Governor Brown Announces Appointments

Published:

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.

Brian Peck, 54, of Huntington Beach, has been appointed deputy director of international affairs and business development at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Peck has been policy director at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers since 2011 and a lecturer in law for international trade policy at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law since 2009. He was an adjunct professor of international intellectual property at the Chapman University School of Law in 2010, registrar liaison manager at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers from 2009 to 2011 and an attorney in private practice from 2008 to 2009. Peck served as counsel for international trade and intellectual property at Crowell and Moring LLP from 2005 to 2008 and held multiple positions in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President from 2001 to 2005, including senior director of intellectual property and director of Japanese affairs. He was a general international attorney at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration from 1998 to 2001 and import department manager at FOR-A Company, Limited in Tokyo from 1992 to 1995. Peck was general manager of the Employees’ Welfare Association at the American Embassy in Tokyo from 1988 to 1992 and director of Far East operations at Wine Exports International from 1986 to 1988. He has served as co-chair for international trade policy at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Global Initiatives Council since 2008. Peck earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Peck is registered decline-to-state.

Kate White, 41, of San Francisco, has been appointed deputy secretary of environmental policy and housing coordination at the California State Transportation Agency. White has been an initiative officer at The San Francisco Foundation’s Great Communities Collaborative since 2012. She was executive director of the Urban Land Institute, San Francisco District Council from 2005 to 2012 and of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition from 2003 to 2005. White was co-executive director at City CarShare from 2000 to 2002 and director of Urban Ecology’s sustainable cities program from 1997 to 2000. She was a national field organizer at the National Low Income Housing Coalition from 1996 to 1997 and a project manager at the Carmen Marine Tenants Association from 1993 to 1995. White earned a Master of Public Administration degree from San Francisco State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $126,000. White is a Democrat.

Laurie Berman, 53, of San Diego, has been appointed to the Imperial County Transportation Commission, where she has served since 2010. Berman has been director of the California Department of Transportation District 11 since 2009, where she served in multiple positions from 1994 to 2009, including chief deputy director of project delivery, State Route 125 south toll road corridor project manager, design manager and senior transportation engineer. Berman served in multiple positions at the California Department of Transportation from 1983 to 1994, including senior transportation engineer, associate bridge engineer and junior civil engineer. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Women’s Transportation Seminar. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Berman is a Democrat.

Ryan Chamberlain, 38, of Trabuco Canyon, has been appointed to the Orange County Transportation Authority, where he has served since 2012. Chamberlain has been director of the California Department of Transportation District 12 since 2012, where he served in multiple positions from 2001 to 2012, including division chief of transportation planning, deputy director of planning and local assistance, division chief of local development and intergovernmental review and associate environmental planner. Chamberlain was associate environmental planner for the California Department of Transportation District 7 from 1999 to 2001 and a planner at Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas from 1998 to 1999. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Chamberlain is registered decline-to-state.

Basem Muallem, 54, of Chino Hills, has been appointed to the Riverside County Transportation Commission, where he has served since 2012 and to the San Bernardino Associated Governments Board of Directors, where he has served since 2012. Muallem has been director of the California Department of Transportation District 8 since 2012, where he served in multiple positions from 1989 to 2012, including deputy district director of program project management, deputy district director for maintenance, senior transportation engineer and associate transportation engineer. He served in multiple positions at the California Department of Transportation District 7 from 1983 to 1989, including civil engineer, assistant transportation engineer and junior civil engineer. These positions do not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Muallem is a Republican.

###