SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Saul Gomez, 36, of Sacramento, has been appointed special assistant for oil, gas and geothermal resources at the California Natural Resources Agency. Gomez has been executive director of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority since 2013 and advisor to California Energy Commissioner Carla Peterman from 2011 to 2012. He was director of advocacy for the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies from 2009 to 2011. Gomez was a legislative consultant at the California State Senate in 2008 and a legislative aide at the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2006. Gomez earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $121,920. Gomez is registered decline to state.
Robert Powell, 62, of Davis, has been appointed science advisor at the California Natural Resources Agency. Powell will advise the Brown administration on the complex scientific issues involved in well stimulation treatments and will assist in developing the scope of the independent scientific study required by Senate Bill 4. He has been a faculty member at the University of California, Davis since 1984 and is currently on sabbatical from his positions as professor in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department and the Food Science and Technology Department. He served as chair of the Academic Senate of the University of California System from 2012 to 2013 and was vice chair from 2011 to 2012. Powell was an associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis from 1979 to 1984. He earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees in mechanics and materials science from Johns Hopkins University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Powell is a Democrat.
James Famiglietti, 53, of Irvine, has been appointed to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. Famiglietti has been director of the University of California Center for Hydrologic Modeling since 2009 and professor of earth system science at the University of California, Irvine School of Physical Sciences since 2001. He was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Geological Sciences from 1994 to 2001 and a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from 1992 to 1993. Famiglietti is a member of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in civil engineering from Princeton University and a Master of Science degree in hydrology from the University of Arizona. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Famiglietti is a Democrat.
James Madaffer, 53, of San Diego, has been appointed to the California Transportation Commission. Madaffer has been president of Madaffer Enterprises since 2009 and publisher at Mission Publishing Group LLC since 1995. He was a councilmember for the City of San Diego from 2000 to 2008, chief of staff to San Diego city councilmember Judy McCarty from 1993 to 2000, owner of JVM and Associates from 1988 to 1993 and general manager at the Delta Coast Corporation from 1981 to 1988. Madaffer is a member of the Lambda Alpha International San Diego Chapter, the San Diego Press Club, the Boy Scouts of America San Diego-Imperial Council Board of Directors and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Madaffer is registered decline-to-state.