Mike Southerland
Councilmember At Large, Place 6
May 2006 - Present

Bryan has been home to Mike Southerland and his family since 1984. Before entering the service, he was a resident of Louisiana. A 22-year Army veteran, Mike retired as a Corps of Engineer Lieutenant Colonel in 1989. While in Vietnam, he logged more than 600 combat hours as a helicopter pilot and, later, served in many leadership positions — one of which was in a military community located in Germany.

In Bryan, Mike has donated his time and energies to the Bryan Rotary Club and Habitat for Humanity as president. He has been a volunteer for Elder Aid, the Boys & Girls Club of the Brazos Valley, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, The Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and the American Red Cross. As a director of the Bryan Development Foundation, he helped with Blinn College consolidation and furthered plans for a state prison development in Bryan. He is on the board of Keep Brazos Beautiful. He chaired the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall exhibited at the Bush Library and created and chaired an annual veterans parade in Downtown Bryan.

Just prior to being elected to the city council, Mike was instrumental in lobbying for creation of an ordinance further restricting the number of unrelated adults in a single-family dwelling located in a single family residential neighborhood. Since his election to the council, he has been appointed liaison to the TAMU student senate and as a member of the Brazos County Public Health Board, Texas Workforce Commission and the City of Bryan/Bryan ISD Committee.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science with honors from the University of Southern Mississippi. Mike and his wife Tana, a retired school teacher, have been married for 40 years. They have three children and two grandchildren. Ty and his family reside in Conroe, Mick and his family reside in Austin and the youngest son Matt and his new bride also reside in Austin.

Mike is active at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bryan where he sings in the choir and is on the parish council.