SACRAMENTO – Governor Jerry Brown today announced the following appointments.
Jacob Appelsmith, 47, of Oakland, has been named senior advisor to the Governor and director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Since 2008, he has served as a special assistant to the Attorney General and chief of California Bureau of Gaming Control. Appelsmith previously served as a deputy attorney general, general counsel for the Office of the Attorney General’s personnel and equal employment opportunity matters and lead supervising attorney for the Employment, Regulation and Administrative Section in the Office of the Attorney General. From 1988 to 2004, he was an attorney with Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. The position of director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $150,112. The position of senior advisor does not require Senate confirmation and there will be no additional compensation. Appelsmith is a Democrat.
Robert Craig McNamara, 60, of Winters, has been appointed to the State Board of Food and Agriculture. He has been a member of the State Board of Food and Agriculture since 2002. McNamara has been the president of the Center for Land-Based Learning since 1993 and the president of Sierra Orchards since 1980. Previously, he was a partner at the Bountiful Harvest Food Company. McNamara is a member of the Public Policy Institute of California, the American Farmland Trust and Roots of Change. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. McNamara is a Democrat.