Candidate for
Board Member; Southwestern Community College District; Seat 2

Mike German was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, and was graduated from Lew Wallace High School with Honors in 1970. In high school, Mike swam competitively, taught swimming at an inner-city YMCA and spent his summers as a lifeguard on Lake Michigan. He attended Wabash College as a Hoosier Scholar for two years, where he was on the swim team, became a member of The Sigma Chi Fraternity and was on the Dean's List, until he received a draft lottery number of 8. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1972, was selected as Outstanding Recruit in boot camp and served in the Sixth Fleet as one of it's first seagoing law clerks until Honorably Discharged in 1975. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1977, complementing his major in History with a double minor in English and Political Science, and again placing on the Dean's List. In his free time, Mike continues to swim, bicycle and travel. He is a member of the Olympic Club, and served as National Legal Affairs Director for the League of American Bicyclists from 1992-1994.

After living and working in Ann Arbor, Michigan for two years, Mike moved to San Francisco to begin law school at the University of San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1981. Continuing his interest in matters maritime, he worked during law school and afterwards with Acret & Perrochet, one of San Francisco's premiere admiralty "boutiques" from 1979 to 1984, first as a clerk and then as an associate attorney after being admitted to the California Bar. Mike was then a partner in the firm of German & Siggins with Peter J. Siggins, his longtime friend and colleague, who was recently appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Justice of the California Court of Appeal. From 1987 until 2000, Mike was a sole practitioner in San Francisco who handled cases throughout California, including San Diego. In 2000, Mike joined the California Attorney General's Office, where he first represented the California Department of Corrections and now practices in the Licensing Section protecting consumers' rights. Mike also served with distinction as an arbitrator in the San Francisco and Contra Costa Superior Courts, deciding cases for nearly a decade.

Mike's legal career spans nearly twenty-five years of practice. Because he has argued cases on both sides of key issues affecting not only Southwestern San Diego County but our larger society as well, he is uniquely equipped for the policymaking and management tasks required of him on the Southwestern College Board of Trustees. His legal work has been recognized as outstanding: four times in the past decade, Mike was included in "Who's Who in American Law," the "A-List" of the legal profession, as well as in "Who's Who in America."

Mike's interest in community service began with his run for the San Francisco seat on the California Bar Board of Governors, by focusing on getting the Bar back to its basic functions of enforcing discipline and overseeing continuing education programs, and away from engaging in special interest advocacy. While Mike lost this election, his first, his platform for Bar reform was later seized upon by then-Governor Pete Wilson in his own efforts to reform California's legal profession and has continued to be amplified since.

In 1996, Mike ran for and was elected to the San Francisco Republican County Central Committee, where he was soon selected as its General Counsel, a position he held through 2001. He quickly established a reputation as a law and order moderate with habits of hard work, strong, but succint and collegial, debate, and the ability to get along with his fellow committeemembers, despite their ideological differences. He was appointed to the California State GOP Central Committee and continues to be an active member of its Resolutions Committee.

Mike first became active in Log Cabin Republicans in 1994 and served as President of its San Francisco chapter, one of the first such clubs in the nation, from 1997 through 2000, after rising through its officers' ranks and reaffirming his ability to put on productive fundraisers. He had earlier shown this same skill as a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), where he was widely credited with turning its annual dinners into the organization's most profitable fundraising events. He continues to serve Log Cabin as President Emeritus of its San Diego Club, and in 2000 he received the Leonard Matlovich Award for his efforts on Log Cabin California's behalf.

After moving to Bonita from San Francisco in May 2003, Mike was elected to the San Diego Republican Party by his fellow Republicans registered in the 78th Assembly District, and he was reelected to that position in June 2006. Mike is active in civic affairs outside of the GOP as well, and in December 2005 was appointed as a Commissioner to the City of Chula Vista Board of Ethics, where his fellow Commissioners recently elected him Vice Chairman after he was reappointed to the Board by the City Council for another full four-year term.

• Mike has a demonstrated record of working for equal rights for ALL American citizens. His record in court and in the public forum shows he is not afraid to take on difficult or controversial cases or issues, from protecting the rights of all citizens and voters, to speaking out plainly on issues and controversies and offering workable solutions to resolve them. His knowledge of and experience in legal and administrative procedures like the Brown Act will allow him to provide Southwestern's Board of Trustees with skilled counsel, just as he continues to do on Chula Vista's Board of Ethics.

• As a Bonita homeowner, Mike is keenly aware of the issues presented in our community, both as they affect the College directly and the community overall. He supports efficient management principles, and will actively work to provide students with the best possible return on the lowest tuition rates possible, as he will strive to give faculty the maximum salaries affordable for the important job of producing qualified students at Southwestern, whether they go on to continue their educations or directly into their chosen careers.

• Because we cannot grow as individuals or as a society unless we are equipped with the basic tools to do so, Mike is strongly supportive of all efforts to improve our education system at all levels. As the son of a high school math teacher, Mike also recognizes that parents must be educated to ensure they provide a supportive environment at home in which their kids can and will want to learn. Together, a positive home environment and competent schools equipped with proper facilities, programs and teachers will ensure that we have the raw material - our sons and daughters - to meet the challenges imposed by an increasingly complex world.

• Mike takes Southwestern's role as a Community College seriously and will work to maximize our community's access to its facilities as strongly as he will support its academic mission. For example, I will expand community use of our athletic facilities and coordinate the College's community programs with existing programs in the cities we serve, so to avoid duplicating either but instead to complement and maximize both.

• Southwestern's enrollment has declined over several years; we must find and address the causes for this decline. While tuition was recently reduced, I would reduce it more if possible, to encourage more students to enroll and take additional courses once enrolled. From our faculty and staff, I would ensure that our students receive a complete and rigorous education that prepares them for their next challenges after SWC, whether it be their jobs or higher education plans. Grade inflation and "social promotion" have no place in any educational system, and I will strongly work to eliminate both from Southwestern, so that we send competent graduates into the business and academic worlds, which will advance both their individual interests and our College's community reputation.

• Southwestern's expansion plans must be realized in a cost-efficient, environmentally-responsible manner focused on educating, not retailing. I will preserve the plans for development of the corner lot previously agreed to, and will work to preserve and expand the green nature of our campus. Thus, I strongly believe that any additional parking should be built below-ground.

• Southwestern must partner with development of the new university proposed for Otay Mesa so that both schools stay true to their respective missions and neither duplicate nor reduce each other's programs. I will strongly support expansion of the Nursing program at SWC, and will look to embrace additional areas of instruction that will serve our communities' needs as we grow.