David was born in Harvey, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His parents, both born in the San Francisco East Bay, moved back to the East Bay when he was 3 years old. From 4th grade to his freshman year in high school, he lived in the Sacramento Delta near Bethel Island. Occasionally, his grandfather would visit and they would fish for catfish off the dock. David has 3 daughters and 2 grandchildren, himself. David's first job was a busboy at the Bel Isle Club, a bar and Chinese restaurant on Bethel Island.

In junior high and high school, he was in a rock band, playing drums. He became interested in programming while in high school, going on to graduate from UC Berkeley with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. After working for 4 years at IBM, he joined two other ex-IBM employees with their own company. He specialized in credit card processing, being involved in the early days of PIN process and chip card development for credit and debit cards.

While working in the payment card industry, he met his current wife, Josette. They lived in the Castro district of San Francisco for 10 years before moving to Sonoma Valley in 2002. After moving to Sonoma Valley, David became interested in local issues, speaking in front of the planning commission, Sonoma city council and Sonoma County board of supervisors on issues including affordable housing, workers' rights, police oversight and the environment.

He enjoys hiking the many trails in Sonoma Valley, with Josette.