Chuck Reed
Chuck Reed is the 64th mayor of San José, elected on November 7, 2006. Reed was born and raised in the small farming town of Garden City, Kansas. His family lived in a public housing project, teaching him from an early age the importance of government aide for working families. A strong work ethic was evident during childhood as Chuck took jobs sweeping floors while still in elementary school, digging ditches, shoveling gravel and working in the fields before becoming a teenager and working part time operating a bulldozer and driving an 18-wheeler semi truck while in high school. Chuck left Kansas to attend the United States Air Force Academy and served in Thailand during the Vietnam War. He received a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University and graduated from Stanford Law School. As mayor of San José, Chuck is committed to improving the quality of life in the city, boosting the public’s trust in local government, and fixing the City’s structural budget deficit. Chuck and his wife, Paula, have been married for over 35 years. Paula manages a medical clinic specializing in the care of cancer patients. They have two children, Kim and Alex, who both attended public schools in San José. Kim is a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force with more than 100 combat missions. Alex works in Washington D.C. to help prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.