SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Melinda Grant, 37, of Sacramento, has been appointed Undersecretary at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. She served as deputy legislative secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019 and in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. dating back to 2016. Before that, she was deputy director of legislation and policy review at the California Department of Consumer Affairs from 2014 to 2016 and an advocate at Platinum Advisors from 2006 to 2014. She was a legislative aide in the Office of California State Senator Kevin Murray from 2003 to 2006 and was a legislative analyst at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 2001 to 2003. Grant is a member of the California State University Sacramento Governmental Alumni Association and Leadership California. She earned a Master of Arts degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $184,380. Grant is a Democrat.
Tad Egawa, 51, of Sacramento, has been appointed General Counsel at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Egawa has been chief counsel at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration since 2017. He was general counsel at the California Department of Housing and Community Development from 2015 to 2017, assistant commissioner of legal affairs at the California Bureau of Real Estate from 2013 to 2015, deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2009 to 2013 and a shareholder at McDonough, Holland and Allen PC in 2009, where he was of counsel in 2007 and 2008. Egawa was assistant general counsel at the Ryland Group Inc. from 2004 to 2007 and an associate at Jeffer, Mangels, Butler and Marmaro LLP from 1999 to 2004, at Tuttle and Taylor from 1998 to 1999 and at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP from 1996 to 1997. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $185,220. Egawa is a Democrat.
Lila Mirrashidi, 35, of Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Business and Consumer Relations at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Mirrashidi has served as deputy commissioner of policy at the California Department of Business Oversight since 2018, where she was deputy commissioner of legal (business regulations) from 2013 to 2018. Mirrashidi was deputy commissioner of business regulations at the California Department of Corporations from 2012 to 2013, deputy appointments secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2011 to 2012 and deputy research director on the Jerry Brown for Governor Campaign from 2009 to 2010. Mirrashidi earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $162,240. Mirrashidi is a Democrat.
Jerry Pacheco, 74, of Kerman, has been reappointed to the 21st District Agricultural Association, Big Fresno Fair Board of Directors, where he has served since 2015. Pacheco has been president of Pacheco Dairy Inc. since 1996. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Pacheco is a Democrat.
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