Jose Esteves

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Jose S. Esteves
Esteves in 2011
City Council member of Milpitas, California
In office
1998–2002
Mayor of Milpitas, California
In office
3 December 2002 – 2 December 2008
Preceded byHenry Manayan
Succeeded byRobert Livengood
In office
7 December 2010 – 13 December 2016
Preceded byRobert Livengood
Succeeded byRichard Tran
Personal details
Born1947 (age 76–77)
Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines
SpouseSusan Esteves

Jose "Joe" Santos Esteves (born 1947) was the mayor of Milpitas, California.[1] A Republican,[2] Esteves was born in the Philippines and graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman before immigrating to the United States in 1980. He was elected to Milpitas City Council in 1998 and went on to serve as mayor between 2002 and 2008, and again from 2010 to 2016.

Biography[edit]

Esteves was born and raised in Dagupan, Pangasinan, in the Philippines.[3] Esteves graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with bachelor's degrees in civil engineering and industrial engineering and an MBA.[4] While attending the University of the Philippines, he was a member of Epsilon Chi.[5] In 1980, Esteves immigrated to the United States.[4] Later he attended and graduated from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government.[6] He had worked for the Santa Clara County Superior Court as an Information Systems Specialists;[7] retiring in 2013.[8]

Political career[edit]

Before being elected to public office Esteves volunteered for the city and was a commission member;[8] in 1998, Esteves was elected to the Milpitas city council.[6] He then became mayor in 2002;[3] he went on to serve three consecutive terms, then left office for two years, and was elected to be mayor of Milpitas again in 2010.[9] To serve one of those consecutive terms, he defeated former mayor Henry Manayan in 2006.[10] Manayan, who was the first Filipino American mayor elected in the United States.[11] Esteves unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2008, coming in last place (with about 27% of the vote) in the three-way primary.[12]

In 2008, he began work on getting a mural about the farm labor movement added to the Milpitas Library, it was installed in October 2012.[13] In 2012, he won his fifth term, receiving over seventy percent of the vote;[14] then went on to win re-election two years later in a three way race.[15] While in office, Milpitas overtook Daly City as having the largest concentration of Filipino Americans in Northern California.[7] In 2013, Esteves was the only Filipino American mayor in the San Francisco Bay Area, and worked with other Filipino Americans to raise money for Typhoon Haiyan relief.[16] That same year, to assist the city to remain solvent, elected Milpitas officials, including Esteves, reduced their salaries and ended their medical benefits.[17]

In 2014, the city of Milpitas approved the construction of an Asian-themed mall modeled after the Pacific Mall, in Toronto;[18] Esteves expressed his concern that while the proposed mall was in Milpitas its planned name did not mention Milpitas at all.[19] That year Milpitas was a city whose population was majority Asian American, and fifteen percent Filipino American.[20] Later that same year in 2014, seeking his sixth term as mayor, Esteves received the endorsement of Kansen Chu, Ro Khanna, the North American Punjabi Association, the Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and others.[21]

Esteves has campaigned against the Newby Island landfill, since at least 2014, calling for its closure.[22] This is a polar opposite of what the landfill is planning, which is expansion of its capacity which would extend its closure date to 2041 instead of 2025 as is presently estimated.[23] The following year, after a review of potential firms by the City Manager, a council member, and Esteves, Milipitas hired the firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP to litigate on the city's behalf regarding the odor issues caused by the landfill.[24] By 2016, the firm had received up to two hundred five thousand dollars for their efforts, and Milpitas stopped sending its trash to the landfill, instead contracting with Guadalupe Landfill in San Jose.[25] In 2015, in response to developers of property around the planned Milpitas station for BART suing the city of Milpitas demanding a reduction of development impact fees, Esteves opposed allowing one developer to pay less impact fees than another developer, as it would create a bad precedent.[26] That same year, he went on to approve an ordinance making 25 October Larry Itliong Day in Milpitas.[27]

During the 2014 congressional campaign season, Esteves and a city council member from Cupertino filed a complaint against Mike Honda with the Office of Congressional Ethics.[28] The complaint alleged that Honda's re-election campaign mixed governance and campaigning, a violation of House rules;[28] the resulting investigation continued into 2016.[29] In 2016, he could not run for mayor, having served the maximum number of consecutive terms that Milpitas city law allows.[30] In that same year, he opposed a tax increase proposed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, as he believed that "it doesn’t do anything for Milpitas.", instead supporting widening of California State Route 237;[31] the tax was then placed on the 2016 ballot and passed.[32] Additionally, Esteves endorsed Ro Khanna for the 17th congressional district;[33] Khanna went on to defeat Mike Honda.[34] He will be succeeded by Milpitas' first Vietnamese American mayor Richard Tran.[35] In mid-December 2016, Esteves ended his term.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Esteves is married to Susan; they are parents to a daughter.[6][21] He is a member of various organizations, including but not limited to Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, and the Rotary Club.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "City run by Fil-Am mayor named best small city in SF Bay Area". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Philippines. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  2. ^ Onishi, Norimitsu (26 February 2013). "Rivalries Begin to Emerge in a New Seat of Power". New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b Fil-Ams win in US polls Archived 10 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b Espinosa, Henni (18 November 2011). "Pinoy mayor shows passion for public service in US". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Fil-Am reelected mayor in California". Samar News. Catbalogan City, Philippines. Philippine News Service. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d Estioko, Elpidio R. (10 December 2014). "Esteves: Milpitas, California mayor sixth time around". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b De Castro, Cynthia (12 October 2012). "A Commitment to Excellent Leadership". Asian Journal. Burlingame, California. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Mohammed, Aliyah (23 December 2016). "Milpitas: Jose Esteves reflects on his years as mayor". Mercury News. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  9. ^ The Fly (6 December 2011). "Milpitas Mayor Making Bold Moves". San Jose Inside. Metro. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  10. ^ Bauer, Ian (12 August 2016). "Milpitas Realtor, community volunteer named Citizen of the Year". Mercury News. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  11. ^ Danao, Efren (9 November 2000). "Fil-Am re-elected as California mayor". The Philippine Star. Mandaluyong, Philippines. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  12. ^ "ELECTION 2008: Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors". Mercury News. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
    "Jose "Joe" Esteves". smartvoter.org. League of Women Voters. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
    "Official Final Results". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Santa Clara County. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  13. ^ Gwendolyn Mitchell; Marina Hinestrosa (26 November 2013). "Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves Recognized for Outstanding Service to Local Library". County of Santa Clara, CA. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  14. ^ Espinosa, Henni (9 November 2012). "Fil-Ams who won and lost in the US elections". ABS-CBN News. North America. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  15. ^ Bauer, Ian (15 August 2016). "Esteves returns for sixth term as mayor of Milpitas". Mercury News. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  16. ^ Colgan, Mike (14 November 2013). "Bay Area's Only Filipino Mayor Organizing Relief Efforts In Milpitas For Typhoon Victims". KPIX. San Francisco. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  17. ^ Barkin, Harvey I. (10 June 2013). "Popular Fil-Am mayor of Milpitas, California delivers". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  18. ^ Kiriyama, George (5 February 2014). "100M Asian-Themed Mall Proposed in Milpitas". KNTV. San Francisco. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  19. ^ Addiego, Frank (18 February 2014). "Pacific Mall targets opening in 2017". Tri City Voice. Fremont, California. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  20. ^ "City run by Fil-Am mayor named best small city in San Francisco Bay Area" (PDF). The Filipino Express. New Jersey. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  21. ^ a b Birkin, Harvey I. (13 May 2014). "Fil-Am Esteves runs for 6th mayoral term in Milpitas, California". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  22. ^ Bauer, Ian (12 November 2014). "Milpitas residents call for closure, relocation of San Jose landfill". Mercury News. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  23. ^ Bauer, Ian (12 August 2016). "Grassroots group aims to block Newby Island Landfill expansion until odors are mitigated". Mercury News. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  24. ^ Bauer, Ian (6 February 2015). "Milpitas hires litigation firm to potentially sue landfill operator over odor". Record-Bee. Lake County. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  25. ^ Bauer, Ian (28 March 2016). "Milpitas adds $35,000 to law firm's contract to address Newby Island odors". Mercury News. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  26. ^ Bauer, Ian (18 March 2015). "BART area developers sue City of Milpitas". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  27. ^ Estioko, Elpidio R. (10 October 2015). "Mayor Esteves leads Filipino-American Heritage Month celebration". FilAm Star. San Francisco. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  28. ^ a b Merl, Jean (26 September 2014). "Questions about Honda staff actions turn up heat in Bay Area race". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
    Kim, Elizabeth (15 July 2015). "San Jose Inside: Mike Honda and staff under Ethics investigation". AsAmNews. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  29. ^ Kurhi, Eric (27 October 2016). "Ethics probe: Rep. Mike Honda creates legal expense fund". Mercury News. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  30. ^ Mohammed, Aliyah (8 September 2016). "Milpitas: Five vie for chance to be mayor". Mercury News. Santa Clara, California. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  31. ^ Bauer, Ian; Kurhi, Eric (11 August 2016). "Milpitas mayor, transit advocate oppose VTA's half cent sales tax measure". Mercury News. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
    Bauer, Ian (26 November 2016). "Milpitas: Proponents of VTA's $6.3 bil transit bond say local roadways will be improved". Mercury News. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  32. ^ Richards, Gary (26 November 2016). "Roadshow: What the passage of Measure B means". Mercury News. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  33. ^ "Honda, Khanna Face Off In 17th Congressional District Rematch". Rafu Shimpo. Los Angeles. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  34. ^ McCabe, David (9 November 2016). "Ro Khanna takes down Honda in Silicon Valley rematch". The Hill. Washington DC. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  35. ^ Mohammed, Aliyah (10 November 2016). "Milpitas: First-time candidates elected to mayor, council". The Mercury News. Santa Ana, California. Retrieved 10 December 2016.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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