SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- SF Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Firday appointed Bevan Dufty as the Mayor's new Director of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE), addressing homeless services and better outcomes for individuals who are homeless or live in supportive housing.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Friday announced the following appointments. First: William Edgar, 72, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. He has been the co-owner of Edgar and Associates, an accounting services firm, since 1999. Edgar was contract executive director for the Sutter-Butte Flood Control Agency from 2007 to January 2012.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. asks Los Angeles business leaders to stand with him on two major priorities for 2012: passing his balanced budget plan and persuading the legislature to enact his 12-point pension reform proposal.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that businesses are beginning to take advantage of the City's Central Market/Tenderloin Payroll Expense Tax Exclusion.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Mayor Edwin Lee on Wednesday announced that San Francisco received the 2012 Sustainable Transport Award from the Institute for Transportation and Developmental Policy, for the City's innovative parking management system and cycling and public space improvements.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- As part of his ongoing efforts to spur job creation, streamline regulations and boost renewable energy, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a package of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reforms that will simplify and expedite the approval process for key job-creating projects in California.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Tuesday announced that he will make $1.5 million dollars immediately available to small businesses in San Francisco through the City's successful Small Business Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to support business expansion and job creation.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced on Monday that six newly improved BusinessSource Centers are reopening across Los Angeles. The BusinessSource Centers are part of the Mayor's strategy to create a healthy environment for job creation in Los Angeles.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the formation of a Technology and Innovation Task Force at the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) that will demonstrate how cities can support growth of technology and new economy jobs and foster innovation in local governments through technology and transparency.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- In his 2012 State of the State speech, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. said California is “on the mend” and laid out an ambitious agenda for economic growth in the year ahead. The full text of the speech follows: (Remarks as prepared)