Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Karin Caves, 62, of Carmichael, has been appointed deputy director of communications at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Caves has served as deputy secretary of communications at the California Health and Human Services Agency since 2014. She was communications director in the Office of California State Senator Kevin de León in 2013 and owner at Caves Communications from 1998 to 2013. She was communications director and special assistant at the Office of California State Senate President pro Tempore Bill Lockyer from 1994 to 1998 and communications director and press secretary in the Office of California State Senator Gary K. Hart in 1993. Caves was campaign press secretary for Berman and D’Agostino Campaigns from 1988 to 1990 and communications director in the California State Controller's Office from 1987 to 1988. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $147,000. Caves is a Democrat.
Scott M. Murray, 34, of Elk Grove, has been appointed deputy secretary of communications at the California Health and Human Services Agency, where he has been associate secretary of media relations in the Office of External Affairs since 2013 and has served in several positions since 2007, including information officer and assistant information officer. He was a student assistant at the California Department of Health Services from 2003 to 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $120,000. Murray is registered without party preference.
Romey Sabalius, 54, of San Jose, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. Sabalius has been a professor and coordinator of the German Program at the San Jose State University Department of Foreign Languages since 2003, where he was an associate professor from 1998 to 2003 and an assistant professor from 1995 to 1998. Sabalius was a visiting professor at Monash University from 1999 to 2000, an assistant professor at Utah State University from 1992 to 1995, a visiting assistant professor at Vassar College in 1992 and an instructor at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension in 1991. He is a member of the San Jose State University Academic Senate, California State University Academic Senate and the California Faculty Association San Jose State University Chapter Executive Board. Sabalius earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in German literature from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts degree in German literature from the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sabalius is a Democrat.
