Michael I. Begert

• Office: Superior Court Judge, Seat 1
• Election Date: March 5, 2024
• Candidate: Begert, Michael I.
• Due Date: December 23, 2023
• Printable Version

Thank you for seeking GrowSF's endorsement for the March 5, 2024 Primary Election! GrowSF believes in a growing, beautiful, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous city via common sense solutions and effective government.

The GrowSF endorsement committee will review all completed questionnaires and seek consensus on which candidates best align with our vision for San Francisco.

We ask that you please complete this questionnaire by December 23, 2023 so we have enough time to adequately review and discuss your answers.

We understand that judge candidates are not permitted to discuss issues which they may have to rule on in the future, so this questionnaire endeavors to help voters understand your background and experience.

Table of Contents

• Experience
• General
• Personal
• Thank you

Experience

Please provide your credentials and general experience in the legal field.

I have had the honor of serving as a San Francisco Superior Court judge for 13 years. My judicial assignments have included Unified Family Court (child custody, dissolutions, property division, child/spousal support, domestic violence restraining orders); Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Dependency (CPS cases), civil trials, criminal trials, appeals, and traffic.

I have worked for over 30 years in San Francisco. Prior to joining the court in 2010, I spent 21 years as a lawyer at one of the oldest and most-respected law firms in San Francisco. I managed large teams of lawyers, legal assistants, experts, and others in complex trials, some of which lasted for months.

I have long-standing experience in the community. As a lawyer, I volunteered with numerous community-based and national non-profit organizations. I served on the board of directors for the Asian Law Caucus (board chair), the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium/Asian Americans Advancing Justice (board chair), and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (treasurer). I provided pro bono legal assistance including litigating a number of cases involving race discrimination and cases addressing the impact of Prop 209 on minority-owned contractors.

Combined with my lived experience, more than 30 years of professional experience as a lawyer, volunteer, and judge (all in San Francisco) has given me a depth of knowledge on a broad range of law. More importantly, it has provided an education in how to communicate with, and relate to, people from every corner of our beautiful, diverse community. By listening to people with experiences very different from my own, I have learned to see the humanity in everyone.

Please describe your experience prosecuting or defending civil cases, if any.

Before Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed me in 2010, I was a partner in one of the premier law firms in San Francisco: McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen. I spent 21 years at the firm, entirely in civil litigation. My experience included consumer class actions, environmental contamination cases, software piracy and copyright infringement, complex construction matters, product liability, landlord/tenant disputes, commercial contracts, employment discrimination, and civil rights cases.

Please describe your experience prosecuting or defending criminal cases, if any.

I have presided over more than 20 criminal trials. Since 2019, I have been assigned to Drug Treatment Court, Community Justice Court, and Veterans Justice Court. Defendants enter these courts because the DA agrees to refer them to me or a statute authorizes the defendant to participate. I give them an opportunity to address the causes of their criminal behavior, and I hold them accountable. When a defendant fails, I send them back to criminal court. I have been a judge for 13 years, and I have made countless decisions. A political group called Stop Crime Action has criticized me for two cases, and they have mischaracterized both of those cases.

The first case involved a highly traumatized, homeless, transgender woman with substance use and mental health challenges. She entered the Drug Court with a probation violation and a charge that was eligible under the guidelines agreed to by the DA. She was struggling in treatment. When she was charged with a new case, I sent her back to criminal court. In criminal court, she pled guilty under an agreement between the DA and public defender, and the DA agreed to send her back to Drug Court. She had some success in Drug Court, but never had stable housing and was repeatedly assaulted on the streets and in jail. She was charged with a new crime in May of 2023, and I sent her back to criminal court where her cases have remained. Every time she returned to my court, it was because the District Attorney's office agreed to send her back to Drug Court.

In the second case, the defendant was out of custody when he was referred to Drug Court by a different judge. He had been released to a drug treatment program by that judge and ordered to wear an electronic monitor. He violated the electronic monitor condition and he was arrested. His attorney filed a petition for mental health diversion. Mr. Mendez qualified under the law, but he did not agree to the treatment plan that the Drug Court case manager recommended. As a result, on December 12, 2023, I terminated mental health diversion while Mr. Mendez was still in jail and returned his case to criminal court. Mr. Mendez has been in jail without interruption since September 27, 2023. He was never released under any order that I made.

Please describe any other relevant experience the voters may find informative.

I have lived experience. My mother is an immigrant from Japan. She raised five children in a rural community. As a child, my mother would take me into town with her. She would drop me off at the Woolworth's so that she could shop at the J.C. Penny next door, and I remember the sales clerk following me around the store because I was Asian. I endured racial epithets at school. I have owned a home with a covenant that prohibited me and my wife as people of Asian descent from purchasing it.

My father served in the US Air Force for 20 years. I was born on McChord AFB in Tacoma. I have two older sisters and two older brothers. The seven of us lived in a modest four-bedroom home near the base. I took a school bus to the public school, and I walked home through cow pastures and a gravel pit. In the summers, I picked berries on the local farms, and I cleaned construction sites. During college, I clerked in a hardware store and sold children's shoes. I was never concerned about my financial security, but I always knew I had to earn anything that I wanted or needed.

I work in the Tenderloin five days a week. I have worked with the Mayor's office, the Board of Supervisors, the Department of Public Health, the Adult Probation Department, the District Attorney's office, the Judicial Council, and many service providers in the community to improve access to treatment. I have observed and inspected the county jails on 7th Street and in San Bruno, the juvenile hall on Woodside Avenue and the two juvenile justice facilities in Stockton, San Quentin State Prison, and a maximum security prison in Kern County. I conduct court every morning at the Hall of Justice and every afternoon at the Community Justice Center. I have extensive experience in the criminal justice system. My opponent has none.

General

Please describe your judicial and/or legal philosophy.

Protect the legitimacy of the justice system by following the law. Treat everyone with respect. See the dignity and humanity in everyone. Solve problems. Hold myself responsible while holding others responsible. Demand accountability.

What should voters consider when voting for Judge?

I hope the voters will select the person with the superior skills, experience, work-ethic, professionalism, courage, and personal integrity.

If you are the incumbent, please state why you should retain your seat. If you are the challenger, please state why you deserve the seat and/or why the incumbent is not fit for the job.

I am the most qualified candidate.

I have worked tirelessly to make San Francisco safe, healthy, and just.

I can relate to people in our diverse community.

I have the courage to make decisions based on the facts presented and the applicable law rather than political pressure.

I have broad support in the community. I am honored to have the endorsement of:

• State Senator Scott Wiener
• State Assemblymember Matt Haney
• State Assemblymember Phil Ting
• San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto
• Former San Francisco District Attorney Suzy Loftus
• Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin
• Supervisor Connie Chan
• Supervisor Myrna Melgar
• Supervisor Hilary Ronen
• Supervisor Shamann Walton
• Supervisor Dean Preston
• Vice Chair of California Democratic Party David Campos
• DCCC member, Bart Board member and former Supervisor Bevan Dufty
• State Treasurer Fiona Ma
• San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju
• Former State Senator Mark Leno
• Former State Controller Betty Yee
• Former Mayor Art Agnos
• Former Supervisor Jane Kim
• Former City Attorney Dennis Herrera
• John Avalos, Executive Director Council of Community Housing Organizations (identification only)
• Dale Minami, co-founder of Asian Law Caucus
• Eva Paterson, co-founder of Equal Justice Society
• Lateefah Simon, former executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and current Bart Board member
• Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus (identification only)
• Donald Tamaki, Member of the California Reparations Task Force

20 past presidents of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

47 current judges on the San Francisco Superior Court (two judges are prohibited from making endorsements)

• Hon. Donna Hitchens (retired), Founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights
• Hon. Nancy L. Davis (retired), Co-founder of Equal Rights Advocates
• Justice Jim Humes, Administrative Presiding Justice, First Appellate Dist., Div. 1
• Justice Therese M. Stewart, Presiding Justice, First Appellate Dist., Div. 2
• Justice Teri L. Jackson, Presiding Justice, First Appellate Dist., Div. 5
• Hon. Vicky Kolakowski, Alameda County Superior Court
• San Francisco Women's Political Committee
• Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club
• Asian American Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area
• California Asian Pacific American Bar Association
• San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association
• The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California
• San Francisco Tenants Union
• Bernal Heights Democratic Club
• San Francisco Berniecrats
• League of Pissed Off Voters

Personal

Tell us a bit about yourself!

See above.

How long have you lived in San Francisco? What brought you here and what keeps you here?

I moved to San Francisco in 1989. I came here because the community represented my values. It was before cell phones, e-mail, and dot-coms. Silicon Valley was still a separate place. People were not coming to San Francisco to get rich. I came for the culture, the food, the urban atmosphere, and most of all the people.

I rented an apartment in Cow Hollow. When my father died, I used my small inheritance for a down payment on a loft condo in SOMA in 1991. I watched that neighborhood blossom. I met my wife, we had our first child in 2003, and we moved to Potrero Hill. I had twins in 2006. My oldest child had some learning challenges. We spent two years trying to find her the best possible school. We were not accepted into any of the independent schools, and we could not make our lives work with the public school in which she was placed across town. In 2009, just before she turned six, we made the difficult decision to move to Piedmont. She is now a sophomore in college.

I have worked in San Francisco for over 30 years. For more than four years, I have worked in the Tenderloin.

What do you love most about San Francisco?

I love the people. In particular, I love the diversity.

I love the culture: the ballet, the modern dance, the opera, the symphony, the jazz center, the clubs, the de Young, SFMOMA, the Asian Art Museum, the Exploratorium, and the neighborhoods.

I love the food.

I love the way I feel when I return from a trip and the skyline comes into view.

What do you dislike the most about San Francisco?

I don't like it when we don't work together towards our common goals.

Tell us about your current involvement in the community (e.g., volunteer groups, neighborhood associations, civic and professional organizations, etc.)

I have worked to increase civic engagement through court programs. I advocated for the creation of the court's Equity, Fairness and Inclusion Committee, which I currently chair. I have engaged in reaching out to underrepresented communities in the Tenderloin and Western Addition. I have taught mock trial to high school students. I have mentored judicial candidates through the Asian American Bar Association.

I am currently on the Asian Law Caucus Advisory Board, the California Asian Pacific American Judges Association, and the California Judges Association. I am on the Collaborative Courts Committee of the California Judges Association. I was chosen to build and now lead San Francisco's Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court. In my role as the judge of four different treatment courts, I have advocated to the Mayor's office, the Board of Supervisors, the Governor's office, CalHHS, and the Department of Public Health for more and better housing and treatment resources. I will continue these efforts.

I have attended three conferences of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and numerous state programs on treatment courts. I pioneered a Restorative Justice Pilot Program within Community Justice Court. I have facilitated successful restorative justice circles, and I have been asked to speak at restorative justice educational conferences.

What are the top three things you think need to change about San Francisco?

We need to work together. A world-class city will always face complex challenges. We have the talent and resources to do better, but we need to coordinate what we have and reduce finger-pointing.

We need to recognize what we have in common. We all want a safe, healthy, beautiful, vibrant community.

Thank you

Thank you for giving us your time and answering our questionnaire. We look forward to reading your answers and considering your candidacy!