly labeled as ineligible for a vote. “I was surprised that council would vote on (the) item … and I do not believe the public expected that either, as your representative, I objected and voiced strong opposition to taking such a vote.”
As a result, several residents thought he should not be appointed to vice mayor.
“He threatened to prevent you from voting, and then he followed through on his threat by using a trick in the Brown Act,” said Cupertino Resident Seema Lindskog to the City Council. “Somebody like that doesn’t believe in democracy and doesn’t believe in teamwork with this council and should never be vice mayor or mayor.”
Several others however, argued that Wang was best suited to represent the city, and urged the council to accept the apology and move on, with some even waving signs declaring “we stand with Ray.”
“Ray has consistently shown integrity in his work. He makes decisions based on fairness and principle, not convenience, and that honesty builds trust within our community,” said Roberta Murai. “Most importantly, he listens to Cupertino residents. ”
Former Mayor Chao also came to Wang’s defense, saying it was “very clear” that his battery did run out and that the concerns he raised were valid. “I’m sure that he will learn from this experience … Let’s all assume the best about each other,” said Chao
Moore then asked Chao to serve as her vice mayor. “You have the most experience, the most institutional knowledge, and you also are the least polarizing choice that I can look to and rely upon,” said Moore to Chao. “I wish I could undo the last week, but I can’t, and I can’t willingly choose to have surprises.”
While Coucilmember J.R. Fruen called the move “unorthodox,” he and the rest of the council voted unanimously to appoint Moore and Chao to their new roles.