SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Thursday, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the following appointments: First, Peter Cervinka, 44, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy director at the California Department of Social Services, where he has served as program deputy director for benefits and services since 2009.
Cervinka served in several positions at the California Health and Human Services Agency from 2007 to 2009, including assistant secretary in the Office of Program and Fiscal Affairs and assistant associate secretary in the Office of Legislation. He served in several positions at the California Department of Finance from 2002 to 2007 and from 1998 to 2000, including assistant program budget manager, principal program budget manager and finance budget analyst. Cervinka was a staff services manager at the State Water Resources Control Board from 2000 to 2002. He earned a Master of Science degree in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Davis. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $156,372. Cervinka is a Democrat.
Vivien Avella, 48, of Calabasas, has been reappointed to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, where she has served since 2013. Avella was senior managing director at FTI Consulting from 2000 to 2003 and director at Ernst and Young LLP from 1997 to 2000. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Avella is registered without party preference.
Donna Norton, 58, of Dixon, has been reappointed to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, where she has served since 2014. Norton has been a licensed vocational nurse for Kaiser Permanente since 1989. She was a licensed vocational nurse at the Fairfield Medical Group from 1985 to 1989 and a licensed vocational nurse and phlebotomist at Oneida Hospital from 1984 to 1985. Norton was a licensed vocational nurse at Straub Hospital from 1981 to 1985 and for the U.S. Army at Tripler Army Hospital from 1975 to 1981. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Norton is registered without party preference.
Marq Truscott, 54, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the California Landscape Architects Technical Committee, where he has served since 2015. Truscott has served as a landscape architecture lecturer at the University of California, Davis since 1995. He was president at Quadriga Landscape Architecture and Planning Inc. from 1997 to 2015 and at Collaborations from 1991 to 1997. Truscott was an associate at the Austin Hansen Group from 1987 to 1991 and a landscape architectural designer at BSI Consulting from 1983 to 1987. He is chair-elect of the Urban Land Institute, Sacramento and a member of the Blue Line Arts Board of Directors, American Society of Landscape Architects’ Council of Fellows Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, Friends of Light Rail and Transit Board of Directors and the University of California, Davis Landscape Architecture Program Advisory Board. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Truscott is registered without party preference.
Robyn Fisher, 47, of Hayward, has been appointed to the California Reading and Literature Project Advisory Board. Fisher has been president and chief executive officer at R.T. Fisher Educational Enterprise Inc. since 1999. She was associate director of pre-college programs at San Jose State University from 1998 to 2001, where she was director of the San Jose California Student Opportunity and Access Program from 1996 to 2001. Fisher was a budget analyst in the San Jose City Manager’s Office from 1993 to 1996 and a legislative correspondent and community information coordinator in the San Jose Mayor’s Office from 1991 to 1993. She earned Doctor of Education and Master of Education degrees in educational leadership from Mills College and a Master of Public Administration degree from San Jose State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Fisher is a Democrat.
David Dias, 55, of Pleasanton, has been reappointed to the California Contractors State License Board, where he has served since 2011. Dias has been a business representative at Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union No. 104 since 2005. He was an apprentice instructor at Foothill College from 1998 to 2005 and a field supervisor at Therma Inc. from 1997 to 2005. Dias was a sheet metal worker foreman at RH Tinney from 1990 to 1997, where he was an apprentice from 1986 to 1990. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Dias is a Democrat.
Susan Granzella, 65, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the California Contractors State License Board, where she has served since 2014. Granzella held several positions at Visa Inc. from 1996 to 2014, including senior director and vice president for technical publication and global development audit and compliance coordination. She is a member of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Sacramento Board of Directors. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Granzella is a Democrat.
Marlo Richardson, 37, of Playa del Rey, has been reappointed to the California Contractors State License Board, where she has served since 2015. Richardson has been a police lieutenant with the Los Angeles Police Department Airport Division since 1999. She is chair of public safety for the Second Supervisorial District in Los Angeles County and a member California Women Lead, International Association of Chiefs of Police and the California State Bar Ethics Committee. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Richardson is a Democrat.
Bill Nack, 68, of Menlo Park, has been reappointed to the 1a District Agricultural Association, Grand National Rodeo, Cow Palace Fair Board of Directors, where he has served since 2012. Nack was business manager for the San Mateo County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL – CIO from 1999 to 2015. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Nack is a Democrat.
Justin Lawson, 41, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the 15th District Agricultural Association, Kern County Fair Board of Directors. Lawson has been superintendent of operations at the Macpherson Oil Company since 2009. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Lawson is registered without party preference.
Gov. Brown made the additional appointments on June 8, 2016
Ursula Stuter, 47, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy administrator of the Veterans Home of California, Yountville. Stuter has served as staff counsel at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation since 2015. She served in several positions at the California Department of Transportation from 2001 to 2015, including project manager of the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan, office chief of the outdoor advertising program and assistant administrator in the Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Stuter was supervisor at the University of California, Davis Medical Center, Integrated Access Unit from 1998 to 2001 and served as an airman first class in the U.S. Air Force from 1990 to 1992. Stuter earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Lincoln Law School of Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $125,004. Stuter is a Democrat.
Patricia Quinlan, 64, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, where she has served since 2013. Quinlan has been deputy director at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley since 2011 and academic coordinator and industrial hygienist at the University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine since 1987. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in industrial hygiene from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Quinlan is a Democrat.
Kory Honea, 45, of Chico, has been appointed to the State 9-1-1 Advisory Board. Honea has served as sheriff-coroner at the Butte County Sheriff’s Office since 2014, where he was undersheriff from 2010 to 2014 and deputy sheriff from 1993 to 2000. He served as an investigator at the Butte County District Attorney’s Office from 2000 to 2010 and a boating safety officer and deputy sheriff trainee at the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office from 1990 to 1993. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the William Howard Taft University Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Honea is a Republican.
Joseph J. Bielanski Jr, 65, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, where he has served since 2011. Bielanski has been an articulation officer at Berkeley City College since 2008, where he has been a student services faculty member since 1991. He earned a Doctor of Education degree from Saint Mary’s College of California and a Master of Science degree in rehabilitation counseling from San Francisco State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Bielanski is a Democrat.
