SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
LaRonda Bowen, 60, of Pasadena, has been appointed small business ombudsman for the California Air Resources Board, where she has served since 2009. Bowen was sole proprietor of Bowen and Associates from 2000 to 2009 and was public advisor for the South Coast Air Quality Management District from 1989 to 2000. Bowen was a member of the California Writers Club, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs and the International Air and Waste Management Association. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $103,608. Bowen is a democrat.
Virgil Welch, 36, of Sacramento, has been appointed special counsel to the chairman for the California Air Resources Board. Welch has served as special assistant to the chairman of the California Air Resources Board since 2008. He served in multiple positions at the Environmental Defense Fund from 2006 to 2008, including attorney and climate change coordinator. Welch worked in multiple positions at the Planning and Conservation League from 2003 to 2006, including legislative director and legislative advocate and project manager. He served as law and policy associate for the American Alpine Club in 2002 and as assistant to the chief justice of Tanzania in 1997. Welch earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Texas School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $94,224. Welch is registered decline-to-state.
Stanley Young, 64, of Davis, has been appointed communications director for the California Air Resources Board, where he has served since 2010. Young was a public information officer at the California Air Resources Board from 2007 to 2010. He was owner and president at Stanley Young Social Communications and Marketing from 2006 to 2007, director of marketing and corporate communications at Jones and Stokes from 2003 to 2006, communications director at the California Natural Resources Agency from 1999 to 2003 and worked as a freelance journalist and author from 1985 to 1999. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,280. Young is a Democrat.
Rebecca Eisen, 62, of Oakland, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. Eisen has been a partner at the law firm of Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP since 2003. She was an attorney at Brobeck Phleger and Harrison LLP from 1980 to 2003 and served as a partner from 1989 to 2003. Eisen is president of the Oakland School for the Arts Board of Directors, where she has been a member since 2007. She earned a Master of Arts degree in English from San Francisco State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Eisen is a Democrat.
Ignacio Gonzalez, 49, of Ukiah, has been appointed chair of the State Mining and Geology Board. Gonzalez has served as director of planning and development for Santa Clara County since 2012. He was director of planning and building services for Mendocino County from 2008 to 2012. Gonzalez was senior associate at Pacific Municipal Consultants from 2001 to 2008, associate planner for the City of Healdsburg Community Development Center from 1999 to 2001 and planner for Mendocino County from 1986 to 1999. He has been a member of the American Planning Association since 1985, California County Planning Directors Association since 2008 and County Building Officials Association of California since 2011. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gonzalez is a Democrat.