Mike Wasserman, Neighbor

www.supervisorwasserman.com Described as having “a head for numbers and a heart for people,” Supervisor Mike Wasserman was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in November 2010 after serving eight years on the Los Gatos Town Council as Mayor and Councilmember. Mike has been a resident of Santa Clara County for more than 50 years. He has proven that balancing budgets and maintaining high-quality public services can be done when the focus is on the people you represent.

Over the last 30 years, Mike has owned and operated several different businesses in Santa Clara County, including a financial planning firm, a property management company, a data processing company, and a sports memorabilia store. These endeavors gave Mike valuable hands-on experience in negotiations and investments; being a commercial tenant; being a landlord, a homeowner, and a business owner; hiring and managing employees; dealing with business taxes and licenses -- all the while, allowing Mike to talk with and, most importantly, listen to the thoughts, desires and concerns of those he worked with and served. Before running for public office, Mike spent more than 10 years volunteering as a sports coach for 300 kids on 25 youth teams. He was a Community Read-In participant, created the Zero Tolerance for Violence in Youth Sports program and has contributed in numerous ways to 100 different, nonprofit organizations. In recognition of all his community involvement, Mike has been voted “The Best Youth Sports Coach,” “The Best Volunteer,” and “The Best Civic Minded Citizen.” 

Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, Mike served on 29 local and regional committees, including the Association of Bay Area Governments, Guadalupe West Valley Watershed Committee, Santa Clara County Cities Association, Santa Clara County Emergency Preparedness Council, Santa Clara County VTA CODE Committee, Community Against Substance Abuse, Safety and Health is First Coalition, West Valley Mayors and Managers Committee, Downtown Streetscape Committee, Chamber of Commerce Liaison, and the League of California Cities (Peninsula Division).

Mike has helped to create and to enhance numerous projects, including the formation of a Youth Commission; a “Town Hall in the Neighborhood” program; a new police station; a Community Bus program; additional soccer fields, the multi–award-winning, nationally recognized Alive and Loving Life Project; and the development of a new, LEED certified gold library -- all while maintaining a balanced budget and not reducing services.

In 2004, he created a project he called “Community Unity,” where service minded individuals in clubs, churches, schools and businesses joined forces to work together to help seniors, children, parks and trails. This program won a Helen Putnam Award from the League of California Cities. In late 2008, Mike launched a community-wide outreach effort to educate the public about Project Cornerstone and the importance of developmental assets for young people. To date, this effort has reached more than 18,000 adults in 70 service clubs, faith organizations, sports leagues and businesses! For his efforts, Mike received an Asset Champions Award from the Project Cornerstone organization and a Certificate of Appreciation from the San Jose Junior League. Mike has a degree in Psychology from the University of Southern California and is a Certified Financial Planner. He has been married to his college sweetheart, Kim, for more than 30 years and they have two adult children, Nicole and Sean.