SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Friday, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: Russell Atterberry, 39, of Folsom, has been appointed undersecretary at the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Atterberry has been executive officer at the Navy Operational Support Center, Sacramento since 2014. He was department head student at the Surface Warfare Officers School Command from 2012 to 2013 and operations and training department head of the U.S. Navy Cruiser Class Squadron from 2008 to 2010.
Atterberry served in several positions in the U.S. Navy from 1995 to 2008, including command control center officer, ordinance officer, force protection officer and engineer. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $165,696. Atterberry is a Democrat.
Francesca Negri, 53, of West Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Negri has been chief at the California Department of Transportation, Division of Procurement and Contracts since 2010. She was chief of human resources at the California Department of Motor Vehicles from 2009 to 2010 and held several positions at the California Department of Transportation from 1998 to 2009, including assistant chief of the Division of Human Resources, office chief of classification and hiring, branch chief of return to work and the Workers’ Compensation Program, discipline analyst and equal employment opportunity specialist. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,008. Negri is registered without party preference.
Howard E. Moseley, 48, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy general counsel at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Moseley has served as chief counsel at the California Board of Parole Hearings since 2012, where he served as a commissioner from 2011 to 2012. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of the Pacific since 2005. Moseley served in several positions at the California Office of the Inspector General from 2004 to 2011, including chief assistant inspector general and senior assistant inspector general, and was a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 1996 to 2004. Moseley served in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1995. 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 $148,272. Moseley is a Democrat.
Geoff Long, 60, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Long served as policy director in the Office of Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León from 2014 to November 2015 and was a chief consultant for the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee from 1995 to 2014. He was chief consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Budget from 1993 to 1994 and held several positions for the California State Assembly Ways and Means Committee from 1984 to 1993, including chief consultant, principal consultant and senior consultant. Long served as a field representative in the Office of California State Senator Al Alquist from 1983 to 1984. He was a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald from 1982 to 1983 and a teacher at Bellarmine College Preparatory from 1979 to 1982. Long earned a Master of Arts degree in religious studies from St. John’s University. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Long is a Democrat.
Michael Agyin, 37, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where he has served since 2010. Agyin has been a behavior therapist at the Inclusive Education and Community Partnership since 2015. He was a job coach at the Marriott Foundation from 2009 to 2010 and an assistant and disability programs coordinator in Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, Neighborhood and Community Services Department from 2008 to 2009. Agyin is a member of the National Council on Independent Living and the National Association of the Deaf. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Agyin is a Democrat.
Gregory Weisswasser, 39, of Grass Valley, has been appointed to the California Naturopathic Medicine Committee, where he has served since 2011. Weisswasser has been a naturopathic doctor and owner at Whitewater Naturopathic Medicine since 2005. He is a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the California Naturopathic Doctors Association. Weisswasser earned a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree from Bastyr University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Weisswasser is registered without party preference.
Additionally, on Dec. 14, Gov. Brown Announced the Following Appointments:
David Sapp, 36, of Napa, has been appointed deputy policy director and assistant legal counsel at the California State Board of Education. Sapp has been director of education advocacy and legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California since 2014, where he was staff attorney from 2009 to 2014. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and as a staff attorney and Skadden fellow at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Advocates for Children’s Services from 2006 to 2008. Sapp earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $106,008. Sapp is a Democrat.
Michael Thomas, 55, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California State Rehabilitation Council. Thomas has been a client assistance program advocate at Disability Rights California since 2008, where he has been coordinator and senior advocate since 2003. He has been social security specialist and a disability rights advocate at Thomas Advocacy Consultants since 1999. Thomas was a housing specialist for the Center for Independent Living from 2002 to 2003, where he was a benefits counselor from 1997 to 1998. He was a benefits specialist at the Houston Center for Independent Living from 2000 to 2002, a benefits and employment specialist for the Independent Living Resource Center from 1996 to 1997, an independent living specialist at the Memphis Center for Independent Living from 1994 to 1996 and an adjunct instructor at Shelby State Community College from 1995 to 1996. Thomas was a graduate student teacher at California State University, Sacramento from 1992 to 1994 and a camera operator and production assistant at the Louisiana State University Medical Center from 1984 to 1986. He earned a Master of Arts degree in international and intercultural communications from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Thomas is a Democrat.
