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Dave was raised in San Jose's Evergreen area when San Jose was growing up and changing from orchards and farmland into a busy urban area. Walking to and from Evergreen School, playing little league baseball, and working on mini-bikes were part of the daily routine.
His second grade teacher wrote on a report card, "With his ability and personality, he should achieve whatever he sets his mind to." |
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Dave was here when San Jose, the heart of the Santa Clara Valley transitioned from the very rural Valley of Hearts Delight to the center of Silicon Valley. He didn't just read about it, or learn about it from others. He was a participant and historical witness to the story of San Jose as it unfolded. As a very small boy, Dave had the profound experience of hearing President John F. Kennedy speak in Downtown San Jose. Afterwards, on his Dad’s shoulders, they stood on the curb along the motorcade route on Market Street, and Kennedy passed by them in an open convertible just a few feet away, flashing a warm smile. Dave vividly recalls looking right down into the car from his shoulder top seat, he remembers the cheering crowd, many with campaign straw hats, and his Dad saying "See David, there he is, right there.”
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Dave learned the importance of public service and sense of deep civic pride from his father, Dominic Cortese, a former Santa Clara County Supervisor and California State Assemblymember.
| Dave watched and listened as his father participated in the formation of the Valley Transportation Authority, the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments and more. Even as a child Dave often met business and labor leaders, as well as political dignitaries from all over the state, country, and world, who visited with his father at the kitchen table of their home. He vividly remembers meeting then-Governor, and future President, Ronald Reagan. |
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Growing up, Dave loved to be surrounded by relatives from both his mother and father's sides, the Donovan and Cortese families. Yet, he was almost inseparable from his grandfather, Vince Cortese, Sr., an Italian American immigrant who came from very humble beginnings, starting as a sharecropper in Santa Clara County's fruit orchards and vegetable fields. Vince, Sr. taught Dave the value of a hard day's work, and told him to always leave things better than he found them.
Dave's grandmother, Rose, worked each day alongside her husband. Together they employed thousands of fellow immigrants from several countries...often feeding scores of folks each day on their ranch. |
| Vince and Rose both had roots on Italy's beautiful southern island of Sicily, but they actually met as young people working in San Jose's canneries. They sponsored, supported, and employed many friends and acquaintances who also had the "American Dream" and came from not only Italy, but also Mexico, Portugal, and the Middle East. |
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Dave excelled at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, and attended Santa Clara University. He earned his Bachelors Degree from the University of California, Davis.
After working in the mortgage and banking businesses, including spending several years as a professional financial manager for a large corporation, Dave became the general manager of several family-owned ranching and real estate businesses that had been first established in Santa Clara County in 1917.
His diverse business experience includes selling agricultural crops, overseeing a vast real estate portfolio, building a 300-unit apartment complex, and owning a restaurant.
Although Dave devoted more than two decades of his life to overseeing his extended family's businesses, he managed to pass the California Real Estate Exam and State Bar Exam on his first try and eventually earned a Juris Doctorate in Law with certifications in environmental law and mediation from Lincoln Law School and opened a private practice.
Dave was elected to two terms as Trustee of the East Side Union High School District from 1992-2000, serving as President of the Board twice, always delivering balanced, on-time budgets.
While there, Cortese chaired the Evergreen Valley High School "new school committee" and co-chaired a successful $80 million bond campaign which led to the completion of the first new high school in Silicon Valley in more than 25 years. He was also a leader on school safety issues, new partnerships with parents, and innovative programs that required more rigorous curriculum and reduced the dropout rate.
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Dave was first elected to the San Jose City Council in the fall of 2000, and was the only Councilmember re-elected without opposition to a second four-year term in 2004. Soon after joining the City Council, Dave began establishing himself as a leader on the Council with his open and collaborative style of leadership. He listens to the needs of the people and then works with various groups to come up with win-win solutions.
In spring 2002 he mediated a compromise of one of the thorniest issues ever to face the City of San Jose, a dispute between landlords and tenants rights advocates triggered by a proposed "Just Cause Eviction" ordinance. In the end, tenants received an innovative program and landlords walked away with an ordinance they could live with. |
Of the compromise, the San Jose Mercury News wrote, "Perhaps Jimmy Carter should share this year's Nobel Peace Prize with Dave Cortese. The San Jose City Councilman's shuttle diplomacy has helped end a year-long conflict between tenant activists and landlords over protections from eviction."
In 2006 he was nominated by the Mayor, and in 2007 was approved by the City Council to become Vice Mayor of San Jose. |
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He lives with his wife Pattie in the Evergreen area of San Jose, and has four children, David, Jr., Gina, Angela, and Matthew. He is extremely interested in the cultural diversity of Santa Clara County and attends as many ethnic events and celebrations as his schedule will allow. His hobbies include attending Oakland Raiders, Oakland A's, and San Jose Giants games, playing fast pitch softball and camping under the stars with his youngest son, Matthew.
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