SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Jennifer Halferty, 45, of Mammoth Lakes, has been appointed to represent the First District on the Mono County Board of Supervisors. Halferty has been executive director at Mammoth Lakes Housing since 2013, where she was deputy director from 2007 to 2013 and programs manager from 2006 to 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $49,308. Halferty is a Democrat.
Ramon Alvarez, 58, of Riverside, has been reappointed to the California New Motor Vehicle Board, where he has served since 2007. Alvarez has been founder and owner at the Alvarez Electric Motors Company since 2010 and president and owner at Alvarez Lincoln Mercury and Alvarez Jaguar since 1995. He was operator at Alvarez Motor Sales from 1990 to 1995, general sales manager for Meister Ford from 1987 to 1990 and finance, insurance and general sales manager for Douglas Ford from 1982 to 1987. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Alvarez is registered without party preference.
Bismarck Obando, 40, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the California New Motor Vehicle Board, where he has served since 2010. Obando has been director of public affairs at the League of California Cities since 2011. He was director of external affairs in the Office of the Governor from 2007 to 2011, where he served as deputy appointments secretary in 2007. Obando was a legislative analyst in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research from 2004 to 2006 and project manager at the Local Government Commission from 1996 to 2004. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Obando is a Democrat.
Megan E. McGuinness, 46, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board. McGuinness was executive producer at Discovery Studios from 2017 to 2018, at GoGo Luckey Entertainment in 2015 and at Stiletto Television in 2013. She was executive producer on projects for Entertainment One Television from 2011 to 2014 and co-executive producer on projects at World of Wonder Productions from 2008 to 2011. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $25,500. McGuinness is a Democrat.
Leland Adams, 62, of Downieville, has been appointed to the State Historical Resources Commission. Adams has been a member of the Commission on State Mandates since 2017 and of the Sierra County Board of Supervisors since 2009. Adams was sheriff and coroner for Sierra County from 1988 to 2007. He served in several positions at the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office from 1979 to 1988, including sergeant and deputy sheriff. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Adams is a Democrat.
Bryan Brandes, 48, of Temple City, has been appointed to the State Historical Resources Commission, where he has served since 2006. Brandes has been director of West Coast operations at CMA CGM since 2015. He held several positions at Maersk from 1999 to 2015, including director of California operations, Pier 400 project manager and West Coast project manager. He held several positions at Sea Land from 1996 to 1999, including finance manager, manager of cargo export services, assistant manager of yard operations and assistant manager of transportation. He was a manager at Roadway Express from 1993 to 1996. Brandes earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and strategy from the Claremont Graduate University School of Management. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Brandes is a Republican.
Alan Hess, 66, of Irvine, has been appointed to the State Historical Resources Commission. Hess has been owner at Alan Hess Architecture since 1981. He earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Hess is a Democrat.
René Vellanoweth, 53, of Sierra Madre, has been appointed to the State Historical Resources Commission. Vellanoweth has been a professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at California State University, Los Angeles since 2008. He was an associate professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at Humboldt State University from 2001 to 2008. Vellanoweth earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in archaeology and anthropology from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts degree in archaeology and anthropology from California State University, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Vellanoweth is a Democrat.
Fel Anthony Amistad, 58, of San Mateo, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where he has served since 2015. Amistad has been a mortgage loan officer at Presto Loans since 2017, a graduate school Master of Business Administration program professor at International Technological University since 2011 and a broker associate affiliated with Century 21 Realty Alliance since 2014. Amistad was a broker owner at Stanford Capital Finance from 1997 to 2010, owner at Fel Anthony Amistad Realty from 1997 to 2007 and a loan officer at Bank of America from 1995 to 1996. Amistad was a mortgage loan officer and consultant at Great Western Bank from 1994 to 1995, a realtor broker at Re/Max Realty from 1991 to 1992, chief executive officer, realtor and mortgage broker at City Bankers Mortgage and Amistad Realty from 1990 to 1994 and a real estate salesperson at Coldwell Banker Real Estate from 1986 to 1988. Amistad is director of the San Mateo County Filipino American Chamber of Commerce and inspector and judge at the San Mateo County Elections Office. He is a member of the California Association of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, San Mateo County Association of Realtors and the Stanford Alumni Association. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the California Southern University School of Law and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Amistad is a Democrat.
Kathy Jones Irish, 65, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where she has served since 2012. Irish has been joint venture partner at Englander Knabe and Allen since 2018. She was principal at Kathy Jones Irish Consulting LLC from 2016 to 2018, vice president at Arnie Berghoff and Associates from 2011 to 2016 and manager of marketing and business development at KHAFRA Engineering Consultants Inc. from 2010 to 2011. Irish served as assistant general manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 2008 to 2010 and as interim general manager at the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in 2008. She was director of government relations at MWH Americas Inc. from 2006 to 2008 and chief of staff to Los Angeles City Council member Tom LaBonge from 2001 to 2005. Irish was executive assistant to the general manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 1998 to 2001 and was manager of public affairs at the Water Replenishment District of Southern California from 1996 to 1998. She was public affairs manager at Warner Bros. Studio from 1994 to 1996, manager of community relations at the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission from 1991 to 1994 and transportation planner at the Southern California Association of Governments from 1988 to 1991. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Irish is a Democrat.
Elizabeth Mathieson, 62, of Alameda, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where she has served since 2015. She has been a part-time senior managing scientist at Exponent Failure Analysis Associates since 2017, where she was a full-time senior managing scientist from 1999 to 2017. Mathieson was a licensed expert in the Examination Development Unit at the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists from 2009 to 2015. She was a principal geologist at Terratech, Inc. from 1997 to 1999, where she was a staff geologist from 1983 to 1997. She was a staff geologist at Cleary Consultants in 1983, an associate geologist at Kaiser Cement Corporation from 1981 to 1982, a geologist at William Cotton Associates in 1980, a staff geologist at Jo Crosby and Associates in 1979 and a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in 1978. She is a member of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, Association for Women Geoscientists, Northern California Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Alameda Architectural Preservation Society and the Geological Society of America. Mathieson earned a Master of Science degree in engineering geology from Stanford University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Mathieson is a Democrat.
Mohammad Qureshi, 52, of Tustin, has been reappointed to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where he has served since 2014. Qureshi has been public works director for the County of Glenn Public Works Agency since 2018. He was traffic engineer for the County of Monterey Resource Management Agency from 2016 to 2018 and chief of traffic at the San Bernardino County Department of Public Works from 2012 to 2016. He was regional director and senior project manager at LIN Consulting from 2007 to 2012, director of the Institute for Multimodal Transportation at Jackson State University from 2006 to 2007, an assistant professor and director at the University of Missouri-Rolla’s Missouri Local Transportation Resource Center from 2000 to 2006, a research specialist at the University of Tennessee from 1998 to 2000 and senior associate at Resource Systems Group Inc. from 1995 to 1997. Qureshi earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Qureshi is a Democrat.
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