Other key issues include the decline of retail in Cupertino, partially because stores are being replaced with high-density housing<\/a>, and whether the city is spending tax dollars responsibly.<\/p>\n Here are the council candidates in alphabetical order by last name:<\/p>\n Mark Fantozzi<\/p>\n Mark Fantozzi, 75, is a structural civil engineer.\u00a0He objects to state housing laws that limit local control over housing development and\u00a0sued the city<\/a> in May to stop a townhome project across the street from his home. The lawsuit is ongoing.<\/p>\n The 51-home development on Linda Vista Drive is in a zone at high risk for wildfire<\/a> \u2014 and Fantozzi said the city didn\u2019t adequately consider emergency evacuation routes.<\/p>\n \u201c(State housing laws) are forcing changes in neighborhoods and communities where no one has an opportunity to weigh in,\u201d Fantozzi\u00a0told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cA good chunk of Cupertino is in a very-high fire hazard zone and they\u2019re building high-density housing in those areas. That makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Fantozzi<\/a>, who has previously served on Cupertino\u2019s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, said he would work to streamline city government if elected and make municipal spending more transparent.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of folks in politics make things complicated when they\u2019re not, because that drives the conversation,\u201d he said. \u201cMost things can be simplified to the point where you can make some fairly reasonable decisions that meet people\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n J.R. Fruen<\/p>\n J.R. Fruen, 46, is seeking a second term on the council after voters elected him in 2022.<\/p>\n He\u2019s joining with two like-minded candidates \u2014 Seema Sharma Lindskog and John Tang \u2014 in the Cupertino Together group in a bid for pro-growth candidates to regain a council majority lost in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the principal reason (for forming Cupertino Together), to provide a clear choice of priorities and values and to make it possible to then enact that agenda so people get what they voted for,\u201d Fruen, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Fruen<\/a> \u2014 an attorney who works as chief of staff for San Jose Councilmember Rosemary Kamei \u2014 said the council\u2019s current slow-growth majority is holding Cupertino back by impeding housing projects and triggering costly litigation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes serious policymakers to understand that you don\u2019t always get the things that you would prefer and sometimes you have to make uncomfortable compromises in order to achieve the best result,\u201d Fruen said.<\/p>\n Endorsements for the Cupertino Together candidates include Cupertino Councilmember Sheila Mohan, seven former mayors, Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Patrick Ahrens and state Sen. Josh Becker.<\/p>\n Tracy Kosolcharoen<\/p>\n Tracy Kosolcharoen, 40, is\u00a0chair of the Cupertino Planning Commission and VTA\u2019s Citizen Advisory Committee. She said she\u2019s running for a council seat\u00a0to preserve the city\u2019s quality of life.<\/p>\n \u201cMy track record reflects the positions I would take on the issues,\u201d Kosolcharoen told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI\u2019ve advocated for thoughtful zoning that adds housing in the heart of our city while protecting existing businesses and neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n Kosolcharoen<\/a> is part of a loosely affiliated three-candidate slow-growth group, along with Gopal Kumarappan and Santosh Rao, whose outdoor campaign signs are often clustered together.<\/p>\n Another priority for Kosolcharoen is protecting retail businesses in Cupertino through streamlined permitting, zoning rules that guarantee a future for retail shops and support programs for businesses displaced by new housing construction. Kosolcharoen also wants to make sure tax dollars are spent wisely.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have a lot of very expensive projects that are either in the pipeline or the city would like to do,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, a $54 million renovation of City Hall to make it seismically safe, which is important. But when I go into the line items on that contract, I see things that I think could cost less.\u201d<\/p>\n Endorsements for Kosolcharoen include Councilmembers Liang Chao and R \u201cRay\u201d Wang, three former mayors and three trustees of local school boards.<\/p>\n Gopal Kumarappan<\/p>\n Gopal Kumarappan, a 58-year-old tech executive who chairs the Parks and Recreation Commission, has spent more than 25 years as a volunteer teacher and coach who wants to lead by listening to residents. He said educating the community on tough issues such as housing can limit opposition to growth.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowth should strengthen Cupertino, not overwhelm it,\u201d Kumarappan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Kumarappan<\/a>, who has served on several city commissions, also emphasizes the need to involve residents of all ages, especially youth, in city leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cMany young adults are not civically engaged, except for the Teen Commission, and I don\u2019t want to wait until they get older to ask them to participate,\u201d Kumarappan said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see them meaningfully represented and engaged in city commissions, committees and initiatives. That\u2019s where they can bring new energy and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n Seema Sharma Lindskog<\/p>\n Seema Sharma Lindskog, 60, sits on the Cupertino Planning Commission and chairs the community group Walk Bike Cupertino. She has a front row seat to observe what she described as dysfunction triggered by the council\u2019s slow-growth majority.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have nothing to show for the last 10 years, except failed policies, and they have divided residents, they have burned bridges with our local partners in neighboring cities and with state and county officials,\u201d Lindskog told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThey\u2019ve said \u2018no\u2019 to housing. They don\u2019t have a vision for the city. All they have is what they don\u2019t want.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of a long-term plan for the city, Lindskog<\/a> wants to develop retail clusters so small businesses can help each other attract customers while also bringing more mid-sized businesses to Cupertino.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would create new sources of diversified tax revenues for us,\u201d she said. \u201cThen we\u2019re not just dependent on small businesses and one trillion-dollar company<\/a> (Apple).\u201d<\/p>\n Santosh Rao<\/p>\n Santosh Rao is a 52-year-old tech executive who chairs the planning commission. He said he wants to make sure city government is efficient and responsible.<\/p>\n \u201cMy focus is on putting residents first, on respecting our taxpayer dollars, and making sure to hold City Hall accountable,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI will do that in a way that works across the aisle. That\u2019s my commitment to residents.\u201d<\/p>\n Rao has often opposed state-mandated housing projects and said his time on the planning commission gives him experience in knowing when state laws allow room for deviations.<\/p>\n Rao<\/a> said the city is mistreating businesses in an attempt to increase tax revenues as the city faces a budget shortfall because of increasing costs for police services<\/a> from the Santa Clara County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that being pro-business means that we need to cut regulations for our businesses,\u201d he said. \u201cOur city has gone in the opposite direction with an attempt to be punitive for non-compliance. This is something we\u2019ve never done before. The reason is because our city is looking for more dollars to add to the top line instead of evaluating the bottom line and looking at cost cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n Endorsements for Rao include Councilmembers Chao and Wang, two former mayors and three board members of local school districts.<\/p>\n John Tang<\/p>\n John Tang spent more than 20 years sitting across the table from government officials as a public affairs executive at San Jose Water before joining San Jose as its deputy director of water resources in April. He wants to use that experience to help what he said is a divided city.<\/p>\n \u201cCupertino is kind of split into two camps,\u201d Tang, who is part of the Cupertino Together group, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cYou\u2019re either anti-development or you\u2019re pro-development. We (Cupertino Together) are certainly on the pro-development side. We think we need to make smarter housing choices. (The slow-growth side has) consistently shown they don\u2019t want to see development. That\u2019s what really separates us.\u201d<\/p>\n Tang<\/a>, a civil engineer who teaches engineering classes at San Jose State University, also wants the city to move past the objections from slow-growth councilmembers that have caused turnover in key staff roles, including the city attorney<\/a> and city manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen too many instances of (leaders in Cupertino) operating at the 5-foot level instead of the 100-foot level where they\u2019re supposed to be,\u201d he said. \u201cDevelopers are looking at Cupertino and thinking, \u2018Why would I want to come to your city to do work there?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n J.Z. Wang<\/p>\n J.Z. \u201cJane\u201d Wang has filed multiple unsuccessful lawsuits against the city over the years, starting with a dispute 10 years ago over a structure in her backyard that violated building codes.<\/p>\n In 2023, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge declared \u00a0Wang a \u201cvexatious litigant<\/a>\u201d who is effectively barred from further legal action against the city, noting that city officials \u201chave expended tremendous, unnecessary resources to respond to (Wang\u2019s) seemingly endless filings and challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Mark-Fantozzi-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x768.jpg\")
Mark Fantozzi, a structural civil engineer, is among eight candidates running for Cupertino City Council. Photo courtesy of Mark Fantozzi.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/J.R.-Fruen-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x462.jpg\")
Incumbent J.R. Fruen is seeking a second term on Cupertino City Council. Photo by Mike Langberg.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screen-Shot-2026-08-18-at-2.33.43-PM.png\")
Tracy Kosolcharoen, chair of the Cupertino Planning Commission, is running for City Council. Photo courtesy of Tracy Kosolcharoen\u2019s campaign website.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gopal-Kumarappan-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x681.jpg\")
Gopal Kumarappan chairs the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission and is a candidate for Cupertino City Council. Photo courtesy of Gopal Kumarappan.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Seema-Sharma-Lindskog-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x546.jpg\")
Seema Sharma Lindskog, a Cupertino planning commissioner, is one of eight candidates running for City Council. Photo by Mike Langberg.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Santosh-Rao-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x683.jpg\")
Santosh Rao chairs the Cupertino Planning Commission, and is a candidate for Cupertino City Council. Photo courtesy of Santosh Rao.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/John-Tang-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x695.jpg\")
John Tang, deputy director of water resources in San Jose, is one of eight candidates running for Cupertino City Council. Photo by Mike Langberg.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/J.Z.-Wang-2-Cupertino-city-council-candidate-1024x709.jpg\")
J.Z. Wang is one of eight candidates running for Cupertino City Council. Photo courtesy of J.Z. Wang.<\/p>\n