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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Former Cupertino Mayor Don Burnett will be retiring from the city council next month, after eight years in office.
Good Guy
Don Burnett leaves city after eight years of service
By George Moore
Solid as a rock, strong character, high integrity, passionate, dedicated, true to his beliefs--these are just a few words and phrases people in Cupertino use to describe City Councilman Don Burnett.
"One of the good guys," said Marilyn Howard, a friend of 30 years. "You can always count on Don."
Burnett, who is turning 70 next month, is vacating his seat on the council in November after eight years of service to the city because of to term limits.
"I've really enjoyed my time on the council," Burnett said. "The staff and my fellow council members are a great bunch of people."
Mayor Sandra James said she is going to miss him profoundly.
"I look to Don for a number of different things," James said. "There's a confidence that I have in him that he's earned. What I think defines him most
is his level of integrity and his ability to stick with what he believes in."
Burnett said one of the reasons he ran for a seat on the council in 1993 was to try and reduce the growth outlined in the General Plan and create a more balanced developmental system. He worked with council members to abolish a tier system that allowed for millions of extra square footage of office space beyond what the original General Plan called for.
Burnett retired from Lockheed in 1990 where he was an engineer working with heat transfer and thermodynamics. He worked on submarine launched ballistic missiles and worked on the beginning stages of the heat-absorbing tiles on the space shuttle.
During Burnett's last 17 years with Lockheed, he commuted every day by bicycle. He says he remembers biking past the long lines of cars at service stations during the 1970's gas crunch. He has enjoyed exercising for the past 50 years--originally jogging--but after reading an article in Sunset Magazine in 1965 which portrayed adults riding bicycles, he thought he would give it a try.
"I never really enjoyed jogging," Burnett said.
To call Burnett an avid cyclist would be an understatement. His 1995 Mazda Protégé has only 27,000 miles--an average of only 4,500 miles a year. Since 1972, he has been averaging 5,000 miles a year on his bicycle.
For the past eight years he has joined roughly 20 to 30 people on Tuesdays and Thursdays on 40-mile bike rides as a member of the Western Wheelers Bike Club. He has also been a participant with the Davis Bike Club five times over the past 10 years, in which they ride 200 miles in one day in the Central Valley.
Burnett recently won a battle against cancer--having spent three months receiving chemotherapy and a month of radiation--finishing last June. During this time, he only missed one city council meeting and has fully recovered. He says his resting heart rate is almost back to where it was before the treatments--40 to 45 beats per minute. Burnett credits his exercise regimen for his ability to bounce back so swiftly.
Ann Ng, who co-founded the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee with Burnett, said he has accomplished a lot in his eight years on the council.
"I admire him so much," Ng said. "It's hard to come up with adequate words to describe him."
Burnett spent two years as mayor of Cupertino from 1995 through 1996, and says he is a great believer in collaborative decision making to really grasp and understand complex issues.
"We learn from one another," Burnett said. "We try and find out what's best collectively for the community and go with it."
What advice does Burnett have for the newly elected members joining the council in November?
"Get all the facts," he said. "Have a vision for what you want the city to be like and make decisions that best represent the city as a whole. It's worked for me, and I haven't lost any friends in the process. My time here has been very rewarding, and the staff members have all been very open-minded and accepting."
Leslie Brunell, a retired engineering manager and Cupertino resident since 1968 said Burnett's exodus is a tremendous loss to the city where he has been an asset to the community.
"He's a person of great integrity, and one of the nicest persons I've met," Brunell said. "In such a diverse community, he treats everyone with balance and has an excellent relationship with the other council members."
Kathy Nellis, a former city council member from 1974 to 1978 has known Burnett since 1993, when she worked with him on the new Senior Center Committee.
"The community is a better place to live because of his efforts," Nellis said. "The seniors should be grateful for all the work he's done."
Nellis said she admires his dedication to bicycling and his advocacy for trails.
"I hope he remains active in the community and uses what he's learned to continue his efforts to keep Cupertino a nice place to live."
Howard said Burnett is a man with strong character and one of the most even-keeled personalities she has ever known.
"I have never seen him lose control--even when he was angry," Howard said.
Burnett's wife Nancy said he spends as much time on the city council as he did with Lockheed.
"She hasn't made me a list yet, but there's a lot of things that need to be done around the house," he said. "I'm going to take a sabbatical to catch up on things and possibly travel to someplace tropical in January."
The Burnett's say they enjoy live theater and take advantage of local entertainment at Villa Montalvo and other venues, and they love spending time with their two adult children and doting on their two grandchildren.
But Don Burnett does not appear ready to abandon his work in the community--already agreeing to become a member of an oversight committee for the Measure B flood control project at the request of Greg Zlotnick, a Santa Clara Valley Water District board member. Burnett has served on flood control committees in the past and will draw on this experience for his new venture.
Burnett sets a fine example for everyone by leaving his car in his driveway at every given opportunity.
"He's a mentor for all of us," James said at a recent city council meeting. "He's a quiet, hardworking, serious type, but passionate. He's really made a difference in this community."
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
