California Newswire

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Janet Falk, 66, of Oakland, has been appointed to the California Housing Finance Agency Board of Directors. Falk was vice president of real estate development for Mercy Housing from 2002 to 2011 and executive director of the California Housing Finance Corporation from 1999 to 2002.

OXNARD, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- California Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) was today honored by the Chambers of Commerce Alliance of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties as their 2012 Legislator of the Year. The Chambers of Commerce Alliance of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties is a coalition of eleven local Chambers of Commerce throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Michael Brown, 60, of Santa Barbara, has been appointed to the California Ocean Protection Council. Brown has been principal and partner at Brown and Wilmanns Environmental LLC since 2006 and was principal at Michael S. Brown and Associates from 1999 to 2006.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today that he will return without signature a City Council election ordinance to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the March 5, 2013 ballot:

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced the launch of San Francisco’s Season of Giving campaign to support organizations that help San Franciscans and organizations helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Season of Giving will last through Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend on January 15, 2013 and residents and businesses are encouraged to give back to their own communities or to the American Red Cross for hurricane victims to provide warm meals, a place to stay and other essential services.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Thursday opened the new Visitacion Valley Family Resource Center annex at the Sunnydale HOPE SF public housing site as part of the Mayor’s IPO (Interrupt, Predict and Organize for a Safer San Francisco) violence prevention strategy.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Shawn Bagley, 61, of Salinas, has been appointed to the 7th District Agricultural Association, Monterey County Fair Board. Bagley has been a founding partner and vice president at Complete Produce Inc. since 2002.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- As San Francisco Bay Area marks the 23rd anniversary of the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake, Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Wednesday announced the appointment of Patrick Otellini to lead San Francisco’s groundbreaking Earthquake Safety Implementation Program (ESIP).

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Margaret Abe-Koga, 42, of Mountain View, has been appointed to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board. Abe-Koga has served as a councilmember for the city of Mountain View since 2007. She has been corporate and foundation relations manager for Asian Americans for Community Involvement in San Jose since 2012 and was a self-employed consultant from 2005 until 2012.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: First, Suzanne Chan, 51, of Sacramento, has been appointed operations and accountability officer in the Administrative Services Division at the California Department of Rehabilitation.