SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Christiana Tiedemann, 59, of Berkeley, has been appointed deputy secretary for law enforcement and counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Tiedemann has served as supervising deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 1989. She was an attorney at Vanderlann and Associates from 1982 to 1989. Tiedemann earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $164,004. Tiedemann is a Democrat.
Christine Hironaka, 29, of San Francisco, has been appointed deputy secretary for legislative affairs at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Hironaka has served as assistant director for policy development at the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery since 2015, where she was deputy director for legislative affairs from 2014 to 2015. She served as a legislative assistant in the Office of California State Senator Mark Leno from 2010 to 2014 and as a capital fellow in the Office of California State Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny from 2009 to 2010. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $121,668. Hironaka is a Democrat.
Joseph Byrne, 46, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Water Commission, where he has served since 2010. Byrne has been a partner at Best Best and Krieger since 2015, where he was of counsel from 2013 to 2015. Byrne was a partner at Burke, Williams and Sorensen LLP from 2007 to 2013 and executive director of Business Executives for National Security, Los Angeles Region from 2005 to 2008. He was an associate at Mayer Brown and Platt from 2003 to 2005 and served in several positions in the Office of California State Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg from 1998 to 2002, including legal counsel and chief water policy consultant. Byrne earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Byrne is a Democrat.
Armando Quintero, 61, of San Rafael, has been reappointed to the California Water Commission, where he has served since 2014. Quintero has been executive director at the University of California, Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute since 2015, where he was director of development from 2008 to 2015. He was an independent environmental educator from 1998 to 2008. Quintero served in several positions at the U.S. National Park Service from 1977 to 1998, including personnel staffing specialist, chief of the special park uses group and district ranger at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, park ranger and supervisory park ranger at the Point Reyes National Seashore and park ranger at the Sequoia National Park and at the John Muir National Historic Site. Quintero is vice president at the Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors and is a member of the George Wright Society Board of Directors. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Quintero is a Democrat.
Donne Brownsey, 61, of Fort Bragg, has been appointed to a two-year pleasure term on the California Coastal Commission. Brownsey was senior vice president at Sacramento Advocates Inc. from 2004 to 2015. She was founder of Government Solutions from 1993 to 2004 and chief legislative consultant in the Office of California State Senator David Roberti from 1985 to 1993. Brownsey 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 $100 per diem. Brownsey is a Democrat.
Effie Turnbull Sanders, 44, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to a two-year pleasure term on the California Coastal Commission, where she has served since 2014. Turnbull Sanders has been an assistant general counsel at the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2006. She was a deputy attorney at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2006, working on behalf of the city to address blight and environmental hazards, and was an associate at Richards Watson and Gershon from 2001 to 2003. Turnbull Sanders was a special assistant to former California Supreme Court Justice and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Cruz Reynoso from 1998 to 2001, advising on environmental justice, civil rights and economic development issues. She is a board member of Social Action Partners, where she works to educate and train individuals to be advocates for social justice and encourages public service. Turnbull Sanders earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Turnbull Sanders will serve as the environmental justice representative on the Commission, pursuant to statute. She is a Democrat.
Eric Banks, 46, of San Diego, has been reappointed to the California Public Employment Relations Board, where he has served since 2013. Banks was a partner at TenPageMemo LLC in 2013 and held several positions at the Service Employees International Union, Local 221 from 2001 to 2013, including advisor, president and director of government and community relations. Banks was policy associate for state government affairs at the New York AIDS Coalition from 2000 to 2001. He held several positions at the Southern Tier AIDS Program from 1993 to 2000, including director of client services, assistant director of client services and case manager. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $142,095. Banks is a Democrat.
Michael Moodian, 40, of Rancho Santa Margarita, has been reappointed to the California Commission on Judicial Performance, where he has served since 2015. Moodian has been a lecturer at the Chapman University College of Educational Studies since 2010. He served in the Army National Guard from 1993 to 2001. Moodian earned a Doctor of Education degree in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University and a Master of Arts degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Moodian is a Democrat.
Rose Conroy, 63, of Woodland, has been reappointed to the California Earthquake Authority Advisory Panel, where she has served since 2012. Conroy served in several positions at the City of Davis Fire Department from 1979 to 2010, including fire chief, fire captain and firefighter. She was president of the Fire Chiefs Department at the League of California Cities from 2003 to 2004. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Conroy is a Democrat.
Anna Sauceda, 62, of San Dimas, has been appointed to the California Earthquake Authority Advisory Panel. Sauceda has been president at the Associated Construction Services Group since 2005. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sauceda is a Democrat.
Angelica Valenzuela, 52, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the California Earthquake Authority Advisory Panel. Valenzuela has served as an underwriting operations manager at State Farm Insurance since 2014, where she has held several positions since 1989, including underwriting section manager, underwriting supervisor and fire personal lines underwriter. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Valenzuela is a Democrat.