In 1923 Pete’s great uncle, Chris Farakos came to Tracy. He worked for the Southern Pacific railroad as a boilermaker on the steam locomotives of that era and then built and operated a number of restaurants in Tracy. After World War II Chris brought his niece, Pete’s mother, Dimitra, to America from Greece arranging her marriage to Nick Mitracos.

Pete was born in Stockton, California on November 3, 1948 (one month before Tracy Community Hospital was completed).

During the 1950’s Nick operated the Horseshoe Cafe on Eleventh Street. There was no I-5 or 580 or 205. It was all Eleventh Street. Eleventh Street was Highway 50 and carried all the traffic from the Bay Area to points east, north and south. Things have changed dramatically since then and in many ways they have not changed at all. Tracy is still the crossroads it was then.

Pete, along with his brother John, and his sister Angie, attended local schools and worked in his father’s restaurant from a young age. After graduating from Tracy High in 1966, Pete left Tracy to attend UC Santa Barbara.

In the early seventies Pete spent nearly two years traveling in Europe, the Mideast, and Asia. In the early eighties he traveled extensively in the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, Indonesia and Asia through to Europe. In 1987 Pete spent three months traveling in China and Tibet.

In the mid seventies Pete worked as carpenter with Union Local 701 in Fresno. After three years in Fresno, Pete moved to the Bay Area and began working as a remodeling contractor. In 1991, he moved back to Tracy into his old neighborhood and into the house where he was raised.

Since the early 90’s Tracy has changed dramatically. For the last ten years Pete has been closely following those changes and the city policy decisions that effected those changes. In the year 2000 Pete joined other Tracy citizens in a near year-long exploration of the issues facing Tracy called Tracy Tomorrow 2000. Pete served as Co-chair of the Land Use, Agriculture, and Open Space Task Force. Five task forces arrived at nearly 300 recommendations for the City Council to consider. Many of these recommendations are being incorporated into the general plan update that is still in process.

Pete has continued his involvement with Tracy Tomorrow. He was appointed to the Tracy Tomorrow and Beyond Steering Committee, and was recently reappointed by the City Council after serving a three-year term.

Pete is also a member of the Tracy High School Facilities Volunteer Study Committee. The committee reports to the Tracy Unified School District Board of Education.

Currently, Pete is self-employed designing and drafting custom homes, additions, and remodeling projects.

He is married to Mary. Mary was raised in Tracy, graduating from Tracy High in 1971. They recently celebrated ten years together.