About Councilman McGirr

Councilman Brad McGirr earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton, majoring in Geography with an emphasis in Land Use Analysis and City Planning. While employed as a Contracts and Legislative Analyst at Pacific Life, Brad attended Western State University College of Law, graduating in 1985 with Scholastic Merit.
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Brad is an attorney and currently serves as a private Mediator and Arbitrator. He has served as a Pro Tem Judge for the Superior Court of Orange County, and as a court-appointed Arbitrator and Mediator. He's received the prestigious “Super Lawyers” award, a designation reserved for those who have attained the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. His peers in the legal profession have also awarded Brad the highest possible ranking for legal ability and ethics.
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Brad was active in campaigning against the development of an international airport at El Toro Marine Base, and has volunteered countless hours serving with the Special Olympics of Southern California, the Saddleback Valley YMCA, and Big Brothers of Orange County. He devoted over 15 years coaching youth sports, volunteering his time and energies to Tijeras Creek Little League, Santa Margarita Little League, AYSO, and National Junior Basketball.

Brad was appointed to the Rancho Santa Margarita Planning Commission in 2010, and was thereafter elected to the Rancho Santa Margarita City Council in 2012. He served our community as our Mayor in 2015 and again during the COVID pandemic in 2020. 

Brad is a member of the Board of Directors for the Orange County Fire Authority and has served as our city's representative with the Community Associations of Rancho, the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, the South Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Committee, and the South Orange County Association of Mayors.
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Brad has called Rancho Santa Margarita his home since the Fall of 1986. In fact, after meeting on a scuba diving trip, he and his future wife, Julie, enjoyed their first date in Rancho Santa Margarita; a picnic at the lake. Brad and Julie married in 1990, and they’ve raised their three children in Rancho Santa Margarita.  

Julie is a Professor of English as a Second Language (ESL) and has served as the Chair of the ESL Department at Saddleback College. She is also very involved in our community and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of RSM Cares and as a member of the Rancho Family Fest Organizing Committee.