Mayor’s Biography Lists Nonexistent MBA Degree

Carson Mayor Michael I. Mitoma has exaggerated his college education in his official biography, saying that he holds a master’s degree in business administration from UCLA when he has only taken extension courses through the university, court and UCLA records show.

Mitoma’s sworn testimony in a lawsuit against mobile home park owner and banking associate James Bradley contradicts the mayor’s biography, which says he earned “an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles.”

Under questioning by Bradley’s attorney, Randall S. Rothschild, Mitoma backed off the assertion that he holds an MBA, according to an excerpt from court transcripts:

Rothschild: “Is there any doubt in your mind as to whether you obtained a master’s degree from UCLA?”

Mitoma: “I attend--I did not get a degree. I attended schooling.”

Rothschild: “You did not get a master’s degree?”

Mitoma: “That’s correct.”

Rothschild: “So your previous testimony that you obtained a master’s degree is incorrect?”

Mitoma: “It’s an executive--Well, it depends. It’s an executive degree. Master’s executive business administration.”

Mitoma earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cal State Long Beach in 1969.

In a recent interview, Mitoma said he had earned an executive management certificate in a continuing education program at UCLA, but that the document was destroyed along with other records in a fire at his home in July. He could not recall the year he earned the certificate.

UCLA officials said they had no record of Mitoma having received a master’s degree or executive management certificate.

Mitoma said he took several night courses through the university’s extension service, an adult continuing education program, from 1970 to 1976. Citing privacy laws, school officials declined to say how many or what type of courses Mitoma took.

The extension office had no record of Mitoma having earned a certificate through the program but acknowledged that the office, for a period, did not record the certificates it awarded.

Mitoma says that the certificate is the equivalent of a master’s in business administration. However, Mishka Michon, a spokeswoman in the graduate school of management, said such a certificate is “not in any way comparable to an MBA.”