Mr. Silva has spent the last 40 years in the development of public policy in state and local government. Silva spent 24 years working in state government; first in the executive branch for the California Council on Intergovernmental Relations and the Office of Planning and Research and later serving as the chief consultant to the Senate Local Government Committee. Silva was working for the local government committee in 1978 when Proposition 13 passed and assisted the legislature in developing the fiscal relief program and legislation implementing Proposition 13. In 1981 he was appointed to the position of Chief Fiscal Advisor to the President Pro Tem of the Senate. In this capacity, he advised 2 Senate Presidents Pro Tempore including Senators David Roberti and Bill Lockyer and the Democratic membership of the Senate on issues dealing with state and local finance.

In 1994, he accepted a position as Executive Secretary to the California Constitution Revision Commission, a commission created to examine the structure of state and local government, the state budget process, and the state-local relationship. Silva directed the staff work of the commission and developed proposals to restructure state and local government powers, duties and finance. From 1996 until the spring of 2006 Silva was Senior Advisor at the Public Policy Institute of California and authored and co-authored variety of reports dealing with state and local finance.

Silva received a BA degree in Public Administration from California State University at San Jose in 1967.