The Cupertino Courier

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Growing up in Sunnyvale shaped Cupertino mayor

By Crystal Lu

The new mayor of Cupertino is not new to community service, which she traces back to her high school years in Sunnyvale. Dolly Sandoval started an ecology club with her classmates at Fremont High School to advocate recycling.

"I learned long ago that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," said Sandoval. "Personally I like to be part of the solution, to work with people to find solutions to everyday and long-term problems."

Born in Mountain View and raised in Sunnyvale after age 4, Sandoval grew up around the intersection of Homestead Road and Blaney Avenue, near Sunnyvale's border with Cupertino. It was a neighborhood where everybody knew everybody.

"My parents worked full time but never worried about the five of us," said Sandoval. "All the parents in the neighborhood helped watch each other's kids. I want to build that kind of community in Cupertino."

Sandoval plans to enhance Cupertino's neighborhood watch program by training more block leaders and recruiting more residents to attend emergency preparedness classes.

Sandoval also believes every neighborhood needs a park. She would like to see a park in the Rancho Rinconada neighborhood before her mayoral term ends. The city council has budgeted money for acquiring a parcel of land from San Jose Water Company to build that park.

A long time environmental activist, Sandoval first became interested in politics in 1982 when recycling and clean water issues were on the ballet. She was appointed a student trustee at De Anza College that year.

Sandoval helped create tutoring groups and spread financial aid information on campus to help students who wanted to transfer to a four-year university. She herself transferred to the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Sandoval decided to major in math instead of environmental studies because she wanted to teach and saw there were more jobs teaching math.

Now a math teacher at Los Gatos High School, Sandoval will continue to teach full time until June to fulfill the commitment she made for the school year. She will also keep her positions as vice chair of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and president of Cupertino Community Services during her mayoral term.

"I'm a good manager of my time," said Sandoval. "I like to be busy."

Sandoval says what makes the mayor busier than other city council members is that more people want to talk to the leader of the city, although the mayor has no more power than other council members.

The mayor's position is rotated among the council's five members. Sandoval, who was not chosen mayor during her first term, said she would like to work with her colleagues to create a policy to ensure that all council members will at least get to be vice mayor during their first term.

Sandoval was a trustee of the Foothill-De Anza Community District for 10 years before being elected to the Cupertino City Council in 2001. The year before, she lost a close race for a Santa Clara County supervisor's seat to Liz Kniss.

"I ran [for Cupertino council] because I felt it's important to have knowledgeable and dedicated people in the local government," said Sandoval, "I enjoy working for Cupertino. It's a small enough town for you to make a big impact."