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

Shannon McKinley, 38, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy secretary of legislation at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. McKinley has been legislative director in the Office of California State Assemblymember Tim Grayson since 2016. She served as legislative director in the Office of California State Assemblymember Cheryl Brown from 2012 to 2016, senior consultant in the Office of California State Assemblymember Sandre Swanson from 2008 to 2012 and committee assistant in the Office of California State Assemblymember Mervyn Dymally from 2007 to 2008. McKinley was a research assistant in the Sacramento State University Office of Development from 2005 to 2006, day camp director at the Hilltop Young Men’s Christian Association from 2002 to 2004 and a sales associate at the San Francisco State University Bookstore from 2001 to 2004. McKinley is chair of the California Capitol Black Staff Association and a member of the Black Youth Leadership Project Board of Directors. She earned a Master of Arts degree in government from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,804. McKinley is a Democrat.

Dennis Cuevas-Romero, 33, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director for legislation at the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Cuevas-Romero has been government relations director at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association in Sacramento since 2016. He was legislative associate at the Hernandez Strategy Group from 2013 to 2016 and a post-graduate law clerk at the Sacramento Regional Fair Housing Commission in 2012. Cuevas-Romero was a legal intern at Refugees International Japan in 2012 and at Opening Doors Inc., California Rural Legal Assistance and the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Immigration Law Clinic in 2011. He was a Peggy Browning law fellow at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in 2011 and at the Working Hands Legal Clinic in 2010. Cuevas-Romero was legal intern at the Sacramento Regional Fair Housing Commission from 2010 to 2011 and director, coordinator and lead tutor of Wrap-Around Services at Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy from 2006 to 2009. He 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 $115,008. Cuevas-Romero is a Democrat. 

Christine M. Ciccotti, 36, of Davis, has been appointed deputy director, chief counsel at the California Department of State Hospitals. Ciccotti has served as a deputy attorney general in the Correctional Law Section at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 2014. She was a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Contract Management Agency from 2012 to 2013 and an assistant general counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons from 2009 to 2012. Ciccotti served in several positions for the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps at Nellis Air Force Base and Travis Air Force Base from 2006 to 2009, including trial counsel, chief of contract law, chief of civil law, chief of adverse actions and chief of claims. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $177,900. Ciccotti is a Democrat.

Anastasia R. Carney, 32, of Sacramento, has been appointed marketing and outreach director at the California Health Professions Education Foundation. Carney has been a program associate at The California Endowment since 2013. She served in several positions in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2013, including external affairs coordinator, assistant scheduler to the Governor and assistant to First Lady Anne Gust Brown. Carney served in several positions in the Office of the Governor from 2007 to 2011, including director of scheduling, program director for First Lady Maria Shriver and special assistant to the chief of staff for First Lady Maria Shriver. She is a member of the American Society for Public Administration, Fem Dems of Sacramento and Metro Edge. Carney earned a Master of Public Administration degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $80,004. Carney is a Democrat.

Alex Solis, 53, of Monrovia, has been reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board, where he has served since 2015. Solis was a jockey from 1982 to 2017. He is a member of the Jockey’s Guild and was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 2014. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Solis is a Democrat.

Madeline Auerbach, 73, of Bell Canyon, has been reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board, where she has served since 2014. Auerbach has been director and owner at M. Auerbach LLC since 2000. She was chief financial officer and owner at JSA Corp DBA Hippopotamus from 1977 to 2004. Auerbach is a member of the Jockey Club. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Auerbach is a Democrat.

Joseph Cobb, 35, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee. Cobb has been spill and emergency response coordinator at Aera Energy LLC since 2014, where he was a health and safety specialist from 2010 to 2014. He was a paramedic at Hall Ambulance from 2005 to 2009. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Cobb is a Republican.

James Farner, 40, of San Dimas, has been appointed to the Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee. Farner has been manager of hazardous materials field operations and emergency response at BNSF Railway since 2014. He was regional response and division manager at NRC Environmental from 2014 to 2012, general manager at H2O Environmental in 2012 and rail response manager at American Integrated Services from 2009 to 2012. Farner was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Farner is registered without party preference.

Lynn Korwatch, 65, of Alamo, has been appointed to the Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee. Korwatch has been executive director at the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region since 2000. She held several positions at Matson Navigation Co. Inc., including general manager of marine operations from 1991 to 2000, acting operations manager at the Oakland, California Terminal in 1994 and 1996, commanding officer of the SS Maui in 1988 and boarding agent in 1986. Korwatch is a member of the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council, U.S. Coast Guard Area Security Committee of the San Francisco Bay Region, California State University Maritime Academy Industry Advisory Board, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Seaport Advisory Group and the Council of American Master Mariners. She is a founding member of the California Marine and Intermodal Transportation System Advisory Council and chair of the San Francisco Area Harbor Safety Committee. Korwatch is a licensed captain. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Korwatch is a Democrat.

Janell Myhre, 59, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee. Myhre has been regional program manager for the bay area at the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative since 2012. She was director of the Office of Emergency Services at the Santa Clara County Executive’s Office in 2012 and emergency services coordinator at the Marin County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services from 2008 to 2011, where she specialized in local government oil spill response and catastrophic planning. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Myhre is a Democrat.

John Carvelli, 55, of Newport Beach, has been reappointed to the California State Athletic Commission, where he has been chair since 2015 and has served as a member since 2013. Carvelli has been executive vice president at LIBERTY Dental Plan companies since 2004. He was president at Empire Pacific Health Care Consulting from 1996 to 2004. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Carvelli is a Republican.

Van Gordon Sauter, 82, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California State Athletic Commission, where he has served since 2015. Sauter is former president of CBS News and Fox News. He began his career producing television commercials for a large advertising agency in New York City, but soon entered journalism. He worked as a newspaper reporter in New Bedford, Detroit and Chicago, reporting on Vietnam, civil rights and urban violence. Sauter was also a television anchorman in Chicago and CBS News Bureau chief in Paris. He is the author of three non-fiction books, including “The Sun Valley Story,” an anecdotal history of the nation’s premiere heritage ski resort. Sauter is a former chair of the California State Athletic Commission. He earned a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sauter is registered without party preference.

Kathleen Gallegos, 68, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Arts Council, where she has served since 2014. She has been director of Avenue 50 Studio Inc. since 2000 and an independent artist since 1992. Gallegos was a legal secretary at Stutman Treister and Glatt from 1987 to 2002. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gallegos is a Democrat.

Jaime D. Galli, 37, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the California Arts Council, where she has served since 2014. Galli has been senior strategist at Imprint Projects since 2017 and Social Media Center instructor for the Academy of Art University since 2016. She was a freelance marketing strategist from 2013 to 2017. Galli was digital marketing manager at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from 2014 to 2016 and senior marketing and communication manager for the San Francisco Film Society from 2011 to 2014. She was a graduate teaching and research fellow at the University of Oregon from 2010 to 2011 and outreach and communications coordinator at the Eugene Opera from 2009 to 2011. Galli was associate director of development for the Santa Barbara Choral Society from 2008 to 2009 and administrative coordinator and advisor at the San Francisco State University, School of Music and Dance from 2005 to 2008. She earned a Master of Science degree in arts management from the University of Oregon. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Galli is a Democrat.