SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Brady Moss, 46, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant secretary for policy at the California Natural Resources Agency. Moss has been a senior conservation planner at GEI Consultants Inc. since 2015 and a senior conservation planner at AECOM from 2014 to 2015. He held several positions at the Trust for Public Land from 2001 to 2012, including senior project manager, project manager, field representative, senior project associate and project associate. Moss was an independent filmmaker from 2001 to 2014. He was a research analyst at the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and a field researcher at the Watershed Research and Training Center in 1998. He earned a Master of Regional Planning degree in urban and environmental planning from Cornell University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $115,500. Moss is a Democrat.
Niki Woodard, 40, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy assistant director for public affairs at the California Department of Water Resources. Woodard has been communications and marketing director at the Center for Climate Protection since 2015 and owner of Spiral PR and Communications since 2011. She was a communications director at the Sequoia Riverlands Trust from 2008 to 2011, a research associate at the Pew Research Center from 2006 to 2008 and a research and teaching assistant at Georgetown University from 2005 to 2006. Woodard was a news writer at the San Francisco Bay Guardian from 2003 to 2004, a sustainable agriculture production volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps from 2001 to 2003 and creative assistant at McCann Erickson from 1999 to 2001. She earned a Master of Arts degree in communication, culture and technology from Georgetown University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100,176. Woodard is a Democrat.
Kelly Santoro, 49, of Bakersfield, has been appointed warden at North Kern State Prison, where she has been acting warden since 2015 and served as an associate warden from 2009 to 2010 and as a correctional counselor from 1997 to 2001. Santoro was chief deputy warden at Wasco State Prison from 2012 to 2015. She was associate warden at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran from 2010 to 2012, where she was facility captain in 2006 and a correctional counselor specialist from 2001 to 2006. Santoro was an associate warden at California State Prison, Corcoran from 2008 to 2009 and captain of the Central Region Bakersfield Health Care Division from 2006 to 2008. Santoro held several positions at California State Prison, Centinela from 1993 to 1997, including correctional counselor and correctional officer. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $145,440. Santoro is a Republican.
Felix Vasquez, 50, of Visalia, has been appointed associate director of general population male offenders at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Vasquez has been acting warden at Wasco State Prison since 2015. He was chief deputy warden at California State Prison, Corcoran from 2014 to 2015, where he was associate warden from 2013 to 2014, correctional counselor from 2001 to 2006 and correctional officer in 1996. Vasquez held multiple positions at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran from 2007 to 2013, including facility captain, correctional captain and correctional counselor supervisor. Vasquez was a correctional counselor supervisor at Kern Valley State Prison from 2006 to 2007 and a correctional officer at Avenal State Prison from 1996 to 2001. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1992 to 1996 and was a community service officer at the Clovis Police Department from 1991 to 1992. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $152,628. Vasquez is a Democrat.
Albert Rivas, 42, of Elk Grove, has been appointed chief of external affairs at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has been acting chief of external affairs since 2015. Rivas held several positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2012 to 2015 and from 2007 to 2011, including deputy chief, staff services manager and small business and disabled veterans business enterprise advocate. Rivas was an operations and maintenance personnel analyst at the California Department of Water Resources from 2011 to 2012, a member of the Sacramento County Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission from 2009 to 2013 and president and founder of Capitol Consulting from 2005 to 2007. He was a member of the First 5 Sacramento Commission from 2004 to 2009 and a district representative in the Office of California State Senator Deborah Ortiz from 2001 to 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $102,000. Rivas is a Democrat.
Arthur Anderson Jr., 68, of Roseville, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2008. Anderson served in several positions at the California Highway Patrol from 1999 to 2007 and from 1974 to 1992, including assistant commissioner for field operations, chief of the Valley Division, chief of the Professional Standards Division, assistant chief of the Golden Gate Division, captain, lieutenant, sergeant and patrol officer. He was director at the California Office of Traffic Safety from 1993 to 1999. Anderson earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,956. Anderson is registered without party preference.
Cynthia Fritz, 44, of San Ramon, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where she has served since 2011. Fritz served as a deputy commissioner at the Board of Parole Hearings from 2009 to 2011 and as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2007 to 2009. She was deputy attorney at the California Department of Transportation from 2000 to 2007 and held several positions at the Whittall-Scherfee Law Office from 1997 to 1999, including associate attorney and law clerk. Fritz earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,956. Fritz is a Republican.
Pete LaBahn, 60, of Dana Point, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2011 and served from 2009 to 2010. LaBahn held several positions at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department from 1983 to 2009, including assistant sheriff, chief deputy sheriff, captain, lieutenant, sergeant and deputy sheriff. He was a teacher and counselor for the Palm Springs Unified School District from 1980 to 1983 and a graduate assistant at Atascadero State Hospital from 1977 to 1978. LaBahn earned a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,956. LaBahn is a Democrat.
Michele Minor, 55, of Galt, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where she has served since 2014. Minor has been project manager at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center since 2013 and has served in several positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation since 1985, including deputy director at the Office of Rehabilitative Programs, program administrator at the Stockton Training Center, lieutenant at the Division of Juvenile Justice, sergeant at the California Youth Authority and officer at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility. This position requires Senate confirmation the compensation is $137,956. Minor is a Democrat.
Randolf Grounds, 61, of Monterey, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. Grounds served as warden at Salinas Valley State Prison from 2012 to 2014, where he was an associate warden from 2007 to 2009. He served as warden at California Correctional Training Facility, Soledad from 2009 to 2012 and chief deputy warden at California State Prison, Solano in 2009. Grounds was facility captain at the California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi from 2004 to 2007, where he was a classification and parole representative from 2002 to 2004, a correctional counselor supervisor from 1996 to 2000 and a correctional counselor from 1991 to 1996. He was a classification services representative at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Headquarters from 2000 to 2002, correctional counselor specialist at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in 1996 and a deputy probation officer at the El Dorado County Probation Department from 1988 to 1991. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,956. Grounds is a Republican.
Ali Zarrinnam, 41, of Encino, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2012. Zarrinnam held several positions at the Board of Parole Hearings from 2009 to 2011, including acting associate chief deputy commissioner and deputy commissioner. He was a panel attorney at the California Parole Advocacy Program from 2004 to 2009, a partner at the Law Offices of Zarrinnam and Chakur from 2003 to 2007 and an attorney at Finnegan and Diba from 2002 to 2003. Zarrinnam earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,956. Zarrinnam is a Democrat.
Alfredo Rubalcava, 42, of Downey, has been appointed to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities. Rubalcava has been chief external officer at Magnolia Public Schools since 2015, where he has held several positions since 2002, including principal, dean of students, athletic director, department chair and teacher. He is a member of the South Central Los Angeles Regional Center and the California Charter Schools Association Advocacy Program. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Rubalcava is a Democrat.