SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Carole Goldsmith, 47, of Fresno, has been appointed to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Goldsmith has held multiple positions at the West Hills Community College District since 2002, including vice chancellor of educational services and workforce development and director of workforce development of vocational education. She was vice principal III at the César E. Chávez Adult Education Center from 1999 to 2003. Goldsmith served as adjunct faculty and director of faculty training at the Bakersfield, Visalia and Fresno campuses of San Joaquin Valley College from 1998 to 1999. She was a teacher in the Washington Colony Elementary School District from 1996 to 1998, an instructor at California State University, Fresno from 1995 to 1998 during the summer months, adjunct business faculty at the Heald College Schools of Business and Technology from 1995 to 1996 and program director at Social Vocational Services in Visalia from 1991 to 1993. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Goldsmith is a Democrat.
Michael Navarro, 57, of Modesto, has been appointed to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Navarro has served as a partner at Pires Lipomi and Navarro Architects since 2012 and was a principal architect at Lionakis from 1986 to 2012. He is a member of the Stanislaus County Planning Commission and the City of Modesto Redevelopment Advisory Commission. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Navarro is a Democrat.
Yvonne Addassi, 50, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy administrator for the Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response at the California Department of Fish and Game. Addassi has served in multiple positions at the Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response since 1991, including staff environmental scientist and environmental specialist. She was Proposition 105 coordinator at the Department of Toxic Substances Control from 1988 to 1991. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $95,808. Addassi is a Democrat.
Vanessa Baird, 54, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director of mental health and substance use disorder services at the California Department of Health Care Services, where she has served in an acting capacity since 2012. Baird has held multiple positions at the California Department of Health Care Services since 2005, including deputy director of healthcare benefits and eligibility, deputy director of health care policy and chief of the Medi-Cal Managed Care Division. She held multiple positions at the California Department of Health Services from 1993 to 2005, including chief of the Office of Multicultural Health, assistant chief of the Office of AIDS, chief of the CARE Section and chief of the Administration and Support Services Section. Baird was chief of the Cost Control Group at the California Employment Development Department from 1992 to 1993 and chief of the Administration and Support Services Section at the California Department of Health Services from 1990 to 1992. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $126,588. Baird is registered decline-to-state.
Rene Mollow, 50, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director of health care benefits and eligibility at the California Department of Health Care Services, where she has served in an acting capacity since 2012. Mollow was chief of Medi-Cal eligibility at the California Department of Health Care Services from 2010 to 2012 and held multiple positions at the California Department of Health Services from 1995 to 2009, including associate director of health policy, health program manager, supervisor and nurse consultant. She was an associate professor of nursing at Bakersfield College from 1989 to 1995 and was a clinical staff nurse at Kern Medical Center and Mercy Hospital of Bakersfield from 1986 to 1995. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $126,588. Mollow is a Democrat.
Johnny Garcia Vasquez, 23, of Oxnard, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission. Vasquez is a student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in ethnic studies. He has been a student assistant at the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law since 2011. Vasquez was a community outreach program assistant at the Health Initiative of the Americas in 2011. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Vasquez is a Democrat.