Dave Cortese- Why he should be San Jose's next Mayor.
For more than 20 years, Dave Cortese has served the residents of San Jose and San Jose City Hall. Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, he served for eight years on the San Jose City Council, including two years as Vice Mayor. Before that he was a Trustee for the East Side Union High School District and a small business owner.
He currently represents District 3 on the Board of Supervisors, which includes Evergreen, East Foothills, Berryessa, North San Jose and Alviso. In his time in elected office, he has amassed a long list of accomplishments, including securing funding for numerous transportation projects that reduce local traffic, fighting to continue funding for gang prevention despite budget cuts, saving millions of dollars by investing tax dollars more efficiently, expanding the use of renewable energy and protecting our local environment, parks and open spaces.
Dave has a diverse professional background, with extensive business, legal and public service experience. He practiced law for several years, worked as a financial manager for a large corporation and served as general manager for several small businesses that have existed in the Valley for nearly 100 years.
In addition to his leadership roles in business, education and local government, Dave has brought his open, collaborative work style to the regional level. He served as president of the Santa Clara County Cities Association in 2005 and is the current president of the Association of Bay Area Governments, a 101-member city/county regional planning body for the entire Bay Area.
Dave places high priority on an open and ethical City Hall, managing city finances to protect essential city services, reducing traffic, improving education and supporting new jobs and businesses.
Cortese grew up in San Jose as part of a family that has been active in civic, cultural and business activities for generations, attending Bellarmine College Prep, UC Davis and Lincoln University Law School in San Jose. He and his wife, Pattie, have four children.
Dave Cortese wants to make our City safe again. Below is Supervisor Cortese's response to SJPOA President Jim Unland's request for his input:
Jim,
As the former Vice-Mayor at the City of San Jose City Hall, I was a strong supporter of a well staffed and highly trained police force. Ensuring that our neighborhoods are being pro-actively patrolled, crimes are swiftly investigated and prevention programs are funded was a budgetary priority for me and it will be again if I am elected Mayor. The current city leadership has made decision after decision that were not in the best interests of preserving neighborhood safety and I am disappointed that it took too long to begin to restore the pay cuts endured by our police officers.
The cut in pay and the lack of a negotiated agreement on lawful pension reform has led to hundreds of officers leaving the force and with them the decades of experience they possess. That is a shame and it could have been prevented if there was strong leadership at city hall that recognized that our police officers and other city workers are not the enemy. I strongly urge our dedicated police officers to vote to begin the restoration of their pay and ratify the contract before them. They deserve wages and benefits that are commensurate with the work they perform and this ratification vote is a step in the right direction..
More needs to be done to make our neighborhoods safer and I pledge to work with our community and our law enforcement professionals to make San Jose the safest big city in the nation once again..
Sincerely,
Dave Cortese
Dave Cortese on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/corteseformayor
Website to Donate or Volunteer
Don't forget to Vote for Dave Cortese for Mayor! We need to get our City back to being safe again!
To go to the home page for San Jose City Hall, click here.
He currently represents District 3 on the Board of Supervisors, which includes Evergreen, East Foothills, Berryessa, North San Jose and Alviso. In his time in elected office, he has amassed a long list of accomplishments, including securing funding for numerous transportation projects that reduce local traffic, fighting to continue funding for gang prevention despite budget cuts, saving millions of dollars by investing tax dollars more efficiently, expanding the use of renewable energy and protecting our local environment, parks and open spaces.
Dave has a diverse professional background, with extensive business, legal and public service experience. He practiced law for several years, worked as a financial manager for a large corporation and served as general manager for several small businesses that have existed in the Valley for nearly 100 years.
In addition to his leadership roles in business, education and local government, Dave has brought his open, collaborative work style to the regional level. He served as president of the Santa Clara County Cities Association in 2005 and is the current president of the Association of Bay Area Governments, a 101-member city/county regional planning body for the entire Bay Area.
Dave places high priority on an open and ethical City Hall, managing city finances to protect essential city services, reducing traffic, improving education and supporting new jobs and businesses.
Cortese grew up in San Jose as part of a family that has been active in civic, cultural and business activities for generations, attending Bellarmine College Prep, UC Davis and Lincoln University Law School in San Jose. He and his wife, Pattie, have four children.
Dave Cortese wants to make our City safe again. Below is Supervisor Cortese's response to SJPOA President Jim Unland's request for his input:
Jim,
As the former Vice-Mayor at the City of San Jose City Hall, I was a strong supporter of a well staffed and highly trained police force. Ensuring that our neighborhoods are being pro-actively patrolled, crimes are swiftly investigated and prevention programs are funded was a budgetary priority for me and it will be again if I am elected Mayor. The current city leadership has made decision after decision that were not in the best interests of preserving neighborhood safety and I am disappointed that it took too long to begin to restore the pay cuts endured by our police officers.
The cut in pay and the lack of a negotiated agreement on lawful pension reform has led to hundreds of officers leaving the force and with them the decades of experience they possess. That is a shame and it could have been prevented if there was strong leadership at city hall that recognized that our police officers and other city workers are not the enemy. I strongly urge our dedicated police officers to vote to begin the restoration of their pay and ratify the contract before them. They deserve wages and benefits that are commensurate with the work they perform and this ratification vote is a step in the right direction..
More needs to be done to make our neighborhoods safer and I pledge to work with our community and our law enforcement professionals to make San Jose the safest big city in the nation once again..
Sincerely,
Dave Cortese
Dave Cortese on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/corteseformayor
Website to Donate or Volunteer
Don't forget to Vote for Dave Cortese for Mayor! We need to get our City back to being safe again!
To go to the home page for San Jose City Hall, click here.