Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
Jennifer Kent, 41, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of the California Department of Health Care Services. Kent has been executive director at Local Health Plans of California since 2013. She was principal at Health Management Associates from 2011 to 2013 and served as associate director at the California Department of Health Care Services in 2011, where she served as deputy director of legislative and governmental affairs from 2004 to 2007. Kent served as a deputy legislative secretary in the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2008 to 2010, associate secretary of legislative affairs at the California Health and Human Services Agency from 2007 to 2008 and was director of government and external affairs at the California Optometric Association from 1999 to 2004. Kent earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $182,021. Kent is registered without party preference.
Garin Casaleggio, 38, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy secretary for communications at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Casaleggio has served as deputy communications director in the California State Controller’s Office since 2003. He served as special assistant to the chief of staff in the Office of Governor Gray Davis from 2000 to 2003. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $111,504. Casaleggio is a Democrat.
Jim Houston, 37, of Sacramento, has been appointed undersecretary at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, where he has served as deputy secretary of legislation and public engagement since 2011. He was a senior account representative at BGS Group Consulting Inc. from 2004 to 2010. Houston served as legislative director in the Office of California State Assemblymember Simon Salinas from 2001 to 2004 and as information technology manager in the Office of the California Assembly Democratic Leadership from 2000 to 2001. Houston 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 $141,024. Houston is a Democrat.
Jennifer Moffitt, 34, of Davis, has been appointed deputy secretary for legislation and special assistant to the secretary at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Moffitt has been managing director at Dixon Ridge Farms since 2005. She was an education, outreach and research specialist at the American Farmland Trust from 2004 to 2005, where she was a land projects coordinator from 2002 to 2004. Moffitt is vice chair of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and a member of the California Department of Food and Agriculture California Organic Products Advisory Committee. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $131,124. Moffitt is a Democrat.
Joseph Lyou, 54, of Hawthorne, has been reappointed to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, where he has served since 2007. Lyou has been president and chief executive officer at the Coalition for Clean Air since 2010. He was executive director at the California Environmental Rights Alliance from 2003 to 2010 and director of programs and interim executive director for the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund from 2000 to 2002. Lyou served on the Los Angeles World Airports Air Quality Source Apportionment Study Technical Working Group and the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts and Precautionary Approaches Work Group. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lyou is registered without party preference.
