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EXHIBIT 31.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULES 13a-14 AND 15d-14,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Charles G. Cooper, certify that:



| | 1. |  | I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of Bay View Capital Corporation;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
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| | 2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
report;                                                                                
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| | 3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                                                                                                   
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| | 4. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
and we have:                                                                                                                                                            
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| |    |  | a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
prepared;         
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| |    |  | b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and                                                                                                    
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| |    |  | c) disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control
over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent
fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial
reporting; and
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| | 5. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of the registrants
board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):                                                                                           
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| |    |  | a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process,
summarize and report financial information; and                                                                                                              
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| |    |  | b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
employees who have a significant role in the registrants internal control
over financial reporting.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Date: November 14, 2003

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| |  | -------------------------------------------------------
| |  | /s/ Charles G. Cooper                                  
| |  |                                                        
| |  | Charles G. Cooper
President and Chief
Executive Officer