SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Matthew Baker, 55, of San Carlos, has been appointed deputy secretary of energy at the California Natural Resources Agency. Baker has been a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation since 2012. He served as a commissioner at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 2008 to 2012. He was executive director for Environment Colorado from 2002 to 2008 and Colorado Public Interest Research Group from 1999 to 2002. He was hiring director at the Fund for Public Interest Research from 1995 to 1999 and organizing director with New Jersey Public Interest Research Group from 1990 to 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $170,004. Baker is a Democrat.
Brian E. Lin Walsh, 37, of Rocklin, has been appointed labor relations officer at the Department of Human Resources. Lin Walsh has served as a labor relations officer at the Department of Motor Vehicles since 2014, overseeing the Department’s labor relations and health management programs. Lin Walsh was a labor relations specialist at the Department of Motor Vehicles from 2012 to 2014, and was a labor relations analyst at the Employment Development Department from 2010 to 2012. Lin Walsh held several other positions at the Employment Development Department from 2006 to 2010, including staff services analyst and associate personnel analyst. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $117,000. Lin Walsh is a Democrat.
Ajay Gupta, 45, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief digital transformation officer at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Gupta has served as a special consultant and an advisor to the director at the Department of Motor Vehicles since 2019. Gupta has worked for several consulting firms serving departments in the State of California, Texas and Hawaii since 1996. He was managing director at KPMG from 2013 to 2019, where he lead the delivery of legacy transformation, technology innovation and managed services for State departments nationally. Between 1996 and 2013, Gupta was an information technology project manager and a senior software engineer at CGI Inc, Visionary Integration Professional Inc, Deloitte LLP and Tata Consulting Services. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree in marketing and information technology from the University of California, Davis. Gupta is a certified project management professional, scrum master product owner, cloud practitioner and an enterprise architect. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $155,004. Gupta is not registered to vote.
Michael Mullaney, 29, of Sacramento, has been appointed special advisor to the Office of the President at the California Public Utilities Commission. Mullaney has been legislative liaison in the Office of Governmental Affairs at the California Public Utilities Commission since 2017. He served in various positions in the Office of Governor Edmund Brown Jr. from 2013 to 2017, including assistant legislative secretary and legislative assistant. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $125,004. Mullaney is a Democrat.
Patricia Monahan, 56, of Berkeley, has been reappointed to the California Energy Commission, where she has served since 2019. Monahan was transportation program director at the Energy Foundation from 2010 to 2019 and held various positions at the Union of Concerned Scientist from 2001 to 2010, including director for the California office and deputy director of clean vehicles, and senior analyst. Monahan worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, as lead for the Toxic Release Inventory program from 1997 to 2001 and as an environmental protection specialist from 1990 to1992. She was a research associate at the international studies program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 1992 to 1994. Monahan earned a Master of Science degree in energy analysis and policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,068. Monahan is a Democrat.
Andrew Giacomini, 56, of San Geronimo, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Giacomini has served as managing partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP since 2002. He is a board member of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity. Giacomini is a board member and vice chair of the Buck Family Fund and at the Marin Community Foundation. He is secretary of the executive committee for the Bay Area Council. Giacomini earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Giacomini is a Democrat.
Jaymie Jo Noland, 64, of San Luis Obispo, has been reappointed to the California Veterinary Medical Board, where she has served since 2015. Noland has been department head for the Animal Science Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo since 2013 and has been an animal science professor since 1998. She has been a private consultant for several TB breeders in California and Kentucky since 2008. Noland was associate department head for the Animal Science Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo from 2007 to 2013. She was an associate veterinarian at Oak Park Veterinary Clinic from 1996 to 2000 and an associate veterinarian at South County Veterinary Clinic from 1991 to 1996. Noland was an elementary education provider from 1990 to 1991. She was part of an ambulatory practice for large animals from 1988 to 1990. Noland was co-owner and operator at Cal-Tex Feeders from 1977 to 1988. Noland earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Noland is a Republican.
Hemesh Mahesh Patel, 39, of Huntington Beach, has been appointed to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Patel has been a member of the Human Relations Task Force for the City of Huntington Beach since 2020, an emergency roster physician for disaster relief with Project Hope since 2019, a volunteer crisis text counselor at Crisis Text Line since 2018, an expert reviewer for the Osteopathic Medical Board and a volunteer assistant professor of clinical medicine for the patient centered clerkship program at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine since 2015, and a family physician and obesity medicine specialist at the Southern California Permanente Group since 2011. He was a yoga instructor at Corepower Yoga from 2013 to 2015 and an urgent care physician at Family Care Center Group and at Woodbury Medical Center from 2010 to 2011. Patel was a resident physician at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center from 2008 to 2011, a lecturer in the department of biological sciences at the University of California, Irvine from 2003 to 2004, and a staff reporter and assistant news editor at the Daily Bruin from 1998 to 2002. He is a member of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California, Orange County Medical Association, Orange County Chapter of the California Academy of Family Physicians, California Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, Obesity Society, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, and the UCLA Alumni Association-Orange County Chapter. He earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and a Master of Science degree from Georgetown University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Patel is a Democrat.
Brian Johnson, 50, of San Francisco has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Johnson has been California director at Trout Unlimited since 2011, where he was director of the California water program from 2005 to 2011. He was an associate at Shute, Mihaly & Weingerger LLP from 2000 to 2005, associate director for communications at the Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President from 1993 to 1997, and manager of Energy Star Computers for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation from 1991 to 1993. Johnson earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $50,497. Johnson is a Democrat.
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