View source for Joe Coto

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Joe Coto
| image name          = Joecoto.jpg
| state_assembly3     = California
| district3           = [[California's 23rd State Assembly district|23rd]]
| term_start3         = December 6, 2004
| term_end3           = November 30, 2010
| preceded3           = [[Manny Diaz (California politician)|Manny Diaz]]
| succeeded3          = [[Nora Campos]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1939|9|4}}
| birth_place         = [[Miami, Arizona]], U.S.
| death_date          =
| death_place         =
| spouse              = Camille
| children            = 2
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| alma_mater          = [[San Diego State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Phoenix]] ([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]])
}}
'''Joe Coto''' (September 4, 1939)<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Coto|url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/6159|website=joincalifornia.com}}</ref> is an American educator and politician. Coto served three terms as a member of the [[California State Assembly]] from 2004 to 2010, representing the 23rd district.
== Early life and education ==
Coto was born in [[Miami, Arizona]], one of four children, to Mexican-American parents. His father worked in copper mines for over 30 years, and encouraged Coto and his three sisters to attend college. Coto earned a bachelor's degree from [[San Diego State University]]. He received his administrative credential from [[California State University, East Bay]], as well as a Masters in Business Administration from the [[University of Phoenix]]. He has also studied at [[Columbia University]].
==Career==
Coto began his career as a [[Social Studies]] teacher in the [[Oakland Unified School District]]. He worked in a variety of administrative positions and left the school district to serve as a City Councilmember for the City of Oakland. After his four-year term on the city council, he ran for Mayor of Oakland and almost beat a longtime incumbent. He returned to the school district and ultimately became Superintendent of the Oakland Public Schools in 1984. In 1988, he was recruited to serve as [[Superintendent (education)|Superintendent]] of the [[East Side Union High School District]] in San Jose, and served in that position for the next 14 years. In recognition of his contributions as superintendent of [[East Side Union High School District]], the Association of California School Administrators named him the 2003 [[Superintendent (education)|Superintendent]] of the Year.
As [[Superintendent (education)|Superintendent]] in San Jose, Coto supported Senate [[Bill (proposed law)|Bill]] 1051, an $80&nbsp;million increase in funding promoting diversity in San Jose's school system. The legislation has since brought close to a billion dollars to school districts in East San Jose over the years. Coto was also able to bring nearly half a billion dollars in grant monies and improvement bonds to the East Side Union High School District.
=== Politics ===
Coto was elected to the [[California State Assembly]] to represent [[California's 23rd State Assembly district|California's 23rd Assembly district]] in 2004.
New laws sponsored by Coto cover a variety of fields including educational bills providing support to underachieving schools, standards for math instruction for blind students, and over $30&nbsp;million to support English learners and flexibility in spending to support the educational program. He authored a bill to protect students from vendors trying to entice them with gifts to get them to apply for credit cards. Coto was also responsible for establishing an eminence credential for [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] languages to be taught in California's schools (cosponsored by Assembly member [[Tom Ammiano]]).
In the area of health, one of his bills provides cultural and linguistic training for physicians so that they can serve their patients more effectively and another extends the [[State Children's Health Insurance Program#California.27s Healthy Families|Healthy Families']] program so that children throughout the state can be eligible for health insurance. Working in collaboration with the [[California Chamber of Commerce]], as well as other employer groups, such as the California Federation of Labor, he authored legislation to fix part of the workers compensation system in a way that benefits both business and labor.
Coto recently completed a two-year term serving as Chair of the 26 member Latino Legislative Caucus. Prior to becoming Chair, he served for two years as the Vice Chair.
Due to [[term limits]], Coto retired from the Assembly in 2010.
==== Campaign for California State Senate ====
In December 2011, Coto announced that he would run for California State Senate to represent District 15, which includes the cities of [[Campbell, California|Campbell]], [[Cupertino, California|Cupertino]], [[Los Gatos, California|Los Gatos]], [[Monte Sereno, California|Monte Sereno]], [[Saratoga, California|Saratoga]], and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]]. Coto's campaign focused on improving education to create a competitive workforce, balancing the budget, and solving the issue of income inequality. He was defeated by [[Jim Beall (California politician)|Jim Beall]] by a 13% margin in the November 2012 election. The [[California Fair Political Practices Commission]] issued a $6,000 fine for exceeding contribution limits and failing to disclose more than $117,000 in expenditures during his State Senate run.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Giwargis|first1=Ramona|title=Former Assemblyman Joe Coto charged with hefty FPPC fine |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_28617135/former-assemblyman-joe-coto-charged-hefty-fppc-fine|accessdate=26 July 2016|work=[[The Mercury News]]|date=11 August 2015}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Coto and wife, Camille Coto, have been married for 35 years and have two daughters. Both daughters graduated from the [[University of California, Berkeley]].
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [http://www.joecoto.com/ Joe Coto for State Senate Campaign Site]
* [http://www.facebook.com/JoeCotoforCaliforniaStateSenate2012 Joe Coto for State Senate Facebook page]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeCotoCA Joe Coto Youtube Channel]
* [https://twitter.com/joecoto Joe Coto Twitter page]
* [http://www.smartvoter.org/2004/11/02/ca/state/vote/coto_j/index.html Voter Information] at SmartVoter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coto, Joe}}
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American politicians of Mexican descent]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California]]
[[Category:San Diego State University alumni]]
[[Category:California State University, East Bay alumni]]
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the California State Legislature]]