Former OC Assemblyman and Army Reserve Col. Tom Umberg has returned home after his 11-month military stint in Afghanistan, where he investigated corruption. He found lots of it. Umberg tracked where U.S. dollars went—often into the pockets of warlords or other unintended places. “Corruption is the biggest threat to our progress in Afghanistan.
The hope lies in the young people of Afghanistan who are fed up with corruption.” While overseas, Umberg continued to serve on the California High Speed Rail Authority board (chaired by another OCer, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle) and participated in meetings via phone. Since that made Camp Eggers a remote location of the authority, the agency was required by state law to have its meeting notices posted at the Army base. Umberg complied by sticking the monthly agenda on a storage locker …
Umberg, a partner in the Costa Mesa office of law firm Manatt, is representing the Association of OC Deputy Sheriffs against the Board of Supervisors, which wants to roll back retroactive pension increases granted to deputies in 2002. What’s tougher, being a penny pincher in corruption-happy Afghanistan or defending a public employees union at a time of heightened taxpayer outrage? “Fortunately for me,” quips Umberg, “the Board of Supervisors doesn’t have access to mortars” …
Speaking of Afghanistan, the World Affairs Council hosts a dinner Wednesday at the Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach featuring Ronald Neumann, former U.S. ambassador to the country, along with a fashion show of traditional Afghan outfits …
Another 20th anniversary: The Thomas F. Riley Terminal Building at John Wayne Airport … The OC Black Chamber of Commerce is spanning the political spectrum for its Thursday gala at Disneyland Hotel. Honorees include Wayne Quint, head of OC sheriff deputies union, and GOP conservative Tom Tait, civil engineer and presumptive favorite to become Anaheim’s next mayor …
Newlyweds: Sherry Lu, now Sherry Lu Ross, owner of action sports and urban fashion exporter Lula Apparel in Santa Ana, and UCI marketing director Bill Ross …
UCI law school students Mohammed Elayan and Sam Lam helped to block the deportation of an Iraqi refugee. Lam, whose own parents fled Vietnam, told the Daily Journal he was glad to “pay it forward.”
