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Politics & Government

Council Offers Lease to Coffee Society; Owners May Take City to Court

The City Council re-extends a lease to Coffee Society owners, who are considering legal action over earlier vote against lease.

The city of Cupertino will re-extend a lease offer to the Coffee Society for the 500-square-foot library retail space, it was announced last night, but an attorney for the shop’s owners said the offer might be too little, too late.

“It doesn’t sound like what we were originally looking for (in terms of) full compensation for going through the whole ordeal,” said Coffee Society attorney Darcy Paul, in reaction to Mayor Gilbert Wong’s announcement after the council came out of a closed session with the city attorney.

Earlier in the afternoon, Paul told the council members that they would need to present Coffee Society owner Streeter and Sons with an offer better than the original lease.

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“The position of Coffee Society at this point is there is going to have to be some added good faith and gesture from the council in order to restore them to the position they were in previously,” he said.

The started two weeks ago on Jan. 4, when the council voted 3-2 to rescind a lease agreed to by Streeter and Sons and reopen the bidding process.

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Two council members, Barry Chang and Kris Wang, expressed doubts about the previous five-month bidding process city staff undertook last fall for a new lease on the space, already occupied by Coffee Society. That process resulted in three candidates for the new lease, including Streeter and Sons. The staff recommended to extend the $1,000-a-month lease to Streeter and Sons.

In particular, the two council members were concerned that one local business owner, Judy Lee of L’Epi D’Or Bakery on Stevens Creek Boulevard, had not been properly included in the bidding process. Mayor Gilbert Wong joined the two council members in voting to reopen the bidding.

Community response has been sharply critical of the city for what some saw as unfair treatment of Coffee Society owner, Jackie Streeter.

“I like the shop, and Jackie and her family have done a great job," Cupertino resident Steve Burdick said before attending the council meeting to support the cafe. “What bothers me is the role that the City Council is taking. It seems so counterproductive to what a democratic process should be. What they’re doing is just nuts.”

Mike McNutt told the council, “I find this is reverse discrimination, and I think it’s just terrible." 

Chamber president Paula Davis urged the council to reverse its earlier decision and extend the lease to Coffee Society.

“This decision, and the resulting negative publicity, present a picture of a city that has an unwelcoming attitude toward business and is capable of acting in an unfair manner,” she said. “We believe that the actions of council will result not only in needless expense and additional staff time but will put in question the validity of the bid process for future projects and likely open the city to the potential of litigation.”

Paul said prior to the meeting that Streeter and Sons was considering taking the city to court seeking compensation for possible damage to the business.

The chamber organized a rally immediately before the meeting outside the Coffee Society store, attended by about two dozen supporters.

Chamber member Kevin McClelland said the business organization sponsored the rally for Coffee Society—which is not a member—because of what he said was unfair treatment of the café’s owners.

“It’s so clearly unfair, not just for the Coffee Society, but for all businesses in Cupertino,” he said.

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