Candidate for
Council Member; City of Orange

Michael R. Merino is the son of Chief Master Sergeant Mike Merino, United States Air Force (Retired) and was born in Berlin, West Germany in July 1963. As the son of a career Air Force non-commissioned officer, he and his family moved often but eventually Michael settled in the superb community of Orange, California. He is the principal and chief executive officer of Michael Merino Architects - a full service architecture firm that is also located Orange. His education includes graduation from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, in 1986 with a Bachelor of Architecture and graduation "with distinction" from the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island with a Master of Arts Degree in National Security & Strategic Studies in 2004. He is also a commissioned officer in the United States Navy (Reserve), Civil Engineer Corps and currently holds the rank of Captain. Michael is a licensed architect in California and holds registration with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).

Michael established his architecture firm after working as a project architect/manager with several other firms, both large and small, for more than twenty-five years in the southern California area. His experience during this period covered a wide variety of projects but focused on public facilities such as educational, civic/governmental, recreational, and other institutional buildings. Now, as principal and chief executive officer of Michael Merino Architects, he has complete authority for management of the firm including responsibility for business policy, contract negotiation, client relations, and supervision of the design/production process with the various clients of the firm.

In 2007, Mr. Merino was initially appointed and then re-appointed in 2008 to the City of Orange Planning Commission. In 2006, he was appointed and then re-appointed to the California Architects Board by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and served on the Board of Trustees of the Orange County Vector Control District. Mr. Merino has also sat on the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) Architectural Registration Examination Sub-Committee responsible for writing, editing and pre-testing the national registration examination. In 2005, he was awarded a special commendation by the American Institute of Architects, California Council for distinguished service. Michael Merino Architects is a two-time recipient of the Woodwork Institute of California's Wilbur Johnston Award for Outstanding Specifications and was awarded a citation for design by Fire Chief Magazine in 2005 for the City of Victorville's latest fire station.

Mr. Merino is a US Navy veteran and has served with a variety of units in various contingency operations, both combat and non-combat, including Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom and, most recently, Operation Enduring Freedom.