JR Fruen

Joseph Fruen, who goes by his initials JR Fruen, says he’s one of the “lucky few” who get to call themselves a third-generation Cupertino resident. As part of his policy as a City Council member, one issue Fruen would like to address is the high cost of housing and living in Cupertino. 

“I think that it makes for an unsustainable community in the long run,” Fruen said. “It means that [students] might be thinking, ‘what am I going to do after college’ and are probably realizing that if [they’re] lucky, mom and dad are willing to let [them] continue [living with them]. After you graduate, [it’s] basically an eviction notice.”

Fruen wants to focus on building housing for all income levels, which he believes will start with changing the city’s land use regime. He describes the current restrictions as “airy and general” and incapable of facilitating construction where housing would have the greatest impact. 

In addition to addressing the cost of housing, Fruen would like to make Cupertino more sustainable by encouraging residents to walk and ride bikes rather than drive and reviewing previous traffic policies such as the 2016 Bike Plan to implement better safety measures. 

Fruen would also like to repair the Cupertino City Council’s political reputation within the Bay Area, noting that Cupertino has a reputation for being difficult to work with and that the City Council is responsible for maintaining relationships with other local governments. An attorney by training, Fruen believes his skill in negotiation and background in law will be a beneficial addition to City Council’s skill set.

“It’s really as simple as that, for people who are older and want to stay here to be able to stay here,” Fruen said. “And all those things coincide with [my] reasons for running.”

Learn more at https://www.jr4cupertino.com/