SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Graciela Castillo-Krings, 31, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director of legislative affairs at the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery. Castillo-Krings has been the legislative director for Assemblymember Jerry Hill since 2008. She was legislative aide for Assemblymember Lloyd Levine from 2003 to 2008. She is a member of the New Leaders Council and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $68,256. Castillo-Krings is a Democrat.
Joseph Countryman, 68, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. He has been an engineering consultant in private practice since 2011. Countryman was an engineer with MBK Engineers from 1987 to 2010. He was a junior engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1966 and served as chief of the civil design branch from 1983 to 1987. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $40,669. Countryman is a Democrat.
Clyde Macdonald, 68, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Macdonald was chief consultant to Assemblyman John Laird from 2002 to 2008. He was chief consultant to Speaker pro Tempore Fred Keeley from 2000 to 2002. From 1997 to 2000, Macdonald served as chief consultant to the California Assembly Local Government Committee, from 1996 to 1997 he was minority consultant to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and from 1982 to 1996 he was chief consultant to the Assembly Office of Research. He served as chief consultant to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee from 1976 until 1982 and consultant to the Assembly Water Committee from 1975 to 1976. Macdonald was a program analyst at the Office of the Legislative Analyst from 1971 until 1975. He served three terms on the American River Flood Control District Board from 1994 until 2006 and was a board member of the Sacramento Area Flood control Agency from 1994 until 2006. Macdonald earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $40,669. Macdonald is a Democrat.
Peter Sadowski, 57, of Santa Barbara, has been appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy. He has been executive vice president for Fidelity National Financial Inc. since 1999. Sadowski was partner for Goldberg Katz Sadowski and Stansen LLC from 1996 to 1998. He was a partner at Stolar Partnership LLP from 1981 to 1996 and an assistant attorney general for the Attorney General of Missouri from 1978 to 1981. Sadowski earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the St. Louis University School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sadowski is registered decline-to-state.
Emma Suarez, 49, of Redding, has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Suarez has served as an attorney in private practice on natural resource issues since 2007. She was associate solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2006. Suarez served as staff attorney for the California Farm Bureau Federation from 2004 to 2005 and the Pacific Legal Foundation from 2003 to 2004. Suarez served as an associate for Matheny Sears Linkert and Long LLP from 2002 to 2003. She was appointed to the Reclamation Board in 2007 and continued to serve on the board when it became the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $40,669. Suarez is registered decline-to-state.
Nancy Vogel, 44, of Sacramento, has been appointed communications director at the Department of Water Resources. Vogel has been a principal consultant for the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes since 2008. She was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times from 2000 to 2008 and staff writer for The Sacramento Bee from 1991 to 2000. Vogel earned a Master of Arts in Journalism degree from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Vogel is registered decline-to-state.