SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Frank Altamura Jr., 32, of Vacaville, has been appointed to the California Contractors State License Board. Altamura has been product owner at Trane since 2012. He was product manager at Serious Energy from 2010 to 2012 and an engineer at Valence Energy from 2008 to 2010. Altamura earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Santa Clara University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Altamura is registered without party preference.
Jacqueline Sunshine, 30, of West Hollywood, has been appointed to the California Film Commission. Sunshine has been manager of development at E! Entertainment since 2017. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sunshine is a Democrat.
Trang To, 59, of Folsom, has been reappointed to the California Gambling Control Commission, where he has served since 2015. To was acting chief of police at the Twin Rivers Unified School District Police Department from 2011 to 2012. He served in several positions at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department from 1984 to 2011, including captain, lieutenant and sergeant-deputy. To was president of the Asian Peace Officers Association, Sacramento Chapter from 2002 to 2008. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $153,689. To is registered without party preference.
Catherine Gilson, 48, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Lower American River Conservancy Advisory Committee. Gilson has been a partner at Axiom Advisors since January 1, 2019. She was a partner at Sacramento Advocates from 2016 to 2018. She was a founding partner at Gilson Government Strategies from 2007 to 2016, an associate at Political Solutions in 2007 and an associate at KP Public Affairs from 2004 to 2007 and from 2001 to 2003. She was a senior policy advisor in the Office of Governor Gray Davis in 2003, an associate at Farella Braun and Martel from 2000 to 2001, an associate at Landels Ripley and Diamond from 1998 to 2000 and a policy program associate at the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance from 1992 to 1995. She is a member of the Sacramento Valley Conservancy. Gilson earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Gilson is a Democrat.
Alan Barcelona, 61, of Elk Grove, has been appointed to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Barcelona has been a special agent at the California Department of Justice since 1999. He was senior special investigator at the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Investigations from 1989 to 1999 and a deputy sheriff at the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department from 1981 to 1989. Barcelona is president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association. He earned a Master of Education degree from the University of La Verne. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Barcelona is registered without party preference.
Keyondria D. Bunch, 41, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, where she has served since 2017. Bunch has been a clinical psychologist for the Emergency Outreach and Triage Division at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health since 2016, where she has served in multiple positions since 2008, including clinical psychologist for the Specialized Foster Care Van Nuys Co-Located Program, clinical psychologist for Juvenile Justice Mental Health Quality Assurance and a clinical psychologist for the Valley Coordinated Children’s Services. She was an adjunct lecturer at Antioch University in 2015 and a guest lecturer at The HELP Group in 2007. Bunch was a staff psychologist at Children’s Institute Inc. from 2007 to 2008 and a behavioral therapist at the Beautiful Minds Center for Autism from 2005 to 2006. She held multiple positions at the University of Southern California from 2002 to 2006, including research assistant, guest lecturer, teaching assistant and disability counselor for Disability Services and Programs. Bunch was a research assistant at Harvard University from 2001 to 2002. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California and a Master of Education degree in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bunch is a Democrat.
Itai Danovitch, 43, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, where he has served since 2016. Danovitch has been chairman for the Department of Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since 2012, where he has held multiple positions since 2007, including director for the Addiction Psychiatry Clinical Services and as associate director for the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. He is past president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, a distinguished fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Danovitch earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Management. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Danovitch is a Democrat.
Khatera Aslami Tamplen, 40, of Pleasant Hill, has been reappointed to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, where she has served as chair since January, 2019 and as a member since 2013. Tamplen has been consumer empowerment manager at Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services since 2012. She was executive director at Peers Envisioning and Engaging in Recovery Services from 2007 to 2012 and served in multiple positions at the Telecare Corporation Villa Fairmont Mental Health Rehabilitation Center from 2002 to 2007, including director of rehabilitation and rehabilitation therapist. She is a member of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, Center for Mental Health Services National Advisory Council and a founding member of the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Tamplen is a Democrat.
Tina Wooton, 61, of Santa Barbara, has been reappointed to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, where she has served since 2010. Wooton has been consumer empowerment manager at the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness since 2009. She was consumer and family member liaison at the California Department of Mental Health from 2005 to 2009 and served on the Mental Health Services Act Statewide Implementation Team. Wooton was consumer liaison at the Mental Health Association of Sacramento and the Sacramento County Mental Health Department from 1997 to 2005. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Wooton is a Democrat.
LaWanda Hawkins, 59, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board. Hawkins is founder of Justice for Murdered Children, where she has been director since 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hawkins is a Democrat.
Vernon B. Williams, 50, of Palo Verde Estates, has been reappointed to the California State Athletic Commission, where he has served since 2015. Williams has been team neurologist for the Los Angeles Rams since 2016. He has been director of pain management at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic and a consulting sports neurologist for multiple professional, collegiate and high school teams in California and nationwide since 1997. He was chief medical officer at the Sports Concussion Institute from 2007 to 2012, medical director of HealthSouth Physical Therapy from 1999 to 2005 and an investigator and staff clinician at Innovative Medical Research Inc. from 1994 to 1997. Williams was director of medical student core neurology curriculum for the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland Medical Center from 1995 to 1996. He was chair of the Sport Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology and is founding director of the Kerlan-Jobe Sports Neurology Fellowship and the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, where he is chief compliance officer of the compliance committee. Williams earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Williams is a Democrat.
Jonathan J. “Jay” Sures, 51, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the University of California Board of Regents. Sures has been co-president at United Talent Agency since 2017, where he was managing director from 1989 to 2017. He was an assistant visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theatre, Film, and Television from 2005 to 2006. Sures is vice chair of the University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Board of Directors, treasurer of the Entertainment Industry Foundation and vice president of the United Talent Agency Charitable Foundation. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sures is a Democrat.
Daniel M. Curtin, 70, of Carmichael, has been reappointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors, where he has served since 2009. Curtin has served as director for the California Conference of Carpenters since 2001 and previously held the same position from 1992 to 1999. He served as chief deputy director for the California Department of Industrial Relations from 1999 to 2001. Curtin is a member of the California Water Commission and the High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Curtin is a Democrat.
Marvin Kropke, 71, of Brea, has been reappointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors, where he has served since 2013. Kropke has been business manager and financial secretary at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11 since 1997. He has been a member of IBEW since 1979. Kropke is executive secretary at the California State Association of Electrical Workers and is co-chairman of Working Californians. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Kropke is a Democrat.
Tom Berryhill, 65, of Modesto, has been appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors. Berryhill served as Senator for the California State Senate’s 8th District from 2010 to 2018 and as an Assemblymember for the California State Assembly’s 25th District from 2006 to 2010. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Berryhill is a Republican.
David Lanier, 51, of Davis, has been appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors. Lanier has served as secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency since 2013. He was chief deputy legislative affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2013, special advisor to the Speaker at the California State Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services from 1999 to 2011 and chief of staff for California State Assemblymember Grace Napolitano from 1997 to 1998. Lanier was a consultant for the Joint Legislative Government Oversight Task Force from 1996 to 1997 and legislative director for California State Assemblymember Carole Migden from 1995 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Lanier is a Democrat.
Art Pulaski, 66, of Berkeley, has been appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors. Pulaski has been executive secretary treasurer and chief officer of the California Labor Federation since 1996 and president of the California Works Foundation since 2000. He was president of the Labor Project for Working Families from 1990 to 2000 and PBS series “We Do the Work” from 1991 from 1997. Pulaski was founder of PalCare from 1989 to 1996 and executive secretary of the San Mateo Central Labor Council from 1984 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Pulaski is a Democrat.
Angie Tate, 50, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors. Tate has been principal at Burton and the Brains since 2018 and has been chief financial officer for the California Democratic Party since 2009. She was finance director for California State Senator John Burton from 1998 to 2009. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $58,633. Tate is a Democrat.
Marty Block, 66, of San Diego, has been reappointed chair of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, where he has served since 2016. Block served as a Senator for the California State Senate from 2012 to 2016 and as an Assemblymember for the California State Assembly from 2008 to 2012. He was president of the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2008 and served as judge pro tem at the San Diego County Superior Court from 1998 to 1999. He was an elected member of the San Diego County Board of Education from 1986 to 1994 and served in several positions at San Diego State University from 1979 to 2006, including professor, administrative director and assistant dean of education. Block earned a Juris Doctor degree from the DePaul University College of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $158,572. Block is a Democrat.
Ralph Lightstone, 70, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Lightstone served in several positions at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, including senior advisor for policy and legislation from 2017 to 2018 and director of legislation from 2010 to 2017. He was a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2006 to 2010, where he was special counsel to the attorney general from 2002 to 2006. Lightstone was chief consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment from 1999 to 2002. He was an attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. and the CRLA Foundation from 1974 to 1999. Lightstone earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $153,689. Lightstone is a Democrat.
Anthony Cannella, 49, of Modesto, has been appointed to the California Travel and Tourism Commission. Cannella served as a Senator for the California State Senate’s 12th District from 2010 to 2018. He was mayor of Ceres from 2005 to 2010. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Cannella is a Republican.
###