Jose "Joe" Esteves (born 1947) was the mayor of
Milpitas, California. A
Republican, 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
Esteves was born and raised in
Dagupan,
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...
, in the
Philippines.
Esteves graduated from the
University of the Philippines Diliman with bachelor's degrees in
civil engineering and
industrial engineering and an
MBA.
While attending the University of the Philippines, he was a member of
Epsilon Chi. In 1980, Esteves immigrated to the United States.
Later he attended and graduated from
UCLA Anderson School of Management
The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, also known as the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of eleven professional schools. The school offers MBA (ful ...
, and the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
.
He had worked for the
Santa Clara County Superior Court
The Superior Court of California for and in the County of Santa Clara is the state trial court in and for Santa Clara County, California.
The Santa Clara Superior Court serves the public by providing equal justice for all in a fair, accessible, ...
as an Information Systems Specialists;
retiring in 2013.
Political career
Before being elected to public office Esteves volunteered for the city and was a commission member;
in 1998, Esteves was elected to the Milpitas city council.
He then became mayor in 2002;
[Fil-Ams win in US polls]
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. To serve one of those consecutive terms, he defeated former mayor Henry Manayan in 2006. Manayan, who was the first
Filipino American mayor elected in the United States. Esteves unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...
in 2008, coming in last place (with about 27% of the vote) in the three-way
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
.
In 2008, he began work on getting a
mural about the
farm labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
added to the Milpitas Library, it was installed in October 2012. In 2012, he won his fifth term, receiving over seventy percent of the vote; then went on to win re-election two years later in a three way race. While in office, Milpitas overtook
Daly City
Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...
as having the largest concentration of Filipino Americans in
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
.
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. That same year, to assist the city to remain solvent, elected Milpitas officials, including Esteves, reduced their salaries and ended their medical benefits.
In 2014, the city of Milpitas approved the construction of an Asian-themed mall modeled after the
Pacific Mall, in
Toronto; Esteves expressed his concern that while the proposed mall was in Milpitas its planned name did not mention Milpitas at all. That year Milpitas was a city whose population was majority
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
, and fifteen percent Filipino American. Later that same year in 2014, seeking his sixth term as mayor, Esteves received the endorsement of
Kansen Chu
Kansen Chu ( born October 27, 1952) is a Taiwanese-born American politician. A Democrat, Chu was a member of the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2020, for the 25th District, which encompasses parts of the South and East Bay regions of the ...
,
Ro Khanna, the North American Punjabi Association, the Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and others.
Esteves has campaigned against the
Newby Island landfill, since at least 2014, calling for its closure. 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. 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. 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. In 2015, in response to developers of property around the planned
Milpitas station
Milpitas station, also known as Milpitas Transit Center, is an intermodal transit station located near the intersection of East Capitol Avenue and Montague Expressway in Milpitas, California. The station is served by the Berryessa/North San JosĂ ...
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. That same year, he went on to approve an ordinance making 25 October
Larry Itliong
Modesto "Larry" Dulay Itliong (October 25, 1913 – February 1977), also known as "Seven Fingers", was a Filipino-American labor organizer. He organized West Coast agricultural workers starting in the 1930s, and rose to national prominence in 19 ...
Day in Milpitas.
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.
The complaint alleged that Honda's re-election campaign mixed governance and campaigning, a violation of House rules;
the resulting investigation continued into 2016. In 2016, he could not run for mayor, having served the maximum number of consecutive terms that Milpitas city law allows. 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
State Route 237 (SR 237) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from El Camino Real ( SR 82) in Mountain View to Interstate 680 in Milpitas. Known as the Southbay Freeway for most of its length, SR 237 runs south of the Sa ...
; the tax was then placed on the 2016 ballot and passed. Additionally, Esteves endorsed Ro Khanna for the
17th congressional district; Khanna went on to defeat Mike Honda. He will be succeeded by Milpitas' first
Vietnamese American mayor Richard Tran.
In mid-December 2016, Esteves ended his term.
Personal life
Esteves is married to Susan; they are parents to a daughter.
He is a member of various organizations, including but not limited to
Lions Club,
Knights of Columbus, and the
Rotary Club
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Official page from the City of Milpitas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esteves, Jose
1947 births
American mayors of Filipino descent
California Republicans
Filipino emigrants to the United States
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Living people
California city council members
Mayors of places in California
People from Dagupan
People from Milpitas, California
San Francisco Bay Area politicians
UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni
University of the Philippines Diliman alumni
American politicians of Filipino descent
California politicians of Filipino descent