SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Teveia Barnes, 60, of Tiburon, has been appointed executive director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Barnes has been senior deputy commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight, Division of Financial Institutions since 2013. She was commissioner at the California Department of Financial Institutions from 2012 to 2013, partner at Foley and Lardner LLP from 2005 to 2012 and president and executive director at Lawyers for One America from 1999 to 2012. Barnes was executive director and general counsel at the Bar Association of San Francisco from 2001 to 2003 and held multiple positions at the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association from 1986 to 1999, including associate general counsel and senior vice president. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from New York University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $147,252. Barnes is a Democrat.
Ruben Rojas, 50, of West Covina, has been appointed deputy executive director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Rojas has been executive vice president of global operations and sustainability at Dansure Inc. since 2011. He was senior associate for planning design and development at AECOM from 2005 to 2011, deputy director of the Los Angeles Community College District Bond Program from 2005 to 2011 and director of revenue enhancement for the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2005. Rojas served as chief of staff at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of Ambulatory Care from 1998 to 2000 and as executive program director of the Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County from 1993 to 1998. Rojas earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Abraham Lincoln School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $132,396. Rojas is a Democrat.
Nancy Farias, 40, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy secretary for legislation at the California Government Operations Agency. Farias has been deputy director of legislative affairs at the California Department of Human Resources since 2012. She was legislative director at Service Employees International Union Local 1000 from 2009 to 2012, senior vice president and counsel at Smith Ruddock and Hayes from 2008 to 2009 and counsel and lobbyist at Issues Management Group from 2006 to 2008. Farias was an associate at Wolkon and Pascucci LLP from 2002 to 2008 and a political consultant at Massachusetts Biotechnology Council from 2001 to 2002. She is a member of the Suffolk University Department of Political Science Board of Governors. Farias earned a Master of Science degree in political science from Suffolk University and a Juris Doctorate degree from Suffolk University, Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $120,000. Farias is registered decline-to-state.
Talar Alexanian, 20, of La Crescenta, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. Alexanian is a student at California State University, Northridge, pursuing a degree in journalism and public relations. She has served as vice-president of California State University, Northridge Associated Students since 2013 and was an upper-division senator from 2012 to 2013. Alexanian has been a student representative for the California State University Admission Advisory Council since 2012 and was an events assistant at the CSUN Matador Involvement Center from 2011 to 2013. She was an intern for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian in 2010 and a public relations and media intern for the Armenian National Committee of America in 2010. She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the National Society of Leadership and Success and the Public Relations Student Society of America. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Alexanian is registered decline-to-state.
Joanne Wenzel, 56, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief of the California Bureau of Private and Postsecondary Education, where she has served in multiple positions since 1998, including deputy bureau chief, transition consultant, transition manager and private postsecondary education administrator. She was a student affairs officer and career development counselor at the University of California, Davis from 1997 to 1998, loan program coordinator, manager and financial aid counselor at Arizona State University from 1994 to 1996 and federal financial aid specialist at Mitchell Sweet and Associates in 1994. She served as an associate financial aid analyst at the California Student Aid Commission from 1989 to 1993 and was assistant vice president and manager at Security Pacific National Bank from 1978 to 1989. Wenzel earned a Master of Education degree in higher and postsecondary education from Arizona State University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,664. Wenzel is registered decline-to-state.
Mario Campos, 51, of Canyon Country, has been appointed to the California Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee, South. Campos has been a security services officer at Tiffany and Co. since 1998 and a qualified manager at A-Team Security since 2010. He was president and chief executive officer and a qualified manager at Specialized Protective Group Inc. from 2000 to 2009, director of security and safety at the Mondrian Hotel from 1993 to 1997 and security supervisor at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel from 1991 to 1995. Campos was the director of security and safety at Le Parc Suite Hotel from 1984 to 1991 and assistant director of public security and safety at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel from 1989 to 1991. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Campos is a Republican.
Kathleen Thomson, 54, of Vacaville, has been appointed to the California Professional Fiduciaries Bureau Advisory Committee. Thomson has served as supervising court investigator at the Solano County Superior Court since 2006. She was a deputy public guardian at the Office of the Yolo County Public Guardian from 2002 to 2006 and was business owner at Global Asset Protection from 1997 to 2002. Thomson served as senior investigator at the San Francisco County District Attorney’s Office from 1982 to 1997 and a complaint mediator at the California Department of Consumer Affairs from 1981 to 1982. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Thomson is a Republican.
Patricia Lock-Dawson, 48, of Riverside, has been appointed to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, where she has served since 2010. Lock-Dawson has been principal and owner of PLD Consulting since 2003 and principal consultant for the Santa Ana River Parkway at the Riverside County Office of the Supervisor since 2005. She was the principal environmental consultant at the Riverside Mayor’s Office from 2003 to 2004 and an environmental programs advisor at the Riverside County Executive Office from 2000 to 2006. Lock-Dawson served in multiple positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey from 1994 to 2001, including ecologist, ecosystem planner and wildlife biologist. She was a state wetlands coordinator at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources from 1992 to 1994. Lock-Dawson is a trustee for the Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lock-Dawson is registered decline-to-state.
Samara Ashley, 34, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, where she has served since 2010. Ashley has been director of government affairs at the Port of Long Beach since 2007. She was an account executive at Cerrell Associates Inc. from 2004 to 2007 and a district field representative at the Office of California State Senator Betty Karnette from 2002 to 2004. Ashley earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Pepperdine University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Ashley is a Democrat.
Linda Clifford, 60, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Contractors State License Board. Clifford has been chief financial officer at C. C. Myers Inc. since 1986. She held multiple accounting positions at Continental Heller-Tecon Pacific from 1972 to 1986. She is treasurer and board member of the California Transportation Foundation and commissioner and secretary at the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Clifford is a Republican.
Kevin Albanese, 39, of San Jose, has been appointed to the Contractors State License Board. Albanese has been vice president and chief operating officer at Joseph J. Albanese Inc. since 2004, where he served in multiple positions from 1993 to 2004, including project manager, support manager, field superintendent and fleet manager. He has been an attorney at the Law Office of Kevin J. Albanese since 2009. Albanese earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Santa Clara University, School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Albanese is a Republican.
Andrew Moreno, 30, of Arroyo Grande, has been appointed to the California Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians Board. Moreno has been a project manager at the Economic Vitality Corporation of San Luis Obispo County since 2012. He was a grants manager at RM Associates from 2005 to 2012. Moreno is a member of the City of Fresno Civil Service Board. He earned a Master of Arts degree in communication and leadership studies from Gonzaga University and a Master of Arts degree in environmental management and sustainability from Harvard University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Moreno is a Democrat.
Delvecchio Finley, 36, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Health Professions Education Foundation Board of Directors. Finley has been chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center since 2011. He was vice president of operations at California Pacific Medical Center from 2010 to 2011, associate hospital administrator at San Francisco General Hospital from 2006 to 2009 and division administrator at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine’s San Francisco General Hospital campus from 2003 to 2006. Finley earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Duke University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Finley is a Democrat.
Diane Vanderpot, 53, of Livermore, has been appointed undersecretary of veterans homes at the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Vanderpot is a retired Army Colonel. She was senior policy officer for arms control at the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2010 to 2012, a professor at the U.S. Army War College from 2009 to 2010 and intelligence director for the Multi-National Force-Iraq Force Strategic Engagement Cell from 2008 to 2009. She served in multiple positions at U.S. Army Europe in Heidelberg, Germany from 2003 to 2007, including chief of intelligence operations and community commander. Vanderpot was intelligence director for the Coalition/Joint Task Force-Kuwait at Camp Doha, Kuwait from 2001 to 2002 and served in multiple other positions as an officer in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 2012. Vanderpot earned a Master of Science degree in national security and strategy from the U.S. Naval War College. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $135,012. Vanderpot is a Democrat.
Michael Joseph Smith, 46, of Highland, has been appointed to the California State Board of Fire Services. Smith has been fire chief at the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Fire Department since 2000. He was a fire apparatus engineer and paramedic at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from 1997 to 2004 and a paramedic at American Medical Response from 1991 until 1997. Smith is a member of the California Fire Chiefs Association, the California Tribal Fire Chiefs Association and the San Bernardino County Emergency Medical Care Committee. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Smith is a Republican.
Randall Goodwin, 56, of Davis, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Goodwin has served in multiple positions for the City of West Sacramento since 2000, including city architect and building official. He was design department manager and architect at the Ridge Builders Group from 1997 to 2000 and an architect and general contractor at Goodwin Kain Designers and Builders from 1991 to 1997. Goodwin is treasurer-secretary and board member at the Sacramento Valley Association of Building Officials, a member of the American Institute of Architects and an accredited LEED professional. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Goodwin is a Democrat.
Tracy Johnson, 52, of Oakland, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Johnson has been acting assistant superintendent of way and facilities at the Bay Area Rapid Transit District since 2012, where she was a seismic engineering manager from 2007 to 2012. She was a project manager at URS Corporation from 2001 to 2006 and at Seismic Engineering Products LLC from 1997 to 2001. Johnson is a member of Women in Transportation International and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. She earned a Master of Science degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Johnson is a Democrat.
Helen Knudson, 71, of Alameda, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where she has served since 2010. Knudson was a disaster response consultant at the Lutheran Social Services of Northern California from 2004 to 2012. She was a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare in 2001 and was an independent disaster consultant from 1992 to 2001. Knudson was a child welfare program evaluator at the Stuart Foundation in 1999 and an instructor for the California State University, Fresno Statewide Child Welfare Training Project from 1992 to 1995. She served in multiple positions at the Alameda County Social Services Agency from 1976 to 1992, including agency director and agency training officer. Knudson is the chair of Alameda County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and the vice chair of the American Red Cross, Alameda County Leadership Council. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Knudson is a Democrat.