SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Kurt Cooknick, 53, of Fair Oaks, has been appointed deputy to the state architect at the California Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect. Cooknick has been director of regulatory affairs at the American Institute of Architects, California Council since 1999, where he was associate director of regulatory affairs from 1996 to 1999. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $133,836. Cooknick is a Republican.
Carmen-Nicole Cox, 36, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief of legislative affairs for administration at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Cox has been a deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. since 2015. She was an attorney at Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin Law Corporation from 2014 to 2015 and an associate litigation attorney at Downey Brand LLP from 2012 to 2014. Cox was a law clerk at Friedberg Parker Law Group from 2011 to 2012 and a judicial clerk at the Third District Court of Appeal in 2011. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $107,808. Cox is a Democrat.
Marc Los Huertos, 54, of Fullerton, has been reappointed to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, where he has served since 2015. Los Huertos has been an associate professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College since 2014. He served in several positions at California State University, Monterey Bay from 2006 to 2014, including co-director of the Watershed Institute, associate professor and assistant professor. Los Huertos served as assistant research faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 2001 to 2004. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Los Huertos is a Democrat.
Hugh E. Crooks Jr., 69, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Veterans Board, where he has served since 2014. Crooks served as an operations manager at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Human Resources Division from 2000 to 2005. He was operations manager at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum from 1990 to 2000, where he was safety police chief from 1971 to 1990. Crooks was a booking clerk at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 1969 to 1971. He served as a rifleman in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Crooks is a Democrat.
Lai Lai Bui, 43, of Shingle Springs, has been reappointed to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, where she has served since 2005. Bui has served in several positions at the Sacramento Police Department since 1994, including sergeant, detective and officer. She is a member of the California Peace Officers Association, Sacramento Asian Peace Officers Association, Sacramento Police Officers Association and the Peace Officers Research Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bui is a Republican.
Batine Ramirez, 53, of Penryn, has been reappointed to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, where she has served since 2015. Ramirez has been a sergeant at the Placer County Sheriff’s Department since 2016, where she has served in several positions since 1999, including death investigator, deputy and detective. She is president of the Placer County Deputy Sheriffs Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Ramirez is a Republican.
Alex Lawrence, 47, of Inglewood, has been reappointed to the State Bar of California Examining Committee, where he has served since 2014. Lawrence has been director of MBA admissions and financial aid at the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management since 2012, where he was executive director of the Riordan Fellows Program from 2004 to 2012. Lawrence was a senior consultant at Ernst and Young from 1999 to 2004. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Lawrence is a Democrat.
David Livingston, 52, of Danville, has been reappointed to the California Boating and Waterways Commission, where he has serviced since 2012. Livingston has been sheriff-coroner for Contra Costa County since 2011. He served as chief of police for the City of Concord from 2005 to 2011, City of Pleasant Hill from 2002 to 2005 and for the City of Fremont from 1987 to 2002. Livingston earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Livingston is registered without party preference.
Virginia Madueno, 51, of Riverbank, has been reappointed to the California Boating and Waterways Commission, where she has served since 2013. Madueno has been president at Imagen LLC since 2001. She was a member of the Riverbank City Council from 2005 to 2012, serving as mayor from 2009 to 2012. She was a community organizer at Clean Water Action from 2009 to 2011, a marketing manager officer at the Stanislaus County Department for Employment and Training from 1990 to 1997 and was a public information officer at the Stanislaus Chief Executive Office and Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services from 1997 to 2001. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Madueno is a Democrat.
Alfredo Aguirre, 63, of San Diego, has been appointed to the No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee. Aguirre has been director of behavioral health at the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency since 2012, where he has held several positions since 1999, including director of mental health, director of children’s mental health and acting director of mental health. He held multiple positions at San Mateo County Mental Health from 1979 to 1999, including deputy director, program manager, supervisor and psychiatric social worker. Aguirre is co-chair of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association’s Cultural Competence, Equity and Social Justice Committee and a member of the Network for Social Work Management Board of Directors. He earned a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Aguirre is a Democrat.
Robert Bendorf, 50, of Rocklin, has been appointed to the No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee. Bendorf has served as county administrator for Yuba County since 2006. He was labor relations negotiator and investigator at Liebert Cassidy Whitmore from 2005 to 2006 and an assistant county executive officer in the Placer County Executive Office from 2002 to 2005. Bendorf was county administrator for Yuba County from 2001 to 2002 and served as principal administrative analyst and senior analyst in the Office of the Yuba County Administrator from 2000 to 2001. He was a departmental systems manager at the California Yuba County Health and Human Services Agency from 1999 to 2000, where he was a welfare fraud investigator from 1997 to 1999. Bendorf was a detective sergeant and patrol sergeant at the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department from 1993 to 1997, where he was deputy sheriff from 1989 to 1993. He is a member of the Yuba-Sutter United Way and the Kiwanis Club of Marysville. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bendorf is a Republican.
Jacky Morales-Ferrand, 55, of San Jose, has been appointed to the No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee. Morales-Ferrand has been director at the City of San Jose Housing Department since 2015, where she was interim director in 2015 and assistant director from 2007 to 2014. She was director of housing and neighborhood development at the Denver Office of Economic Development from 2003 to 2007 and director of housing initiatives at Forest City Stapleton Inc. from 2001 to 2003. Morales-Ferrand was program manager of the City of Boulder Housing Division from 1993 to 2001 and program coordinator for human rights and mediation services at the City of Boulder from 1991 to 1993. She was a program coordinator at Safehouse Progressive Alliance in 1990. Morales-Ferrand was a volunteer coordinator and bilingual case manager at Emergency Family Assistance from 1988 to 1990. She is a member of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, California Housing Consortium, California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies and the National Housing Conference. Morales-Ferrand earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Colorado. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Morales-Ferrand is a Democrat.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, 51, of Cerritos, has been appointed to the No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee. Adams Kellum has been president and chief executive officer at the St. Joseph Center since 2008. She was director of transitional living at United Friends of the Children from 2001 to 2008 and vice president of counseling services at College Bound from 2000 to 2001. Adams Kellum held multiple positions at Stanford University from 1995 to 2000, including executive director, director, co-director, therapist and clinical supervisor. She was a graduate assistant in the Ball State University Teachers College, Office of the Dean from 1993 to 1995 and a pharmaceutical representative at Syntex Laboratories from 1989 to 1993. Adams Kellum earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in counseling psychology from Stanford University and a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from Ball State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Adams Kellum is a Democrat.
Patrick Kennedy, 49, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the No Place Like Home Program Advisory Committee. Kennedy has served as supervisor for District Two at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors since 2014. He was an attorney at the Law Office of Patrick D. Kennedy from 2004 to 2014 and an associate director at the University of California, Office of the President from 2001 to 2004. Kennedy was a senior government affairs representative at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District from 1991 to 2001. He is chair of the Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority, Sacramento Regional Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission and of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. Kennedy is vice chair of the Sacramento Transportation Authority. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Lincoln Law School of Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Kennedy is a Democrat.
Mary Lehman, 53, of Idyllwild, has been reappointed to the California State Athletic Commission, where she has served since 2013. Lehman has been a civil appeals attorney at the Law Offices of Mary A. Lehman since 2002 and was a civil appeals attorney at Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich LLP from 1991 to 2002. She was a professional boxer from 1999 to 2002. Lehman earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lehman is a Democrat.
Martha Shen-Urquidez, 54, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California State Athletic Commission, where she has served since 2013. Shen-Urquidez has been chief executive officer at USAsia Consulting Inc. since 2007. She was a cross-cultural affairs expert for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee from 2006 to 2008 and an attorney at Theodora, Oringer, Miller and Richman, LLP from 1998 to 2005, where she was a partner from 1998 to 2005. Shen-Urquidez was a senior protocol officer for the California South Bay Economic Development Partnership from 1994 to 2001 and served as a credentialed boxing judge from 2000 to 2001. She was an attorney at Morris, Polich and Purdy and a partner at Manning, Marder and Wolff from 1991 to 1998. Shen-Urquidez was a deputy city attorney at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from 1989 to 1991 and an attorney at Baker, Silverberg and Keener from 1987 to 1989. She is an advocate member at the American Board of Trial Advocates. Shen-Urquidez earned a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Shen-Urquidez is a Republican.