Umberg Asks Governor to Disavow Candidate : Politics: Democratic assemblyman says husband of 69th District GOP challenger, Jo Ellen Allen, faces business liens, suits.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) dispatched a letter Wednesday to Gov. Pete Wilson asking him to rescind his endorsement of Republican challenger Jo Ellen Allen, citing lawsuits and tax liens against her husband’s business and the couple’s failure to promptly pay $14,600 in back rent on the family’s former residence.

Although the Umberg campaign said the message was faxed to the Capitol, a spokesman for the governor said it had not been received and chided the the freshman assemblyman for “calling the press” before making sure the letter was on Wilson’s desk.

“Tom Umberg ought to spend less time on this sort of campaign stunt and more time explaining why he’s going to vote to put Willie Brown back in the Speaker’s chair for another two years,” said Dan Shnur, a Wilson spokesman.

Allen also reacted harshly to Umberg’s letter, saying it was a “total distortion” that would ultimately end up hurting the assemblyman’s chances in their race for the 69th District seat in central Orange County.

“I think people are so sick of this kind of personal attack that it’s going to backfire on him,” Allen said.

Umberg released the letter during a press conference that began in front of Allen’s rented home in an upscale Santa Ana neighborhood but was moved to a nearby restaurant because of a rainstorm.

In the letter, the assemblyman said Allen’s “family businesses” have been sued eight times over the past five years on a variety of charges and have been hit by five different state or federal tax liens.

“I am certain that at the time you endorsed (Allen’s) candidacy you were led to believe that she was a successful businesswoman and an upstanding member of our community here in Orange County,” Umberg wrote to Wilson. “Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

“I know you do not condone the failure to pay taxes, particularly when the state is financially strapped,” Umberg said in the letter. “Your endorsement of such a candidate would certainly set a bad example to the average hard working tax-paying California resident or business person.”

Umberg concluded by asking that Wilson request that potential donors to Allen’s Assembly campaign “first help her pay her obligations to California’s taxpayers” before contributing to the challenger’s political race.

Allen said the charges by Umberg were little more than a “cheap” attempt to draw the business dealings of her husband, Eddie, into the race “because they obviously can’t find anything about me or my background to discredit me.”

The candidate also said she has nothing to do with her husband’s businesses, a life insurance sales company and a business advisory firm.

“Contrary to what Tom would like to believe, I’m not involved with the business,” she said.

Allen is not listed as an owner or partner in any of the firms run by her husband. In addition, the only lawsuit that includes her is a February complaint demanding $14,600 in rent due on a Corona del Mar house the couple occupied until they moved to Santa Ana last spring so Allen could run for the Assembly. Allen said their former landlord has since been paid and the legal issue dropped.

She said most of the other lawsuits were filed because her husband’s business was suffering financial hard times and was late making payments to various individuals or organizations.

“The business had problems and it affected our personal finances, but we managed to work it out,” Allen said. “There are thousands of people in this state who have been in the same situation as us. I hope Tom isn’t as callous with them as he is being with me. The financial difficulties we’ve faced have increased my understanding of the difficulty people go through. And I’m not ashamed of it.”

Umberg, however, said Allen is “inextricably intertwined” with her husband’s business ventures because in California she can claim half of what her spouse owns or earns. In addition, he noted that Allen listed herself in a statement of economic interest--required of all candidates running for or holding elected office in California--as having a financial stake in two businesses run by her husband.

“It’s important that voters have an opportunity to get behind the campaign rhetoric,” he said. “The election is based not just on campaign issues, but an elected official’s integrity and character.” He added that Allen and her husband “should be taking care of their tax problems and other debts before moving into a big house” in the district.