Herbert Perez Explained

Herbert J. Perez
Birth Date:6 December 1959
Birth Place:New York City
Other Names:Olympus
Residence:Foster City, California
Nationality:American
Weight Kg:83
Martial Art:Taekwondo
Rank:9th degree black belt in taekwondo
University:William Paterson University (BA), University of Lyon (MA)
School:Gold Medal Martial Arts
Module:
Embed:yes
Term Start:2011
Term End:2020
Office2:Mayor of Foster City
Term Start2:2014
Term End2:2015
Office3:Vice Mayor of Foster City
Status3:Recalled
Term Start3:2018
Term End3:2020
Successor3:Jon Froomin

Herbert J. "Herb" Perez (born December 6, 1959)[1] is a former US Olympian in taekwondo and a politician. He was a gold medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.[2]

Personal life

Perez was born in New York City to a Polish mother and a Puerto Rican father. He attended Rutgers Law School.[3] He did his undergraduate degree at William Paterson University[4] and earned a master's degree in sport organization management from the International Olympic Committee's program at the University of Lyon, France.[5] Perez became a city councilman and mayor for Foster City, California, where he is the owner of Gold Medal Martial Arts.[6] He has earned his eighth degree black belt in taekwondo. He served as chairman for the World Taekwondo Federation Education Committee and Vice Chair of the World Taekwondo Federation Technical Committee along with Steven Capener. Together they created and implemented the multi-tiered scoring system in place today along with the video review protocol.

Martial arts

Perez won bronze medals at both the 1987 and 1991 World Taekwondo Championships, and won the 1987 World Cup Championships in Helsinki. He was involved in a scoring controversy as the head of the Taekwondo team at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He starred as himself (with the nickname "Olympus") on the 1995-1997 martial arts TV series WMAC Masters.

Herb Perez became a prominent critic of electronic scoring in the 2016 Summer Olympics taekwondo competition. His career and criticism were highlighted in a feature story in the September 2016 issue of Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine called "Herb Perez: Modern Renaissance Man".[7]

Political career

Perez was elected to the council of the City of Foster City in 2011.[8] He was re-elected for another four-year term on November 3, 2015. He briefly served as Mayor and Vice-Mayor before being recalled on March 3, 2020, in the California Primary elections. Retired Police Chief and longtime Foster City resident Jon Froomin was selected to replace Perez on the council until the term for his seat expires in November 2020.[9]

References

  1. Web site: Herb Perez . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192740/http://reocities.com/johan_a77/HPerez.html . March 4, 2016.
  2. Web site: Olympic Gold Medalist Brings Complete Approach To Success . Delivering Happiness . July 12, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075217/http://deliveringhappiness.com/olympic-gold-medalist-brings-complete-approach-to-success/ . March 4, 2016.
  3. Web site: Who's Who: Herb Perez: Taekwondo . October 30, 2010 . USAdojo.com . June 2, 2019.
  4. Web site: Foster City Council Member Bios: Herb Perez . https://web.archive.org/web/20180207131604/http://www.fostercity.org/council/bios/Herb-Perez.cfm . February 7, 2018.
  5. https://www.goldmedalcenter.com/about-master-perez/ Gold Medal Martial Arts: About Master Perez
  6. News: Olympic gold medalist joins Foster City council race . East Bay Times . Aaron . Kinney . July 29, 2009 . June 2, 2019.
  7. Hayes. David C.. Grandmaster Herb Perez: Modern Renaissance Man. Tae Kwon Do Life Magazine. September 2016. 2. September 2016. 51–54. 4 September 2016. 28 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210428232537/https://tkdlifemagazine.com/subscribers-page-current-and-back-issue/. dead.
  8. In Foster City, Kiesel, Perez and Okamoto hold election lead. The Mercury News. November 8, 2011.
  9. Herb Perez recalled in Foster City. San Mateo Daily Journal. March 4, 2020.