SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Janelle Beland, 41, of Sacramento, has been appointed undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Beland has been a senior advisor and caucus director for Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg since 2009. Previously, she served as chief of staff to Senator Leland Yee from 2006 to 2009. Beland served as principal consultant to and legislative director for Assemblymember Mike Gordon from 2004 to 2005 and Assembly Committee on Rules Chair Cindy Montanez from 2002 to 2004. She was a legislative and government affairs associate for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from 2001 to 2002, a consultant to the Speaker’s Office of Member Services from 2000 to 2001, and a deputy press secretary for the California Department of Justice from 1999 to 2000. Beland was director of broadcast operations for the California Channel from 1992 to 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the salary is $138,528. Beland is a Democrat.
Anthony Eggert, 39, of Davis, has been appointed to the California Energy Commission, where he served in 2010. Previously, he was a senior policy advisor at the California Air Resources Board from 2007 to 2010. Eggert was an energy policy advisor for the University of California, Office of the President in 2007 and an associate research director for the University of California, Davis from 2002 to 2006. He also worked for Ford Motor Company as a manager of the California Fuel Cell Partnership from 2001 to 2002 and as a project engineer from 1996 to 1999. This position requires Senate confirmation and the salary is $128,109. Eggert is registered decline-to-state.
Nanci Nishimura, 57, of San Mateo, has been appointed to the Commission on Judicial Performance. She is a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, where she has worked since 2002. Previously, Nishimura was in private practice in Los Angeles from 1990 to 2002. She was a legislative assistant for Senator Daniel Inouye in 1988 and was a law clerk to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in 1988 and the U.S. International Trade Commission in 1987. Nishimura was a member of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation from 2004 to 2008. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Nishimura is a Democrat.
Sandra Schubert, 48, of San Francisco, has been appointed undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Schubert has provided political, legal, and strategic consulting services for clients as a self-employed consultant since 2009. She was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center from 2009 to 2010. Schubert served as the director of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group from 2007 to 2009, counsel for Senator Harry Reid from 2005 to 2007 and legislative assistant for Senator Barbara Boxer from 2002 to 2005. She was legislative counsel for Earthjustice from 2001 to 2002 and environmental analyst at the Environmental Programs Division for the City of Santa Monica from 1999 to 2001. Schubert was also project director for Children’s Health Environmental Coalition from 1996 to 1998 and a program director for Beyond Pesticides from 1993 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the salary is $126,588. Schubert is a Democrat.
Adam Torres, 47, of Riverside, has been appointed to the Commission on Judicial Performance. Torres is a managing director of business intelligence and investigations at Stroz Friedberg. Previously, he was the United States Marshal for the Central District of California from 2003 to 2010. At the Internal Revenue Service, Torres was a supervisory special agent from 2000 to 2003, a special agent from 1992 to 2000 and a revenue agent from 1986 to 1992. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Torres is registered decline-to-state.