Cupertino held its 2026 State of the City address at the Quinlan Community Center, across the street from campus, on Feb. 26.
An annual event, representatives from various county departments as well as Cupertino Mayor Kitty Moore detailed updates and plans for the coming year.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office:
Captain Neil Valenzuela began his updates with a breakdown of county crime statistics, reporting an increase in both residential and vehicle burglaries. The former increased from 78 in 2024 to 102 in 2025, while the latter increased from 112 in 2024 to 191 in 2025. Valenzuela expressed the necessity for his department to run more community engagement initiatives to “educate people not to leave laptops, purses in their vehicles or in plain sight.”
Per a Feb. 24 Board of Supervisors vote, the captain also announced that the Sheriff’s office would discontinue the use of Flock cameras for traffic enforcement. Flock Safety, vendor of many of the county’s automated license plate reader cameras, has drawn scrutiny for the reports that the federal government was accessing its data, and concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement used footage was used in support its operations.
Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin denied that the company maintains a contract with ICE in a comment to the San Jose Spotlight.
“We believe ALPR technology is a valuable tool that helps us solve crimes and keep our neighborhood safe,” Valenzuela said. “It’s important to know the Sheriff’s Office never shared (data) with any federal agency, including ICE.”
He also promised that his department would be working with cities within Santa Clara County to evaluate other surveillance options.
Santa Clara County Fire Department:
Fire Chief Suwanna Kerdkaew detailed the acquisition of three fire apparatuses over the year: Rescue 73, Water Tender 68 and Engine 370. Over the coming year, the department will also acquire 4 more apparatuses and seven type-1 fire engines.
The department also purchased a 10-acre site along Sycamore avenue in San Martin which will be converted into a fleet-maintenance shop and training facility for the South Santa Clara County Fire District.
The Seven Springs Fire Station received damage due to heavy rains. Kerdkaew reported that “we took a look at it and immediately went to work to repair it.”
Kerdkaew also listed three instances of structure fires which occurred on Nov. 11, Nov. 28, and Nov. 29, reportedly driven by increased heating usage and holiday decor involving open flames. In all cases, responders reported no injuries.
The department’s website contains a full list of incoming community education events to keep residents informed about protocols in the event of wildfires or other emergencies.
City of Cupertino:
Mayor Kitty Moore concluded the evening with updates on the city’s revenue and community engagement projects, as well as plans to maintain Cupertino’s role in local governance and legislation.
“Major tax revenue changes, increasing public safety costs, state housing mandates, the need for infrastructure and facility upgrades and rising community expectations have all created tension between what we want to do and what we can afford to do,” Moore said.
The mayor referred to the previous year as a time of “significant fiscal stress” for the city, citing changes to the allocation of sales tax collections that “reduced our revenues dramatically.”
Moore reported the placement of a new cash flow policy and the strengthening of budgeting and monitoring processes.
On June 13, the city opened its Jollyman Park all-inclusive playground.
In March 2025, Cupertino established a two-person committee (composed of Moore and Councilmember R “Ray” Wang) to review state legislation and ensure the city’s interests are accounted for. This committee succeeds the previous Legislative Review Committee which was active from 2019 to 2022.
Moore also announced a modernization of the city’s operations by implementing a new “Enterprise Resource Planning” system, which connects internal operations like payroll, budget, and financial procurement.
Moore promised a more streamlined process that would improve real-time reporting of city operations. The city is also looking into AI applications to assist in permitting approval.
