Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Wednesday announced the following appointments:
Claire Tauriainen, 46, of El Dorado Hills, has been appointed general counsel at the California Housing Finance Agency, where she has been an assistant general counsel and single family team lead since 2007. She was an associate attorney in family and real property law at the Stockdale Law Firm from 2006 to 2007, an associate broker in residential sales at Realty World-Point Richmond from 2002 to 2005 and an attorney in civil litigation at McNamara, Dodge, Ney, Beatty, Slattery, Borges and Ambacher LLP from 2002 to 2003. Tauriainen 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 $181,452. Tauriainen is a Democrat.
Ann Bailey, 70, of Sacramento, has been reappointed, in conjunction with the Department of General Services, as chair of the Capitol Area Development Authority, where she has served as chair since 2002. Bailey was counsel to the California State Senate Committee on Legislative Ethics from 1991 to 2008 and a faculty advisor to the Senate Fellows Program from 1994 to 2000. She was an attorney in the California State Senate from 1987 to 1991 and from 1981 to 1983. Bailey was an attorney at the California Public Employment Relations Board from 1983 to 1987 and at the Agricultural Labor Relations Board from 1976 to 1981. Bailey was an investigator at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office for Civil Rights from 1970 to 1972. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Master of Arts degree in history from Stanford University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bailey is a Democrat.
Laurie Berman, 58, of San Diego, has been appointed to the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. Berman has been director of the California Department of Transportation since 2018, where she has served in several positions since 1983, including District 11 director, chief deputy district director of project delivery, State Route 125 south toll road corridor project manager, design manager and senior transportation engineer. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Women’s Transportation Seminar. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Berman is a Democrat.
Michelle Anne Bholat, 60, of Redondo Beach, has been reappointed to the Medical Board of California, where she has served since 2015. Bholat has been executive vice chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles since 2008, where she was vice chair of clinical affairs from 2004 to 2008 and chief of clinical operations from 1999 to 2004. She was medical director at the Wilmington Family Health Center for Los Angeles County Department of Health Services from 1995 to 1999. Bholat is a member of the National Medical Fellowships, Beach Cities Health District Board of Directors and the Association of California Healthcare Districts Executive Board. She is an ex-officio board member of the American Heart Association. She earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health degree in health care policy and management from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Bholat is a Democrat.
Kristina Daniel Lawson, 40, of Walnut Creek, has been reappointed to the Medical Board of California, where she has served since 2015. Lawson has been a partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP since 2017. She was a partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP from 2011 to 2017, an associate and shareholder at Miller Starr Regalia from 2003 to 2011 and an associate at Meyers Nave from 2001 to 2003. Lawson was a member of the Walnut Creek City Council from 2010 to 2014, serving as mayor of the city in 2014. Lawson is a member of the Meals on Wheels Diablo Region Board of Directors and the East Bay Leadership Council. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lawson is a Democrat.
Jamie Wright, 34, of Culver City, has been reappointed to the Medical Board of California, where she has served since 2013. Wright has been a senior counsel at Tyson and Mendes since 2018. She was managing attorney and senior counsel at Albright, Yee and Schmit APC from 2015 to 2018, assistant general counsel at CPS Security Inc. from 2014 to 2015 and an associate at Meyers Nave LLP from 2013 to 2014. She was an attorney in private practice from 2011 to 2013, a mayoral aide in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office in 2010 and a legislative projective consultant for the California State Assembly Speaker's Office of Members Services from 2009 to 2010. Wright was an associate at Sedgwick Detert Moran Arnold LLP from 2008 to 2009 and a regulatory and enforcement extern at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority from 2007 to 2008. Wright is a member of the Links Inc., Inglewood Pacific Chapter and was a member of the Black Women Lawyers Scholarship Committee in 2012. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Wright is a Democrat.
Felix Yip, 63, of San Marino, has been reappointed to the Medical Board of California, where he has served since 2013. Yip has been a board certified urologist in private practice since 1987, a clinical professor of urology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California since 2011 and chief of staff at Garfield Medical Center since 2018, where he was chief of surgery from 2010 to 2014 and in 2007, 2006, 1996 and 1995. He was a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine from 1991 to 1996. Yip is a member of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry Board of Counselors. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a Master of Business Administration degree in healthcare management from the University of California, Irvine. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Yip is registered without party preference.
Cynthia Cipres Klein, 50, of Canyon Lake, has been reappointed to the California Board of Registered Nursing, where she has served since 2012. Klein has been charge nurse in the Allergy and Immunology Department at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Riverside since 2016, where she has held several positions since 1998, including registered nurse in the Internal Medicine-Sub-Specialty Clinic, population care nurse, pediatric advice nurse and urgent care charge nurse. She was a nursing supervisor at U.S. Family Care from 1997 to 1998, registered nurse lead for the Universal Care Medical Group from 1996 to 1997 and a registered nurse at Miller Children’s Hospital from 1995 to 1996. Klein was a licensed vocational nurse at the Universal Care Medical Group from 1991 to 1995 and medical records clerk at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital from 1991 to 1992. She is a member of the United Nurses Association of California and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Klein is a Democrat.
Elizabeth Woods, 76, of Sonoma, has been reappointed to the California Board of Registered Nursing, where she has served since 2014. Woods has been a volunteer family nurse practitioner at the Jewish Community Free Clinic since 2002. She was a registered nurse labor representative at the California Nurses Association from 1994 to 2007, an adjunct clinical professor at Sonoma State University from 1984 to 1995 and a nurse practitioner and sexual assault examiner at the Sonoma County Community Hospital from 1982 to 1988. She was a family nurse practitioner at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Rosa from 1976 to 1994 and a registered nurse in the Hillcrest Hospital Intensive Care Unit from 1966 to 1976. Woods is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and a member of the Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls Board of Directors, California Nurses Association, National Nurses United and the Registered Nurse Response Network, where she served on several national and international humanitarian assignments. Woods earned a Master of Science degree in nursing from Sonoma State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Woods is a Democrat.
Ricky S. Smiles, 56, of Vista, has been appointed to the California Employment Training Panel. Smiles has been a field representative at the Southern California District Council of Laborers since 2018 and an independent real estate agent since 1995. He held several positions at Laborers Local 89 from 2010 to 2017, including president, vice-president and field representative. Smiles was a nuclear construction worker at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station from 2005 to 2010. He was a laborer and cement finisher at SSC Construction Company from 2004 to 2005 and at Bechtel Corporation from 1995 to 2001. He was a laborer at Blaine Wadman Construction Corporation, a laborer foreman at DyeCo Construction Corporation and a bird trainer for Ray Burwick from 1980 to 1990. Smiles is a member of Laborers Local 89. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Smiles is a Democrat.
