2021 AAOC Legislator of the Year: Senator Tom Umberg
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he Apartment Association of Orange County (AAOC) is pleased to announce Senator Tom Umberg as its Legislator of the Year for 2021. Senator Umberg is an independent, deep thinker whose balanced, practical, and sensible approach as a lawmaker has made it possible for AAOC and the greater rental-housing industry to work with him to address problematic legislation and related policy matters. As the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Umberg is looked upon as shaping most every landlord and tenant legislative measure. Take for example AB 889 (Gipson), a bill that was set to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee. With only 11 days before the bill was to be heard, the author stripped the contents of the bill and made it into a controversial landlordtenant bill that would have required anyone who has a beneficial interest in residential rental property to disclose that fact to the Secretary of State (SOS). Changes in the names or percentages of ownership would have had to be reported to the SOS. Senator Umberg not only shaped the discussion during the committee’s lengthy debate on AB 889, but he was also instrumental in the bill’s defeat when it failed to pass out of committee. He took elements of AAOC’s committee testimony in opposition to the bill, and combined with his own reasoning helped provide the necessary guidance to keep the bill from advancing to the
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Senate floor. Should the bill have advanced, we would have faced an uncertain outcome. As a member of the California legislature, Umberg served three terms representing central Orange County in the State Assembly, working across party lines, authoring 76 laws, and bringing more than $563 million in funds to Orange County. As a member of the State Senate since 2018, Umberg has chaired the Senate Elections Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has also served since 2020 as a Trustee for the Judicial Council of California, the constitutionally created policy making body of the California courts. Umberg has also served our nation in both military and civilian roles. He is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who began his military service at the Korean DMZ and served three overseas tours. He retired from active duty in 2009, leading the U.S. military effort to attack corruption within the Afghan Army and Police, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone. He also served as a federal criminal prosecutor and had a 100% conviction rate, trying numerous white collar, civil rights and gang cases. Additionally, Umberg served as Deputy Drug Czar under President Bill Clinton where he was responsible for foreign drug interdiction, counter-drug intelligence, and international drug policy. The Apartment Association of Orange County appreciates Senator
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December 2021
Umberg’s continued public service, as well as his recognition of the threat AB 889 posed and his leadership in ensuring that the bill was held in committee rather than allowing it to progress further through the legislative process. We are pleased to honor him as AAOC’s 2021 Legislator of the Year, and look forward to continuing to work with him in the coming year.
