Wednesday, April 15, 1998
Life-affirming experience gives Gottlieb courage to effect
change
PROFILE: Former UCLA econ student takes aim at congress seat
By Claudia Flores
Daily Bruin Contributor
Fourteen years ago Michael Gottlieb’s passion for sports put his
life in danger.
Strenuous weight lifting caused a blood clot to form in his body
which had the potential to end his life.
"It was a period of three days when (my family and I) didn’t
know what was going to happen, and that critical time proved to be
a true test of character," Gottlieb explained.
"It was during that time that I certainly hoped I had a purpose
here on this earth to get me through," he added.
But after surviving his near death experience, Gottlieb realized
his purpose was to exercise his leadership abilities in politics to
the fullest extent.
Now he’s a Republican candidate in California’s 29th
congressional district, which includes Westwood, Brentwood and
Hollywood. He is running against Democratic incumbent Henry Waxman
and Republican Dave Churchman.
A 1985 UCLA graduate with a bachelor’s degree in economics,
Gottlieb served as president of Kappa Sigma and worked at the Daily
Bruin.
While at UCLA, he played on the rugby team during his sophomore
and junior years. Still, his No. 1 sport continues to be football,
and he takes great pride in having scored a 99-yard touchdown
during the 1982 Blood Bowl, an annual competition between the
staffs of the Daily Bruin and the Daily Trojan.
After graduating from UCLA, Gottlieb attended Georgetown
University because "(he) loved the Jesuits, which Georgetown is,
and (he) really wanted to be in Washington, D.C."
"Also Georgetown had Patrick Ewing and Columbia had lost 40
football games in a row, so there you go. Patrick helped me in that
decision," he added.
Through his education there, he realized how poorly government
and business work together, a continuing belief of his. He also
believes that businesses must take a more active part in the
community.
Gottlieb says that the business community must play an active
role in identifying the problems in its community and take steps
toward solving those problems.
As a managing partner and senior vice president of George Smith
Partners, Inc., a leading commercial mortgage-brokering firm in
Century City, he has taken the responsibility to redevelop
economically depressed areas of Los Angeles.
As a congressman, Gottlieb plans to intertwine his strong
economics background with congressional politics in order to make a
stronger connection between Angelenos’ interests and Congress.
"There are too many politicians who don’t know enough about the
real world, and too many businessmen who don’t know enough about
politics," Gottlieb said.
"New ideas and the principles of business, action,
accountability and service must be brought together to ensure that
the country can succeed," he added.
Gottlieb plans to strengthen the pathways of communication
between Los Angeles and Washington by implementing different focus
groups on healthcare, education and businesses.
An example of a focus group is that of a CEO roundtable,
including community business leaders working together to identify
problems and reaching a consensus as to how to solve those
problems.
"I really believe that certain people have leadership qualities
and are meant to be leaders. A lot of those people happen to be
chief executive officers of companies in the business wold,"
Gottlieb said.
"Too many of those people chose to stand on the sidelines. I
can’t do that. I owe it to myself, as a leader, to try. And as a
leader I have a responsibility to the people. Only after doing so
can I enjoy life," he added.
Gottlieb has already executed his leadership responsibility by
co-founding the Westcoast Sports Associates (WSA) in 1995.
WSA is a charitable organization of members with diverse
business and personal backgrounds intertwined with sports, whose
goal is to raise money for underprivileged youth sports
programs.
They have accomplished this goal through adopting Jim Gilliam
Park located in South Central Los Angeles and by raising money to
offer under-privileged kids the opportunity to play sports.
After their involvement, children were able to receive uniforms,
trophies and have referees without having to pay costly fees.
This sports program also gave the children initiative to stay in
school and raise their grades as a result of the minimum GPA
requirement.
"I didn’t realize how few of those kids stayed in school!"
Gottlieb exclaimed.
Gottlieb received recognition from the president of the Board of
Recreation and Park Commissioners, Steven L. Soboroff under Richard
Riordan for his significant contributions to the WSA.
"You can see how much of a difference you can make in the lives
of the many thousands of Angelenos that use Gilliam and other
recreation facilities through out Los Angeles," Soboroff wrote to
Gottlieb in a letter of appreciation.
In 1992 Gottlieb ran the New York Marathon and donated the
pledges to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Los Angeles to send
Joaquin Grijalva, a nine-year-old boy with leukemia, to Walt Disney
World in Florida.
For this, Gottlieb received presidential recognition.
"Any definition of a successful life must include service to
others. (Gottlieb) exemplifies many of our nation’s most cherished
traditions," wrote former President Bush in a letter of
congratulations.
Gottlieb was also a co-founder of the UCLA Real Estate Alumni
Group, who donates all of the money raised by membership dues to
the UCLA Annual Fund.
"I’m real world, I am a centrist … a moderate. I am
progressive on the social issues, but the quality of life is
important," Gottlieb said.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Mike Gottlieb, an alumni of UCLA, is running for congress.