County Had Nothing To Do With Chang Flyer, Executive Says

A two-month-old letter addressed to Cupertino Councilmember Barry Chang by a county executive that was turned into a negative campaign flyer came as news to the letter’s author.

Santa Clara County Chief Executive, Jeff Smith’s May 18 letter—on county letterhead—which admonished Chang’s behavior earlier this year at public meetings concerning Lehigh Southwest Cement’s Cupertino facility was graphically altered and dropped on doorsteps in Chang’s neighborhood Tuesday in and around Regnart Elementary School.

The flyer prompted an angry Cupertino resident to email Smith Tuesday demanding to know why Smith’s letter was prominently featured on the flyer.

“I assured him we had nothing to do with it,” said Smith, who returned from vacation Wednesday.

Aside from the flyer, Smith was unaware of other elements of character attacks such as a YouTube video featuring Smith’s letter, and a Twitter account, AngryBarryChang, that links directly to the letter.

“All the rest of this is a surprise,” he told Patch.

The matter of the letter, which related to events earlier this year, was to Smith’s mind closed.

“I think the issue has been resolved at this point. The fact that people want to make a big deal about it is just politics,” Smith said.

Public Response to Flyer

Tuesday’s flyer encouraged residents to show up to that night’s council meeting, as well as future meetings, to complain about Chang’s alleged poor behavior as outlined in Smith’s letter.

About six people showed up; four who spoke in favor of Chang and two young men who spoke against him; one of whom called on the council to officially censure Chang. Both Chang opponents declined to be interviewed.

Issue Resolved, Smith Says

When Chang first received Smith’s letter in May he “didn’t want to make a big deal” out it and chose to not respond. But as an apparent smear campaign against Chang evolved he was advised by his attorney to send a response to Smith, which he did on July 27 via email.

The message included an apology to county staff for comments Chang made, which Chang has said in previous interviews were taken out of context and misunderstood.

Chang’s email says his first commitment is to “protecting the health and safety of the residents of Cupertino” and urging the County to uphold its obligation as the oversight agency responsible for ensuring Lehigh complies with regulations, something on which Chang believes the County falls short.

Employee Complaint Sparks Letter

An employee’s complaint that Chang made personal threats toward staff members at two public meetings, a charge Chang denies, prompted Smith to write the letter to Chang—more than six weeks after the alleged incident took place.

“The people who received the threats felt personally threatened and at risk,” he said. “Our responsibility as an employer is to address those threats.”

But Chang said he was upset Smith never contacted him to get his side of the story, and insists he never threatened county staff.

When asked why he didn’t contact Chang, Smith said the letter was the county’s communication with Chang.

“The letter was addressed to him, and was basically a communication to him about our concerns, it wasn’t a matter of ‘he said/she said,’” Smith said.

The entire Cupertino City Council and County Board of Supervisors were copied on the letter, something Smith said was standard policy and procedure.

But Chang said he announces that he speaks on behalf of himself and the activist group he founded, Bay Area Clean Environment (formerly No Toxic Air), not the city of Cupertino.

Orrin Mahoney, Cupertino City Councilmember, said he didn’t find it odd to be copied on the letter.

“He represents us, as much as you can say that,” he said.

Mahoney added that Chang’s past behavior in other matters was at the forefront of why Cupertino’s tradition of rotating the mayor and vice mayor positions according to number of votes from elections was broken in December when Gilbert Wong was appointed mayor, and Mark Santoro as vice mayor.

“People have encouraged us to do something about Barry,” Mahoney said. “When does advocacy step over the line? It’s the reason we did what we did about the mayor rotation, (it) was based on some of these issues.”

Of Smith’s letter being distributed publicly, Mahoney said that the community is divided over Chang.

“People know Barry, and they’ll read this stuff and they’ll decide,” he said. “I’m OK with the guy.”

Mahoney speculated that the negative campaign against Chang may be linked to Chang’s political ambitions.

“(This) would (try) to cut that off, and (Chang) has certainly made enough enemies at the county level,” Mahoney said.

Chang’s Side of the Story

While Chang admitted in an interview he can be “forceful” at times, he denied he threatened a staff member at a , referenced in Smith’s letter.

A heated discussion over posting a PowerPoint presentation resulted in one county planner’s promise to get Chang’s presentation posted to the county website within two weeks.

“I told (him), ‘Fine, if you don’t put it up by that date I’m going to call you and I’m going to go after you,’” meaning, Chang said, “I’m going to bug you all the time. I’m just more persistent than anyone else. If I’m not persistent, this issue is gone.”

The presentation was placed on the county’s site within two weeks, so Chang said he did not contact pursue the matter.

When asked if Chang’s comments were misinterpreted, Smith said on Wednesday, “I can’t read Barry’s mind. I can only go by Barry’s behavior. If he threatens anyone, that’s what we go by.”

Pointing to an incident in another part of the country where someone showed up at a school board meeting with guns, Smith said any kind of threat must be taken seriously.

“We had to intervene in a way we thought would clarify the issue.” He added he believes “Barry got the message,” and the matter is closed.