Bruin alum Michael Talei runs for Beverly Hills City Council

As a student at UCLA nearly 10 years ago, Michael Talei was on a path to becoming a doctor. His interest in computer programming and technology led him to Web development.

Now, he is looking to add politics to the mix.

Talei, an internet entrepreneur who graduated from UCLA in 2005 with a degree in psychobiology, found his way into politics. He is currently running for a seat on the Beverly Hills City Council.

But Talei has not always been politically involved.

After taking his first computer programming class at UCLA Extension at the age of 12, he said he focused primarily on a career in technology and business. Talei was passionate about the then-unexplored territory of Internet business.

When Talei was enrolled in Santa Monica College in 2001, he and his friend Diego Berdakin started a business to buy and sell domain names.

“(Talei) really understood the value of something that wasn’t obvious to everyone at the time,” Berdakin said.

He graduated from UCLA in 2005 and began working at News Corp, a media corporation. Two years later he left the corporation and went back to the Internet world, creating StudentFreelance.com, a website that connects students in the United States with freelance job opportunities at participating companies.

A couple years ago, Talei started to become more acquianted with local politics. He joined a month-long program called Team Beverly Hills, which brings together 10 residents to participate in the city and visit different departments in the city government. Talei said that he was able to learn about how the city worked through this program.

Later, he came across residents who said they were concerned about a proposed Metro line that would run under Beverly Hills High School, Talei said he found that he was at a place in his career that he could take some of his focus away from Student Freelance and turn it to the city council.

Talei’s family members often turn to him for information and advice, said Ben Talei, his cousin. When he was 15, Michael Talei had his own stock portfolio and managed his uncle’s stocks, Ben Talei said.

Late last year, Talei decided to run for a seat on the Beverly Hills City Council, which oversees the city’s day-to-day affairs, because he thought he would be able to make the council more approachable to residents, he said.

The L.A. native said he is running for city council because he thinks there needs to be more transparency in the council. Talei said he hopes to create a approachable relationship with residents that will allow them all to feel more heard in the community.

But Talei must go through several hurdles to be appointed as a member of the Beverly Hills City Council. He would need to win one-third of the vote in the city council elections, which will be held on March 5.

There are five other residents running for the three open seats in the March 5 election for city council.

William Brien, the current Beverly Hills City Council mayor who is running for a seat on the council, said in a city council candidate forum earlier this month that he would focus primarily on maintaining the city’s surplus and on finishing a outdoor restoration project.

John Mirisch, the current vice mayor of Beverly Hills, is also running for a seat. He said at the forum that he wants to continue to promote fiscal stability through practices like pension reform and supporting local schools.

Other prospective councilmembers Nancy Krasne, Brian Rosenstein and Katherine Cohan discussed mitigating traffic, reinvigorating the business community and supporting schools.

Talei has not yet been able to attend an election forum because they conflict with his work schedule, he said.

If elected, Talei said he would use his understanding of technology businesses in his position of city council member to make Beverly Hills a more appealing city for new tech companies, and would use Beverly Hills’ current resources to improve city programs.

Like Rosenstein and Cohan, Talei said he wants to use Beverly Hills’ $10 million surplus to subsidize school programs and emergency services.

Juggling between his political campaign and his work, Talei said he is in the process of training new people at StudentFreelance.com so he can focus on the city council if he wins the seat. He said his time at UCLA was important because it instilled in him a sense of community, while helping him toward his career in technology.

“In your early ’20s, everybody figures out who they are,” he said. “Whether I know it or not, UCLA has certainly had a huge influence on my life.”

Email Kirby at fkirby@media.ucla.edu.