SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced seven appointments in the Office of the Governor. Some of the appointments are reassignments and others fill vacancies from recent staff departures.
Dana Williamson, 41, of Elk Grove, has been named cabinet secretary in the Office of the Governor. Williamson has been senior advisor to the Governor since 2011. She was director of public affairs at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company from 2006 to 2011. Williamson was communications director in the California State Assembly Majority Leader’s Office from 2004 to 2006 and associate vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte from 2002 to 2004. She served as deputy communications director in the Office of Governor Gray Davis in 2002 and was deputy political director for the Governor Davis re-election campaign from 2001 to 2002. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,008. Williamson is a Democrat.
Wade Crowfoot, 40, of Oakland, has been appointed deputy cabinet secretary and senior advisor in the Office of the Governor. Crowfoot has served as deputy director at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research since 2011. He was west coast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund from 2009 to 2011. Crowfoot served as environmental advisor and director of governmental affairs for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from 2004 to 2009. He worked for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2000 to 2003, was project director at David Binder Research from 1998 to 2000 and an associate at Economics Research Associates from 1996 to 1998. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,008. Crowfoot is a Democrat.
Joginder Dhillon, 52, of Sacramento, has been appointed senior advisor for tribal negotiations in the Office of the Governor. Dhillon has served in multiple positions at the California Gambling Control Commission since 2009, including chief counsel and acting executive director. He was general counsel at the California Emergency Management Agency from 2007 to 2009, director of academic support at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law from 2005 to 2007 and an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2004 to 2005. Dhillon was an associate and shareholder at Schuering Zimmerman Scully and Doyle LLP from 2002 to 2004. He served as legal advisor at the U.S. Space Command and at the North American Aerospace Defense Command from 2001 to 2002 and was chief of operational law from 1999 to 2001. Dhillon served in multiple positions at the Air Force Legal Services Agency from 1994 to 1998, including deputy chief of the Military Personnel Branch’s Litigation Division and Labor Counsel at the Central Labor Law Office. He was an assistant professor of law at the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1991 to 1994 and assistant staff judge advocate and area defense counsel at Howard Air Force Base from 1988 to 1991. Dhillon earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law School and a Master of Law degree in intellectual property law from the University of Houston Law Center. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $152,076. Dhillon is registered decline-to-state.
Daniel Powell, 35, of San Francisco, has been appointed deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of the Governor. Powell has been deputy attorney general of the Government Law Section at the California Department of Justice since 2008. He was a litigation associate at Munger Tolles and Olson LLP from 2005 to 2008, a judicial clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens from 2004 to 2005 and for Judge William A. Fletcher at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004. Powell earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Chicago Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $119,424. Powell is a Democrat.
Jim Evans, 44, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy press secretary in the Office of the Governor. Evans served as consultant in the Senate Office of Research in 2013. He was deputy secretary for communications and strategic planning at the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency in 2012 and a consultant for California Senator Mark DeSaulnier from 2009 to 2012. Evans was communications director for California Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg from 2006 to 2009 and communications director for California Senator Joe Dunn from 2005 to 2006. He was a staff writer for the Sacramento Bee from 2003 to 2004, managing editor at the California Journal from 2002 to 2003, staff writer for the Sacramento News and Review from 2001 to 2002 and a staff writer at The Industry Standard from 1998 to 2001. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,004. Evans is a Democrat.
James Lynch, 32, of Sacramento, has been appointed communications deputy in the Office of the Governor. Lynch served as director of strategic research for the Democratic National Committee in 2012, where he was deputy director of strategic research in 2011. He was senior deputy appointments secretary in the Office of the Governor in 2011 and director of research and rapid response for Jerry Brown 2010 in 2010. Lynch was an independent consultant from 2008 to 2010. He was director of research and policy for Jeff Merkley for Oregon in 2008 and legislative researcher at the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007. Lynch was an independent consultant from 2006 to 2007 and deputy research director for Angelides 2006 from 2005 to 2006. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $105,000. Lynch is a Democrat.
Julie Lee, 49, of Davis, has been appointed director of operations in the Office of the Governor. Lee has been a reorganizational specialist in the Office of the Governor since 2012 and served as a project manager for the Governor’s reorganization plan at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 2011 to 2012. She was public information manager at the California Department of Transportation District 2 from 2009 to 2011 and served in multiple positions at the California Department of Personnel Administration from 2005 to 2009, including statewide workforce planning manager, administrative assistant II, executive secretary I and office technician. Lee was an office assistant for the California Highway Patrol from 2004 to 2005 and at the California Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2004. She was an executive assistant at Town and Country Chevrolet from 1993 to 2003. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $98,652. Lee is a Democrat.