SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
David Sapp, 36, of Napa, has been appointed deputy policy director and assistant legal counsel at the California State Board of Education. Sapp has been director of education advocacy and legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California since 2014, where he was staff attorney from 2009 to 2014. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and as a staff attorney and Skadden fellow at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Advocates for Children’s Services from 2006 to 2008. Sapp earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $106,008. Sapp is a Democrat.
Michael Thomas, 55, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California State Rehabilitation Council. Thomas has been a client assistance program advocate at Disability Rights California since 2008, where he has been coordinator and senior advocate since 2003. He has been social security specialist and a disability rights advocate at Thomas Advocacy Consultants since 1999. Thomas was a housing specialist for the Center for Independent Living from 2002 to 2003, where he was a benefits counselor from 1997 to 1998. He was a benefits specialist at the Houston Center for Independent Living from 2000 to 2002, a benefits and employment specialist for the Independent Living Resource Center from 1996 to 1997, an independent living specialist at the Memphis Center for Independent Living from 1994 to 1996 and an adjunct instructor at Shelby State Community College from 1995 to 1996. Thomas was a graduate student teacher at California State University, Sacramento from 1992 to 1994 and a camera operator and production assistant at the Louisiana State University Medical Center from 1984 to 1986. He earned a Master of Arts degree in international and intercultural communications from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Thomas is a Democrat.