SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Camille Wagner, 31, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy legislative affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., where she has served as deputy legislative affairs secretary since 2011. Wagner was legislative director for California Assemblymember Steven Bradford from 2009 to 2011, a legislative aide for California State Senator Christine Kehoe from 2005 to 2009 and a Senate fellow for the California Senate Fellows Program from 2004 to 2005. She is a member of the Greater Sacramento Urban League Young Professionals and serves as a mentor for its Summer Youth Workforce Development Program in Del Paso Heights. Wagner is a member of the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $119,040. Wagner is a Democrat.
Grant Cope, 43, of Washington, D.C., has been appointed deputy secretary for environmental policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Cope has been senior counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works since 2005. He was the Sierra Club’s Washington representative in 2005 and an associate attorney at Earthjustice from 2002 to 2004. Cope was staff attorney at U.S. Public Interest Research Group from 1998 to 2002 and executive director at the Northwest Environmental Defense Center from 1996 to 1998. Cope earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $138,528. Cope is a Democrat.
Chad Edison, 41, of University Park, Maryland, has been appointed deputy secretary for transportation at the California State Transportation Agency. Edison has been a transportation industry analyst at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration since 2010. He held in multiple positions at AECOM Technology Corporation from 2001 to 2010, including senior consulting manager, consulting manager and senior transportation consultant. Edison held various positions at the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) from 1996 to 2001, including senior manager for financial analysis, financial manager for route profitability analysis, senior financial specialist for business planning and coordination and financial specialist for business planning and coordination. Edison earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $140,004. Edison is a Democrat.
Pamela Holmes, 53, of Whittier, has been appointed chief counsel at the California Health and Human Services Agency Department of State Hospitals. Holmes has held multiple positions at the California Attorney General’s Office since 2000, including supervising deputy attorney general and deputy attorney general. She was a senior staff counsel at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing from 1994 to 2000. Holmes is a member of the American Association of University Women. She earned a Juris Doctor degree at Whittier Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,788. Holmes is a Democrat.
Scott Murray, 30, of Elk Grove, has been appointed associate secretary of media relations at the California Health and Human Services Agency Office of External Affairs. Murray has held multiple positions at the California Health and Human Services Agency since 2007, including information officer II and information officer. He was a student assistant at the California Department of Health Services from 2003 to 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $75,564. Murray is registered declined-to-state.
Larry Asera, 65, of Vallejo, has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission. Asera has been chairman and founder of the Asera Group LLC since 2005. He was a professor of engineering technology at the California Maritime Academy from 1996 to 2005, vice president of project development at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company from 1986 to 1995 and deputy secretary of the California State and Consumer Services Agency from 1981 to 1985. Asera was chief legislative consultant for the California State Senate Committee on Energy and Public Utilities from 1978 to 1980, senior consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Resources, Land Use and Energy from 1975 to 1977 and an assistant program manager at the United States General Services Administration from 1972 to 1975. He has been a member of the California Maritime Academy’s Industry Advisory Board since 2007 and a member and trustee of the Solano County Board of Education since 1999. Asera is president of the UC Berkeley Cal Alumni Club for Solano County and served as chairman of the California Building Standards Commission from 1981 to 1985. He served as supervisor of Solano County’s Second District from 1977 to 1981 and a Vallejo City Councilman from 1973 to 1977. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Asera is a Democrat.