GILROY
– Christopher Coté has a telescope with a six-inch reflector
propped in front of his master bedroom window, to see the stars,
planets and galaxies that awe him intellectually.
The amateur, but serious, astronomer studied under Carl Sagan
and now helps sponsor a former NASA program bent on finding life in
other solar systems.
GILROY – Christopher Coté has a telescope with a six-inch reflector propped in front of his master bedroom window, to see the stars, planets and galaxies that awe him intellectually.
The amateur, but serious, astronomer studied under Carl Sagan and now helps sponsor a former NASA program bent on finding life in other solar systems.
With the naked eye, Coté can use that same window from his Welburn Avenue home to overlook a large portion of Gilroy – a town where Coté is making a new name for himself.
“I equate my life to a baseball game,” said Coté. “Sometimes you make an error and other times there are bad calls, but you don’t add up the totals until the end of the ninth inning.”
At 42, Coté considers himself in the fourth inning of life and now “ahead of the game,” when his many good deeds are taken into account. And that’s a good thing for anyone who shares his concerns for the environment and child health and safety.
Coté works locally and internationally on a myriad of projects positively affecting children and the environment.
In Gilroy, he helped pass an ordinance to ban cell towers, which emit radiation, from being placed near homes and schools. Coté also is actively lobbying Gilroy lawmakers to pass legislation waiving various permit fees for businesses when they construct buildings that use alternative energy sources like wind or solar power.
That bill, dubbed the Gilroy Energy Independence Ordinance, will be considered at the June City Council retreat.
Things were not always this way for Coté. In the mid ’80s and early ’90s, he got himself in trouble with the law for various business indiscretions. Coté never had to serve jail time, but his rap sheet ultimately included 10 civil suits, 13 small claims cases and five criminal cases. In one instance in 1988, Coté’s transportation company billed the Gilroy Unified School District for services he did not provide.
Coté has since made good on all his fines, he said.
“How is it that I was able to turn my life around?” Coté asks rhetorically. “I’ve held kids in my arms that died. I’ve seen children starve to death because their body couldn’t assimilate the calories we were putting into them. I’ve seen war in the Middle East. I witnessed a rocket attack by Hezbollah.
“Those are the types of situations that put you in touch with your own mortality. Those are the types of situations that make you wonder if you have a purpose on this planet and if you’re doing the right thing with your life,” Coté said.
The “right thing” for Coté is accomplished through a nonprofit he established called The Hollings Cartaway Foundation (phonetically named after his first distributor business that “hauled” and “carted away” goods). Coté is CEO and founder of the agency, which uses proceeds from $5,000 to $20,000 safari tours it runs in South Africa to pay for programs that help the needy there.
Among other things, Coté has used the money to educate native South Africans about HIV/AIDS prevention and modern-day farming techniques.
Locally, Coté’s biggest project involves real estate. He is developing five environment-friendly, solar-powered and affordably-priced homes off Wayland Lane. Once built, Coté will sell the homes – at under $490,000 – only to teachers, firefighters, police and Iraq war veterans.
“I think we need to invest in keeping these types of people in our city,” Coté said.
Coté said the money homeowners will save on power bills will pay for the cost of the solar power equipment that will be installed.
Stocky-built but soft-spoken, Coté talks often at a rapid-fire rate. The longtime Gilroyan – he was born in Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles, and attended school in south San Jose – lights up when speaking about African children and wildlife or anything connected to outer space.
Coté can recite with free-flowing ease the characteristics of his favorite animal, the cheetah. In the next breath, he can detail how scientists on Earth are using radio waves to – hopefully – communicate with intelligent life in other solar systems.
A successful entrepreneur at 17, Coté holds no college degree.
“But I did graduate from high school,” Coté quipped. “I do have a diploma.”
Coté, who appears regularly at City Council and GUSD school board meetings, says he has no intention of running for political office. He figures he has more influence running his foundation.
Gilroy politicians privy to Coté’s past remain skeptical of the man. But with sheer persistence and apparent sincerity, Coté is making inroads with them, too.
During the Wal-Mart Supercenter debate in Gilroy, Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilman Paul Correa were clearly swayed by Coté’s effort to get the retail giant to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Coté did not oppose the 220,000-square-foot store but insisted the Council make them account for not building a “green store.” Ultimately, Wal-Mart agreed to build a regular version of its Supercenter store while incorporating certain environment-friendly attributes of a green store, including an educational ecology playroom for kids.
Councilman Bob Dillon, who once had to serve court papers to Coté, is one politician still with reservations.
“I approve of the attempts he’s obviously making to mitigate his past life, but it remains to be seen if those attempts are sincere,” Dillon said.
Neither Dillon nor Coté would comment in detail about the altercation they once had. However, Dillon acknowledged it is still difficult for him to forget the past.
Nonetheless, Coté’s reformation appears to be making some headway with the councilman.
“I don’t want to throw out good ideas even if they come from someone I don’t like,” Dillon said.
