Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
John E. Hiber, 56, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy director at the California Department of Housing and Community Development, where he has served as acting chief deputy director since 2015. Hiber was chief financial officer at Covered California, California’s Health Benefit Exchange from 2013 to 2014 and served as chief operating officer at the California State Controller’s Office from 2009 to 2013. He was assistant executive officer of administration at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from 2006 to 2009 and director of the Cash Management Division at the California State Treasurer’s Office from 2003 to 2004, where he was a pension and benefits officer from 2002 to 2003. Hiber was a staff budget analyst and principal program budget analyst at the California Department of Finance from 1996 to 2002. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $151,008. Hiber is registered without party preference.
An-Chi Tsou, 33, of Berkeley, has been appointed senior policy advisor in the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation at the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Tsou has been a senior consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Health since 2015. She held several positions in the Office of California State Assemblymember Rob Bonta from 2012 to 2014, including legislative director, science and technology policy fellow and legislative aide. Tsou was a graduate student researcher and instructor at the University of California, Berkeley from 2007 to 2012. She was a 2011 Siebel scholar and a 2004 recipient of a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship. Tsou earned a joint Doctor of Philosophy degree in bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $81,900. Tsou is registered without party preference.
Troy Fennel, 49, of Rancho Cordova, has been appointed superintendent of education for the Division of Juvenile Justice at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has served as acting superintendent of education since 2015. Fennel was assistant superintendent of academic and career technical education at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2012 to 2015, where he served as supervisor of correctional education programs from 2007 to 2012. He was supervisor of academic instruction at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility’s James A. Wieden High School from 2005 to 2007. Fennel was a physical education teacher at the DeWitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility from 2003 to 2005, at the Karl Holton Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Center from 2002 to 2003, at the O.H. Close Youth Correctional Facility from 1995 to 2002 and at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility from 1992 to 1995. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $134,004. Fennel is registered without party preference.
