Cupertino City Council Approves Signs, Sinks Hulks-Out Over Geese

With a quick vote and little discussion, the Cupertino City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s municipal code to allow political sings in the public right-of-way, Aug. 21. 

Under the new code political signs can be placed in the public right-of-way only in residential zones and if the adjacent property owner gives approval. If approval is not given, the owner is permitted to remove the sign. Signs placed in violation of the new code will now be taken by the city after two days after notification wherein the responsible party can correct the violation.

The fee for the city removing the sign has been lowered to $3 payable upon retrieving the sign from the city. The city will hold signs for 20 days.

The city’s definition of “Signs of de minimus value” has also been modified to exclude political signs allowing, potentially, the placement of hand-made political signs this election season.

Then, just when everyone was about to leave, after hearing about de-facto moratoriums for two hours, Mayor Mark Santoro casually requested council members to bring forward new business and Councilman Rod Sinks jumped in.

“I want the staff to come up with a plan to take effective action against the geese and I want it within the month,” Sinks said.

Sinks added that he has had it with the geese who have “cackled” through shows in the Memorial Park amphitheater and littered the grass with their droppings.

“These geese are a nuisance and these geese are a hazard,” Sinks said. “It is disgraceful to have our children walking through goose poop.”

The geese at Memorial Park have become aggressive as their familiarity with humans who provide food, willingly or not, has grown. Their droppings are also the cause of the park’s sometimes foul-smelling pools as the droppings throw off the oxygen content of the water.

Previous attempts to deal with the Canada geese include signs asking for residents to not feed the animals, fake swans to scare them away (which laughably did nothing) and the possibility of renting dogs to chase the birds off.

According to the Cupertino Courier, the city “shelved both options due to cost concerns and resident concerns about health and safety.”

It was in the middle of this discussion on past approaches that Sinks turned into the not-so-jolly green Hulk.

“I want a plan and I want it in a month,” Sinks said, cutting off the Mayor.