SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Clark Blanchard, 34, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant deputy director for communications, education and outreach at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Blanchard has been communications director at the California Natural Resources Agency since 2012, where he was associate director of communications from 2010 to 2012. He served in several positions at the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2006 to 2010, including director of advance, advance representative and external affairs coordinator. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $97,056. Blanchard is registered without party preference.
Anne Bernardo, 58, of Visalia, has been appointed to the California Library Services Board, where she has served since 2003. Bernardo has served as the director of the Tulare County Public Law Library since 1994. She was general manager at the Tulare County Symphony Association Inc. from 1986 to 1994, a job developer at the California Human Development Corporation from 1980 to 1981, a teacher aide at Stockton Unified School District in 1979 and special assistant to the deputy director of the California Health and Welfare Agency in 1978. She was an office aide for student employment services at the University of California, Davis from 1974 to 1978. Bernardo is a liaison to the California State Bar, Law Practice Management and Technology Section, the Heartland Regional Library Network and the Self-Help Resource Center of Tulare County. She is a member of the Council of California County Law Librarians, the American Association of Law Libraries and the Northern California Association of Law Libraries. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bernardo is a Democrat.
Gary Christmas, 62, of Riverside, has been appointed to the California Library Services Board. Christmas has been the owner of Gary Christmas Consulting since 2010. He served in several positions for the County of Riverside from 1997 to 2010, including chief deputy county executive officer, deputy county executive officer and county librarian. Christmas served in several positions at the Riverside City and County Public Library System from 1983 to 1997, including regional zone manager of the Western Riverside County Region, library branch manager of the Norco and the Glen Avon regional libraries and reference librarian at the City of Riverside Main Library. Christmas was a librarian at the Pomona Public Library from 1981 to 1983 and served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1973 to 1977. He is a member of the City of Riverside Board of Library Trustees, the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce and the chamber’s Government Affairs Council. Christmas is president-elect of the Raincross Group and a member of the Unforgettables Foundation, where he was president from 2013 to 2014. He is a member of the Riverside East Rotary Club, the March Field Air Museum Board of Directors and the California Riverside Ballet Board of Directors. He earned a Master of Library Science degree from San Jose State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Christmas is a Democrat.
Florante Ibanez, 62, of Carson, has been appointed to the California Library Services Board. Ibanez has served in several positions at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles since 1992, including manager of library computer services and computer resources center assistant. He was an adjunct professor for the Loyola Marymount University, Asian Pacific American Studies Program from 2007 to 2014 and was a communications and hardware support specialist at Ashton Tate – Borland International from 1990 to 1992. Ibanez was a personal computer support specialist at Citizen American Inc. from 1988 to 1990 and project staff at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 1982 to 1984. He was assistant director of the early outreach program at the University of California, Irvine Educational Opportunity Program from 1979 to 1982 and a coordinator of resource development and publication at the University of California, Los Angeles Asian American Studies Center from 1971 to 1972. Ibanez is a member of the Filipino American Library Board of Directors, the L.A. as Subject board, the California Library Association, American Library Association and was a member of the 2nd National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color Steering Committee in 2012. He is a member of the City of Carson Historical Committee, the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, where he was president from 2010 to 2011, and the University of California, Irvine Alumni Association. Ibanez earned a Master of Arts degree in Asian American studies and a Master of Library Science degree in information and library science from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Ibanez is a Democrat.
Paymaneh Maghsoudi, 56, of Chino Hills, has been appointed to the California Library Services Board, where she has been chair since 2013 and has served since 2003. Maghsoudi has been director of the Whittier Public Library since 2001. She was director of library and community services at the Azusa City Library from 1993 to 2001 and was the audio-video librarian at the Downey City Library from 1991 to 1992. Maghsoudi is a member of the American Library Association and the California Library Association. She earned a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Oklahoma. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Maghsoudi is a Democrat.