Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Nicolas Maduros, 46, of Bethesda, Maryland, has been appointed director at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Maduros served as chief of staff at the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2014 to 2017. He was president of the Delta Policy Group from 2010 to 2014, partner and director at Quinn Gillespie & Associates from 2000 to 2010 and an associate at Arnold and Porter from 1998 to 1999. Maduros was counsel to the chairman at ETC Inc. from 1997 to 1998 and an associate at Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand from 1996 to 1997. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $190,296. Maduros is a Democrat.

Barry Donelan, 45, of Concord, has been appointed to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Donelan has served as a sergeant at the Oakland Police Department since 2006, where he was an officer from 2000 to 2006. He is president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association and a member of the Peace Officers Research Association of California Board of Directors and the Peace Officers Research Association of California Legal Defense Fund’s Board of Trustees. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Donelan is a Democrat.

Michael Gardner, 69, of Riverside, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where he has served since 2010. Gardner has served as a member of the Riverside City Council since 2007. He was director of sales and marketing at USA Fact from 2006 to 2007, operations manager at Archive Management Services from 2004 to 2006 and production manager at the ARC of Riverside County from 2003 to 2004. Gardner was a member of the City of Riverside Community Police Review Commission from 2000 to 2006 and held several positions at Southern California Edison from 1973 to 1996. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gardner is a Republican.

Jorge Meneses, 59, of Oceanside, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Meneses has been principal geotechnical engineer at the RMA Group since 2016. He was an associate geotechnical engineer at Group Delta Consultants Inc. from 2014 to 2016, a senior consultant at GEI Consultants Inc. from 2013 to 2014 and a senior geotechnical engineer at Kleinfelders Inc. from 2005 to 2013. Meneses was a consultant at GeoHazards International from 2003 to 2005, an assistant scientist at the University of California, San Diego Department of Structural Engineering from 1999 to 2005 and a consultant at the Tokyo Soil Research Company from 1996 to 2005. He was a research associate at Wayne State University from 1997 to 1999, an assistant professor at the National University of Engineering, Lima and a general manager at the Peru-Japan Center for Earthquake Engineering Research and Disaster Mitigation from 1987 to 1991. Meneses is president of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, San Diego Chapter. He earned Master of Science and Doctor of Engineering degrees in geotechnical engineering from the University of Tokyo. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Meneses is a Democrat.

David Rabbitt, 56, of Petaluma, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where he has served since 2013. Rabbitt has been a member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors since 2011 and an independent architect since 1997. He was a member of the Petaluma City Council from 2006 to 2011 and a project architect at Donald K. Olsen, AIA & Associates from 1985 to 1997. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Rabbitt is a Democrat.

Cindy Silva, 62, of Walnut Creek, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Silva has served as a member of the Walnut Creek City Council since 2006. She was owner at Eisley Silva Communications from 1987 to 2016, a sales communication manager at PeopleSoft from 2001 to 2004 and manager of international proposals and start-up training at AirTouch Communications from 1993 to 1995. She was senior vice president of product development at Alamo Learning Systems from 1985 to 1987, management newsletter editor at the Southern California Gas Company from 1979 to 1980 and owner at Eisley Communications Inc. from 1979 to 1985. Silva was a project associate at Systema Corporation from 1978 to 1979 and managing editor at the California Dental Association from 1976 to 1978. She is a member of the League of California Cities Board of Directors and the Hospice East Bay Board of Directors. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Silva is a Republican.

Timothy Strack, 47, of Riverside, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where he has served since 2011. Strack has been fire captain at the City of Riverside Fire Department since 1995. He was a paid-call firefighter at the San Bernardino County Fire Department from 1987 to 1995 and a reserve deputy sheriff air medic for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Aviation Division from 1992 to 2002. Strack is president of the Riverside City Firefighters’ Association, 1st district vice president at California Professional Firefighters and a member of the California Fire Foundation Board of Directors and the California Firefighter Joint Apprentice Committee. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Strack is a Democrat.

Andrew Tran, 48, of San Gabriel, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. He has been senior vice president of property underwriting at Swiss Re America since 2015, where he has held several positions since 2000, including senior vice president of property pricing, deputy chief underwriting officer, senior vice president of natural catastrophes and US treaty, vice president of structured reinsurance pricing and vice president of pricing and reserving actuary. Tran was an actuarial analyst at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company from 1994 to 1996 and an actuarial analyst at Sullivan Insurance Broker from 1992 to 1993. Tran is a member of the Casualty Actuarial Society, American Academy of Actuaries, Institutes Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter Society and the Boy Scouts of America. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Tran is a Republican.

Ed Valenzuela, 58, of Mount Shasta, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Valenzuela has served as a member of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors since 2009. He was a member of the Mount Shasta City Council from 2000 to 2008 and a lineman at AT&T from 1978 to 2010. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Valenzuela is registered without party preference.

Ivan Wong, 69, of Alameda, has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. He has been a principal seismologist at Lettis Consultants International since 2016. Wong was principal seismologist and vice president at Woodward Clyde Consultants-URS Corporation-AECOM from 1976 to 2016. He is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Wong is a Democrat.