Dominic L. Cortese

Dominic L. Cortese (born September 27, 1932) is a former California State Assemblyman who served from 1980 until 1996. For most of his career, Cortese was a moderate Democrat, but in 1995 he gained national attention when he became a member of Ross Perot's Reform Party. He was the highest ranking elected official of the newly formed party at the time. There were international media reports of this event, including the fact that Cortese was being considered by Perot to be his Vice Presidential running mate in the 1996 election.

Cortese was born in San Jose, California, one of five children of Rose Carnova, an American of Sicilian descent, and Vincent Cortese, a native of the Sicilian town of Trabia who immigrated to the United States around 1917 and eventually acquired farm land in and near the Santa Clara Valley, growing tomatoes, prunes, cherries, apricots and wheat. As they grew up, he and his siblings worked on the family farms and continued to farm as adults. Though Vincent Cortese never held public office, he was involved in civic affairs in the 1950s and 1960s, visiting property owners outside of San Jose to promote the expansion of the city limits to the north, east, and south.

Cortese served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 1969 until 1980. It was his first election attempt during a period of heavy social unrest, and involved an extremely active campaign which led to his defeat of an entrenched sixteen-year incumbent. Cortese won two subsequent re-elections and during his tenure chaired the Board three times. He also chaired the Local Agency Formation District twice (during which the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District was authorized), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation District(which he was instrumental in creating as Chair of the Board of Supevisors and co-chair of the campaign to create the district) twice, and the Local Criminal Justice Planning Board created by Governor Ronald Reagan. He served as the Board's representative on the Regional Air Quality Board, the Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission, and ABAG. He was the Board's delegate to the local Economic Opportunity Commission (Federal War on Poverty). When the EOC was under threat of takeover by the Federal government, Cortese along with two other local officials founded the Economic and Social Opportunities Commission (ESO). He was asked to meet with President Jimmy Carter during the 1979 oil crisis after his proposal to support the President's "Windfall Profits" proposal and/or nationalize the oil companies was adopted by his Board and other cities and counties throughout the state. He was a founding member of the California Association of LAFCOS (CALAFCO) and was its President twice. Santa Clara County became only the second county in the state to adopt an ordinance which gave recognized employee groups the right to meet and confer and to negotiate wages and other terms and conditions of employment. He played a key role in the hiring of an Affirmative Action Officer and witnessed the signing of the Santa Clara Plan to phase in minority hiring within definite time constraints. Cortese headed a committee to bring to an end the long fought federal court battle over equality hiring in the Sheriff's office. This effort resulted in a vast recruiting and training program that culminated in the hiring of 60 Chicano deputies, approximately one half the number of vacancies. It was soon recognized that these officers were among the foremost in the department. He maintained close rapport with the local Opportunities Industrialization Center an affiliate of the national OIC founded by Dr. Leon Sullivan. Later the local program became CET, the Center for Employment Training. It was on his motion, after long debate, that OIC was given the community wide Federal Food Stamp Program.It was through his personal negotiations that the OIC was given a contract to train and place 100 new bus drivers for the newly formed Transportation District. During his first year, Cortese appointed numerous persons of Spanish surname to county wide boards and commissions. From 1969 through 1980, the Board created the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Human Relations Commission. During the mid 1970s a new eleven story administration building was constructed. "Dial-A-Ride", a victim of its own success, was commenced in late 1974 and abandoned in early 1975; said to have "too much demand with too few resources". Transportation "outreach" still exists. When the Angela Davis trial was assigned there, the County became the focus of international attention. Santa Clara County was one of the first major public entities to establish a smoking ban in restaurants along with one of the first comprehensive recycling programs in the country. The establishment of a central building permit center received national recognition. The Board asked the electorate to establish an extensive countywide rural parks program which allowed for the acquisition of numerous regional type parks.Two of those purchases,the pristine ten thousand acre Grant Ranch Park and the popular Lake Cuningham Park were in his supervisorial district at the time. In a letter dated October 2, 1975, John B. Dewitt, Secretary and Executive Director of Save-the-Redwoods League wrote to then Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Dominic L Cortese: "Dear Mr. Cortese, I want to thank you for your effective action to complete the Grant Ranch Park purchase. Future generations will praise your leadership and foresight in making possible this great public park for the people of the South Bay Area. The public will long remember your wise decision to make this park a reality. (Signed) Sincerely, John B. Dewitt" (Santa Clara County Archives: Grant Ranch).The program is still in existence.

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