Countywide : State Legislators Tour County Firms

Five Democratic members of the California Assembly, including Tom Umberg of Garden Grove, toured Orange County on Thursday and met with Southland business leaders in the fields of high technology, manufacturing and retail sales.

The five legislators, each a member of the Assembly Democratic Economic Prosperity Team, began the day at a plastics plant in Anaheim and ended at the MainPlace/Santa Ana mall.

The issues that dominated the day’s discussions were state-mandated regulations and heavy taxes that cloud the local business climate.

“This is their chance to say, ‘Hey, this is what we need from (Sacramento) in order to prosper,’ ” Umberg said after a two-hour meeting with several dozen local business people who belong to the Technology Leadership Council.

After touring the manufacturing plant at Southern Plastic Mold in Anaheim, Umberg and the other Assembly members--John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose), Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame), Martha Escutia (D-Huntington Park) and Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles)--sat down with the business leaders for a wide-ranging discussion of issues affecting government and industry.

“What struck me was all of the machines (at SPM) were made overseas,” Umberg said. That observation came up several times as the business leaders made their case for eliminating some of the impediments to operating in California.

“In Japan, businesses are looked at as a national treasure,” Mike Noggle, chairman of SPM, told the gathering. “Here, businesses are looked at as a national treasury--something to take money out of.”

Umberg said he was pleased that he and the others had a chance to build a relationship with local business people.

After visiting MainPlace, the delegation met with representatives of the sports industry at Anaheim Stadium and with representatives of the savings and loan industry at an American Savings Bank branch in Irvine. Today the legislators will tour San Bernardino and Riverside counties.