SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Poonum Rashmikant Patel, 28, of San Jose, has been appointed senior business development specialist in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, where she has been a senior permit assistance specialist since 2015 and has served in several positions since 2013, including permit assistance specialist and special assistant. Patel was a special assistant for appointments in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2013. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100,008. Patel is a Democrat.
Frank Ramirez, 64, of Sacramento, has been appointed sustainable freight project manager in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, where he has served as a senior specialist since 2015 and was a senior permit assistance specialist from 2011 to 2014. Ramirez was senior policy analyst at the California Research Bureau from 2014 to 2015 and at the California State Library from 2004 to 2011. He served as senior project manager in the Office of the Governor from 2003 to 2004, where he was deputy director of planning from 2000 to 2003. Ramirez served as director of the Office of Permit Assistance at the California Trade and Commerce Agency from 1997 to 2000. He earned a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Ramirez is a Democrat.
Robert Purcell, 69, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board. Purcell was a director in the Public Employee Department at the Laborers’ International Union of North America from 1997 to 2012, a political organizer for the California Democratic Party from 1988 to 1989 and a political director at Neighbor-to-Neighbor from 1986 to 1988. He was in-house counsel at Unite Here Local 2 from 1984 to 1986 and a legal advisor at the California Public Employment Relations Board from 1982 to 1984. Purcell was a staff analyst at Cal/OSHA from 1977 to 1979 and an organizer at the United Farm Workers of America from 1971 to 1976. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Purcell is a Democrat.
Dora Westerlund, 46, of Fresno, has been appointed to the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board. Westerlund has been chief executive officer and founder at the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation since 2004. She was an executive assistant to the consul of Mexico at the Consulate of Mexico in Fresno from 1997 to 2001. She is a member of the 21st District Agricultural Association, Big Fresno Fair Board of Directors, California State University, Fresno Foundation Board of Governors and the Saint Agnes Medical Center Board. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Westerlund is a Republican.
Margaret Parker, 72, of Santa Ana, has been reappointed to the California Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board, where she has served since 2013. Parker has been interim associate dean at California State University, Dominguez Hills since 2016, where she has served in several positions since 1999, including chair of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program, coordinator of Special Education and the Health and Human Services Program, assistant professor and lecturer. Parker was clinical director of the Center for Voice at Western Medical Center, Santa Ana from 1992 to 1999, a speech and language pathologist in private practice from 1981 to 1991 and a speech pathologist for the Westminster School District from 1970 to 1972. Parker is a member of the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s Board of Institutional Reviewers. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in communication disorders from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is a $100 per diem. Parker is a Republican.
Larry Serpa, 65, of Fresno, has been reappointed to the 21st District Agricultural Association, Big Fresno Fair Board of Directors, where he has served since 2005. Serpa has been an independent real estate broker in agricultural properties and a farmer since 2015. He was a manager of member relations at Land O’Lakes Incorporated from 1998 to 2012, a field representative for Western United Dairymen from 1982 to 1998 and a feed salesman at Carnation Milling from 1976 to 1982. He is past vice chair of the California Creamery Operators Association and Dairy Cares. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Serpa is a Republican.