Jose was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and grew up on the Eastside of Los Angeles. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley (’91); a Master’s degree in Public Affairs and Urban Planning from Princeton University (‘94); and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law (’97). Upon graduating from law school, he practiced land use and environmental law at private law firms for four years. Noting Jose’s pro bono work and volunteerism in the community where he grew up, then Mayor Riordan recruited Jose to run for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

Jose served as a member and President of LAUSD’s Board of Education between 2001-2005. As Board President, he oversaw the planning and implementation of the largest school construction program in U.S. history, resulting in the construction of over 130 desperately needed new schools to alleviate overcrowding. He created a policy to expand access to college course requirements throughout the District so that every student could attain college if they wished. He also helped reform the business operations of the District and assisted small businesses by implementing a 25 percent small business goal for all contracts, while ensuring more transparency and accountability in the District by establishing the District's first ethics office and lobbyist registration system.

In 2005, Jose was elected to the Los Angeles City Council’s 14th District and was the first Latino immigrant elected to the Council. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2007, 2011, and 2015. In his final re-election, he won with a Los Angeles City historical 40 percentage point difference from his nearest opponent. During his tenure on the Council, Jose was fearless in creating policies that moved the City of Los Angeles forward. He championed successful efforts to address homelessness and the affordable housing crisis, protect the environment, increase park space, advance innovative transportation policies, and revitalize Downtown Los Angeles.

Jose led the effort to establish the City's first-ever committee on Homelessness and as chair of the committee co-authored and adopted the City's first-ever Comprehensive Strategic Plan to Combat Homelessness. In implementing the Plan, Jose led several successful solutions to help address homelessness, including being one of the architects of the voter-approved Measure HHH, which will provide $1.2 billion over 10 years to build 10,000 units of permanent supportive housing. To this day, it remains the largest investment by the City to address homelessness.

Jose helped create a new development fee, which will generate approximately $100 million a year for the preservation and construction of affordable housing. With Jose’s assistance, his Council District saw the greatest number of affordable housing units constructed during his tenure than any other Council District.

In a resounding victory to dramatically increase green space throughout the City, Jose sponsored legislation that will add approximately $30 million annually for new park space and maintenance funds through a recalibration of park fees that had not been examined since the 1970s. He has also brought hundreds of acres of open space, new parks, and park upgrades to park-poor areas of his district at an unmatched pace.

Jose was one of the City’s leading "Complete Streets" proponents. He ushered in groundbreaking pedestrian and bike-friendly policies that were seen as the model for the entire City—including the first-ever parklets, bike corrals, full green bike lanes, and road diets.

As Chair of the Environment Committee for several years, Jose led efforts to ban plastic bags, dramatically increase the Department of Water and Power's energy efficiency program, significantly increase solar power operations, and commit the City to get off a coal energy use by 2025.

As a strong proponent for economic development and creating cultural destination points, Jose steadfastly helped revitalize Downtown Los Angeles by increasing and reimagining its public spaces and promoting its economic and residential growth at an unprecedented level not seen since the 1980s. Thousands of new housing units and commercial space have been developed under his leadership, along with the promotion and assistance for new entertainment venues. Through his 10-year Bringing Back Broadway initiative, he assisted in the historical preservation of the beautiful corridor, and reinvigorated 6 of its 12 historic theaters.

Jose has been awarded numerous awards and distinctions, including profiles by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 25 figures in the Los Angeles Area that "stand out for their potential to shape lives" and by Hispanic Business magazine as one of the "100 most influential Hispanics" in the United States. He has been honored for his environmental protection leadership by the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club. He is also a two-time Streetsblog LA "Elected Official of the Year" winner for his work on multi-modal street improvements and for his efforts to combat homelessness. And, recognizing Jose’s work on supporting the rights of Mexicans in the United States and Mexican cultural events, the Mexican government awarded him the Ohtli Award, which is the highest recognition given to someone outside Mexico by the Mexican Government. In 2004, he became the first Latino to serve on the Princeton University Board of Trustees.